Consumers these days often interact with a business’s website first, which can set the stage for all future dealings. That’s why website launches are such an important aspect of business success, as a poor first impression is likely to linger in the minds of users. Accordingly, businesses are encouraged to avoid the following mistakes when creating their websites and prepping them for launch.

Mistake #1: Failing to Make Use of New Technology

Websites are ideal customer service hubs since potential customers can access information about your business 24/7. To this end, chatbots are a vital component of customer service, as they can efficiently and effectively answer basic user queries regarding hours of operation, location, and more. Without chatbots, users may struggle to find important information, which can leave your business deprived of a sale.

Mistake #2: Forgetting to Include Important SEO Elements

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves including certain key elements in web design to increase a site’s ranking within search results pages. Good SEO increases visibility, which means more members of your target audience will be exposed to your website and business. Essential SEO elements include:

• Inclusion of a sitemap
• Use of internal links
• Careful keyword selection
• Quality backlinks
• Avoiding duplicate content

These elements must be built into the new website to ensure the best possible user experience.

Mistake #3: Using an Outdated Website Design

Site design is important for two reasons. First, a well-designed website offers a modern look and feel, which boosts confidence in a business. Second, a good design also ensures that the site is easy to navigate. Excessive amounts of text, garish colors, and confusing menus can cause users to click away from a website before they fully understand what your business offers.

Mistake #4: Lacking Calls to Action

As illustrated by the name, calls to action are statements that encourage users to take specific actions. A call to action can entice a user to contact a business directly, make a purchase, or sign up for a weekly newsletter. Calls to action provide clear, understandable instructions to users to ensure they’re fully aware of the next steps. While the volume of visitors to a site can be indicative of success, it won’t matter much if visitors never become actual customers.

Contact SonicSEO.com for Help With Website

With decades of web design experience behind us, SonicSEO.com has helped numerous clients successfully launch new websites. Thanks to our knowledge of SEO, we can help your business reach the top of the search results pages. We also help with app development, social media marketing, and more. Contact us today or call (505) 821-2000 to schedule a consultation.

Understanding the Consumer Buying Process

Most consumers go through a specific process before purchasing a product. This is known as the customer journey, and it involves these steps:

• Recognizing a problem
• Searching for a solution
• Considering alternatives
• Selecting a solution
• Evaluating the solution post-purchase

While most customer buying journeys take the same course, the factors influencing each phase of the journey can vary quite a bit.

What Drives Consumer Behavior?

There are a number of psychological factors that push consumers to make certain decisions:

• Attitudes
• Age
• Socialization
• Perception
• Socioeconomic status
• Culture
• Occupation

Not every marketing campaign has to address every one of these factors to be successful. In order to determine what drives your desired target audience, pay attention to analytics info. This can be information gleaned from past marketing efforts or website/social media analytics. You can also encourage your target audience to share their personal insights through surveys and feedback.

Principles to Apply to Your Marketing Strategy

The following principles can enhance marketing efforts by attracting more consumers and boosting a business’s conversion rate:

• Emotional Marketing – Consumers often respond strongly to emotional appeals. In this case, marketers can focus on one of the primary emotions to induce a consumer to act: happiness, disgust, trust, fear, sadness, surprise, anger, and anticipation.

• Call to Action (CTA) – Calls to action entice consumers to take a specific action. CTAs can prompt a consumer to make a purchase, sign up for an email newsletter, or stop by a physical location.

• Decoy Effect – This strategy entails introducing a third product (the decoy) when a consumer is making a decision between two products. The role of the decoy is to make the target product more attractive and push the consumer to choose it over a competitor.

• Information Gap Theory – Consumers will pursue knowledge to make up any gaps in information when they’re passionate about a subject. Marketers can design content that entices consumers to find information to fill in the gaps, which leads consumers to websites and social media pages.

Marketing That Merges Technical Prowess With User Psychology

You don’t need to have extensive knowledge of psychology to include essential principles in your marketing strategy. By choosing SonicSEO.com, you’ll benefit from our comprehensive SEO and web design knowledge, which incorporate essential marketing principles. Contact us today to learn more.

Your website is the digital representation of your business, so it must offer the right look and function to ensure users remain satisfied. When a website becomes outdated, the experience will suffer, and you may lose customers as a result. Here are some signs that it’s time to revamp your site.

Basic Information Is No Longer Relevant

Has your business recently changed locations? Are your hours of operation different? Perhaps you’ve added new products to your inventory. When the wrong information is presented on your website, users will be unable to make informed decisions about your business. In this case, a customer may be frustrated by the experience and turn to a competitor if they’re constantly dealing with inaccurate information.

