Milwaukee Web Design

Brew City Marketing Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

A Decade of Web Design  Brew City Marketing team

This February marks the 10 year anniversary of Brew City Marketing!

More than 500 websites and 400 local clients later, it’s safe to say that we’ve established ourselves as a driving force when it comes to web design, search engine optimization, social media, and much more.

Our client base consists of many small businesses around the Greater Milwaukee Area, ranging from construction companies to law offices to restaurants. As a small business, we work hard to understand the client, their needs and how our services provide them with better visibility in their respective communities.

How We Got Started

Amanda Dalnodar, Founder and Managing Partner of Brew City Marketing, always dreamed of owning her own business. Amanda and her husband Mark Dalnodar would frequently brainstorm business ideas that would allow them to quit their corporate jobs and create something of their own. But it wasn’t until the day before they were heading home from their honeymoon in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands that it finally clicked – they could start their own web design company!

The moment Mark mentioned web design, it immediately resonated with Amanda because she previously had an internship at a local non-profit. During her time there, she project managed a web redesign. Additionally, Amanda expressed interest in web design during her final year of college and gained valuable experience by taking an elective web design course. On her way home from her honeymoon, she worked hard to draft the business plan that would become Brew City Marketing.

So, there it was – a need in the market for reasonably priced, websites that were effective at generating leads for small businesses. Brew City Marketing launched in February 2009 but really started to take off 6 months later when her brother, Danny, joined to assist with sales and by the end of the year, Mark came on board.

Community and Integrity

Our passion for marketing stems from the simple joy of helping small business owners grow and succeed. The team at Brew City Marketing thoroughly enjoy learning about each business and what makes them tick.

Meanwhile, Brew City Marketing holds community engagement and the “give back spirit” as a top priority. In 2018, we participated in multiple community engagement events with non-profit organizations and community members throughout Milwaukee.  We work hard to not only offer the best services to their clients but to also maintain a presence in the community.

A few of our volunteer opportunities this past year include:

Amanda’s goal for 2019 is to expand Brew City Marketing’s community engagement efforts by volunteering at minimum once per month. We’re excited to see what other opportunities arise this year and how we can best help our community.

10 Years of Celebrations

There’s so much to celebrate! We have over 400 clients, manage over 500 websites, 17 employees and countless contractors, a brand new office space, and we’re the top rated web design company in Milwaukee! To all of our clients that have trusted us over these past 10 years – thank you! And to those who have yet to work with us – we look forward to building your company the website of your dreams in the future.

Brew City Marketing wouldn’t be what it is today without all of the talented marketing professionals that have worked alongside us. We’re so very grateful for everything you do for both our company and our clients.

We absolutely love what we do and we’re very excited to see what the next year 10 years will bring!

Visit our website for more information about our team or to see case studies.

By |2019-01-28T19:14:20+00:00January 28, 2019|
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3 Ways to Get More Leads From Your Website

Get More Leads From Your Website banner - Brew City Marketing

Are you a business owner who wants to get more leads from your website? If that’s the case, you certainly aren’t alone. We meet with several men and women every month who are facing the same challenge. They know the internet can be a powerful source of sales opportunities, but often find they are unable to turn their online marketing activities and investments into real results.

Online lead generation is something of an art and a science. And, what works for one company or situation might not be the best answer for another. However, years of experience in this industry have taught us that there are essentially three simple ways to get more leads from a business website.

Let’s look at them one-by-one…

 

#1 Attract More Visitors to Your Landing Pages

Assuming your website doesn’t have any major problems or limitations, bringing in more visitors to your landing pages is probably going to result in more sales opportunities. That’s the power of simple math. If converting 1% of your 100 weekly visits currently leads to a single appointment or inquiry, for example, then doubling your web traffic will give you two.

This is something most business owners understand inherently, which is why so much attention is paid to things like search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC). However, it’s important to remember that anything you do to draw traffic to your website needs to be focused and efficient. That is, you shouldn’t spend more than you can reasonably expect to earn back in profits, and it only works if you zero in on the right kinds of buyers.

 

#2 Put a Solid Online Conversion Plan into Place

Having website visits doesn’t always lead to more sales opportunities. That’s because many (if not most) of the people who come to your website will see some information and then leave without taking any action. That’s why it’s crucial that you have some kind of conversion plan – like a landing page with irresistible offers – in place to collect contact information and generate those leads.

