5 Signs of Efficient Landing Page Design – Create Scent Route to Draw Visitors on Your Website

The efficient landing page is offering all what user wants in an easy and effective manner. Landing page is the most crucial point in the whole website development process and thus there is a domineering demand of landing page optimization services. Even a little negligence toward the landing page appearance, content and functionality can make you count a big loss in your business. If you are confused whether your website is efficient or not, check this 4 signs:

Sense of Simplicity is Important

It is truly said that simplicity is the height of sophistication. Landing page loaded with flash and animation doesn’t succeed in attracting users. In fact, meaningless graphics or over-loaded graphics can make it inconvenient for users’ eyes to find and read the desired information. Design a landing page that is appealing enough to lock user’s attention at the very first glance. Most of the visitors decide the credibility of business owner based on the landing page content and design thus landing page design should be simple, faultless and Flauntaneous.

Know Your Niche Market

Before knowing what information you should provide, it is important for you to identify your niche market. The expectation and requirement of people vary from country to country and on a cultural basis. It is not possible for you to meet the needs and expectations of all users. Knowing your niche market, you can satisfy your targeted audience at best. To do so, you need to first analyze their needs. You can find out what are the services offered by your competitors and how.

Information that User Wants

Most of the visitors click on the landing page of your website and then quickly scan the other pages. Providing all important information on landing page is one of the best ways to engage visitors. These days, SEO companies are using information or content as a tool to increase page ranking of your website. Increasing your page ranking is quite necessary in the world of cut-throat competition but at the same time make sure that your web-page is not stuffed with keywords only.

Smooth Functionality

It is imperative to design powerful landing page with superior functionality. A landing page with fabulous design and effective content is in vain if the functionality of the website is not good. The features and functions should be arranged such that the flow of web-page seems smooth and easy to use. Do not load the page with all the features on earth. Also, there are plenty of options available for web design and web development. Select the appropriate technology based on your business needs, you can also take help of the experts.

“Contacts US” Form Is Must!

Effectual landing page can help you make your audience realize your business values. Your landing page must incorporate “contact us” or “request a quote” form so that users can contact you for any query they have. However, providing a contact us form isn’t enough for generating trust or reliability in customers, you need to answer their queries as soon as possible without fail. Understand the value of your client’s time and answer them immediately with all detail information. Do not provide them any unnecessary information.

To sum up, your landing page design should offer uniformity and continuousness. The page design should be call to action and must not own messy content. All operations on your web-page should run at efficacious flow.

By: Ellis

5 Signs of Efficient Landing Page Design – Create Scent Route to Draw Visitors on Your Website is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

5 Classic Mistakes of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search engine optimisation (SEO) matters most when you are running a website.  Whether you want to do the job of optimising your own website or hire a specialist to do it for you, you need to bear in mind that it is a delicate and a continuous process that often involved many pitfalls along the way.  To maintain optimum status all the time you need to constantly monitor and manage your site to agree to the terms of the major search engines like Yahoo and Google.

Search engines have search algorithms that are kept secret and periodically changed or updated to provide the most effective method of search, validation, and indexing of website pages.  This too becomes part of the job – to be always on the lookout for shifts and changes in search engine behavior that would affect your site’s ranking.  Search engines have become so clever these days that it can quickly spot mistakes and inconsistencies and easily downgrade your site’s rank.  Nobody is immune to SEO mistakes, both newbies and experts alike albeit newbies are the most vulnerable.  Presented below are the five classic mistakes of search engine optimisation for your caveat.

1. Missing the Importance of Good Quality Content

Beware of dubious search engine optimisation techniques practiced by unscrupulous SEO consultants who resort to shortcuts, manipulations, and tricks to defeat the good purpose of the search engines – indexing good, relevant, and unique contents.  As a result good quality content is completely disregarded while the focus is diverted to search engine manipulation.  This is such a disaster for any visitor who came in looking for a great content reading.  What he discovers is rubbish content instead.

