A Fresh Look

2016-11-01T06:22:00.001-07:00

Web Designers Have to Pull Teeth

I love everything about my job.

That was a lie.

There's one part of my job that I do not enjoy. It is not fun. It is the one thing I dread.

It's helping my clients provide/write the content for their website.

Getting the written web content from a client is like pulling teeth. Do dentists dread pulling teeth? Maybe they love it. I don't know.

It is very hard for web designers to get the content for a website from their client. I'm just being honest. Usually the client feels the same way about the content part of the website. They are too busy with other things in their business to take the time out of their schedule and write verbiage for their website.

Unless you are a professional writer, writing is probably not something that you do very often. It takes time and can be tedious. And it requires grammar. And spelling.

While writing and pulling teeth are not fun, here are a few ideas to make writing content for your website a little easier.

1. Examine your competition

Notice I did not say "Copy your competition". You want to stand out from your competition, and sound different. But if you're stuck in your writing, looking at what other people have said will help you. It may even give you an idea of what you DON'T want to talk about.

2. Write a practice draft

A lot of times people are afraid of writing and have a hard time getting started. Try just writing something with no intention of actually using it. Tell yourself you will throw it away as soon as you write it. Maybe you end up liking it and keeping it? Or maybe it's just a good start for when you're actually writing for real.

3. Make lists

Writing for a website shouldn't be blocks of paragraphs. Lists are the way to go. They are easier for the web user to scan quickly, which is what the web is all about.

Make lists of things your company is good at, lists of services you offer, lists of whatever you can think of. It may not need much if any explanation.

4. Ask your web designer for help

Many web designers have a lot of experience in writing content for websites. They may not know a lot about your business, but if you can provide them with your lists from #3, they may be able to take it from there.

Fresh Look Web Design often helps our clients with writing the content for their website. Sometimes if we have to do a lot of writing we will charge for it, and sometimes it's just a little editing and we do not charge. The benefit of finishing the website is incentive enough for us that we are motivated to help you!

Why You Need a Mobile-Friendly Website

2016-05-28T06:59:00.002-07:00

We all know that smartphones are on the rise. More and more people are searching through their phones and tablets. But how important is it to make sure your website is mobile-friendly?

It is actually VERY important to make sure your website has been optimized for mobile devices. Consider these 2 facts:

1. According to www.pewinternet.org, the most recent research says that 34% of cell phone users go online mostly with their cell phones, as opposed to using other devices like a desktop or laptop computer.

2. Google, the biggest player by far of the search engines, has said that they reward websites that have a mobile-friendly website when it comes to search engine ranking. In other words, if you don't have a mobile-friendly website, you will not be as high on the search engine rankings as you could.

It's easy to explain #1. We all know that people are relying more and more on smartphones and tablets.

But most people don't know about #2, Google rewarding mobile-friendly websites. It is very important to keep Google has happy as possible regarding your search engine optimization. That's what we will focus on here.

How do I know if my website is "mobile-friendly", according to Google?

Fortunately, Google has made it very easy to tell if your website has passed the test. They provide a free tool to check - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly

Just copy/paste your web address into the box, and Google will let you know if your website is mobile-friendly. They check if the text is too small, are links too close together, and is the mobile viewport set.

What if my website fails the test?

The good news is that it is fairly inexpensive to make a website mobile-friendly enough to pass Google's test, and get the SEO benefit. At Fresh Look we employ two different strategies, we will either create a mobile-only version of a website that is optimized, or we will create a different template for the website that smartphone users are directed to. Both ways are inexpensive, but effective in making your website user friendly as well as more optimized for the search engines.

The bottom line is that both human users and the search engines want to see a optimized mobile website. Check your phone to make sure that your website is easy to use, and check it at Google's mobile test link - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly.

Let us know if you need any help creating a mobile friendly website at info@freshlookwebdesign.com or call us at 757-778-8973.

How Do I Make My Important Information Stand Out?

2015-02-28T11:30:00.000-08:00

Most websites hold a LOT of information. It's not always easy to separate what is most important with what is not. If you could only tell your web visitors one thing, what would it be? Do you know what that is?

And really it's not just one thing, but maybe two or three or more. But think about it for a minute: What is the most important thing you want your users to see?

For Fresh Look Web Design, it's really a combination of two things. We want our users to see our Website Portfolio, and we want them to contact us - either by call or our contact form.

There are lots of other things we want them to do also, but those two are the most important to us.

Once you know what's most important, we come to the title of this article. How do we make that important information stand out on our website?

We have 3 ways we like to do it.

1. In the regular navigation of the website

All your pages should be in the main navigation of your website. Put your important page where the rest of your pages are - usually in the menu across the top of the page. And your important page should not be a drop down item that appears underneath another category - it should be it's own category.

2. In a large graphic near the top of your home page

This large graphic is often referred to as a slider. Especially if it is part of a slideshow that "slides" back and forth between a couple different images.

Make sure that this graphic has a strong call-to-action statement that refers to your important page.

Also make sure that it links to a page that has the information that you want them to see.

3. Smaller buttons on the side or bottom of your website

A lot of websites will have a "rightmenu" or "leftmenu" on their website. On this side part of the website, you will often find some links, maybe the company's contact info, maybe a calendar or social media icons.

It also happens to be a great place to put a good call-to-action button which leads to your important information. Since it's on a side menu bar it should be a smaller than the slider image, but it's still important.

On the page you're on right now, you'll see the 3 ways users can get to our Portfolio page. We have a link in the top menu - "Portfolio", we have the large blue graphic across the top, and we have the yellow button on the right.

Remember, repetition is the key. You're not going to get in trouble for putting three links on your website that all go to the same information. You WANT your users to go there, so make sure they go there.

If you have any design questions about your website, ask us! We will be happy to lend you our expertise. Check out some of our articles to get more great ideas for your business website.

How to Write a Great Meta Description

2015-02-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

If you don't know what a meta description is, here is a basic non-technical definition:

The meta description tag is a brief, one or two sentence introduction to each individual webpage on a website. Web users won't see it when looking at the website, but it appears on the search engine results page.

Example - I went to Google and searched "how to write great website content" (a search phrase that one of my articles happens to be ranked #1 for):

As you can see, the highlighted part is the meta description. It's what users see under each link in the search engine results page.

We also talked about the meta description briefly in our article, Easy SEO Checklist.

How many meta description tags should I have?

You should have one unique meta description tag for every page on your website. Because each page is different, Google expects to see different meta descriptions for each page.

You can use the same verbiage for all your pages, however to keep Google and your users happy, we recommend tailoring each tag for each different page so that they're unique to that page.

What should I put in my meta description tag?

A good meta description sounds like a sales pitch. Not corny or over the top, but it entices the reader to click on the link. It needs to be very readable, short, and to the point.

You also want your meta description to stand out from the rest. Put a good call to action statement, or say something to make your users curious. Use punctuation or even limited ALL CAPS to draw the users eye.