Of course, once you have a conversion plan that works, you can keep revising it over time. To go back to our previous example, doubling your conversion rate to 2% would supply you with two leads per week if you still attract 100 visitors. Double your visits and your conversion rate and you could get 10 new leads with some relatively small improvements.

 

#3 Use Web Analytics to Sharpen Your Campaigns

The role of web analytics is easy to overlook when you’re thinking about lead generation, but it becomes more and more important the longer you operate. That’s because statistics from your website will show you which piece of content your users like, what ideas or offers they are responding to, and even which pages or items feel like “dead ends” to your prospects.

In other words, you have to study your web analytics to see what buyers really like. If you pay attention to the numbers, though, you can draw more visitors, convert more of them into leads, and even spend less money doing so. None of that can happen, however, unless you are committed to using your web analytics package and testing new concepts regularly.

 

Could Your Online Lead Generation Campaigns Use a Boost?

If you feel like your website could be generating more sales opportunities, or just want your existing strategy evaluated by a team of experts, contact us today to schedule a free consultation. We’ll show you how your pages are performing now, and help you build a blueprint for stronger lead generation results in the future.

By |2019-01-07T10:03:07+00:00January 7, 2019|
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How One Client Got Roped Into Buying A Shiny Metal Object And Walked Away With Dirt

Mark smiling in front of Brew City Marketing wall

Initial Meeting With Client About Web Design

I had an interesting call today with a client who hired us to build a new website for their business. As we got acquainted, he mentioned that they had another website out there, with a national website builder company. While I can’t say their name, I can say that it rhymes with “Blottle”.

Blottle brought this client on 5 months ago and started billing them $600 per month. When I asked the client what they were getting for $600, he couldn’t say. I wanted to help him identify whether or not his advertising dollars were being spent effectively, so I offered to do a 3-way call to get some answers for the client. And for myself.

I’ll be honest, I went into the call fully expecting that Blottle was overcharging the client for whatever services they had promised him. I’ve had my own experiences with national web builder and SEO companies in the past and, for the most part, they are full of aggressive sales reps that spin a good yarn, fail to execute on deliverables, and yield little to no ROI for their clients. However, I kept an open mind, telling my client that I would just help him get answers so he could make an educated decision on the value in the relationship.

Contacting ‘Blottle’ – the old web design company

We went through their automated phone system and eventually ended up talking with Doug, a customer service rep at Blottle. Doug stumbled through what I like to call the old “Smoke & Mirrors Routine of SEO”. I’d heard this pitch before – heck, I used to give it. In a previous life, I sold online advertising for the yellow pages and did my best to make it sound rosy. I didn’t quite understand what I was selling or what the client was getting, and I could tell poor Doug had received the same level of haphazard training. I can’t fault Doug for what came out of his mouth, but it certainly spoke volumes about Blottle and was eerily reminiscent of calls I’ve had with other national web builder and SEO companies.

Here is what Blottle was doing with the $600 my client was spending:

  • Website
  • SEO
  • Google Adwords
  • Dashboard

I then asked Doug how much of the $600 was being spent on Adwords. The answer was $270/month. “Okay, so what are you doing for SEO each month?” Doug’s answer: “That’s the dashboard and the website and we put in the keywords. We have the search engines running in the background.”

Okay, now I’m shaking my head.

“We have the search engines running in the background.” I know exactly what that means. There’s this thing about the industry that I’m in… It’s that you can pretty easily pull the wool over a novice’s eyes. If you don’t understand SEO, then you are just going to have to take someone’s word for it. Kind of like an auto repair shop. If your mechanic says your timing belt snapped, are you going to look under the hood and see for yourself? Do you even know where to look?

I hate this thing about my industry. It’s easy for a huckster to mislead an honest business owner who just wants to drive more business to their website. And it’s equally difficult for an honest SEO company to gain the trust of someone who’s been burnt in the past. But my client hadn’t been burnt, he was just in the process of getting burnt. And it wasn’t Doug’s fault.

So, What SEO Services Was My Client Paying For?

As it turns out, there was no SEO being done on a monthly basis. My client was paying $330 per month for simple web hosting. As a point of comparison, we charge roughly 16% of that to host our client websites.