This practice is called “Black Hat” technique a tricky way of instantaneously promoting a website to the top of the search engine ranking using some dirty old tricks including keyword flooding, invisible texts injection, using link farms, spamming DMOZ, use of doorway pages, reciprocal links, etc.  While these practices are noted to indeed increase your website’s rank in the search result, the good privilege is only short lived.  After a while the search engine will find out that you employ unethical practices, effectively violating its rules and policies, and will move to have your site banned.  That will be the end of your website.  So why risk it all?  Give importance to good and unique contents that are relevant to your concept.  Good content reinforces the authority of your site, a good indicator for the search engine to rank your site higher in the search result.

2. Poor Link Building

In the past, search engines placed great emphasis on keywords when conducting a search.  But this method has been severely abused.  Now search engines have changed their criteria for search and are increasingly complex that included a whole range of important aspects.  One aspect for endorsing the authority and importance of your website pages to search terms is how much good quality inbound links you are getting.  These are links coming from other websites to your website.  But it doesn’t stop there.  These links aren’t just ordinary links; they have to be relevant links coming from reputable sites.  The search engine will look into the contents of the linking site and compare if they are relevant to your site’s content, and whether those sites are also getting good quality inbound links.  It also helps if the inbound links are coming from a whole range of sites like from blogs, forums, industry-related, etc. because their links will serve as endorsement of your good content.  So try to focus your link building on good quality inbound links not just making any link and thinking it’s all the same.

Another aspect in linking to help improve your site’s search engine ranking is the presence of good internal links.  Internal links are jumps from one section to another section of the same page or to another page of the same site.  Internal links help establish a sitemap feature useful for navigating your site.  It also help set up the hierarchy of contents which is important indication of good organization.  Finally, it helps extend the ranking power around your website.  This is another reason not to take for granted your link building strategies, manage them and make them count.  Get rid of poor links, replace them with good ones.

3. Loosing SEO Momentum

Thinking that search engine optimisation is something to achieve only once and expecting the high ranking marks to last for eternity is entirely a misconception.  Many businesses fall prey to this notion.  They start out really hot, working hard to achieve their mark.  But once they get their high ranking they cool off, lax their guard, and worst, stop their optimisation campaign and resort to bits and pieces SEO approach with paid links here, directory submissions there, etc.

It is important not to lose your zeal in your entire campaign, to be fully committed and to keep raising your efforts, to lay out a permanent strategy and keep progressing because the playing field keep on changing.  The moment you cool off, another will grab the perfect position you occupy.  Search engine optimisation campaigns are meant to be on-going for as long as the business lives. It is an endless process of researching, evaluating, comparing, measuring metrics in order to maintain that desirable spot in the search result.

4. Missing Your Niche Keyword

Keyword is an important factor in finding the right content in a search.  When a user types in a word or a phrase in the search box that word or phrase becomes the bases of the search in collecting contents related to the search terms or the keywords typed.  Understanding clearly your market will guide you to find the appropriate keywords for your niche.  Sometimes an online business will choose keywords they think were most appropriate to hit their market, but later surprised how badly they aim their target because the general customers use more common and mundane terms to make their search.

5. Over the Top Flash, Scripts, and Graphics

Many websites today are built almost entirely out of flash, scripts, and graphics that are, well, no doubt, very appealing and interesting to watch and will really attract visitors when they find the site.  But that’s just it.  If they find the site!  In human eyes, those sites are fun to watch but for the search engine it is completely meaningless and will therefore rank the website’s page very lowly.  Why is this so?  You see, search engines rely on text contents to crawl website pages on and rank them according to their relevance.  What is there to crawl when the site is all flash and graphics with very little to no content at all?  You have to balance your site to incorporate enough relevant text contents with visually stimulating flash, scripts, and graphics to optimise for the search engines.

This article presents just five classic mistakes that are most common.  In reality there are countless more mistakes committed in SEO all with varying degrees of severity.  What about you? What have you discovered lately?  Leave us your comment.

Author: Carmichael Pineda

5 Classic Mistakes of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

How to make an anchor link within an email or web page using FCK editor

This is a handy trick either within an email or a long web page. You can place a link to a section of the page such as chapters or sections.

Open up your editor, the first step you will need to do is add an Anchor at the destination location of the link. This is like a bookmark within the page that you will refer to when creating a link.

To insert an anchor in the text place your cursor before the text or section you want to the anchor to refer and press  button on the toolbar. A popup window called “Anchor Properties” will appear: 

• Anchor Name: specifies the anchor name. You will be referring to this name while linking to the anchor.
  