How long should it be?

It should be around 155 characters long. Any more than that and Google may cut it off. If you want to get technical, Google actually measures how long your description is in pixels not characters. But you're going to want to keep it fairly short anyway, so 155 characters is a good number to shoot for.

Here's a good tool to check to see if your meta description is the right length - www.seomofo.com/snippet-optimizer.html

Does the meta description actually help my Google rank?

Not directly. Google has said that the meta description is not factored into their algorithms. However, if users are clicking on your page because you have a great meta description, then Google will take notice of that. So it does help, just indirectly.

How do I actually add meta tags to my website?

Your web developer can easily help you with this, but if you're editing your own website with Joomla or WordPress or something similar, there are a lot of great plugins that you can download to your site. Here are a couple:

Joomla:

WordPress:

What about keywords?

It's good to put a couple keywords in the meta description if possible. Let's look at our example again:

I typed "how to write great website content" into Google and this is what showed up. Notice how the actual words that I typed into Google is bolded in the highlighted meta description. That helps it stand out a little more. This is why I suggest that if you can, include a couple keywords in your meta description.

Don't stuff your meta description with too many keywords. Writing for users should be your main focus. But a couple keywords in the meta description may encourage users that your page is relevant to what they are looking for.

Google isn't using my meta description

Get this - Google may or may not choose to use your meta description. They may pick out verbiage from the main page content that they think is more relevant to the users search. Unfortunately there's nothing you can do about it, other than make sure you follow our guidelines to writing a good meta description.

Being on the first page of Google is a great accomplishment. But writing a solid, readable, well crafted meta description will actually encourage users to click on your link. Take the time to create a good meta description and watch your website traffic increase.

How Many Pages Should My Website Have?

2014-11-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

One common question we hear from clients is "how many pages should my website have?". While there is no simple answer, here are some tips we give to small business owners and nonprofits regarding how much content to have on their website.

The Two Audiences

Before we get into the details, we first have to understand that your website has two very different audiences that you're writing for.

1. Human visitors (potential customers, etc)
2. Search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc)

Both audiences are important. Human visitors are more important, but the search engines should not be ignored. We will look at each audience, and then compile a sample site map of what pages you might have on your website.

Human visitors like it simple

For human visitors we want to keep the website simple, uncluttered, and easy to use. So to a certain extent, less is more. Say what you need to say, and put the information in easy to read lists, headlines, short paragraphs.

Sample pages that we often recommend are:

Home
About Us
Services (or Products, whichever applies)
Events
Photo Gallery
Get Involved (for nonprofits usually, with things like Donate and Volunteer listed)
Testimonials
Our History (sometimes About Us is more of an Our History page, sometimes both are needed)
Contact Us

There are obviously lots more pages that could be included depending on the organization and what it offers. These are just some of the more common ones.

But this list is IDEALLY much smaller than what you should put on your website. Because of search engines.

Search engines want as much content as possible

Do you want your website to rank well with Google and other search engines? Give them lots of content. 5 or 6 pages usually isn't enough to make Google take notice, and 1 or 2 paragraphs per page is only the bare minimum.

In addition to the core pages for your human users mentioned above, we recommend the following pages

Make sub-categories for your Services page. Instead of just having a Home Remodeling page, add a Kitchen Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling, Sunrooms, etc.
Why Choose Us?
Who We Serve
Articles/Blog

The Article/Blog section is very helpful. We cover it in depth in our article The Importance of Article Writing. In a nutshell, if you want Google to really take notice, you have to consistently add lots of good content to your website. A blog or article section is one of the best and easiest ways to do that.

Of course, we're adding lots of good keywords to these pages, which is the whole point. These pages are created specifically for search engines. If a human visitor visits it, that's fine but not the goal.

Organizing Your Pages

We have compiled a fairly long list of pages by now. To make things easy for your human visitors, these pages need to be organized in a hover menu. A hover menu is an intuitive way to help your visitors find what they're looking for. You've probably seen them before when you browse the internet:

Sample Site Map

So after looking at both human and search engine visitors and what they are looking for, here is just a sample site map of what your website might have. Obviously this will vary heavily depending on what your business is, but these are the generic pages we suggest.

Home
About Us

Our History
Staff
Why Choose Us
Who We Serve
Testimonials

Services

Service 1 (with keyword)
Service 2 (with keyword)
Service 3 (with keyword)

Events
Photo Gallery
Get Involved

Volunteer
Donate
Join Our Team

Our Blog

List of lots of articles

Directions
Sign up for our Newsletter

Modify this to fit your business, but this is a great start if you're unsure what to put on your website or how many pages you need. Good luck and don't forget to contact us if you need a free consultation.

5 Things You Must Have on Your Website

2014-11-07T11:06:00.002-08:00

A lot of times we spend our time and energy building a website, but we forget the most important things. These 5 things are basic, but they are extremely important to have on your small business or non-profit website.

1. Call to Action

Tell your website visitors what you want them to do. Don't let them come to your website, admire it, and leave without really doing anything. Some options are:

Click here to get started
See our portfolio
Sign up for our newsletter
Call now!
See how we can help you
Buy now!

A lot of times it's a button that they click to go to a new page. Other times it's phone number with "Call Now For a Free Consultation" or something similar. But either way, you want to clearly tell your users what to do.

Check out our article on how to create the perfect Call to Action button.

2. Contact Information

Make sure every page has either an email address, phone number, or both. An address is really helpful as well if it is applicable.

Put it at the top of the page if you can...if not then put it as high up as possible. ESPECIALLY for mobile websites - users are looking for a phone number or address, so make it as easy on them as possible.

We really like to combine #1 and #2 by putting "Call us at 555-5555!" at the top of every page.

3. Words

Seems like a no-brainer right? It's not. A LOT of websites do not have enough words on each page for Google to take notice. Short and sweet is good for your human visitors, but search engines like Google and Yahoo want to see words, and lots of words.

Make sure that you aren't being too brief in your website content. You want to have 3 or 4 paragraphs at least on the majority of your pages, and you want to have more than just 5 or 6 pages. If you're having trouble thinking of what to put on your website, check out How Many Pages Should My Website Have?

4. Whitespace

What is whitespace? It's what people mean when they say that a website is clean and uncluttered. The things on your website - logo, phone number, navigation, headers, slideshows, etc. should not be too close together. There should be padding, or room in between each item.

Check out the image below of USA Construction for a good idea of how much whitespace you need (and it also has a nice call to action statement with phone number at the top)

Click to zoom

5. Contact Form

Whether it's a lead form on every page, or just on your Contact Us page, it's a good idea to include a form on your website.

You don't want to have a lot of required fields if you can help it, or people may not want to fill it out. Ideally, just a name and email address would be required, with a couple other fields available such as Phone Number and a space for the user to write a question.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how to improve your website!