But, just wait – it gets better. Or, should I say, it gets worse.

Doug then told us that there is a balance of $400 with the AdWords spend. This meant that Blottle wasn’t able to spend the entire $270 allocated for Adwords each month, so each unspent dollar was being rolled over into the next month. My client had only been with Blottle for 5 months, so that means $80 of the $270 (for the only legitimate online marketing effort that Blottle was doing on behalf of my client) wasn’t even being spent. By the way, Milwaukee is a fairly large market, and this client is in an industry where there is enough traffic to easily justify spending $500/month on Adwords. And yet, Blottle couldn’t manage to utilize their own predetermined Adwords spend, but instead built up a bank account by rolling over unspent dollars.

Now I wanted to know what kind of terms my client had with Blottle and what would happen if he canceled. This took some back-and-forth and a few hold sessions so Doug could confer with a supervisor. The answer: my client was on a month-to-month contract. And if he canceled, Blottle would NOT refund the accrued $400.

Mind you, I’m getting pretty heated by all of this, but this is a 3-way call and my client is hearing all this for the first time.

Doug tried to ease our angst by telling us that they could run an analysis to see why the full $270 wasn’t being spent and insisted he was sure that they could fix it. But I quickly shot back, “What if we never called in today? Your company most likely would have stayed the course and continued to stack up a bank account that my client would have to forfeit if and when he canceled. This isn’t very proactive, Doug, and I would certainly expect more if I were the client and spending $600/month.” “And I do too,” said my client.

What We Learned After the Call

I wrapped up the call by telling Doug that I was disappointed in what we had uncovered and that the client and I needed to have a tough conversation after hanging up. He had given us everything we needed to make an educated decision as to what needed to be done.

After the call, my client immediately thanked me for my time and told me about the half-dozen other calls he’d had with Blottle that left him banging his head against the wall. “It was great to hear those guys stumble over their words and have someone who knew what they were talking about on the call.”

I didn’t feel good then, and I’m still steaming as I write this article. I feel like I want to do something about it.

Work With Experienced Milwaukee Professionals

I am sharing this story because I want people to know that this is real. You need to work with a local Milwaukee company who will sit down with you and explain everything in detail. You need to leave that meeting with a good understanding – scratch that – a GREAT understanding, of what you are investing in. Good companies are out there; we aren’t the only ones. And you will know when you’ve found one. They won’t sell you anything, they will listen to your needs and make recommendations that are backed up with case studies and solid consultation.

My name is Mark and I’m an SEO Consultant. I will be on your next call with your SEO company if you want. Not as Brew City Marketing, but as an independent SEO consultant. At absolutely no charge to you. Contact us today!

By |2018-12-04T13:28:52+00:00December 4, 2018|
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Why You Should Choose a Local Web Design Company

Imagine you’re selling your home: would you hire a realtor in San Francisco to sell your home in Milwaukee? Probably not. A local realtor knows your area and your real estate market, intimately. The same can be said when you’re looking to hire a Milwaukee SEO or web design company. Why outsource your web design when experts are just a phone call or short drive away?

If you’re a Milwaukee business owner in the market for a new website, consider the following benefits of choosing a local web design company versus outsourcing:

1. A Milwaukee web design company will know your market, intimately.

A good website speaks through colors, words, and a myriad of other design elements that resonate with its target audience. When you choose a web designer who actually lives and breathes in your market, those design elements are much more likely to hit the target.

For example, what if you wanted to add images of local settings to your site that a user in the Milwaukee area would recognize? A web design company located in Texas probably won’t have an accurate idea of what images would resonate with local users. Sure, they could grab a few photos from the web that would look nice, but how would they know if those were very generic images of Milwaukee or images that would be too specific for the average resident to recognize? With designers that live in Milwaukee, you won’t have that problem.

2. Supporting local businesses puts money into the local economy.

Why is that important? Because putting money into the local economy in which your business does business inevitably ends up meaning more business for your company one way or another. Money is the lifeblood of a local economy. A town or city needs money to constantly move around within its ecosystem for its economy to stay healthy.

But when money leaves the local economy, moving outside of it to global companies, that money will not come back. An online retailer isn’t likely to visit your local cafe and become a regular patron. But when local businesses interact with each other, there is a considerably higher likelihood that the revenue will change hands within the local economy. In the end, this will eventually come back to the businesses in some way.

