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  • Sep 13 / 2013
  • 0
Articles, Inbound Marketing, Websites

Lake Havasu City Web & Graphic Design- Landing Pages, Part II

TGIF_50a4e8_3945565TGIF NSquared Readers, Boo yah!

 

Fridays are perfect for reading super cool articles about landing pages. At least we think so. See for yourself:

 

 

“What Is a Landing Page and Why Should You Care, (Part II)

 

…continued…

 

 

What makes a landing page most effective?

 

 

Ready to create your first landing page, or improve on a landing page you already have? Here are some of the most important elements to make sure your landing page is working hard for you:

 

  • Limit Navigation. You’ve brought your targeted traffic to a page where they can take your desired action. Don’t distract them! Limit the number of exits from your landing page so that your visitors are focused on filling out your form. A key part of this is to hide your website navigation elements on landing pages.

 

  • Deliver Value. First and foremost, if you have a valuable offer, your visitors will give up their contact information in exchange for your offer. Ask yourself if your offer is compelling to your audience and make sure that your landing pages demonstrates that value.

 

  • Enable Sharing. Tap into a huge community of your best (and free!) marketers: your audience.  Add share links to your landing page to encourage your website visitors to share your content with their audiences.

 

  • Keep it Short. The longer your landing page and form, the more friction you add to the lead conversion process. Keeping your lead form short and straightforward will increase your conversion rate.

 

  • Test, Test, Test. As many best practices as you may read about online, your landing page can always use more testing and improvement. Make sure you have a landing page creation tool that allows you to create and test many different landing pages to see what works best for your business.

 

Are you a landing page guru? Check out some of our advanced tips and data around landing page best practices on effective calls to action and the best/worst button text (hint: don’t use “Submit”). Do you need to make any of these 10 Quick Fixes to Build Killer Landing Pages?

 

 

If you’re working hard to drive traffic to your website, don’t make the mistake of not capturing that traffic as leads.”

 

 

Contact us if a landing page sounds like something you want on your website. Have an awesome weekend!

  • Aug 31 / 2013
  • 0
Articles, Inbound Marketing, Websites

Have a Rockin Lake Havasu City Website, Part IV

images (2)Good morning readers! Boo yah, it’s Saturday!

 

Welcome to the very last article featuring Hubspot’s cache of well-done homepages. Keep reading to see the rest of these easy to navigate, easy on the eyes pages.

 

 

“16 Brands That Totally Nailed Their Homepage Designs

 

…continued….

 

 

 

12) New Breed

New Breed’s website effectively balances its different buckets of content and presents it all in a well-organized, easily-digestible page.

 

 

 

new_breed

 

 

 

 

13) SilkTricky

Another example of content organized into visual tiles is SilkTricky. Notice the use of a carrot visual element (the white triangle in the text boxes) to unobtrusively connect the site’s text and visuals for the reader.

 

 

 

SilkTricky

 

 

 

 

14) Function Point

Function Point’s website maintains a consistent look and feel across all of its design elements. The site’s illustration, style, and choice of colors also help enhance the design and build a visual hierarchy.

 

 

 

FP

 

 

 

 

15) Woodwork

Despite the potentially overwhelming visuals on this page, clear navigation and layout (shown here) ensures that the user isn’t overwhelmed.

 

 

 

Woodwork

 

 

 

 

16) Quarter Rest Studios

This homepage is essentially one large slideshow paired with a simple top navigation. It gives the visitor a limited but useful set of options — presumably ideal for the magazine’s visual-based target market.

 

 

 

Quarter_Rest_Studios”

 

 

 

 

 

Weren’t these just the coolest ever? Does your business need a website with a homepage that will keep potential clients browsing? Give us a holler! And while you’re at it, ask about our current specials on inbound marketing campaigns and websites. Have a wonderful, safe, and stylish weekend.

  • Aug 26 / 2013
  • 0
Articles, Websites

Have a Rockin Lake Havasu City Website, Part II

Cool-story_o_77666Good morning!

 

Welcome to Part II of our blog series featuring Hubspot’s article, 16 Brands That Totally Nailed Their Homepage Designs. Scroll down for more super awesome website examples.

 

…continued…

 

 

 

4) Collaborate

The layout of this website effectively handles several different user stories by presenting three different CTAs without them compete against one another.

 

 

 

collaborate

 

 

 

 

5)  Prezi

This page sets up a clear information hierarchy and thought sequence. Everything that you need to know is provided in a few pixels via a video, company tagline, and clear CTA. The video is also a smart addition if Prezi’s target audience wants more in-depth information.

 

 

 

prezi

 

 

 

6) Fanabee

This website uses parallax scrolling to deliver a unique user experience. Reaching out to “mega fans” on the banner also subtly conveys exclusivity, compelling the audience to click its CTA and see what’s behind the velvet rope.

