Small Business Design Resources

Get iPod Users Interested in Your Small Business

As the world becomes more and more reliable on technical gadgets, almost everybody you know has an iPod or iPhone or some tool to listen to their music or keep them on the web while on the go. More and more people are accessing the internet and your website with these devices. It’s not a bad idea to learn ways to keep this group of people interested in what you have to offer by catering to their choice of electronic devices.

Get Apps
Everybody who owns these iDevices crave apps! Applications are what make iPod users continue using these gadgets for more than just simple music, photo and media enjoyment. You can actually create an application yourself, or you could outsource if you feel you’re incapable. Either way, you can include an app in your small business design that allows visitors to download the application to access your website easily, with just the click of a button. You can also get very creative with apps. They don’t need to lead users to your website alone; they can also include some form of game to engage them. Free apps for your visitors are definitely a great choice for your website. You can search for tutorials to make your own applications or check out a variety of helpful videos on YouTube.

Podcasts
If you have something to say, say it with a podcast. It could be a great attribute to your small business. You could make one weekly, monthly or anytime you’d like. The great thing about a podcast is that it’s incredibly easy to create and requires very little equipment. If you have a computer, a microphone and a website, you’re set. Consider publishing your podcast to your website’s blog. When you’re done creating it, list it in the iTunes Directory and search engines like Yahoo! Audio Search. You may be surprised just how many listeners you have. You can also do video podcasts. These would be great if you want to create a “Vodcast” for new products you may be showcasing on your site.
According to Apple, 220 million iPods have been sold worldwide. That’s a lot of potential clients. By applying the techniques to your small business, your business will become more accommodating to those who wish to use their iPods to access information that you have to share.

When Written Content isn’t Enough

Any small business owner knows the importance of making a website that ranks well on major search engines. The hard part is knowing what will help us make our websites show up on the coveted first page of Google. You can apply all the SEO techniques that you know and still struggle to get a decent page rank. There are new and better ways to work on increasing website traffic and improving the search ability without just relying on words.

Slideshows

Give your small business home page a little pizzazz by adding a customized slideshow. It will add a “wow-factor” to your website. Slideshows are aesthetically appealing and it offers a little something special for your viewers. Basically, you’re just creating a PowerPoint presentation and putting it online. It can be a great way to summarize what people will find throughout your website, or perhaps just in a specific section of a webpage. You’re making your readers more interested in your website when you offer something that makes visitors get involved as they go through the content. Just remember, let the viewer choose when to access each slide; don’t have it on auto-run.

Video

When you have videos on your website, you’re encouraging visitors to stay longer. By engaging them with a multimedia experience, they’re likely to visit again. The videos do not necessarily need to be ones you created. You could put related content videos on a webpage or clips of relevant current events. As long as you’re not taking copyrighted material and making it seem like your own, you’ll be fine. You can also incorporate live chats on your website, if it seems fitting.

Footers

Linking your website’s pages together by text links with the keywords as the anchor text may give your website the lift it needs. Just make sure the wording in the links is the target SEO keyword/key phrase. Also, add your footer links to all of the web pages included in your website for the best results.

What You Shouldn’t Do

Search engines are getting smarter. A lot of time is wasted on trying to figure out which SEO techniques are worth their salt. There are a few things that people are still doing beyond written content for their small business website that isn’t really helping. These are things like:

• Link Exchanging. There is no longer a need to do this, as reciprocal linking between websites does not improve content anymore.
• Pay for Website Submission. You can do it yourself if you feel you need to, but websites like Google and Bing are so powerful, they’ll know your website is there in very little time. You can increase your chances of being found by simply posting the link to your website on someone’s Facebook page.
• Drop Links. Don’t drop your link in blog comments, whether it be on your blog, or someone else’s. It’s an out-of-date practice that will not get you better rankings for your website. Do it enough and web crawlers will start to notice. This can be considered a form of link spamming and is also known as “Black Hat SEO.” You can get your website removed from search engines if you keep these practices up.

SEO is evolving, and your visitors expect to see a professional-looking small business design when they arrive at your website. It can be a chore to keep up with all of the new and improved SEO techniques to make your small business website stand out against competition.

Websites do take some time to create, and you should always make it a priority to keep yours up to date and running well. However, you might be really busy with other aspects of your business. Thankfully there are great web designers out there to help take some of the weight off your shoulders. Read this article to find out What to look for in a Web Designer.

Free Business Cards Design & Printing Giveaway

Congratulations to the following winners:

• Tom Grady
• Angela Petitt
• Elizabeth Idzi

And the Grand Prize Winner is: Naomi Gauldin

Thank you All for entering the giveaway. More giveaways to come.

Are you just starting your business and need business cards or you’ve been running your business for some time and need fresh ones? Well, either way you’re in luck because Design Leap a small business design company and Uprining an online printing company have joined this week from August 20, 2010 – August 27, 2010 to giveaway 500 business cards to 4 winners.

