The post Online Marketing Tip: Make it About Them, Not You appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Why this is important
The user experience on your website is a critical component of helping visitors feel comfortable, know the “lay of the land,” and making it easy for them to understand what to do next (without twisting their arm).

Your website navigation may not be the first thing a visitor looks at when they land on your site, but it is a critical component to their user experience. It’s almost like Google Maps, helping lead visitors to the destination they want to arrive at. Hence, it needs to be clear, easy to understand, and distraction free.

Thanks for visiting, Cuppa SEO Web Design.

I hope this video helps you create a better user experience on your website!

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Just One Thing: Improving the User Experience of Your Website Navigation appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

• Does it attract visitors on its own?
• Does it make those visitors feel comfortable when they arrive on the site?
• Does it make it super-easy for visitors to take the next step in becoming customers?

Unfortunately, many don’t.

Before we talk more about what goes into a successful website, let’s talk about why so many websites fall short on what I’ve mentioned above.

It’s because of lack of knowledge. Let me explain …

Not all websites are created equal. But to those who are outside the industry, there’s no way of knowing what’s good and what’s not good. It’s almost like someone going to buy an automobile who knows absolutely nothing about cars.

If the options are a 1979 Ford Mustang (my first car), and a 2021 Subaru Outback (my current car), and both look good from the outside — it may appear that other than the shape, size and color — there’s no difference between the two. Realistically, how can somebody who knows nothing about cars know the difference? Especially if they don’t know the right questions to ask? They may be thinking. “a car is a car — and they’re all the same. I like the blue one, and it’s also less expensive …”

Same deal with a laptop. If you know nothing about computers, there’s no way of telling which computer is more powerful than another — because you don’t know what to look for, and you don’t know what to ask. So you may judge on color or price, thinking they’re both the same …

These examples may sound far fetched, but this is EXACTLY what happens when most businesses hire a web developer to build them a website. They think that the product is the product, no matter who builds it — and this is not surprising because the business doesn’t know what to ask for, or to look for, in a well-built site. So they trust the web developer to take care of it for them.

Since all websites are not the same, here’s a list of what needs to be baked into your new site. This will equip you with some knowledge — and the ability to ask specific questions — to make sure you’re not paying someone for a clunker of a website.

The following criteria will help you attain a website that functions well, and gives you a good ROI …

1. Custom Web Design: Your site should be customized to your company’s personality, goals and needs. Avoid cookie-cutter sites that make you look like everybody else.

2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Every nook and cranny of your site needs to be optimized with SEO in an effort to bring more visitors to your site. Ask your potential web design firm IF they do SEO, and HOW they do it. They should tell you they optimize every single title tag, meta description, image name, alt image name, headline, copy and text link. Don’t say this to them, just know they should be saying it to you! I will bet you a cup of coffee they don’t mention most (if any) of these optimization methodologies. Oh, and they should be creating a custom keyword report for you — and meeting with you to review and explain it.

3. User Experience (UX): UX is exactly what is sounds like — the positive, negative or neutral experience a viewer has when they visit your site. This needs to be discussed. If it’s not, you could wind up with a lot of noise and distraction on your site, which is a big turnoff to visitors. Visitors need to immediately feel comfortable when they arrive on your site, and easily understand the lay of the land. Content, imagery and calls-to-action need to be easy to digest — without having to think about it. This adds up to a pleasant experience that helps build trust. Same deal here. Don’t divulge this info to the web design firm you are considering, just ask them what they do to ensure a solid UX and see what they say …

4. Conversion: A solid website conversion strategy ensures that the visitor knows exactly what to do next. Whether it’s filling out a contact form, giving you a call, or downloading some complimentary content, conversion strategies need to be crystal clear. The best way to create a conversion methodology is to focus on the solutions you provide to ease someone’s pain. In other words, provide a benefit. Never use fear tactics, or try to strong arm — or over promise.

5. Desktop & Mobile Design: Your site needs to be responsive, AND be designed for both desktop and mobile so the user experience and conversion methodologies do not suffer because of a different screen size.

There’s more to it than this, but these five items can put the power in your hands to make sure you’re hiring the right web design firm to build your website.

For more information about SEO …
You can download a free chapter from my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing.

Buy the book …
If you’d like to learn more about the entire web design process, you can buy A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing on Amazon.

Thanks for visiting!

The post What Successful Web Design Looks Like appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

The post User Experience and Website Navigation appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Although we’re talking about website design here, I’d like to take a step back and share a real-world experience that shows how choosing form over function can cause a poor user experience — and ultimately make a product unusable, or at the least non-optimal for the end user.

Choosing Design Over Functionality: a Mini Case Study

I recently upgraded my iPhone and purchased a case to protect it.

The design of the case was beautiful, complete with wood inlay art on the back.

Regarding function, the online description of the case promised a “raised bezel” for screen protection. Since protection was an attribute I was looking for, I bought the case.

The Problem

Upon placing the case on my phone, I noticed there was NO raised bezel to protect the phone’s screen, and that putting the phone face down exposed the screen directly to whatever surface it was placed upon.