3. Supporting local businesses supports entrepreneurship.

If you’re a business owner, you’re an entrepreneur. So, you already understand the value of entrepreneurship and the benefits that it creates. When you support local businesses, you support hard-working, risk-taking people just like yourself who are making Milwaukee a stronger, better place to live and do business. On top of that, entrepreneurs can help empathize with one another. If one business owner is speaking to another, they’ll understand some of the specific challenges that come with building a business from the ground up. In the end, this is very different from inheriting a role at a previously established company.

4. As Milwaukee web designers, they’ll be there when you need them.

When you do business with people who are three states (or nations) away, it’s easy for them to hide when there’s a problem. But when you do business with people who are just three miles away, well, it gets a little harder for them to pretend they’re not around. If you have a problem, you’ll know exactly how and where to find them. So, by working with professionals in the area, you inherently hold people accountable for the jobs they perform. We all want things to go smoothly from the start, but protecting yourself as much as you can never hurt.

5. Because sometimes you need face time.

The quality and dependability of a website can make or break a small business. And good websites don’t come cheap. Are you really ready to take a risk on something that important with someone you’ve never met? It may sound cliche, but there’s no substitute for talking to someone face-to-face to both explain your needs and get a feeling for what they’re about.

When it comes down to it, we all want to work with people who we like and are pleasant to collaborate with. Before you commit to working with a local Milwaukee web company, you’ll be able to sit down with them and have that conversation. It’s going to be a lot easier to decide if the professional relationship will be a good fit when you have that initial face-to-face discussion. That way, if you do decide to go with that local business, you’ll feel good knowing you got the adequate amount of information beforehand.

Choose a Milwaukee Web Design Company

Does your Milwaukee-area business need a new website or refresh? Call us at 414-208-0700 or fill out our contact form today for a free consultation. Small business owners are our people! We share similar dreams, responsibilities, and concerns. We genuinely enjoy helping build your business. Our office is conveniently located in Milwaukee, near Wauwatosa, just a few blocks south of Mount Mary College.

 

By |2018-03-07T13:23:33+00:00March 7, 2018|
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Google Chrome SSL Update

Google Chrome SSL Update: what you need to know

BIG CHANGES COMING TO GOOGLE CHROME THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR WEBSITE— PLEASE READ!

If you’re one of the 1 billion active Google Chrome users, there are big changes coming your way that may affect your website. As your internet marketing partner, we’ve put together a crash course to help raise awareness of the changes coming to Google Chrome this October. Nearly 50% of internet users choose Chrome as their browser of choice, so this could have a significant impact on the way people interact with your website.

How it May Affect You:

Starting in October 2017, Chrome will show a “NOT SECURE” warning when users submit a form on your website. This article shows examples of how the warning will look: https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/10/avoid-not-secure-warn

Why is This Happening?

Google wants to ensure that any information submitted through a form on a website is protected from spammers and hackers.

What Can You Do?

Get an SSL certificate. If your website has an SSL certificate, Google will not show this “warning” message. By having an SSL certificate, you will also protect your clients from having their information compromised when they send you a message through a form on your website.

What is an SSL Certificate?

SSL certificates are small data files that digitally bind a cryptographic key to your form submissions. Once one is installed, it provides a secure connection from a form submission to your email.

Additional Reading from Google’s Blog

“Passwords and credit cards are not the only types of data that should be private. Any type of data that users type into websites should not be accessible to others on the network, so starting in version 62 Chrome will show the “Not secure” warning when users type data into HTTP sites.”

(source: https://security.googleblog.com/2017/04/next-steps-toward-more-connection.html)

Contact us before October to avoid any possible warning signs when people visit your site. We are charging a one-time fee of $199 to activate the SSL, update your website code, and test it to make sure all is functioning properly. For more information on the SSL update or to schedule a meeting, call us at 414-208-0700 or fill out our contact form here: https://brewcitymarketing.com/contact/

By |2017-09-11T21:24:02+00:00September 11, 2017|
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Website Builder Shootout: Weebly vs. Squarespace vs. WordPress

Website Builder Shootout: weebly, squarespace, wordpress

So you have a business, you have a product or service, and now you need a website. Where do you go from here? There are numerous website builders out there, but which one is the best for your needs? We’re here today to highlight the pros and cons of the 3 major website builder platforms: Weebly, Squarespace, and WordPress.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a website-building solution that is visually appealing and works well with many types of businesses. It’s an all-in-one solution which includes everything needed for the website and allows you to manage all the different pieces of your website from one interface, for one price. Squarespace has a very easy-to-use web builder, allowing you to get a site online with hosting and domain name included. Their customer support is great, with live chat representatives ready to help with anything you might need at any time. While that all sounds great, there are some hiccups with the platform.