Press “OK” and the anchor will appear in your document.

You won’t see the anchor but it will be placed in the code of the page as a reference.

To insert a link to an URL address, anchor or an e.mail press  button on the toolbar. A popup window called “Link” will appear.

• Link Type: specifies the type of link you want to put in the document. You can choose from “URL”, “Link to anchor in the text” or “E-mail”. Depending on which option you will choose different options and bookmarks will appear in the window. We will start from the Link Type: URL.
  

Link to anchor in the text

If you chose Link Type: Link to anchor in the text new options will appear in the Link Info bookmark.

You may select the link to the anchor in two ways.

• By Anchor Name: selects the anchor by name you have previously specified in anchor properties.
  
• By Element Id: selects the anchor by Id.
  

Pressing “OK” will insert the link in your document.

For email you can send a test to yourself or preview your web page to test out the link.

Using these anchors should make your document easier to read.

How to make an anchor link within an email or web page using FCK editor is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

Getting The Most From Your SEO Provider

SEO is one of the most sought after skills on the web that will last for as long as “keyword search” continues to be the key factor in web browsing.  Many pursue careers in search engine optimisation and many are also buying SEO to promote online businesses.  But in spite of its growing market, some clients are still anxious to invest because of the appalling stories they hear from others who give account of their bad experience and how they lost their investment.  The client, of course, thinks badly of the SEO provider.  The provider, on the other hand, criticizes the client for not giving full support and for being mistrustful.

In the discussions that will follow we will be uncovering some very important points to ponder.  Reflecting on ones responsibilities and actively engaging to do ones part will give you the leverage you need in accomplishing your goals.  In order to get the most from your hired SEO provider you should:

Manage SEO with a strategy

As a client, you should teach business goals and models to providers upon buying SEO and keep them in the loop so they will know what to expect.  You should also identify SEO Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that best suit your business objectives.  Discuss the KPIs to providers so that they will be able to come up with a specific set of SEO strategy. KPIs are also a good way to gauge SEO Return of Investment (ROI).  Appoint an SEO liaison, a special person tasked to monitor your KPIs and one who is in frequent contact with SEO stakeholders to deal with them and communicate developments back to your office.  Having boosted SEO, you should always protect it and keep it going, never holding up.  Stalling your momentum will decrease search engine ranking, a perfect opportunity for your competitors to exploit.

Anticipate delays and be responsive when given SEO advice

When receiving advice from your SEO provider, you must be reasonably prompt to reach a decision and give out response so as not to waste precious time that otherwise would be spent for other important works.  Anticipating the negative effect of delays when conducting communications is all important.  Send the right person to stand as representative in meetings where critical recommendations from providers are discussed.  Fast tracking the cycle from review, to approval, to implementation will ensure action that is right on schedule and gives early notice if there are likely problems ahead.  You have to be proactive and responsive when buying SEO.  After all you need to protect your investment.

Quick to inform SEO provider for opportunities to exploit

For a chance to leverage your online business exercise your SEO wisely.  One way to do this is to let your provider be aware of your upcoming projects and activities that require their knowledge so that they can take action at the early stage of the process.  Exploiting opportunities at the right moment will guarantee a perfect finish free from any setbacks and delays.  Setbacks will place you behind your competitors and this is not something you’re prepared to tolerate especially when you are buying SEO at a premium.  To cite an example, a client is building a new website and fails to inform the provider of this new project until the final stage when the site is almost ready to be deployed.  Just imagine the setback, the amount of overhauling work that has to be done, to get the new site optimized for the search engines.

Cultivate TRUST

Trust makes life easier.  For a client who knows how to cultivate trust, success is never far away.   Giving your provider the freedom to work uninterrupted by too many petty justifications for every recommendation made and letting him exercise instead his expertise with full discretion will result to a swift and clean strategy implementation with a positive outcome.  To allow your provider to exercise all his duties freely as an SEO expert will save you and your provider time, effort, and money.   Trust promotes efficient use of available resources that pushes the project forward.  Mistrust exhausts precious resources and puts the project to a stall.  When buying SEO, establish trust to efficiently manage your resources that are crucial to achieving your goals.  It’s not going to be easy nevertheless, it is necessary.