5 Ways to Save Your Company Money

2014-09-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

Here are 5 simple ways to make a dollar last longer and save your company money:

1. Hire an unpaid intern from a local university

Using an intern can be a fantastic way to save both time and money. It may take some time to find a good relationship with a university and to train the intern, but in the long run it will definitely be worth it.

Many universities are looking for local businesses who will offer internships to their students. The student really benefits because they gain real world experience and build a contact with a local business in their field. The business benefits because they get some much needed help with the day-to-day operations.

Fresh Look has greatly benefited from many different interns over the years. We have a partnership with ECPI University, located in Newport News and Virginia Beach Virginia, and we highly recommend the same for any business.

2. Update Your Website Yourself

Updating your website does require strong computer skills as well as time and patience. However it can save a lot of money for your business. Not all websites can be updated by an "amateur", so talk to your web designer to find out how you can update your website. It also helps if they can train you on how to make those updates. Click here to contact Fresh Look Web Design about how you can edit your website.

3. Don't waste money on Yellow page ads

Unless you have strong convictions that this is helping your company, don't spend money on Yellow page ads. They are outdated and it's just not how people search for businesses anymore.

4. Buy your domain through GoDaddy.com

There are a few reasons GoDaddy.com is a good choice for your domain name:

Cost - they're generally pretty cheap. Network Solutions domain names can cost $35, while GoDaddy's are usually closer to $20.

Reputation - despite what you may think about their commercials, when it comes to actual services GoDaddy has a good reputation for customer service. I've always had good experiences, and if something goes wrong, they fix it.

English - GoDaddy's technical support team is easy to work with. No language barrier to make things difficult.

Coupons - there are a lot of promotion codes you can use for GoDaddy's services. Check out http://www.fatwallet.com/GoDaddy-coupons/ or http://www.retailmenot.com/view/godaddy.com to knock a couple more dollars off your domain name.

Cancellation policy - if you renew your domain for multiple years, GoDaddy reduces the price, thus saving you money. If you decide to cancel the domain name before it expires, they refund your money back for the amount of time you didn't use it! So there's no risk in paying for multiple years at once, and it saves you a few bucks.

5. Encourage customers to not use their credit card

You have to be careful with this one, because whatever is most convenient for the customer is typically what you want to do. Credit cards are a great way to get paid because it's immediate and doesn't give the customer time to change their mind. It's important to close the sale, and credit cards make that happen right away.

However if you can do it right, encouraging customers to use other means of payment can really add up your savings, especially on large sales. You don't want to risk losing the customer of course, but a lot of people (especially other small business owners) can really relate to the "evil" credit card fee, and are willing to help you avoid it.

Do you have any good ideas about how to save a small business money? Let us know at info@freshlookwebdesign.com.

How to Optimize the Title Tag of Website

2014-04-14T20:32:00.001-07:00

Want to be on the first page of Google? Impossible without an optimized title tag. Read on to learn how to optimize your website's title tag.

What is the Title Tag exactly?

The title is what you see in your browser at the very top of the screen. It should contains 2 parts.

The name of the page
The name of the organization

A lot of times the title tag does not include both parts. Always include the name of the page, plus the name of the organization, often separated by a dash or a vertical line. For example:

How to Optimize the Title Tag of Website | Fresh Look Web Design

If you look at the top of your browser right now, you should see that title for this page.

What should I put for the name of the page?

The name of the page is usually a "keyword phrase". A keyword phrase is what a web user types into Google when they search for something.

For example, let's say that you were looking for how to optimize your website's title tag. You might go to Google and type "how to optimize the title tag of website".

Now let's say Fresh Look Web Design wanted you to find our website. That keyword phrase above is what I should put as the name of the page. "How to Optimize the Title Tag of Website". See the connection?

How do I know what keyword phrase to use?

This can be be hard to know for sure, and the best way to find out is by doing your research. But what we recommend is checking out some of your competitors. See what they have in their title tag. It's possible that they have it wrong, but you will get some good ideas of what to possibly use.

Another important suggestion is to include a locality in the title. On our services page, we have "Web Design in Hampton Roads | Fresh Look Web Design" as our title. It helps focus the search query so that you're being a little more specific in who you're targeting.

How long can my title tag be?

The general rule is that your title tag should be 70 characters or less. However, as of this writing, Google has also said that it looks at the pixel width of the title. So for example, letters like "m" and "w" are wider than letters like "i" or "t". Our recommendation is to stay within 65 - 70 characters, and then check your page on Google to see how it looks.

Another new thing Google is doing with their titles is instead of truncating them like they used to do, they will sometimes use a different title that they like better. So whereas they used to just cut off your title if it was too long, now they may just use something entirely different. And that title they choose may or may not be very user friendly.

Long story short - stay within 70 characters, and check your page on Google to make sure that your title fits, and looks good.

We hope this article has been helpful! Check out some of our other SEO articles below, or contact us if you have any questions.

What do I put on my website?

2013-12-17T13:23:00.003-08:00

Coming up with good content for your website can be difficult. If you're a small business, you may not have a marketing person on staff to take care of it for you, and if you're a marketing person it still can be tricky!

Here are some tips and ideas of good things to put on your website:

1. Blog or Article section

Let's cut straight to the chase. A blog or article section on your website is one of the best and least often used tools for web design. What does a blog do? Well you can read more about it in our article, Why you NEED a blog on your website, but the short answer is that it can greatly help your search engine optimization. It takes time and effort to write the articles, but the results will be worth it.

2. Contact Info at top

Many people visiting a website are just looking for a way to contact you. Depending on your business it may be an address, phone number, or email. Whatever you decide on, it's important to display it in a prominent area of your website, often in the banner at the top.

3. Lead form

A lead form is a nifty way to let users contact you straight from the website. Users enter their name, phone, email, etc (or whatever else you want them to type in) and you receive an email with the info. A client of ours, Extra Storage, located in Gloucester VA, has a lead form on their home page (as well as contact info at the top of their site). Click here to see their website.

4. Specials or Coupons

One way to attract people to visit your website periodically is to offer online-only specials, or web specials. In other words, the only way to get the coupon is to go to their website. This is useful for a new website, where customers may not be used to going online to check out the business.

If you have a online storefront, you can incorporate your coupons directly with the shopping cart. If you don't have a shopping cart on your website, no problem! Just advertise your specials online, or have a printable PDF document that customers can bring in to your store when they purchase from you.

Tommy Garner Air Conditioning & Heating, located in Newport News VA, utilizes a coupon right on their home page. Click here to see their website.

5. Photo Gallery

Pictures can REALLY help out your business. "A picture paints a thousand words" is a good phrase to remember. Particularly if you're into any kind of custom designed product, food service, or in the tourism industry, a good photo gallery or slideshow of pictures will really sell your product and services to your visitors.

