Websites define who and what a company is now more than ever. From social media campaigns, email newsletters, and blogs, consumers connect with their favorite brands through online interaction.

Meeting consumers online, then, is the best way to gain a solid following and increase sales. So, if you’re not online or don’t have a solid website, you could be in trouble. You’ll need a few solid website building tips to get you on your feet.

If you’re looking for tips and tricks for building a great website in 2018, you’re in luck! In this brief article, we’ll go over 11 tips for website building that will be sure to improve your online reputation and status this year.

Website Building Tips for Long-Term Success

1. Settle on a Platform

When you set out to build a website, you need to determine who will be in control of the design and who will be in charge of updates. This person (or people) will make a choice about which platform your website is built on.

The platform (such as WordPress or Wix) has its own set of rules for updating files and making changes. Some platforms come with themes or options with upgraded elements for personalized design.

First, you have to choose a platform. Do a quick Google search on top platforms or discuss your options with partners or other professionals.

2. Choose a User-Friendly Design

If a visitor to your website is unable to locate what they’re looking for within seconds, they’re likely to move on. You have moments to grab visitors’ attention and guide them towards sales.

The navigational bar is a huge help. Here, the visitor can find links to pages discussing services and products and others for contacting or purchasing.

Set your website up in a way that puts the user’s ease as the priority. Keep pages organized and move leads towards the hot spots they came for.

3. Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly Through Responsive Design

Mobile users make up an overwhelming percentage of eCommerce shoppers. Regardless if your product is an online item or not, people are using the internet for information first and foremost.

This means that it’s imperative to develop a mobile-friendly website to reach customers. Many platforms and themes come with an automatic responsive design built in that will adapt from desktop to mobile viewing.

With more and more people catching onto the mobile browsing/shopping trend, businesses stand to lose countless potential customers.

4. Write Resourceful Content

One of the ways Google indexes content is based on how useful the information is to visitors. The crawlers don’t want to pick up on dead links, duplicate pages, and run-on copy with nothing to reveal.

This means to show up higher on search results, your content should serve a distinct purpose. Pages should explain products and services more thoroughly or direct them to an action button.

Blog articles should be relevant to your market and as informative as you can make them.

5. Optimize Copy with SEO Tactics

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a tactic to improve your pages to rank higher on search results. Apart from useful content, web designers can implement keywords and phrases to rank higher.

By including words and phrases that people are searching for, you can appear more often in Google results. There’s more to SEO than that, so make sure to perform your own search on optimizing tactics.

6. Publish Regular Content on Your Blog

The blog is a place to host your own articles and guest articles, which visitors can follow links back to off article shares on social media. It’s a great way to grab people’s attention and direct them back to your website for a sale.

Posting regular content shows Google that you offer resources often. A blog is an essential piece of any professional website today and an excellent way to stay relevant in your market.

7. Use Backlinks to Gain Authority and Increase Ranking

Another great way to rank higher and improve your reputation is through backlinks. When a different website hosts a link back to your website, it has a positive effect (as long as the site is credible) on ranking.

Just make sure their website is relevant to your market.

Consider your professional network; are there any companies willing to host a backlink? Hint: backlinks in content (versus sidebar links) work best.

8. Build Professional Relationships

If you don’t have any professional establishments that could link back to your site, it’s time to build relationships. Professional outings or meetups are great ways to get face-to-face with other like-minded individuals.

Use LinkedIn and other social media to reach out to businesses and make connections from afar. From there, you can work on mutual shares and links to improve ranking and credibility for both sites.

Alternatively, you could consider purchasing backlinks to improve your ranking.

9. Pay Attention to the Competition

Many business owners shy away from the competition’s tactics and work tirelessly to be original and creative. However, you can learn a lot from paying attention to the competition.

Monitoring how well their tactics work to gain attention and rank well will help you figure out how to improve your own. You can mirror their efforts or learn to avoid their pitfalls. Don’t be afraid to observe, especially if it can enhance your business.

10. Audit Your Website on Occasion

A quick Google search will bring up a range of free website auditing tools. From verifying your loading speeds to examining SEO tactics, these tools provide an outside perspective on your website.

Through this, and through A/B testing on landing pages, you can easily determine what is or isn’t working.

11. Implement Video Without Compromising Loading Speeds

Video is a major force right now in online marketing. Connecting with new audiences means getting in on the trend as soon as possible. However, you have to be careful not to slow down your loading speed in the process.

If it takes more than a few seconds to load a single web page, you’re likely to lose the majority of your visitors. Invest in a couple of high-quality videos for your homepage, but don’t overstuff video throughout the website.

More Insider Advice from Backlinks

There are more website building tips out there, but these provide a solid enough foundation for your company to thrive online. Implement many (or all) of these tips to attract and retain loyal customers for long-term success!

Looking for more tips and tricks from the professionals?

Head on over to the Backlinks blog now to learn more about improving your ranking and increasing your returns online!

When applying for a job, the most important thing is to get your name out there. You want your brand to be visible to the companies you are interested in working for. You don’t want to be another name buried in a large pile of resumes. Your best bet at landing a job is if your name is right up on top of everyone else’s, right?