Defend necessary alterations to website for Search Engine Optimisation

Corporate policies that hinder SEO sometimes need to be re-evaluated and examined by the corporate management and safely changed to give way for SEO to work.  To make this possible you have to defend this purpose and work together with your SEO provider to help bring the case to top management and reason that a policy change is necessary for the SEO to become effective.  Alterations to corporate websites may be structural or content-based.  Many companies imposed their strict policy on the area of link building, which also happens to be one of the most important areas for SEO purposes.

Be Open-minded and willing to learn

When buying SEO, you should be willing to accept and learn important concepts right from the start because it is from those concepts that your provider will build and continuously promote the level of SEO sophistication to ensure that the competitive edge of your company stays sharp.  If this is missed from the beginning then your provider will have a hard time convincing you to support for more advanced techniques such as link building using social media.

Author: Carmichael Pineda

Getting The Most From Your SEO Provider is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

WordPress Multi-Site:  What it Can Do for Your Online Business

If you are running a huge online blogging business, which by the way the internet is rife at the moment; WordPress has an innovative way to simplify the management of your blog network.  The experts of this blogging CMS cooked up something that actually makes your blogging network easier to handle.  The newest improvement is called WordPress Multi-Site, a feature of WordPress that, once enabled, will allow multiple websites to be handled from a single installation.

WordPress Multi-Site, What is it?

There used to be two WordPress versions you can download separately.  These are:

• Standard WordPress – the most common WordPress installantion; and
• WordPress Multi User (WPMU) – specializes large networks with multiple users

The emergence of WordPress 3.0 reveals a new and streamlined CMS.  The two separate products were now merged together.  It’s basically like a standard WordPress being fitted with the key features of WordPress MU.  The core feature of WordPress 3.x incorporates networking functions named “Multi-Site”.

WordPress Multi-site equips website owners with the ability to create and manage their own network of independent websites out from one WordPress installation.  A website owner has full control whether to allow or disallow each user to generate his own branch of the network (website).  Even though each independent site performs autonomously, configurations in the main site will permit sharing of information for the entire network.  Shared information includes settings (themes and plug-ins), contents, and codes.

Each network site does not hold a separate directory on the server making it a virtual site.  However, each independent site can hold a separate directory where a user may upload all his media files.  Additionally, database tables for individual sites are also separated.

When all configuration work is finished, the newly installed WordPress is now ready to host the desired network of websites, each competent of holding its own individual content, users, themes and plug-ins.  The beauty of Multi-Site is found in its efficiency to manage and maintain from a single location.

Ideal Situations to Use Multi-Site Feature of WordPress

WordPress Multi-Site is ideal for:

• Online freelancers who are offering hosting and maintenance services to clients
• Organizations aiming to streamline and consolidate management of multiple web presence
• Large publishers running with many different departments and are looking for ways to isolate role of every department
• Huge blog networks who operate thousands of separate websites

Centralized management of many websites in one WordPress installation simplifies upgrading of each website in a whole bunch of websites.

What are the Benefits of Using WPMS?

WordPress Multi-Site saves your online business time and money both in management and maintenance.  Enumerated below are the benefits.

• allow users to access a single website or multiple websites from the same account
• allow users to manage multiple sites from one account and profile
• can be manipulated to detach one website’s information from others
• can be manage to allow sharing of information among websites within the network
• allows common usage of theme and plug-in functions across the entire network through parent-child relationship
• efficient use of time when updating multiple sites resulting to a remarkable diminution of overhead and maintenance cost
• easy dissemination of WordPress customizations by making use of plug-ins from a central control spreading down to every individual site

If you are looking for a complete reference on how to install and configure Multi-Site, then go to WordPress Codex.  There you’ll find rich and detailed instructions to help you achieve your end.

Wrong Reasons / Situations to Apply WPMS

If you think you need to configure your WordPress installation for a Multi-Site function, think twice.  Examine your reasons if they qualify in the first place for a Multi-Site implementation scheme.  Otherwise, you’d be wasting your time implementing this special feature for totally inappropriate reasons.