Another client of ours, SR Design in Virginia Beach VA, utilizes a good photo gallery of their products on their website. Their slideshow is a series of thumbnails which you can click to enlarge. Click here to see their website.

6. Hours of Operation

A simple yet easy to forget item to include on your website is your business hours. They often go on your Contact page, but can also go on your About Us page or in a permanent place on the left or right menu.

7. Testimonials

Customer reviews are very helpful! Get a few of your clients to leave you some feedback and post it to your website. It will encourage others to use your services!

8. Directions

Depending on the technical expertise of your typical customer, a Directions page can be helpful. Many people just need an address to plug into their GPS, however some people aren't comfortable with that and would rather follow directions.

Here are a few other ideas:

Events page
Site map (for larger websites)
In the News section - for if your organization has been in the news
Printable material
Employment applications

Let us know if you are interested in a free consultation. Call us at 757-778-8973 or email at info@freshlookwebdesign.com. Good luck!

What is "Above the Fold"?

2013-08-21T09:38:00.000-07:00

Above the Fold is one of those terms you may have heard but not really defined properly. Simple put, above the fold in web design is what can be viewed on a monitor without scrolling down with the mouse. It's also known as above the crease or above the scroll.

Originally, it was a term for newspapers. When a newspaper sat in the stand, it was folded in half, so whatever appeared in the upper half could be viewed by just walking by and not even picking up. So editors put what they thought were the most interesting stories "above the fold". Advertisers also wanted their ads in this space since their ads were much more likely to be viewed.

This concept applies directly to web design. We want our most important information to be viewed without scrolling down on the page. Typically this would include:

Logo
Phone number
Address
Email address
Contact form, or "lead" form
Banner ad
Important intro text

Not all of these things can necessarily all fit above the fold. There is limited space. Your website may not even have all these things. But fit what you can without it looking cluttered.

You can still use "Under the Fold"

Some people think that everything should be above the fold. This isn't true. It's good to have a lot of additional information, even if it doesn't fit on one screen shot. Just try to get your most vital information above the fold like your phone number and important call to action buttons.

Different computers have different "folds"

Not all monitors will show the same amount of information on one screen. Different monitors have different resolutions and sizes. Test your website by looking at it from many different computers, including smaller laptops.

Above the fold is a big deal in search engine ranking

Everyone wants to be #1 ranked on Google right? Well if you can't get #1, then at least go for above the fold. Appearing in the top 5 or 6 on Google makes a huge difference when you are above the fold.

Make sure you're applying this principle! Identify the 3 or 4 most important parts of your website. Make sure that they are above the fold. If necessary you can rearrange things. Good luck!

How to easily post video to your website

2013-08-19T18:08:00.000-07:00

One of the best ways to capture your users attention on your website is with video. A video will draw your users in, show them what you have to offer, and encourage them to look further into your website. But how do you put a video on your website?

It's super easy! Just follow our 2 steps below:

Step 1: Upload Video to YouTube

Sign in to Youtube (or create an account if you don't already have a Google account).
Click "Upload" at the top of the screen
If it's your first video you've uploaded, you may have to fill out some basic information, such as your name and birthday. Soon you should get to the screen you see below, or something very similar:

Click on the arrow, and then select the video file on your computer you want to upload. This tutorial is assuming that you already have a video file ready to use.
It may take some time for the video to fully upload, but once it's done you should be able to view your video on YouTube!

Step 2: Place Your YouTube Video on Your Website

Go to your video on YouTube
Click Share
Click Embed
Copy and paste the code that shows up into your webpage. You can also change the size of the video if you want. See below:

Your video will appear wherever you place that bit of code! Good luck!

10 Reasons Why You Should Hire Us

2013-08-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our first unashamed plug of Fresh Look Web Design! If you're looking for a few tips to enhance your website, please read a different article because this one is not for you! :)

Here are the top 10 reasons why you should get a website with Fresh Look Web Design:

1. We do good work.

We do great work! Our websites are beautiful, user friendly, and are found on search engines. You can check out our portfolio right here to check out some of our websites. Want to see more? Contact us and we will give you more to look at.

2. We are reasonably priced.

Other than doing good work this is the most important thing to look for right? We can cater to any budget and the amount of website that you get for your dollar is better than anything else we've ever seen. Do cheaper websites exist? Sure, but they aren't effective. Are there slicker, fancier websites out there? Sure, but say goodbye to a whole lot of dead presidents.

3. We understand how search engines work.

Creating a website is half the battle. Making it appear well in the search engines is the other half. You want someone on your side who knows how to make both parts work together.

4. We do updates in half hour increments.

Most web development companies charge by the hour when it comes to updating your website. We charge by the half hour. It usually takes around half an hour anyway for most updates, so why charge for work we're not doing?

5. We're here to stay.

The NUMBER ONE complaint we hear from people about other web developers is that their web developer disappeared and they can't contact them anymore to update the website. Whether they were a freelancer, or a company that went out of business; they're gone and now no one can access the website.

You don't have to worry about that with us! We're extremely accessible and have no plans of dropping the ball on anyone.

6. We make quick updates when you need us.

Any time you need a change to your website it's usually hours, sometimes minutes before we get it done, not days.

7. We can do weekend updates.

Got an emergency that needs to go on the website Saturday evening? We can do it...although a heads up during the week will make us like you more :)

8. We're local (to Virginia)

Ideally you want to be able to sit down and meet with your web designer. We do a few long distance projects when necessary, but meet with 95% of our clients at some point during the process. It just works better that way.

9. Our goal is to help your business succeed both long term and short term.

We want our clients to stay with us, and the best way to do that is help them any way we can. A client is a much better revenue source over 10 years of good pricing versus 1 year of being over charged. We really want your business to grow and succeed.

10. We have very good English

There's no language barrier here when you need to call us for technical support. If you need help on your website, it's nice to have someone who you can understand!

Please contact us if you want to talk about how we can help you with your website!

Every Client Says This...

2013-07-25T09:10:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the things our clients often say to us when meeting about building a website. If you're a Fresh Look client, you know you've said at least one of these!

Client: "I can't explain to you what I want, but I will know it when I see it."

Frequency: Very common

Answer: We create a design, and if it isn't quite right on the first try then we make it different until the client says, "Aha! Yes!"

Client: How do I get my website to be #1 in Google?

Frequency: Common

Answer: There is certainly no guarantee of being #1, but there are a lot of good ways to improve your ranking. First of all, there's our article dedicated to just that topic, our Easy SEO Checklist. There's also our SEO package, which costs $650 and will definitely improve your ranking significantly. You can also do a lot on your own - write lots of good content.

Client: "What is hosting, and do I need it?"

Frequency: Common

Answer: Hosting is required for every website to be connected to the internet, and we can provide it for you.

Client: "I know what I want. I'm going to tell you exactly how I want my website to look."

Frequency: Asked occasionally

Answer: We'd prefer that our clients have a general idea, yet also be open to suggestions. Give us a concept that you like, and leave the details of how to make it work to us.