Giveaway prize:

All winners will receive business card printing services from Uprinting.

• 500 Premium Business Cards
• 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)
• 14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock
• Full Color Both Sides
• Free shipping within the US only.

Grand Prize:

In addition to business card printing, one winner will also have their business card designed by Design Leap.

To Enter: All you have to do is subscribe to our Small Business Design Newsletter via the form below.

Limited to US residents only 18 years old and above.

Winners will be randomly chosen throughout the week.

Small Business Profile: Ellen Hart, Careerbags.com

(310) 491-1460	ellen@careerbags.com			www.careerbags.com

Tell us your story of why and how you decided to start your own business.
In 1990 I was unable to find a business case that fit my needs as a professional woman. I designed a collection and sold it to a major luggage company called Hartmann Luggage. I stayed involved in the sales and marketing of the collection for many years but eventually went on to create other products. Four years ago some of the retailers that I dealt with called and asked to have the collection redesigned and updated because there were no lines out there for women professionals and students. I researched the Internet and found some fantastic designers and decided that there were plenty of options out there but not one great place to find them all. I grabbed the domain name Careerbags and started my business a year later.

How would your customers describe your business?
Great selection, well organized and fun place to shop. Grateful to find a store that carries such a wide variety of products specifically for women.

What’s unique about your business, how do you differ from your competitors?
We focus on the professional woman, listen to their ideas and suggestions and follow the fashion and technology trends. We are always available to guide them over the phone and be a personal shopper to help them find just the right product. We like to hear about what their career, personal style, what they carry to help them find the perfect solution.

What’s your most popular product?
17” laptop bags are flying off the shelves and we just cannot keep them in stock.

How do you market your business?
We have several blogs like our www.laptopbaglifeline.com and we use social networking like twitter and facebook, outreach to other bloggers and we wait for our HARO (help a reporter out) emails to show up and pounce on any opportunity for PR.

What role does your website play in your business?
That is my business and without keeping it updated and fresh and working with Design Leap to find out what we can do to make it better on a weekly basis, I wouldn’t have much of a business.

What would you say to small businesses who currently don’t have a website or have neglected it?
It is vital and the most cost effective and expedient way to reach their market what ever that may be.

Anything additional you want to tell us about your business that we don’t know yet?
Visit the website and see for yourself and I am always open for ideas. Life on the Internet changes everyday and I cannot wait to see what’s next!

Is It Time To Redesign Your Website?

I recently talked with a potential client whose entire website is based on Flash. Flash websites used to be extremely popular during the 1990s, but have since become pretty much obsolete, especially because it is very difficult to optimize these limited textual content websites for search engines. Take a look at this article to learn more about what is Flalsh and is it suitable for your business.

The client now wants a modern, content-rich, non-Flash website that search engine spiders can actually crawl. This is a very good reason to do a website redesign, which got me thinking about several more reasons why you should redesign your website.

Your Website Looks Old

The web is fast-paced. It is constantly updating and changing. Web users expect to see fresh, interesting design. They want websites that are user friendly, easy to navigate, and fast-loading. Above all, they want websites that catch their eye and make them want to stick around. Now take a long, hard look at your small business website and ask yourself: does it provide all of the above? If your website is older than five years and you’ve never redesigned it, chances are it has an outdated look and feel that is not going to appeal to users. And with so many options on the web these days, users can simply bounce off and go to the next website.

Outdated Content

Your website’s content needs to be constantly updated to stay fresh and interesting. Yes, content is king, which means you cannot just slap some content on your website and forget about it. The best way is to attach a blog to your website and keep adding new content for your visitors.

Search Engine Optimization

If you’re having trouble getting your website to rank well in search engines for your chosen keywords, even though you have optimized your tags and your content, you should consider a website redesign. Search engine spiders have a harder time crawling old websites than crawling new, modern websites.

Competition is Redesigning

Whatever your competitors are doing, you don’t want to lag behind. If they start using social media, you should do the same. If they are lowering prices or giving special offers, you should probably do the same. And if they are redesigning their websites, you should redesign yours too. Being the only old-looking website when the competition has fresh, modern websites will hurt your small business.

Low Conversion Rates

If you find that your conversion rates are low, or that people who land on your website quickly bounce off, there’s something about your website that is turning visitors off. A website redesign, whether changing design elements, functionality or content, is probably a good idea.

Outdated Design Elements

Some web design elements are considered outdated and should be changed regardless of any other consideration or problem. Flash, as pointed above, Frames and Tables were all used for web design in the past but are now considered obsolete and make your website difficult to maintain and to update. The same is true for features such as Intro Pages (those pages that load before users get access to the home page) – these are annoying to web visitors and could cause them to click away.

Remember that small business website redesign, where you hire a designer to redesign an existing website, is at least as complex as creating a website from scratch. Make sure you find a website designer that you are comfortable with and are able to trust. For more on choosing the right web designer, check out this article on What to Look for in a Web Designer.