Following are the wrong reasons to implement Multi-Site:

• If the intended purpose is only to post for categories.  WordPress has a built-in “categories” feature, no need to configure for Multi-Site.
• If you practice uniformity for all your sites in all aspects (i.e. same look and sense).  This situation can be achieved using categories, Custom Post Types, and tags.
• If you require users for different sites, but they remain completely incognizant of the network’s presence.
• If the sites hosted are too small.
• If your users require javascript embeds into their posts.  This is a restriction that you, being the super admin, need to impose to protect your network from dangerous hacks.
• If you have similar posts for each site.  This could give Google search engine the wrong impression that identical content found in different sites is the work of spamming.  Google could slap you with a penalty and downgrade your site ranking, after all Multi-Site is meant to be unique and discrete.

Author: Carmichael Pineda

WordPress Multi-Site: What It Can Do for Your Online Business is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

Customise Your Website Design for Optimum Results

The importance of a website for any type of business or organisation is now undisputable. With the mad rush of businesses towards the worldwide web, sticking to the ‘traditional’ way could be disastrous for your business. Think about building a website to create an online presence for your business. Think about reaching more people who are interested in your products or services anytime anywhere. And best of all, think about getting customised website design for optimum results.

Customised or ready-to-use? Ready-to-use website templates are easier to put together and, of course, cheaper. However, you should think twice before going for speed and cost rather than quality and better results. The thing about ready-to-use website templates is that a load of other businesses will be using it too (and even your competitors!).  Remember, your website will bring your business on the bigger world of internet marketing and building your image is very important.

Customise to maximise. Here is a website’s primary goal: “Attract viewers, entice buyers, and generate sales”. It’s really easier said than done for website development need serious consideration. However, it would be a lot easier if you will customise your website design to achieve this goal. A customised website can specifically express your company’s brand and reputation. It can also include features and tools that you particularly need to bring your products and services to your customers.

 Consider these. It is best to choose creative and innovative website developers to help you with your customised website design. First, think about the kind of image you would like to portray. From this you can conceptualise on what colour to use on your pages, the font style, size, your logo and the graphics that you will use.  Aside from that, also think about your contents. They should be both informative and interesting as to appeal to readers and entice them to read more and avail of your products and services. And most importantly, there comes navigation. A proper and user-friendly navigation could work wonders for your website. Always remember that viewers tend to be impatient online and would immediately switch to other websites if your navigation does not get them to their desired pages fast.

Building a customised website is an important thing to consider in website development. An efficiently built customised website can bring in more viewers, convert them into buyers and ultimately generate sales. To help you achieve this goal, think about hiring a team of expert customised website developers. And with proper coordination and planning, you will soon have your very own customised website up and running and, of course, giving you optimum results.

Customise Your Website Design for Optimum Results is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

Seven Useful Web Development Tips & Tools for Cross-Compatibility

Many people consider the web development thing as a piece of cake. However, the fact is many times it becomes a daunting experience. A web designer has to test the web page a number of times after coding with different popular browsers. It is important to check with every browser since they are different in some way or the other. Different web browsers showcase CSS and HTML in different ways. So when you are designing any website, you need to consider on a very important factor generally known as cross browser compatibility. With this you make sure the website you design is displayed in a consistent manner in every web browser. However, this is certainly not an easy task, the following seven useful tips and ideas can help you in the cross browser coding work to show better results.

• Keep the coding simple:  If you use complex kind of HTML or CSS coding, you will for sure invite the browser compatibility issues. Hence when you are at the stage of designing, make sure you keep the layout as simple as possible. Avoid using a number of elements in your markup coding. For instance while creating a menu make sure you avoid using the series of  ”p” elements, rather simply use ‘li’ and ‘ul’ for this task.
• Try always the code validation:  Make sure you use proper validators to check the HTML and the CSS coding before you upload your website. Since if you have any invalid code in it then it will be a tough task to fix them especially when the site is up on the server. You will find a number of validators for both the HTML and CSS validations. Plus you may also find them in a form of plug-ins as in the case of HTML Validator Firefox add-on to test the web pages.
• Avoid the quirks mode of browser:  With the quirks mode you get a duplication of older and faulty kind of version of the browser. This compels the older websites to carry out the task with any new browser without any recoding work on these pages. The quirks mode can complicate things especially when you are creating modern pages as the browser submits something of the older versions

• Employ the CSS reset rules: A majority of browsers carry the default settings regarding the padding and margin around element. These default settings can wreck havoc in the other CSS rules. This can be avoided by making the CSS rule consistent across all the web browsers.
  