 

 

 

Fanabee

 

 

 

7) Urban Bound

Putting the CTA front and center, as Urban Bound does here, is another great example of a web design that focuses its most important information in the center of the page.

 

 

 

urban_bound

 

 

 

…to be continued….

 

 

 

Contact us if it’s about time you had a website with a homepage that sells. Stick around for more!

 

  • Aug 24 / 2013
  • 0
Articles, Websites

Have a Rockin Lake Havasu City Website, Part I

awesomeAnyone notice the letters on that meme are out of order? Hmm.

 

Anyhow, have you ever gone to a website and been like, “…..dang. that’s cool.”

 

Or, on the contrary, have you ever gone to a website and the first click you make is the backspace arrow right away because it is so a.) hard to navigate, or b.) awful to look at?

 

We have done both. But here at NSquared, we strive to make websites like the first one (the “….dang. that’s cool” one. Check out HubSpot’s article, 16 Brands That Totally Nailed Their Homepage, to get a peek at some totally rad webpages. Enjoy!

 

 

 

“16 Brands That Totally Nailed Their Homepage Designs

 

Homepages are the online version of a handshake at a networking event. At an event, you’ve gathered up the courage to approach someone else there to strike up casual conversion, and you’ve got one shot to make a great first impression: the handshake.

 

But there’s actually a lot more to the handshake than you might think. You have to be firm yet unaggressive, all while making eye contact, introducing yourself, and trying to remember the other person’s name (in addition to hoping your hands aren’t as clammy as they feel).

 

When it comes to your homepage, someone else has most likely been searching online and stumbled on your website. So your homepage has to be compelling enough to make them want to stay and interact with you (just like the handshake). This subsequent interaction may include exploring your “about us” page, or even converting into a lead via a call-to-action (CTA). Even though it seems simple — your homepage is just one page after all — making a solid first impression is key, and it’s not easy.

 

So how do you make sure your website has a great handshake? Although there is no one true formula for a solid homepage, you can start to see patterns in examples of really awesome ones. To help you see what I mean, here are 16 awesome homepage designs you can’t help but fall in love with:

 

 

1) Rezdy

Rezdy’s use of visual elements such as icons and arrows allow the company to clearly explain the purpose of its product without having to rely on heavy copy.

 

 

rezdy_edited

 

 

 

 

2) Jay Z’s Life+Times

If anyone knows how to entertain, it’s Jay Z. The eclectic nature of his personal website mirrors his real-life brand in this interactive tile-based homepage.

 

 

life_and_times

 

 

 

3) Sagmeister & Walsh

This page offers a truly unique way to address site navigation. Called augmented reality, each element on the floor can be clicked to advance the reader through the site, a visual that definitely sets it apart.

 

 

Sagmeister__Walsh

 

 

 

…to be continued…

 

 

Contact us if you need a website, inbound marketing, or even IT consulting. Stay tuned for Part II to catch some more awesome homepages. Until next time…dang, stay cool.

 

  • Jul 29 / 2013
  • 0
Websites

Why Do Tradesmen Need Websites?

Boots_webHey there NSquared readers!

 

Picture yourself in this scenario: Today you are going to go shopping. You hop in your car, drive to the store, walk inside, and put your blindfold on. Sound strange? Would you want to go shopping for your merchandise if you couldn’t even see it? Our guess is no.

 

That is precisely why tradesmen need websites! Check out, Why Does a Tradesman Need a Website, below:

 

 

 

“Why Does A Tradesman Need A Website?

 

 

 

Okay, here’s a scenario for you that I’m sure is quite common and you’ve had this experience yourself.

 

 

Sally needs a tradesman for some work to be done on her home.

 

 

Sally opens the Yellow Pages to find a tradesman, but which type of tradesman does she need?  All of the ads are basically the same, a couple of dot points showing the services provided and a phone number.

 

 

How does Sally choose the tradesman who is right for the job?  She reads all of the ads, looking for something that stands out …. she needs more information.  She notices some of the ads include websites.

 

 

Sally begins using the Internet and visits these websites.

 

 

Sally can now compare these tradesman and their services by reading the additional information about each business and view photos of projects they have completed.  Some of the websites even have testimonials from satisfied customers.

 

 

Sally can now make an informed decision about which tradesman to hire.  After the work is completed, Sally gives the tradesman a testimonial to add to the website … consider this an online version of word of mouth advertising.”

 

 

 

 

 

Contact us if you need a website that will show off your stuff! After all, a potential customer/client is much more likely to choose you if he or she can see your work. Have a happy Monday!

  • Jul 24 / 2013
  • 0
Websites

The Importance of a Professional Website For Your Business, Part II

artGood morning!