The first is pricing. Squarespace is the most expensive of the drag-and-drop website builders. When you run the numbers it’s also more expensive than setting up your own WordPress website. The platform also lacks in marketing and SEO capabilities and it’s hard to figure out the limited options they have. Backend user functionality is difficult to navigate, including the drag-and-drop features that allow you to build the website. It’s not easy to find the features to add to your website like blogs, additional pages, dividers, and images, and it’s just as hard to place them into the website when you do find them. Overall, Squarespace is great for someone who is focused on having a visually appealing, modern website that lives up to its motto “Build It Beautifully.”

Weebly

Weebly is one of the fastest-growing website builders – interesting because it’s also one of the oldest. Weebly is another all-in-one website builder platform that prides itself on not requiring you to buy separate pieces for your website and install them. It’s a great trade-off in which you give up control but gain convenience. One of the biggest pros of Weebly is its speed, security, and backup ability. Weebly provides the hosting for its websites, meaning the websites are fast, secure and optimized.

Weebly is also very affordable, with some pretty awesome features that are free or as low as $12 a month. Extensions are plentiful with Weebly, almost rivaling those of WordPress. Disadvantages of using the Weebly platform include their content management system as well as their platform lock-in. Users that plan on having 50-plus pages on their website will want to stay away from Weebly, as the system is inefficient and difficult to navigate with a lot of information. The biggest drawback of Weebly is the inability to migrate your website to another platform like WordPress easily. This is a very tedious and time-consuming process that you’ll have to undergo when you get to a point where you need to move to a more robust platform.

WordPress

WordPress is our favorite website-building platform. It’s what we use for our website and all the sites we build for our clients. WordPress is the most popular content management system, and while it’s not perfect, it’s far superior to the drag and drop options such as Squarespace and Weebly.

The first advantage is that it puts you in control of your website, and lets you do what you want to do with it. WordPress is an open-source CMS, which means any user can manipulate, customize or redistribute it as he or she sees fit. In other words, WordPress is not proprietary. Effectively, this means that you have the freedom to do whatever you want with your website, whether that means radically altering the code or migrating it to any hosting company you choose.

Secondly, there are over 29,000 plugins in the WordPress directory, and a new plugin is added every hour! Plugins are customized code that extends and expand the functionality of your website, giving you the ability to build a full-scale E-commerce website or add a Twitter feed, among thousands of other options. The third advantage is that WordPress sites are highly scalable. Your website can have hundreds and thousands of pages, blog posts, or products. Rest assured that no matter how much your business grows, the performance of your website will not be compromised in the least.

The cons of WordPress include a need to have, at minimum, entry-level web development experience to fully take advantage of its power. WordPress is not an easy platform to jump into. Also, regular updates are required in WordPress. The development team is always releasing new patches and updates to the platform to protect its users and increase the usability of the platform. If you’re not comfortable with applying updates, WordPress may not be for you.

Brew City Marketing Can Help

Every website is unique in its own way, and with a plethora of options available for building and hosting, there are many avenues you can take. We recommend WordPress simply because of the customizability and the complete ownership and control it provides as a content management system. For more information on our experiences with WordPress, revisit our blog series “Why WordPress” or feel free to give us a call – we’re happy to answer any questions you may have! Contact us today!

By |2023-04-28T17:13:10+00:00June 26, 2017|
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CONFESSIONS OF AN HONEST WEB MARKETER

I shouldn’t even be writing this right now. But I had to – I just had to. I literally had 3 different clients tell me horror stories this week that made me mad. Very mad. As I was sharing these stories with my business partner, I had the idea to start sharing these stories with you. The title for this series of blogs came to me at the same time: “Confessions of an Honest Web Marketer.” I hope you don’t see it as a pompous title because I really do see myself as an honest guy and business owner. It makes me mad when I hear horror stories from my clients on how they were, or currently are, being treated by their existing web marketing company.