• Test your site in Firefox:  Designers often test their website at one browser and then head to other. Instead of doing this, you can test your website in just one browser like the Firefox, since this is considered to be best in many ways. And the moment you are satisfied testing over the Firefox, time to try with others like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, and Opera and so on. You may find some issues with IE since you tested your site with Firefox, but it’s better to stick the HTML and CSS coding with the latter choice and then move on to test with the former browser.
• Make IE 8 to work with transparent PNGs: The transparent PNGs are the image files which are performed to get translucency factor along with smooth borders in the background of the site. However, the default setting of IE 8 do not display the transparent PNGs. This is the reason why you need to make IE 8 work with the transparent PNGs.
• Prefer manual coding: To get a good level of browser compatibility, sticking to the idea of manual way of coding of HTML and CSS is always considered to be a better deal. Hence avoid using any kind of software for the coding purpose to get better result.

Cross-Compatibility is always going to remain in debate until and unless everyone in the world start using the very same browser like Firefox. This is certainly not possible, as everyone has its own taste and people for their own reasons still use the dreaded and obsolete browsers like the IE. Hence for designer it’s important to follow a number of ways to get good cross browser compatibility as discussed above.

Guest Blog Post by: Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology and luxury. Beside this she is fond of phones. Recently an article on wireless security attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on electric wheelchair.

Seven Useful Web Development Tips & Tools for Cross-Compatibility is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

9 More Reasons to use Magento Commerce for your eCommerce Web Design

The time when building an online store is very exhaustive and would often cost an arm and a leg is long past. With the introduction of the Magento ecommerce platform, developing a fully functional and customised website has never been easier. More and more people had gone on the move to secure a great website using the Magento platform, making this ecommerce solution the most sought after solution to date. This is really no surprise since the Magento solution comes with great benefits.

1. Open Source – For most website developers, this is the magic word. An open source platform allows developers to fully adapt and customise their codes to the needs of their clients. What’s great with Magento is that it is NOT just any open source platform. It is a highly efficient open source ecommerce platform that makes for the perfect choice among website developers.
2. Create or Upgrade with Ease – Are you building a website for the first time or is thinking of completely upgrading your existing website? Magento can surely work wonders.  Its different features will allow you to make extensive and dramatic changes to your existing website.
3. Stable Structure – In whatever you do, always ask for a secured and stable solution. The same goes true in website development. Always go for a solution that offers a secured and structurally strong platform. You can be at ease with Magento for it is built on a powerful PHP platform, the Zend framework.
4. Optimum Ecommerce Experience – Magento is the ideal online partner for it comes with a powerful suite of ecommerce tools. From analytics reporting, product browsing, payment and to marketing promotion tools, you can all find it in Magento.
5. Manageable Add-ons – The standard Magento version is, in itself, rich in features and ecommerce tools. What’s even better is that you can easily manage add-ons like Google Sitemaps and Google Shopping. It also has a superb extension library where you can get add-ons without downright burning a huge hole in your finances.
6. SEO Friendly – A fantastic website is fully useless if it is not search engine optimisation friendly. Magento helps website developers create SEO friendy URLs, codings and site navigations. This could help your website get into a slot in the most coveted first page of search engine results.
7. Easy Customisation – Magento is a dream-come-true for customised websites. Being an open source platform with rich features to boot, website developers are given a whole array of designs and features they can fully customise according to their client’s needs.
8. Magento Expertise – You will never run out of website developers that are Magento experts. The Magento Community is full of Magento experts who can give you great services that is within your budget.
9. Convenient Support – Magento now has a great following that has formed itself into a strong and active community. In this community, you can find issues, experiences and great advice from Magento experts.

We specialise in web development using magento so should you need any assistance with your magento website please get in touch.

What are your experiences with magento, please leave your comments below.