A top ranking in Google works the same way.

Being on the front page of customer Google searches is obviously a good way to generate organic traffic to your website. But the benefits of being a top ranking website in search engines go beyond visibility.

Here are four reasons why being number one in Google is valuable to your business.

Getting The Most Clicks

It’s no secret that being the number one ranking in Google will get your website more clicks. But how much more does it actually get you?

Let’s break it down:

The top five google rankings receive 67.6% of all clicks. The number one slot alone takes home more than two-thirds of these clicks, coming in around 42.25%. The number two and three slots lay claim to 11.94% and 8.47%, respectively.

What if you aren’t even on the front page? All of the second page accounts for less than 4% of all clicks.

Getting more clicks will also feed back into your number one ranking status. If your site is ranked number one and consistently results in conversions, it will remain the number one rank. So as long as your products, services, and content stays the best match for the keywords being searched on Google, your place at the top of the list will continually be reinforced.

In short, being the number one ranking will get you a lot more clicks than any other position combined and ensure that your website maintains a high level of traffic.

Save Money on Pay Per Click Advertising

There is two type of clicks: organic and paid.

While organic clicks are generated by producing quality content that matches a keyword search in Google, Bing, or Yahoo, paid, or PPC, clicks are just that – paid.

A paid ad will get you on the front page. But it’s going to cost you. Moreover, it’ll show up on the front page in a special segment for PPC ads only, distinguishing it from its organic counterparts. Think the small yellow section at the top and right sidebars of Google searches.

PPC campaigns can cost a company anywhere between $10 a month to upwards of $500,000 a month. This can clearly add up fast. Organic clicks, on the other hand, are absolutely free.

This means that two businesses can generate the same amount of revenue using two different types of clicks. However, utilizing a PPC strategy will incur a significant amount more cost than a purely organic campaign.

Create Referral Traffic

We’ve established that when customers see your site in the top ranking in Google, they are more likely to click your website. But what about after that initial click?

Holding the top spot is an excellent opportunity to bolster internal backlinks. This is beneficial in two ways.

First, incorporating backlinks in your website’s content will keep your target audience there longer. Providing a quick and easy way to get additional information in regards to their original search will improve your audience’s perspective on your company and increase the likelihood that they will return or recommend you to a friend.

Second, Google looks as link building as part of its criteria for page rankings. Google uses bots to index a website and determine if your website is well structured and a good resource for prospective target audiences. If so, this is factored into your overall position.

Boost Business Image and Authenticity

When searching for products and services online, people want to see the best options first.

Being the top ranking in Google tells onlookers that you are, in fact, the best of the best. You are number one. And being number one is going to make your business look good.

Most people hold the belief that the top few slots in a Google search will be the most relevant to their query. So the higher you are on this list, the more authentic your company will be viewed by the people searching for your industry offerings.

Buffering business image is another added benefit of ranking well in Google. If your website holds numerous top spots in a given industry or field, then your business will begin to establish a reputation for being a leader in that vertical.

A positive rapport such as this will eventually generate more traffic simply on the basis that your company is a tried-and-true purveyor of quality information, products, and services. Consider it in the same category as building your brand and advertising your product and service offerings.

The Value Of A Top Ranking In Google

Achieving the top spot in Google isn’t easy. Nor is maintaining a spot. But the benefits for efforts directed towards attaining these lucrative slots are well worth it.

Producing high-quality content, choosing excellent keywords, and ensuring that your site alone can meet all the needs of your target customers are the first step towards winning that number one ranking. Once you’ve acquired the slot, the position will practically do the rest of the traffic-generation work for you.

Need help on where to begin? Learn more about how to make your content stand out and bolster your ratings by reaching out here. A stronger standing in Google is only a click away.

 

 

Need someone to design a logo for you, but don’t know how you’ll pay for it?

Hiring a graphic designer can cost anywhere from 50 to 300 dollars an hour.

A lot of people don’t have that kind of money.

But did you know you can just design a logo yourself? You can create your own design for whatever you need your logo for.

If you’re starting a small business you definitely need a logo. With a great design, your business will be more recognizable to everyone.

Research shows that even 3-year-olds can recognize businesses by their logo!

Maybe you don’t have a small business but are starting a non-profit. Perhaps you just want a unique letterhead.

Lots of people need a personal or professional logo these days.

You might think that you aren’t creative enough to design a logo. Maybe you are, but you don’t have any of the computer software.

If you buy all the equipment, it ends up costing the same as hiring a designer.

It turns out, you don’t need talent or software to create an eye-catching logo.

You can make your own logo and forget about hiring a designer. A free logo maker will do all the work for you.

Now you can take that money you saved and spend it on something else.

Need more convincing?

Lots of people immediately think to hire someone when they need a logo. However, here are 5 reasons why you shouldn’t hire someone to design a logo for you.

1. There’s not much freedom to change things when you hire someone to design a logo for you

Huge businesses change their logos all the time.

Why shouldn’t they? What is hip and in style always changes.

Companies themselves are always growing and changing.

Hopefully, yours will too!