Your Website’s “Personality” Is Lacking

Much like people, brands with bold, vibrant personalities tend to get the most attention. When website branding blends into the background, or doesn’t stand out much against the competition, chances are good that consumers will overlook it. In this case, consider the core mission of your business. You can also consider what kind of values you’d like to communicate. These aspects can inform your brand’s personality and make it more impactful.

You Have Lots of Broken Links

Users will also be frustrated if every link on your website leads to a deleted page. This highlights the importance of redirecting links to new pages or deleting links when necessary. While interlinking is beneficial, broken and dead links can cause irritation as a person is trying to navigate your website. In this case, a redesign is definitely in order.

Your Website Has an Outdated Look

Along with unmemorable branding, the visual style of a website can also work against it. Consider that web design trends vary quite a bit over the years, and outdated graphics, color schemes, and animations will create a poor impression in users. Your visual style should match your business’s brand, but it must also present a modern look.

When the time comes for an updated website, SonicSEO.com is happy to lend a hand. Our web design team ensures that the websites they create are mobile optimized, SEO supportive, and fully secured, which can provide your business with immense peace of mind. Contact us today to learn more or call (505) 821-2000 to schedule a consultation.

That’s the very principle behind mobile optimization, which ensures that a website offers a consistent experience from device to device. Here are a few signs to look for to determine whether your site is performing as expected on mobile devices.

Image Quality

Along with text, images ensure a dynamic web browsing experience. When a website is not mobile optimized, images that appear fine on a desktop may be of low quality on mobile devices. You may also find that image links are broken, which can be a frustrating experience for users.

Issues With Text

Text size is another important factor to consider. Text that is too small may be impossible to read on a mobile device, which can result in users clicking away to another site. Mobile optimization ensures that text is easy to read on all devices, regardless of their screen size.

Loading Speeds

Websites must load within three seconds, or you run the risk of losing a potential customer. When websites aren’t correctly optimized for mobile viewing, extended loading speeds can become a real issue. Users are accustomed to swift loading speeds these days, which means they aren’t likely to wait around when a website isn’t functioning correctly on a mobile device.

Scrolling Left or Right

Text and images must also fit reasonably within the screen of the mobile device. Needing to scroll to the left or right to continue reading text will probably turn off users. It may also prevent them from accessing the information they need to take the desired action, such as contacting your business or purchasing a product.

Web Design Services You Can Trust

For decades, SonicSEO.com has provided web design services to clients all over North America. We know that mobile website design is key to reaching as many members of your target audience as possible, so we make certain that our client’s sites look amazing on all devices, from desktops to smartphones and notepads. Call (505) 821-2000 today or contact us to learn more.

A website redesign can get you back on top again, but you must know when it’s time to implement an overhaul. Here are a few signs that a redesign may benefit your business.

Poor Mobile Responsiveness

Mobile responsiveness refers to a website’s ability to be viewed on a mobile device, such as a smartphone. Most users surf the web on mobile devices these days, especially when shopping or looking for information on products. If your site performs poorly on their devices, you will be missing out on sales. You may also drive potential customers into the arms of your competitors. Additionally, search engines have unique mobile ranking algorithms that penalize sites with poor formatting, which can lower your search rank.

An Outdated Look

Think of your website as your virtual representation online. Just like the styling and décor at your physical location, your website must have the right appearance to appeal to customers. Outdated graphics, cluttered layouts, and poor-quality images will create a negative view of your business. Conversely, a modern looking design shows customers you genuinely care about the image you project.

Website Analytics

Analytics information can also help you determine whether your site is resonating with users. Time spent on site is a key metric, as it shows how long users interact with web pages. If the previous time was two minutes, but it has now been reduced to 45 seconds, a redesign is probably in order. However, decreased time spent on site can also signal other issues related to site performance and user satisfaction. Increases in your bounce rate, which is the percentage of users who navigate away from your site after viewing just one page, can also indicate the need for a redesign.

Lack of Security

Consumers today insist on a secure browsing experience, no matter what type of website they’re visiting. Fortunately, you can enhance security by using a Secure Sockets Layer, which is an encryption protocol that safeguards sensitive information and protects users from breaches. You can tell that a site is encrypted by the “S” at the end of the “http” in the URL.

Our web design team at SonicSEO.com knows how important a quality site is for your business. That’s why we design all client sites with the satisfaction of the end user in mind. We also track current design trends to ensure yours offers a sleek, modern look sure to impress. Please contact us today to discuss your ideas. We look forward to hearing from you soon.