9 More Reasons to use Magento Commerce for your eCommerce Web Design is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

5 Rules When Sending Promotional Emails

Sending promotional emails is a fast and effective way for marketing your product or service, provided you manage to gain your target audience’s attention. Internet marketing is incomplete without email marketing. Make sure that your email is engaging and eye-catching. A carefully planned strategy can help you expand your customer base without any significant costs. You may send emails to prospects or existing clients to promote a new product or sell a new product. Another advantage of email marketing is that response rates can be tracked very easily.

1. Make a lead capture page

Make an effective landing or “lead capture page”. The main purpose of such a page is to get as many email subscribers as possible. Your landing page must include a headline, informative content preferably in bullet points and a subscription form. Make sure your landing page is attention-grabbing and is a fast read. Also ensure that the subscription form is simple and to-the-point. You can also get people to subscribe by only submitting their name and email address.

2. Personalize your emails

Make sure that you utilize the option of personalizing your email offered by most service providers. This enables you to add the name of your prospect in the email body and subject line. Personalizing the email increases the probability of your email being opened and viewed. A personalized email also gives the impression of being professional and credible. Your aim should be to make each subscriber feel like you are interacting with him or her on a personal level.

3. Create a mix of promotional and informative content

You need to create a balance between promotional and informative content. Too much information may bore your subscriber. Similarly, too much promotional content may cause your subscriber to think that you don’t take him or her seriously. Keep your content engaging, informative, and promotional. Your subscribers expect to get what they signed up for. Make sure that you live up to that promise otherwise you may lose a lot more than a few subscribers. If you are sending a series of emails, send a couple of informative emails, then send your promotional email. This will help you gain your subscribers’ trust and confidence.

4. Use attention-grabbing subject lines

The first thing that your subscriber is going to notice is the subject line. Make sure that it is relevant, concise, and above all, attention-getting. If you fail to achieve this target, you can be sure that no one is going to click open your promotional email. Your subject line should pique everyone’s interest and ultimately achieve the objective of increasing open rates.

5. Send promotional emails in a timely manner

Timing is an essential element of email marketing. Time your emails correctly. To keep your prospects interested, it is vital that you plan effectively. Too many emails at once may lead to spam complaints while sending fewer than the recommended number of emails may cause your readers to forget you.

Guest Blog Post by:   Richard has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last 3 years. Richard is a Magento specialist.

5 Rules When Sending Promotional Emails is a post from: Web Designer Sydney

Choosing the Right Shopping Cart for Maximum Sales

An essential tool to achieve online success is to get the perfect shopping cart that suits your business needs. Getting stuck with a wrong and ineffective shopping cart can wreck havoc to your sales. Lots of sales opportunities had gone down the drain of more than just one online company because of shopping cart inefficiencies. Sure there’s lots of shopping cart options available in the market such as Zencart, Cubecart, and Magento. But, you need to get one which suits your business needs to a perfect T. Keep your customer needs in mind in choosing the perfect shopping cart for your online business and you will never go wrong.

Customer Convenience

Convenience—this is the main reason why lots of people are now doing their shopping online. Instead of going to shopping centres or stores and take the risk of having to stand in lines, shoppers are finding the ease and comfort online shopping brings. They can now do their shopping at night, during office breaks, and even while travelling the train! However, the downside is that online shoppers tend to be impatient. If your shopping cart is taking forever to load or is a tad too difficult to navigate, you can kiss your sales goodbye. They can easily close the browser and look for another website. Rule No. 1 in choosing your shopping cart, look for a shopping cart that is user-friendly. As much as possible, make shopping in your website simple, fast and convenient.

Customer Security

Take care of your customer’s confidential financial information and you can be sure that they will keep coming back to your online shop. With the many cases of identity theft, online shoppers are now being cautious in giving their financial information online. Put your customers’ data security high up on your priority list. Look for a shopping cart that can give your customers high level of security.

Customer Review and Recommendation

.A great marketing strategy is the word-of-mouth advertising. In the internet world, you can get this through reviews and forums. Choose a shopping cart that allows your customers to give comments or feedback on your products or services. Not only will you learn what your customers have got to say and improve your services, new shoppers also look at reviews first before buying. Look for a shopping cart solution that also gives your customers the option to share or recommend products to their friends and family.

Partner with your professional website development contractor and choose the perfect shopping cart for your online business!

Choosing the Right Shopping Cart for Maximum Sales is a post from: Web Designer Sydney