Client: "Here's the content for my website. The only problem is I don't know where it should go."

Frequency: Almost universal

Typical result: We are able to organize content in a way that is attractive and intuitive. That's primarily our job, to make the website user friendly. Don't worry if you don't know beforehand how to arrange your content, we will help you out.

Client: "Here's 8,239 pictures, can you figure out what to do with them?"

Frequency: EVERY PROJECT! (ok not really)

Answer: While we may go blind from going through your pictures, the website will be MUCH better because of it. The more quality pictures you give us, the better your website will be.

Client: "I think I need a Godaddy whadya call it domain something..."

Frequency: Common

Answer: A domain name is the first step to getting a website. It's what comes after the www at the top of your screen when you're on a website, and can be .com, .net, .org, etc. It costs around $20/year and we'll give you ideas on what domain name to use.

Client: "I need this project done really fast. 1 week max."

Frequency: Occasionally

Answer: A website can EITHER be good, rushed, or reasonably priced. We are able to make websites that are both good and reasonably priced, but we cannot add in rushed. We CAN do it rushed, but it will no longer be reasonably priced, and it will always be better if it is not rushed.

Why isn't my brand new website on Google?

2013-01-28T08:22:00.001-08:00

Launching a new website is a very exciting endeavor. Once it's "live" for the world to see we want everyone to find it! However it comes as a surprise to some that their website doesn't appear on Google right away. What's going on?!?!

I'm glad we launched our brand new website yesterday, but I can't find it on Google?

The answer is that Google just hasn't found it...yet. They're looking for it. It can actually take search engines up to 3 months to find a brand new website.

Why does it take so long?

It doesn't always take that long. Google sends out "crawlers" on a schedule. Let's say they send them out on Jan 1, April 1, July 1, etc. If your website gets launched on Jan 8, then you have to wait until April 1. But if you launch your website on March 25, you only have a few days to wait until April 1.

Is there anything I can do to make my website get found sooner?

If your website has inbound links (links from other websites leading to your website) than Google is likely to find it sooner. What happens is the crawlers follow that link and it leads them to your website which they index.

Do I need to submit my website to the search engines?

No. A lot of people say that you need to do this, but it is unnecessary. The search engines find everything on their own.

Why is it that I can find my website if I search for the name of my company, but not if I search for my services?

Even though Google has found you, they rank your website below that of your competitors. Why is that? There are a few reasons:

Your competitors domain name (www.whatever.com) may be older, and more trustworthy because it's been around longer.
Your competitors website may have more inbound links than your brand new website. Inbound links have a strong influence on your Google ranking. It may take some time for you to build up inbound links.
It's possible your competitors have put more time into their ranking. Showing up on the first page of Google takes a lot of work and a lot of time. It doesn't happen overnight.

We invite you to read our Easy SEO Checklist to learn some tips on how to improve the ranking of your website.

We also have a SEO service that is very popular with our clients. Please visit our website or call us at 757-646-7908 to find out how we can help you.

Why you NEED a blog on your website

2012-10-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Over the past month or so, we have had several clients come to us seeking advice about "How can I get found on the search engines?" Our answer has consistently been - "Start a blog".

Why is a blog so important? There are several reasons why blogs are great, but really we want to focus on the most important one, which answers the question of how to get found by Google:

Blogs are the most cost effective way to improve the search engine rankings of your website.

First of all, let's clear up what we mean by a "blog". Basically a blog is just an informational website or part of a website consisting of different posts, or articles.

Usually a blog allows for users to leave comments, and that's a great feature but for our purposes not completely necessary (although, again - a very nice feature).

Content is King

Secondly, let me explain what the number one ingredient is to making your website appear on the first page of Google: content. The text, verbiage, wording, words, etc. on your page is what Google craves. If the words on your webpage are crumbs, Google is like a hungry puppy dog searching the floor for every dropped morsel it can find. If your website doesn't have very many crumbs...Google will quickly move on to the NEXT website.

The reason we recommend blogs so often is that they provide that content for search engines like Google. Particularly if you are a small business or non-profit, you probably need more content for your website. Many of our clients have 5 - 10 page websites, yet their competition on the internet has websites with 30 - 50 pages. Not exactly an even playing field when it comes to who is going to appear higher up on Google.

So what do you put on your blog? The simple answer is anything remotely related to your industry.

Let's think about what the goal is first and then work backwards. We want to feed Google words. More precisely, we want to feed Google keywords that relate to our business. If you do web design, lawn care, or hair cuts you want to feed Google the keywords "web design", "lawn care", and "hair cuts", respectively.

Any topic you can think of that will naturally include those keywords is what you're looking for.

It will take time. Even if you only write once every other month, you're still adding valuable content to your website. But for many small businesses it's the best and most cost effective way to improve your search engine rankings.

I launched my website...now what?

2012-08-07T21:21:00.001-07:00

Creating a brand new website for your business is a big accomplishment. There are countless hours that go into designing, coding, reviewing, testing, and publishing a website. However once the website is launched, what do you do next?

Here are the top 7 things you should remember to do AFTER your website is launched.

1. Promote it

It's really easy to forget to promote your website. Make sure to put your web address on business cards, brochures, signs, etc. Also send out an email blast and Facebook post announcing that you have a new website and people should check it out.

It's also a good idea to give people another reason to go to your website, such as offering web-only specials or coupons. People love to get a good deal, and once they've visited your site it will be easier to get them to return.

2. Check your statistics.

Early on, you can expect to see small amounts of traffic to your brand new website. Make sure that you check your website hits about once a week or so, especially early on, just to see what pages are getting hits, where your visitors are coming from, how long they're staying on each page, etc.

You'll also want to make adjustments based on your findings. For example, if your "About Us" page is getting a fair amount of visitors, but no one is staying on the page for more than a couple seconds, maybe you should consider sprucing up the content to make it more interesting, or adding some pictures.

3. See where you land in the search engine rankings.

Where your website appears in the search engines is extremely important. Everyone wants to be on the top of page #1, but that isn't easy.

There are a large number of keywords that you can type into Google to find your website. For example, an easy one is your company name: "Fresh Look Web Design". Or you can do a more general search: "web design". Or general term + geographic location: "hampton virginia web design".

We recommend checking your position in the search engine rankings every couple months at the least, to see where you appear. This is particularly important if you are actively trying to improve your position in the search engines. Which leads us to our next topic...

4. Improve your search engine ranking.

This could be a whole series of articles by itself, but we'll direct you to our SEO Checklist if you want to get some general ideas for improving your ranking. The idea we want to get across in this article however is that it's an ongoing process that continues long after you launch your site. You have to work at it, because your competition is doing the same.

5. Add new information

Sometimes it's hard to remember to post things to your website. Think about all the information you share on a regular basis: event information, newsletters, special offers, board meeting announcements, etc. As you go through the day to day business, make sure to put this information on the website.

