Online Marketing Articles

If you are a business and expect to be taken seriously on the Internet and in the TemeculaValley, you need to project a professional image both at your place of business and on your website.

     The TemeculaValley is one of the most web savvy regions in California and local customers expect a professional website from local businesses. If your consumer has gone to a search engine, typed in your service or product and have clicked on your website... you have a very strong lead. Are you disappointing them when they get to your site?  Is it less than they expected?  Does it tell them what they want to know?

Check Your Website for These Common Mistakes

Does our site have Animated Icons and Flashing Text ?
Children enjoy cartoons and flashing images, business people, professionals and most other adults don't. Sites that include showy Flash animations as an 'Intro', animated gifs on every page, or flying words are not professional. They take away from the content and distract the visitor from achieving their goals. Unless your site is an entertainment site, try to avoid maddening motion. However, if your product or service can be better demonstrated using Flash, Quick Time, or other multimedia, which is common, offer your visitors the chance to click a link to view it. But don't force them.

Do we have Unbroken Text?

A visitor to your site really has to be into a topic or in desperate need of the information you offer to trudge through big chunks of unbroken text online. If a visitor is just shopping around for a product or service, you've lost them. It is harder to read text on the Web than in other mediums such as books. Additionally, Web users are notoriously impatient, so make your content easy to read and non-intimidating. Use titles, sub-titles, small paragraphs, bullets and numbering.

Can my visitors find my Contact Information?
If all you supply is an email on your website, your legitimacy may be questioned. Your "could be client" may ask, "Why can't they answer the phone?"  Don't hide behind an anonymous and cold email address? Make it easy for your existing and potential customers to talk with you.

Is my site current?
If your potential lead starts reading content on your site and soon discovers that the content was written three years ago, they will leave and go looking for relevant information. Since there is so much information out there, your potential lead may  reason  there must be  comparable information online that's more current. If you keep your content fresh your site will attract repeat visitors. And repeat visitors are more likely to turn into customers.

How long does my site take to download?
It's amazing that this is still a problem. When a visitor clicks on to a site and has to sit there waiting for it to appear in their browser, they will click to the next site.

 Is my site saying Me, me, me!" instead of "You, you, you"?
Generally speaking, no one cares about you, your company or your thoughts. What they do care about is what you can do for them. So sites that show pictures of the company building or tout their deep philosophy on the way business should be conducted really don't bode well for keeping the interest of site visitors. On the other hand, sites that speak directly to potential customers about how they can solve their problems, make their lives easier, safer, richer or more comfortable have a much better chance of keeping the viewer wanting more.

What do my buttons mean?
Here are some examples of buttons that leave website visitors dazed and confused: A wedding site with a button called 'Blanks', a boating site with a button named 'The Lighthouse', a book site with a button called 'The Inside Story', or a Web design site with a button called 'Tea Time'. They sound like Jeopardy categories. Imagine trying to find your way on a highway where its various signs read 'Over Here', 'Moon Beams', and 'Lollypops'. Good luck navigating your way through. It's the same with navigating websites. Button and link names need to tell the visitor where the link leads to. Make it as easy as possible for a visitor to know where they are going before they click. However, there are times when naming a link an ambiguous name may pique the curiosity of a user and get them to click on it. But as a general rule, keep your links and buttons as descriptive as possible.