What’s happened here is two major things …

My expectations weren’t met, and they should have been based on product specs. This raises the issue of delivering what you promise, which we won’t dive deeply into here (maybe in a another post).

The other issue is the fact that the company that makes these cases chose form over function.

In a tech world where Jonny Ive (Apple’s long-time product designer) strives for an ever-slimmer aesthetic, case makers have followed suit to make cases ultra thin. What the fascination with thin is, I don’t personally understand, especially when a slightly thicker iPhone would make the back of the phone FLAT, as opposed to having a camera protrusion, which would be a better design — and a better user experience — for all of us iPhone users.

Regarding the case in question, the problem is the MAIN function of a case is to protect your phone, and removing a protective component to add a few less millimeters of thickness defeats the purpose of the product.

In this case (pun intended) the manufacturer of this case, and many other cases I’ve researched, are all choosing form over function — which means they’ve gotten it all wrong.

Good design is design that holds functionality at the forefront, allowing the design to SUPPORT functionality, and actually make the product more intuitive to use. Think Mac vs. PC (sorry Microsoft, but it’s true).

What This Has to Do With Your Website Design

When a visitor arrives on your website, they typically have a specific reason: to attain information, buy a product or service, schedule an appointment, etc.

The function of your website is to make it as easy as possible for a website visitor to take the action YOU WANT THEM TO TAKE NEXT, which means you need to make it as easy as possible for the visitor to understand what you offer and if it solves their problem (what I often refer to as a pain point).

If the design of your website supports this philosophy, that’s great! It’s also following a solid, proven user experience and conversion methodology.

For example, the Cuppa SEO website homepage provides brief descriptive copy that lets you know exactly how we can help, followed by two (and only two) calls-to-action that lead the viewer to where they want to go. No distraction, no confusion.

Here’s another example of a homepage where function is fully supported by design:

On the other hand, if the design of your website looks like this, offering you’re in trouble …

As you can see, it has no less than FIVE navigations (I’ve counted the ad at the top of the page as a navigation element as this is prime real estate, and typically where your navigation should live). This homepage also offers no clear conversion strategy.

The result? I’m left with not really knowing where I am, what I’m looking at or what to do next. The desire to design this website without placing functionality at the forefront has created confusion — which is a bad user experience.

Want more info about this topic and others like it?
Check out my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing.

The post Website Design 101: Never Forsake Function for Design appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

On November 21, 2019, my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, was published.

I’d like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the Universe, my wife and kids, as well as Eric Olive (editor), Jon Wuebben (coach), Kathy Watson (editor), Robert Rubin (formatter), and Hannah Sandvold (graphic designer) for their expertise through this long, and often-times grueling process.

One of the best decisions I made early on was to gather a team of professionals to support the creation of the book — so all I had to do was write it!

What the Book is About

The book provides a global view of online marketing — looking at your website, blog and social media efforts as a whole.

In Part 1, three major disciplines are discussed and defined: SEO, user experience and conversion — providing a solid understanding of what each of these methodologies are, and why they’re important. 

In Parts 2 through 4, we dive into a practical approach on how to APPLY each of these methodologies to your website, blog and social media efforts, respectively. Chock-full of actionable steps on how to assess your website, blog and social media — the book can help new and savvy marketers make meaningful improvements to their online marketing efforts.

You can check out the book on Amazon.

The post Celebrating the Publishing of My Book appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Penguins.

This was kind of a big deal because my wife and I have been Penguin fans for years. So, I thought it might be cool to get a set of sheets and pillowcases for our home, but …

… although the pillowcase was prominently featured on the cover — no page number was given. This is one of the most pervasive problems I’ve found in the world of catalogs, and it’s just a plain bad user experience (UX).

What is the reasoning behind not making it super easy for a potential customer to find what what you’ve presented to them on the cover? Maybe it’s so they’ll peruse the entire catalog and buy more, or maybe it’s just an oversight. Who knows

What I do know is, regardless of the reasoning, it’s still a bad UX. In my case I went from being excited to make a purchase (the reason for the catalog’s existence in the first place) to being mildly annoyed that this company was providing a bad experience.

So, instead of spending money, I decided to write this blog post about it.

What this has to do with web design …

Whether it’s a catalog, or a website, it’s got to be easy for people to find what they want! They should never have to dig around searching, hoping they stumble upon what they’re looking for. This is true whether you have a handful of products/services, or thousands of products like J. Crew does.

J. Crew has taken an immense amount of product and made it easy to drill down to exactly what you want.

Here’s J. Crew’s mega navigation: lots to choose from, yet precisely organized for ease of use …

And here’s what it looks like once you choose a category to peruse. The left-hand navigation on this page makes it easy to make choices that further sharpen results — all at a glance.

Now, imagine if J. Crew had taken the standpoint of the catalog cover with no page numbers. You’d have to scroll through ALL 341 items of their Shirt category to find what you’re looking for.

When it comes do web design, remember to make the user experience customer centric!