6. Remove outdated information

This is so easy to forget, however it's important to do. You do not want outdated information on your website. Sometimes it helps to have an archive section where you intentionally put old info, and that's fine. But you don't want your users to see you promoting an event that is 2 months old...it just doesn't reflect too well on your business. Try to remove outdated information promptly.

7. Be patient

A website is not like a microwave that will just zap your business into success. It's more like a really great recipe that will in time produce a delicious meal - if you put forth the effort. Be patient while you're making your website work...keep up with it, update it, check the status and try new things. In time it will turn into something delicious!

Should I bother setting up a Facebook business page?

2012-08-02T13:20:00.003-07:00

Is it worth it to create a Facebook page for your business? My answer is always yes. Here's why:

1. Risk vs. reward. What's the risk? 1 or 2 hours of your time that ends up being wasted. What's the reward? 1 or 2 hours of your time that gets a few referrals.

2. I say 1 or 2 hours...to really have an awesome Facebook page you should spend more time on it to maximize it's potential. But you don't have to. Maybe you just want to put in a small investment of time to get it going...that's totally fine.

3. Even if you get no referrals, having a Facebook business page makes you look legit. If you're a start-up this is especially important.

4. If you don't have a website yet you absolutely need a Facebook page. The point is that you need SOMETHING on the internet for people to find information on you. A website is the best way, but a Facebook page is a good (cheap) way also.

5. You're not just reaching your friends, but also the friends of your friends. Your reach can get pretty big if you can get people to interact with your page.

6. Even if you also have a website, a Facebook business page will help let people know what's going on with your business. Lots of people spend lots of time on Facebook.

7. Your website and Facebook page can work together. Check out our article on Facebook's "Like" button.

8. If you have the right business, a Facebook page can be HUGE. Some good "Facebook page friendly" industries are:

photography (people love to share pictures on Facebook)
dining (people love to talk about food on Facebook)
tourism
anything with a cause - politics, breast cancer, etc. Stuff that people like to talk about or share stories

Hopefully we've convinced you that a Facebook page has the potential to help your business. Let us know if you need help getting started. Good luck!

3 Keys to Effective Websites

2012-02-05T11:12:00.000-08:00

Anyone who has a website wants to make it as effective as possible. This means generating new business, keeping current business, selling products, etc. So how do we make our websites effective?

1. Professional, stunning, beautiful design

A great looking website will add loads of credibility to your business. On the flip side, there's nothing worse than a shoddy, homemade looking website which reflects poorly on the business. Your website has to LOOK really good.

2. User friendly design

Not only must your website look really good, but it needs to be easy to use. "Intuitive" is always the word that we use in the industry. Here's some important things your website should do when someone pulls it up for the first time:

Load quickly

Make it easy for the user to know what to do through call to action buttons

VERY easy to contact business (either by phone number at the top or lead form on home page)

No errors in functionality or content

Easy to click from page to page

Even if your website looks great, if users get frustrated by it then it won't be effective.

3. Search engine friendly

Search engines offer nearly unlimited potential to your website traffic. A site we launched recently is now receiving almost 90% of it's total traffic through the search engines. If your website isn't getting any traffic through search engines than something needs to be fixed.

There are a lot of things you can do to get more search engine traffic even without hiring a professional, providing you can edit your own website. The most important way (and least technical), is adding more content to your website. So if your business is lawn care, write a page that talks about how to get your grass to grow in the fall. Search engines love that type of thing.

A few other ways to make your website more search engine friendly are:

Using text instead of images

Having descriptive title tags

Linking to your site from social media

Putting important keywords in your main header (h1) tag

If you want to read about some more SEO tips in detail you can read our Easy SEO Checklist article.

We hope these 3 Keys to Effective Websites help you and your business. The important thing is to remember to evaluate your website regularly on all three aspects. It takes worth but it's worth it!

8 Reasons why "Do-it-Yourself" websites fail

2011-11-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

If you are like many small business owners and are thinking about how to cut costs while bringing in new business, you may be considering a "do-it-yourself" website. You can save hundreds, even thousands right? The truth is that you may end up hurting your business more than helping it if you don't hire a professional.

Editor's note - we don't want to imply that you should NEVER build your own website...but just consider the risks! There are some people who are patient and skilled enough to make a do-it-yourself website a success. More power to them!

Here's our top 8 reasons why homemade, do-it-yourself websites don't work:

1. You don't have the time

You may be surprised to find out that a lot of people don't even have the time to get a website developed by a professional. There is a lot of work that goes into a website, even if you're not the one physically creating the design or working with the code. You have to decide what should go on the website, what's important, and usually you have to write the content or provide pictures for the designer.

2. Do-it-yourself websites can look generic

Do-it-yourself websites are often called "cookie cutter" websites. There is only so much you can do with the available templates, and your website probably looks like someone else's.

3. There will be bugs

There are so many little details that go into a website that even professionally designed websites can sometimes have bugs that need fixing. Many do-it-yourself sites do not display correctly in every browser because a novice may not do proper testing. And even if a novice was aware of errors, they probably don't have the time or knowledge to troubleshoot them.

4. Your website should look professional

Many people I talk to are proud of their homemade website - and rightfully so! It's very hard and tedious to use any do-it-yourself website software, whether you are a professional or not.

The problem is that the goal of a novice is to make a working website, not a beautiful, interactive, professional looking website. A website should impress your potential customers, and convince them to hire or purchase from you.

5. Do-it-yourself websites are slow to load

Let's ignore the fact that a do-it-yourself website is probably on a slow server. The bigger concern here is that when novices post pictures, they often use the raw file straight from the camera. Then the website software resizes how it looks - but the file itself is still huge. So when someone tries to open the website it takes a long time to open that huge file.

6. You need room for growth

Most do-it-yourself websites have a limit on the number of pages or links you can have, and it's usually very few. So what often happens is that each page becomes really long with way too much verbiage, which is not a good web design practice.

7. Google is crucial

A do-it-yourself website isn't as easy to find on search engines like Google and Yahoo as a professional one is. There are many reasons for this - bad, inefficient coding, title and meta tags, errors in HTML, etc. Probably the biggest one however is that a professional just has the know-how to make a website more successful on the search engines.

8. A website professional has experience

A good web designer brings more to the table than just technical know-how. They should have good ideas of how to make your business a success on the web. At Fresh Look Web Design, we consider ourselves internet marketing consultants as well as web designers. Not only do we create a website for our clients, but we help them USE it effectively.

We do have starter packages for very low cost for anyone looking to get a basic informational website. Get a free price quote or contact us at 757-646-7908 if you are interested.

7 Simple Ways to Build Your Mailing List

2011-11-22T08:26:00.001-08:00

One of the most cost effective marketing you can do for your organization is sending out an email newsletter. We've talked about the value of an email newsletter in our article, 8 Reasons to Create an e-Newsletter with Constant Contact. Now we're going to go over some simple, easy ways to encourage people to sign up for your email newsletter.