The difference between their big corporation and your small business? They have an unlimited budget.

If you don’t have a lot of cash you will only have one shot to get the perfect logo.

That’s a big gamble!

What if you can’t make up your mind on what colors best represent your brand? The color is one of the most important parts of a logo. It has to be perfect.

There are so many fonts to choose from, too. What if you regret the one you chose six months from now?

Without the money to go back to a logo designer, then your logo is like a tattoo.

You’re stuck with it.

Not if you design a logo yourself. Then everything is in your hands. You can make all the logos you want, whenever the inspiration hits.

Say you have an online store with company merchandise. You can create all different designs for hats, t-shirts, and mugs.

You can tailor the logo for sweatshirts for adults, and bibs for babies.

If you’re presenting at an industry trade show, you can have a few different logos for all your different signage and pamphlets.

It’s all up to you and your imagination. You don’t have to limit yourself based on your budget.

2. When you don’t like the final product, you still have to pay the graphic designer

You might think a logo designer will keep working until you are happy.

Unfortunately, that is only true if you have a huge budget.

Graphic designers will jump through hoops if the price is right.

If you don’t have the money to spare, they will only work so much.

The cost to design a logo includes how many times they’ll fix what you don’t like.

Once you’ve hit the limit, that’s it. You’re stuck with it.

No matter how unhappy you are, you still have to pay the agreed upon price.

There are no negotiations after the work has been done.

At the end of the process, you could be out hundreds of dollars. Maybe even thousands.

With nothing to show for it.

It’s just one more risk you take whenever you hire a logo designer.

When you blow your logo design budget, you’ll have no choice but to do it yourself.

You might as well save the money in the first place and use a free logo maker.

That way you can keep working on it until it’s perfect.

3. If you don’t want to compromise on the design of your logo, you might bump heads with the designer

When you hire a designer, you aren’t hiring a mind reader.

You can explain what you want in detail. It still won’t look exactly as it does in your head.

There’s more to keep in mind if you’re very particular:

When you hire a designer, you are also hiring an artist.

Artists have lots of opinions on what they think their work should look like.

They won’t be shy about telling you their thoughts. Which is fine, if you have no vision for your logo.

However, if you know exactly what you want, you might bump heads.

It causes problems if your logo designer doesn’t agree with your ideas.

They may be a great graphic designer, but they didn’t go to marketing school.

They sometimes think they know what is best for your logo because they are the “expert.”

But you are the expert when it comes to what is best for your company.

If they think you’re wrong, it will be hard to get them to do exactly what you want.

That means you will constantly have to send the design back for edits.

Even if you eventually get the perfect logo, the process will be a headache.

And, again, if at the end you aren’t happy with the product, you still have to pay.

It’s just one more reason why you shouldn’t hire someone to design your logo.

4. When you find a logo you like, a designer won’t recreate that for you

When you hire someone to design a logo for you, it’s not like seeing a hairdresser.

You can’t bring them a picture of a logo you like and say, “I want that style.”

You’d think whatever the client wants the client gets. That’s not the case.

Like we said before, the designer considers themselves an artist.

It’s not like you’re asking them to completely copy it or anything. You just want them to do something similar.

That probably won’t matter.

They will want to “wow” you with something completely original. Recreating another design isn’t any fun for them.

Maybe you will love their completely one-of-a-kind work.

Another possibility is that you will hate it. How annoying is that?

You knew what you wanted the whole time, and they wouldn’t give it to you.

You might as well just design a logo yourself since you’re already inspired.

A vision is half the battle of creating a design.

All you have to do from there is use a free logo generator to make your vision real.

5. You should save money where you can

Small businesses and organizations take a lot of money to get up and running.

Research shows that the average cost can be upwards of $30,000.

There are all the bills that you can’t compromise on.

A florist shop has to have electricity. An in-home daycare center needs to have snacks and toys.

Then there are all the unexpected costs that come up.

When an oven in your bakery breaks down, you either fix it or close up shop.

You should find ways to cut corners.

Then you’ll be able to save money for the surprise disasters and monthly bills.

Of course, a logo is something you need to have.

It is also something you don’t need to pay for.

It’s possible that you have the money to hire a logo designer right now.

Then after writing the check to your graphic designer, your catering van breaks down.

You’ll wish you had that extra few hundred dollars lying around.

Maybe you don’t even have a small business.

You just need a logo for your personal website or blog.

In that case, you’re not even using your logo for profit. It’s silly to sink cash into hiring someone to design a logo if you’re never going to make that money back.

It wasn’t always an option to design a logo for yourself. Now with some great technology, it’s really easy.

You might as well just save your money where you can!

Are you considering making your own logo?

As you’ve read, there are a lot of great reasons to design a logo yourself.

Luckily, because of free logo generators, there is no risk to trying it out.

Check out our Online Logo Maker and see what we’re about.

Still not feeling confident that you can figure out how to make your own logo?

We have a tutorial to show you all the tips and tricks. It’s easier than you think!

You might really like what you come up with!

Have you ever tried to design a logo for yourself?

What was your experience like?

Please let us know in the comments below! We would love to hear how you liked it!