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post User Experience Tips: Make Finding Things Easy! appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

That said, have you ever walked up to a door and pushed (or pulled) — and the door didn’t budge? I’m guessing yes. This poor user experience is the result of a poorly designed door.

The reason I bring this up is the other day I was entering a building after an appointment and I encountered some really good doors!

Before we go any further, let’s quickly define user experience so we’re all on the same page …

User experience is the positive, negative or neutral experience you have online or in the real world (what I like to call the analog world). It’s as simple as that!

From the instant I looked at them, I could tell these doors were well designed because I didn’t have to think about how to use them.

To enter the building, the vertical bars made it clear that the door needed to be pulled to be opened …

To leave the building, the horizontal bars clearly communicated they were to be pushed …

Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but if both sides of the door had ONLY horizontal bars or ONLY vertical bars, then the clarity of how to use the door is lost.

What this has to do with web design …

Well, a lot, actually.

When someone arrives on your website, you want things to be as clear and easy to understand as possible. Is it easy to find your products or services? How about ways to get in touch? Do you have one or two calls-to-action on your homepage, or do you have dozens like this one?

If you’re interested in geeky stuff like this, check out The Design of Everyday Things, by Don Norman. It’s chock-full of examples of products that have positive and negative user experiences.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Analog User Experience: The (Sometimes) Simple Act of Opening a Door appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

A visitor’s user experience needs to be inviting, pleasant, enjoyable.

To begin, let’s start by answering the question …

WHAT IS USER EXPERIENCE (UX)?
UX is the positive, negative or neutral experience  a visitor has on your website.

The user experience often determines whether or not someone chooses your service, your product or signs up for one of your offers.

When the UX is good, a visitor will stick around and even look forward to coming back to your site. In a way, good UX is similar to going to your favorite restaurant where you love the food, the wait staff and the atmosphere.

When someone arrives on your site, it’s important they feel grounded. In other words, a visitor needs to clearly understand where they are, what they can do — and how to do it. Clutter, like multiple navigations, and distractions, like slide shows need to be avoided if at all possible.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD: REAL-WORLD UX EXAMPLES

Wondering what a good UX actually looks like, as well as what to avoid? To follow are a handful of examples …

Examples of a Good User Experience

Dollar Shave Club

Cuppa SEO Web Design

Examples of a Bad User Experience

As you can see, there are major differences in the overall quality of these good and bad UX examples.

Even if you have a bazillion products or services, that doesn’t mean you site needs to look like a junk heap. There’s always a solution that can provide a solid UX. Dollar Shave Club (who offers an abundance of products) is proof of that.

Need help with the UX on your website?
Feel free to get in touch with Cuppa SEO Web Design anytime for a complimentary consultation.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post 10 Principles of Good Web Design, #2: Build Trust appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

When I arrived on the site, I was instantly greeted by a pop-up (shown to the right) that asked me for my email address. In fact, it basically demanded my email address before I could shop the site.

What?

I’ve seen this before, and I’m sure I will see it again, and it’s a big mistake in the world of web design.

Yes, acquiring visitor emails to grow a company’s email list is a pretty simple, standard conversion strategy. But the way this company has implemented this strategy here carries a hefty cost because …

When a company is so blinded by a particular strategy, in this case attaining “new member” emails, they’re forgetting a couple of cornerstone concepts:

1. They were so focused on their conversion strategy that they forgot about their main goal — SELLING.
This company in business to sell product — first and foremost — not accrue email addresses. Having a nice email list can help with long-term relationship building and potential sales, but by restricting access to the site unless a visitor forks over personal information makes it impossible for visitors to shop without making a commitment of some kind — which is bad for business (and for the user experience, as we’ll soon see).

Why not let me shop and then have me sign up to become a member when I’m ready to complete the transaction? Attaining my email at the purchasing stage makes a lot more sense, doesn’t it? After I’ve had a chance to peruse the site, see what kinds of products you have, and place some in my cart? In this case, becoming a member and sharing my email feels a lot more natural.

2. They forgot about providing the very best user experience possible.
The second problem here is this conversion methodology — disallowing me from shopping the site unless I hand over personal information — is a poor user experience for the visitor. User experience is the positive, negative or neutral experience a visitor has online, or in the analog world for that matter. And when a visitor arrives, and is immediately faced with a brick wall to entering the site — it’s not going to make anyone feel comfortable or welcome, and it’s certainly not going to build trust.

What this company is doing breaks a cardinal rule … they’re making it all about themselves and their goals, instead of focusing on their visitors’ needs. Essentially, there’s an initial ask of each and every first-time visitor — a demand for something — without offering anything tangible in return. Visitors can only assume that if they sign up they’ll start receiving potentially unwanted emails from this company — and they don’t even know what’s for sale on the site!

As you can see, when it comes to website conversion, it’s important for an organization to understand what their top goals are, and how they can best connect with their customers and potential customers to attain those goals in an ethical way.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Conversion Faux Pas that Obliterate the User Experience appeared first on Cuppa SEO.