THE KIDNAPPER

I have a client for whom I have done work on a project. He came to me this week with another opportunity to build out a website for an organization that he now leads. The organization has a website that has been online for a number of years, and they have been using a web developer to handle updates. They aren’t terribly pleased with the website as a whole and, for that matter, the web developers’ handling of website updates. They’ve made a decision to shop out a new web build. Because of my relationship with the owner, he naturally thought of me.

Baked into the existing website is a search feature that allows users to search for members of the organization. It was communicated to me that this search feature spits results out depending on the search query, and there are over 1500 members that are active in the organization. I communicated to the client that it would be ideal to get access to the back-end of the existing website so that I could see the code for this feature, and ascertain whether or not we could utilize it in the new website. With that, they reached out to their existing web developer to ask for access – to their website.

Side note: this developer didn’t create the website, she is the person that ended up getting the opportunity to work on it after the original developer declined in the ongoing business. As such, this is a non-proprietary open source platform and no honest developer should have any issues with giving their clients access to the code.

So you can probably guess what happens next. The current web developer has decided that she doesn’t want to provide access to the website. She is holding the site hostage because she doesn’t want to lose the on-going business that she has been enjoying over the last few years.

Can you believe it? I mean, REALLY? She has no legal claims to this website. She doesn’t own this site. Yet she is refusing the client access to the back-end. Horror story. Dishonest web developer. Shame, shame, shame. I hate it when I hear about stuff like this. It reflects negatively on my industry as a whole and it just makes me mad to know that there are web developers out there who pull these kinds of shenanigans. I want to tell you something: this will never happen to you if you partner with Brew City Marketing. I cannot even imagine pulling these kinds of games with my clients.

PULL THE WOOL OVER THEIR EYES

Just today I had a prospect call me to tell me that his existing website provider had informed him that they could no longer host his old, outdated website and that he “needed” to update it to a new platform. Mind you, I know this provider, as they are also local in this market, and I know that they host their websites on a 3rd party server. Disclaimer: there is no server IN THE WORLD that will kick your site off because it’s old.

The prospect also told me that the company said that they will triple their monthly hosting fee until he upgrades his website. The guy was confused and upset by the time he called me. He didn’t understand why they were forcing him to update his website, but he wasn’t entirely sure if what they were telling him was actually true. He also told me that he was one of their first clients and had been with that company for 14 years. He said that he was happy paying the monthly hosting, and a couple hundred dollars each year for updates, but didn’t feel right about what they were trying to do to him.

The site was surely outdated and not mobile friendly. I told him that if he were my client that I would also recommend a new website but that I would never force his hand and raise his hosting until he committed. I am simply flabbergasted that this company is out there telling their clients this B.S.

We have a plan of attack though: I am going to email this other web company and tell them that the client is requesting that we host their website for them. The client was wary of trying to do this on his own because he knows that they’re aware that he doesn’t understand all this web stuff. I will be contacting this other company to get the website files so we can put them on our server. Once they are on our server, we can access the domain and redirect to the new files – on our server. The client will not HAVE TO update their website, unless they want to. Their hosting fees will go back down to a reasonable rate and the client will never ever have to worry about his website provider pulling the wool over his eyes.

It makes me sick when website companies use confusion in our industry to get dollars from clients. I made a promise to myself when I started this company that I would always be truthful and respectful to my clients. I know without a shadow of a doubt, that even if that promise loses me some dollars in certain instances, in the long run, that approach will make me successful. I am an honest website developer and I will always tell it to my clients straight.

From Mark Dalnodar

By |2024-03-11T18:27:11+00:00May 1, 2017|
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5 Signs It’s Time for a Website Redesign

We’re in our seventh year of business and we’re hard at work on the 6th redesign of our website. While we don’t advise that our clients get a new website as often as we’ve done, it’s never a bad idea to consider an update. But when’s the right time to make a move? Here are 5 sure signs it’s time for a website redesign.

Your website looks outdated

Visitors have certain expectations of company websites, including a modern look and feel and user-friendly navigation. If your website still runs on Flash or it’s difficult for visitors to find what they’re looking for, it may be time for a redesign.