1. Make it easy to sign up

Make it as simple and easy as possible to sign up. Don't require that people enter in more information than is necessary. Name and email address should be enough. The more information you get is good, but people are less likely to take the time to sign up.

2. Let people know what they're getting

Inform your customers what they get with your email newsletter. Make it sound helpful, inviting, simple and non-threatening.

Coupons
Helpful tips
Industry news
What's New

If you are a small business and typically have close relationships with your customers, you can also add more of a personal flair by informing them of what's going on with your company. New clients, new employees, awards, etc.

3. Create a signup form on your website

Adding a little signup box to your website is a very effective way to add people to your mailing list. It can be as big and obvious or as small and subtle as you want. It all just depends on how important it is that people sign up, and what other things on your website need to stand out as well.

One way to do it to put the form directly on every page. This is helpful because it requires less clicking for the user. And if you use something like Constant Contact, you can create it so that when they sign up they are automatically added to your list...no extra work on your part.

Examples of email sign up forms:

4. Offer incentives to sign up

Give your customers a coupon or small gift just for signing up! You will encourage people who are on the brink of signing up, and the gift can have some good promotional material in it as well.

5. Create a Join My List button on Facebook

If you use Constant Contact, and many people do, you can create a button on your Facebook page which lets people sign up for your email newsletter. It connects with Constant Contact, and is just another way to let users sign up!

See an example of how it works

6. Add a check box that lets users sign up from your Contact Us form

Similar to #3 where you are directly asking users to specifically sign up for your email newsletter, you can also add a field on your Contact Us form which is more subtle.

The point is to ask for users to sign up at every opportunity. This one is very helpful at getting good leads for your business since your customers are already taking the time to contact you.

7. Encourage existing subscribers to forward your newsletter to friends

Most programs such as Mail Chimp or Constant Contact let you create an easy to use "Forward this email" button on your newsletter. People love to forward emails (unfortunately) but in this case use it to your advantage.

Sending out an email newsletter really is one of the easiest and cost effective marketing tool you can incorporate. Use these 7 tips to build your mailing list and reap the benefits!

Don't let your website get cluttered

2011-10-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest website hurdles to overcome is that of a super busy website. The information is great, and it's there, but it's not easy to take it all in. Here are some common comments from websites that are too cluttered:

my website is too busy
it's too hard to find information
there's just too much stuff
I don't know what to click on

We know the information is important, and it has to be there. So how can you present it better? Here's some ideas that we think will help you.

1. Create a Site Map

When your website has lots of information to present, it's very helpful to organize it by categories. Here is an example site map:

Home
About Us
- Our Company
- Our History
- Our Staff
- Testimonials
Services
Press Room
Contact Us

Put your content into categories to make it easier to find with a site map.

2. Clean up your home page

The tendency for every website is to post every bit of new information to your home page. This is OK, as long as your remove the not-so-new information from the home page at the same time.

It's actually very helpful to keep your home page updated with "What's New" type of things. It's just when you forget to take them down when they're not new anymore is when you run into problems.

3. Keep pictures organized

Nothing will make a website look more jumbled than having random, huge images scattered randomly on your website. Make sure all your pictures follow these guidelines:

Resize them. Make sure they're big enough to view, but still fairly small. Allow users to click them to view larger version if necessary.
Use photo galleries. If you want to use large photos then keep them organized in a photo gallery where people can view them if they want to.
Add some extra padding in between your images and the text or the end of the screen. Having things too close together makes it look cluttered.
Wrap text around pictures. It looks good to fill up any empty space on your website with text. See the example below:

The best way to align your images with text wrapped around.

The not so good way to align your images.

4. Ask people what they think

Since we know our own websites inside and out, we often don't have the correct point of view. Ask people who don't look at your website very much what they think. Is it easy to navigate? Is it intuitive? Or do they look at it blankly not really knowing what to do, click on, or read?

Hopefully these tips help you keep your website usable and not too cluttered. Remember that your users want to find things easily and quickly. Good luck!

Use Facebook's "Like" Button

2011-10-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

The word has gotten out that having a Facebook page can help your business or non-profit. But what a lot of people do not know is how to really utilize your Facebook page with your website.

One way to do that is with Facebook's "Like" button. Putting a "Like" button on your website is a very good idea for people who want to better use Facebook and their website for their business.

Here's why you should do it:

1. It's easy to set up

Facebook even gives you the code! Go here - https://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/, fill out the form and copy and paste the code into your website. If you need help with it, feel free to ask us.

2. It's easy for your users

At the top of each page on our website is a "Like" button. All our users have to do is click that button and they're done! If they're not logged in to Facebook, they will be prompted to do so.

3. It spreads the word about your website

When someone clicks the "Like" button, it shows up on their News Feed. So their friends will see that they "Like" your website, and your website will get more traffic!

4. You can track it

Facebook has a page called "Insights" which gives you key stats about who "Likes" your webpage! Go to http://www.facebook.com/insights/ and follow the onscreen instructions to view the Facebook stats for your website. Here's a very helpful step by step guide if you have trouble - http://www.wisnet.com/blog/using-facebook-insights-to-track-the-like-button-box-and-shares/.

Note that you may not see demographic information on your fans if you don't have very many fans yet. Facebook will hide that until you get a certain number of fans. But once you reach that point, then you can see very valuable information such as gender, age, or where they live.

If you have a Facebook page, we definitely recommend adding the "Like" button to it!

Is your website optimized for smart phones?

2011-09-28T08:44:00.001-07:00

So many people today are browsing the internet on smart phones. Even if you don't use one, there are a lot of people out there visiting your website on their phone. In this article we will talk about a great way to optimize your website for smart phones.

Mobile Only Website

The best way to optimize for smart phones is to create a mobile only website. If you don't use a smart phone, you probably haven't seen a mobile only website before.

Example: If you go to www.bestbuy.com on a smart phone you see a completely different website than if you go to www.bestbuy.com on a regular computer.

Why is this? Best Buy has created a "mobile only" version of their website. The website can detect if the user is on a smart phone, and when that happens, they direct them to the mobile only version.

What are some features of mobile only versions?

Smaller
Fast loading
Fewer pictures and graphics
Only displays the most important information
Contact info and directions very prominent
Link back to the full version of website (for users who just really want to see the regular website)

What if I don't have a mobile only version?

Most likely, your website is still accessible to a smart phone. It just won't be quite as easy for them to use your website, and there may be errors. There are a few things that you may have on your website that may cause problems for mobile users:

Flash
Errors in CSS or HTML
Very wide design
Frames
Nested tables

How to test your website

Here's a link to a mobile simulator - www.opera.com/mobile/demo. If you go there, you can enter in a website address to see how it will look like on the Opera browser for smart phones. For testing purposes, try entering in our website, www.freshlookwebdesign.com. You should get forwarded to our mobile only version.

