2020 has a lot of firsts including hosting a Leap Year. Do something different to celebrate and shake things up! Keeping on your toes and never getting too comfortable, helps maintain creativity in your life and propel your business forward. Need some creative web design or marketing strategies, contact OMA Comp.
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SEO Friendly Websites
If you hope to achieve free organic traffic from search engines like Google and Microsoft Bing, then you must have a website that is SEO friendly. Paying for web traffic is great when it converts into dollars but getting free traffic that earns you money is truly a beautiful thing. When it comes to making your website SEO friendly, below are a few things you cannot overlook.
- Page Load Speed The slower your website loads the worse it will rank. Google and other search engines have been implementing this requirement for quite some time now so if you want your site ranked high, then you must increase your site speed. See what your website’s speed is at Google Page Insights.
- Valuable Relevant Content Ever heard the saying “content is king”? Well, that’s because it is. If you are looking to get your site ranked on the first page of search engines, then make sure you have quality content for your readers. This is a massive variable when it comes to rankings.
- Optimize Your Website for Mobile More than 60% of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, this should be fixed immediately. If more than half of your viewers leave your website because it’s not optimized, this will directly impact your earning potential, and it will also hurt your SEO score.
- Create Backlinks and Crosslinks Backlinks are any link that comes into your website from an external site and crosslinks are any link that goes from one site you own to another site you own. The more quality links that are used, the more it will help your SEO rankings. Crosslinking should only be used if you own two sites that complement each other.
SEO can be complicated and frustrating so contact OMA Comp if you need any assistance. Once these key items are handled, you will be well on your way to improving your SEO.
Is Your E-commerce Shopping Cart Causing You to Lose Sales?
There is one thing that many online shoppers consider more important than cost. That essential component is convenience. The more a user struggles to check out, the more likely they are to change their mind.
The Baymard Institute released an E-commerce checkout usability study that covered seven years of testing and research. They found that 35% of consumers left because they had to take the time to create an account to buy and 27% felt that the checkout process took too long or was too complicated. And 22% experienced an error or crash when they tried to order.
All of these responses indicate a significant number of sales lost because of a poorly designed or malfunctioning online shopping cart.
Tips for Building Your Shopping Cart
There are important items to consider when you build a shopping cart. The following tips will help you get started.
- Look Through the Eyes of Your Customers – Make sure you view the experience through the eyes of your customers (UX design). This will help you identify problems and create a streamlined finished product.
- Don’t Overload the User with Unnecessary Content – Content is critical on your website but don’t add any unnecessary content to your shopping cart page. Keep it straightforward without distractions or obstacles.
- Minimalist Design Works Best with Todays Shoppers – Internet users consistently prefer a minimalist web design for their shopping cart. Keep it simple, and they will be more likely to follow through with their purchases.
- Make Sure You Include a View Cart Button – Have a view cart button on your website. These are usually displayed in the upper, right-hand corner of every page. Make it easy for the user to jump right to the shopping cart anytime they want.
If you need to develop a new shopping cart or have questions about shopping cart design, we can help. Contact OMA Comp today to find out how you can convert more visitors into paying customers.
UX and UI in Your Web and App Design
Good web or app design should be focused on the needs and abilities of the user. If your user base struggles to understand and navigate it, then it will fail. The first step is understanding what UX and UI components are and why they are so important.
What Is UX?
UX stands for “user experience.” This term is used to describe the behaviors and feelings of the user when they access your app or website. It looks at the user’s perspective in terms of both design and function.
What Makes a Good UX?
Every second your app or site takes to load increases the chances of the user bouncing or navigating away. The site should be optimized for fast response times. Think like your users when developing the UX. What is it that you want them to do when entering your app or site. This should be your Call to Action. Consider what emotions you would like them to experience. Focus on evoking those feelings or responses through color, shape, content, sounds, and navigation elements.
What Is UI?
UI refers to the “user interface.” This includes the controls and displays found on a website or app. They are traditionally viewed as buttons or links. Newer technology also incorporates gestures.
What Makes a Good UI?
A good UI should feel natural to the user. It should be intuitive. Most won’t bother reading a manual or help document. The interface should form a human connection and be easy to understand and navigate.
A good UI and UX requires specific skills and an understanding of your audience. If you have questions or would like to learn more, let us know. We will discuss your needs and help find solutions that work for you and your audience, so we can develop the best website or app for your business goals, brand and consumer.
Is Your Online Reputation Hurting Your Sales?
Your online reputation is more important now than it ever was before. A 2018 Local Consumer Survey conducted by BrightLocal found that 86% of customers read online reviews for local businesses. That includes 95% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 34. Most read an average of 10 reviews before trusting a company in their area. If you have no online presence or if you have one that’s negative, it could hurt your sales.
What If I Don’t Operate On the Web?
It doesn’t matter if your business doesn’t work on the internet. People will still look for you and read what’s written about you. That’s why you need to take control of your online reputation. The survey also found that 57% of consumers want to see ratings of four or more stars before they will consider giving you their business. That translates to a lot of missed sales if you haven’t built up your profiles.
What If I Have Good Reviews That Are Old?
Old reviews are not bad, but they may not help you as much as you think. The older the feedback is, the less weight it carries. Consumers know that businesses can change. They want to see that you consistently impress your current clientele.
Your online reputation is important. Even if you don’t use the internet in your daily operation, you still need people to be able to find you on the web. Contact OMA Comp to learn more about building a reputation that will earn more sales.
What Is a SSL?
SSL is a website security certificate. It is a validation and encryption tool used as one of the steps to protect your website and your websites visitors. SSL provides an authentication for a secure, encrypted, verified connection between a client and the server. It is a third party source, certificate authority (CA), that validates that the website is using an encrypted connection and is secured. SSL is also known as TLS certificate, an HTTPS certificate, and an SSL server certificate.
SSL provides your website an identity, so that people who come to your website know that they reached the right place; it shows that they are on the legitimate official site and not a fake website. It also is a validation that the user’s data will not be intercepted and hijacked. It authenticates clients as well as establishes a secure connection known as a TLS handshake.
Contact OMA Comp if you are in need of a SSL, responsive website design, or build. We are more than happy to assist you to create a user friendly, branded, beautiful design which automatically includes a security certificate (SSL) and can also assist with search engine optimization.