Your website isn’t responsive

These days, more Google searches happen on phones, tablets and other mobile devices than they do desktop computers. If your website doesn’t automatically adapt to the device it’s being viewed on (also known as responsive design), then you risk losing major business opportunities. A non-responsive website is a major reason, if not one of the most important reasons, to consider a website redesign.

Your website isn’t generating any leads

Your website serves one main purpose: convert traffic into leads and sales. If your site isn’t providing you with valuable leads, then your website is simply not doing what it’s supposed to do.

Your website isn’t user-friendly

It goes without saying, but your website should be user-friendly. At a minimum, this means your site should be readable and load relatively quickly. Additionally, your website should make it easy for visitors to find information about your company, including your services, prices, and history.

Your website ranks low on the major search engines

Older websites tend to suffer from old technology, outdated content, and content that’s overstuffed with keywords. None of these things endear your website to Google’s ranking algorithm. If your organic search engine rankings are low, then your website isn’t working for you. In other words, if your site shows up anywhere beyond page one on search listings, then it may be time for a website redesign.

If any of these five signs describe your website, it may be time for a makeover. The good news? Your reputation and search engine rankings can only improve from here! Are you ready for your update? Call us today at 414-208-0700.

By |2016-10-12T08:12:52+00:00October 12, 2016|
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One Thing You Must Know About Your Customers

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If you’re like most successful business owners, you probably have access to plenty of demographic data about your customers that can help you sell more products and services, and much of it is useful. But when it comes to structuring your website and landing pages, there is one thing you absolutely must know: how long buyers take to make a decision.

Specifically, you need to know whether the product or service you sell is a low-involvement purchase (like an inexpensive dinner) or a high-involvement purchase (like an automobile or home). That might seem like a minor detail, but it affects many different aspects of your layout, content, and conversion goals. For instance:

If customers take a while to decide, you need to sell your prospects in steps. For these types of purchases, you should offer information, advice, and subscriptions that pull prospects along while they learn more and make up their minds. It takes prospects time to make a purchasing decision because they feel like they have a lot to lose if they make the wrong choice. For these purchasers, trying to make instant conversions on your website is a losing strategy.

If customers decide quickly, you can be aggressive. For these types of purchases, it makes sense to be aggressive because prospects don’t feel like they have a lot to lose, so they’re more willing to make snap decisions and impulse purchases. For these purchasers, using “buy now” buttons or similar calls to action have a high probability of working.

Without the right context, it’s difficult to know what kind of approach you should take to convert website visitors into leads and customers. So, before you map out your online strategy, make sure you understand the buying process from their end.

Not sure which strategy is best for your business? Call 414-208-0700 or fill out our contact form today for a free consultation.

By |2016-04-12T06:17:50+00:00April 12, 2016|
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5 Things That Make Loading Your Web Pages a Pain

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Customers and search engines alike hate web pages that load slowly. Here are five different web design and hosting choices that can slow your website to a crawl.

  1. Ignoring the technical details
    Some bargain-basement web design teams will neglect details like browser caching and compression options. These features may not seem like much individually, but in the aggregate they can dramatically alter load times.
  2. Using long video clips
    Video can be great for telling a story or engaging visitors, but keep your clips short—unless you want them to take forever to load.
  3. Using big, uncompressed graphics
    More and more internet marketers are choosing to use large, uncompressed images because some hosting software can change the display size automatically. It’s easier for them, but these huge image files can load slowly in the background of your website, ruining the experience for your visitors.
  4. Using unusual fonts
    Because browsers have to work harder to display crazy fonts or find substitutes for them if the exact font can’t be found, using really uncommon fonts on your website can also affect page loading times.
  5. Bad hosting
    Even if you have a website built for performance, if you’re saddled with a bad host, it still won’t load quickly. In fact, when a well-designed website loads very slowly, it’s often the hosting provider (or hosting package) that’s to blame. Hosting is an area where a small investment can make a big difference in the performance of your website.

If your web pages load slowly, it’s probably costing you in missed search traffic and bounced web visits. Call 414-208-0700 or fill out our contact form today to see how we can help speed up your site.

By |2023-05-30T17:00:05+00:00March 12, 2016|
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