Most people we talk to are not familiar with the idea of having a mobile only version of their website. However it's a very nice, inexpensive feature to have. If you don't add it now, then it will just become even more important to do so in the coming years as more people get smart phones. We expect it will eventually become standard for every website to have a mobile only version.

Have a question? Call or email at 757-646-7908 or info@freshlookwebdesign.com.

10 Questions to ask before hiring a web designer

2011-06-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

"I want a website, but I don't really know what to ask you...can you help me?"

This is the question we hear the most when talking to people who need a website. This article is designed to help some of you who aren't sure which questions to ask.

Here are the 10 most important questions to ask:

1. Can I see your portfolio?

First thing to do is see their work. If a web design firm has websites that you like, then you're off to a good start.

2. What will my fee be after the first year?

Most design firms will charge a fee up front to create the website, and then either a monthly or yearly fee for hosting and maintenance.

Make sure you ask what the estimated cost will be going forward...the initial fee may be reasonable but if you can't sustain it after that then find something cheaper.

3. Can I update my own website?

If you plan on making updates to your website on a regular basis, then it's usually a good idea to do it yourself rather than paying your web designer to do it for you. It can really save you a lot of money down the road.

Read our article here about how to easily update your website.

4. How are we going to make conversions?

This is very often overlooked but extremely important. A conversion happens when a visitor comes to your website and does...whatever it is you want them to do.

For our website, when a person contacts us by phone or email that's a conversion.

So a good answer to this question would be something like:

We'll put your phone number at the top of the site so people can easily see it
We will feature your upcoming events in a "What's New" rotating slideshow that is visually appealing right on the home page
We will make sure that we're pushing people to download your brochure
We will have your featured products that are on sale on every page so that people can see them no matter where they are in the website

There are just a few ideas, but a good website doesn't just sit there...it's a revenue generator. Make sure your web designer understands that and has some ideas on how to make it really work.

Read our article about how to create a good call to action button.

5. Can we link my Facebook and Twitter accounts to my website?

For some reason we've talked to a couple people who said their web designer wouldn't do this for them. Or that it would cost a lot of money.

For the record, it takes approximately 20 seconds to link your Facebook or Twitter page to your website.

6. Will my website be Search Engine Friendly?

If a web designer looks at you blankly when you ask this question...run away.

A good response would be something about:

Using CSS instead of Tables
Using text instead of images
HTML valid code
Good title tags
Adding keywords to the text in key places

Your site doesn't necessarily have to be optimized for the search engines, but it should still be search engine friendly. In other words, you may not be on the first page of Google, but at least you'll get some traffic from Google.

Read our article about how to improve your SEO.

7. Can my website grow if my company grows?

Say your company offers a new product or service. Is your website built in such a way where it can add new buttons without having to redesign the whole thing for a large fee?

Make sure that your website has room to grow.

8. What happens if you disappear?

Everyone's worst nightmare is that their developer will just leave one day and you won't be able to access your website.

If this is a concern, just make sure you ask for a backup copy of the website once every few months or something. It's a legitimate question to ask especially if your web designer is a freelancer. Freelancers are great because of the low cost, but there is risk involved.

9. Are you using a template to design my website?

Some designers use templates when creating a website because it saves them time. Rather than create a unique, custom design they just throw your information into a template.

The problem with templates is that your website may look the same as someone else's. And that's not a good thing.

If you know that's what you're getting and you're paying less, then that's OK. But if you are paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a template, then you're probably paying too much.

10. Will you give my website a Fresh Look?

Studies show that unless the term "fresh look" actually appears in a companies name...ok just kidding. In all seriousness, there are a lot of good web design firms out there, just make sure you ask the right questions when getting started. Good luck!

Easy SEO Checklist

2011-05-21T12:55:00.000-07:00

One of the most often asked questions is on the subject of SEO or "Search Engine Optimization". Simply put - how can my website get found on the search engines?

There are a lot of ways to improve your search engine ranking...more than we can put in one little blog post. But here is a helpful little guide for beginners so that you can have the basics down.

1. Use your words

Search engines love content. The more words you have on the page, the more likely the search engines will like your page. This has to be balanced with keeping your website succinct and easy to read for your users, but make sure you have good content on each page describing your products, services, etc.

2. Have a good title tag

Look at the very top of this page - see where it says "Fresh Look Web Design | Easy SEO Checklist"? That is the title tag.

Essentially what you want to do in your Title Tag is put the name of your business, and a very brief description of what you do.

So for example, a fictitious auto mechanic shop in Chicago called Joe's Professional Auto would have a Title Tag something like this:

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

That way if someone looking for a mechanic in Chicago types "Chicago car repair" into Google...well what do you know, Joe has that exact phrase in his Title Tag.

"Chicago auto mechanic and car repair shop - Joe's Professional Auto"

3. Use text instead of images for links when possible

Search engines can't read what an image says. If possible, use text on a background image instead of just an image. It requires more work and expertise to create that type of link, but in the long run the search engines will thank you.

4. Put physical address on every page

There are indications that Google puts more trust in your site if you include your physical address on every page. It also helps build trust with your customers if they know where you're actually located.

A couple good places to put your address on each page is at the top (http://tidewaterrcd.org/) on a menu on the side (http://www.chincoteaguechamber.com/) or at the bottom (http://www.cross-associates.com/).

5. Link your social media to your website

Every business should at a bare minimum have a Facebook business page. Whether you have just Facebook, or a large number of social media presences, make sure they have a link to your website.

6. Write a good meta description

The meta description tag is a bit of HTML code in the head section of the document. You'll sometimes see the meta description tag in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

What you put in the meta description tag is simply a brief description of your business and maybe some specific information about the page it's on.

Do your best to include a couple good keywords, but make sure it's readable and helpful to your potential visitors. Here's what our meta description says:

Fresh Look Web Design is a full service graphic design and web development company serving Hampton Roads and all of Virginia.

Notice that we not only describe our business, but include some good keywords as well.

7. Put good keywords in your h1 tag

Each page should have a header at the top identifying the page. Search engines specifically look for the h1 tag on your page. It should appear one time and include a keyword if possible.

It's not enough to just have larger, bold text at the top. It specifically needs to be an h1 tag.

8. Use a readable URL

Sometimes when a website is setup in a CMS, the URL's for each page are not search engine friendly. Here's an example of what they might look like:

http://freshlookwebdesign.com/index.cfml?productid=3&categoryid=5 to go/productid/3/categoryid/5

Not very search engine friendly. Instead, it should say something like http://freshlookwebdesign.com/services/small-business-web-design.php

You want to include a good keyword in the URL if possible as well.

Using these tips will go a very long way in making your website search engine friendly. Even if you can't implement all of them, even just a few should improve your position in the search engines and bring more visitors to your website.