 

Monday we showcased an article explaining why it is so important for your business to have a high-quality website. Today’s featured article is along those same lines, but focuses specifically on the importance of an aesthetically-pleasing website. Check out, Why it is Important to Have a Good Looking Website, below:

 

 

 

 

 

“Why it is important to have a good looking website

 

 

 

When it comes down to the visual principles of a website design, you have to make sure that your website’s aesthetics reflects the way you want your business to be showcased.

 

 

 

Having a website that reflects a negative image of your business can remove any chances of your website’s future success. If your website looks remotely un-appealing to the user, it’s highly unlikely that the user will remain optimistic and not judge the rest of the content your website has to offer. In other words, they will probably move onwards to other websites; most likely your competitor.

 

Take this comparison as an example.

 

Imagine that your website is a rental property due for inspection. The tenants have made sure that their entire property is free from mess, clutter and looks overall rather neat. They do this in order to give the notion that they are reliable and decent tenants that can handle the responsibility of looking after a property. The inspector judges and makes an evaluation whether they make the cut.

 
This goes the same for website design.

 

The owner of the website (tenant) must make sure that their website looks professional, clean and, overall, is functional for the delivery of its content. The user (inspector) makes an evaluation on your site from the very instance they click on the link to get there. This can take a matter of seconds before the user decides to stay and browse your website or to check out other sites (your competition).

 

The ways to avoid this conundrum is to simply make your website reliable, professional and easy on the eyes. Remember that your website is an online portal for your users to experience an insight to your business. This experience is what it all comes down to. If an Inspector has a negative experience evaluating a rental property by witnessing messy lounge rooms, cluttered dishes in the sink and perhaps native wildlife eating leftovers from the bin; it’s a no brainer on what the inspector will do next.

 

You simply have to give your users a pleasant experience as they view your website. If you provide your users entertainment through relevant content, supply comfort with an overall attractive aesthetic and offer an ease of use functionality, you will see your online business become a grand future success. Catering for your users through these methods is the only way to guarantee this, after all your users are doing you the favour by initially clicking your link; it’s only polite to give back.”

 

 

 

Make sure your website makes people want to stay! Be a good business tenant, contact us, and ensure that your potential customers and clients get to look at an eye-pleasing website. Until next time!

  • Jul 22 / 2013
  • 0
Websites

The Importance of a Professional Website For Your Business

website-poor-navigationTop o’ the mornin’ to ya NSquared readers.

 

Last week we talked about how using Twitter can be beneficial for your business. This week, we will be covering why it is important to have a professional, high-quality website for your business. If your existing website makes potential customers and clients feel like the photo to the left, then you have some thinking (and reading) to do.

 

Check out, Why is a Quality Business Website So Important?, below:

 

 

 

“Why is a Quality Business Website So Important?

 

 

 

When you own a business, your website is one of your most important mediums that can be used to reach new customers and generate more sales.

 

 

Whether you have an established website that is not currently working for you, or you are a complete novice to the online marketing world, improving your website so that it generates traffic and increases sales is the right thing for your business.

 

 

Without a high quality website that attracts visitors and provides you with a way to capture information, you are not using the Internet’s power to its full potential. The information below can provide you with an idea of why a good website is so important for your businesses’ bottom line.

 

 

 

 

Why is a Quality Business Website So Important?

 

 

A high-quality business website provides you with a way to capture the enormous amount of traffic that is on the Internet.

 

 

 

It also makes your business more accessible to your customers. It does this, by giving website users a way to contact you or find out valuable information about your products or services without having to get on the phone, and during non-business hours. There are literally millions of people searching the Internet for various reasons on any given day. If you are not trying to capture some of those visitors, then you are losing out on many potential sales each month. Just as your store gives you a physical presence a high-quality website provides you with an online Internet presence.

 

 

 

 

Benefits of Having a Good Website

 

 

As a business owner, there are many benefits to having a quality website that is able to not only generate traffic but also increase sales for your company. The first benefit that a business website can provide you with is it enables you to have access to customers that you otherwise might not have contact with. Without a website, you are only able to reach your potential market through traditional means, and not those potential customers that primarily use the internet for their purchase research.

 

 

By enlisting the help of an internet marketing service company, you can create a highly effective direct response website that enables you to reach out to Internet traffic.

 

 

By adding an opt-in form to a quality website, you can increase your earning potential each year by at least 20%. An opt-in form provides a means of capturing visitors’ contact information. This is very valuable as it will allow you to send current and potential customers information about promotions, important updates, and special sales events throughout the year.

 

 

The visitors on your list will be people that you know are already interested in the services that you are offering, and by sending out a sales message to them your rate of return will be much higher than with an untargeted ad in the newspaper.”

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, a high-quality website is extremely important when it comes to the success of your business. Contact us if you’d like a website, or your website needs a facelift. Have a happy Monday!

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