How to build a successful website tip #16: Focus on your customer

The number one thing to remember when preparing to design your company’s website is this: Your opinions don’t matter, only what the customer feels and experiences.


Many business owners design their website to suit their tastes and preferences. Your website is not for you, it’s for your audience. You need to design with your audience in mind, not yourself.

If you build from the customer experience standpoint, you’re far more likely to see success.

Sacha Brant is a business owner who works with peers to help build their businesses from startup to stardom. Sacha knows the importance of starting your business off right and surrounding yourself with the right people. With over 10 years of corporate experience, she’s worked with many entrepreneurs and brands to establish credibility and boost sales. Sacha is into her 3rd year running Sassy Lasses and has recently begun the Empowerment Pride – an online entrepreneurial empowerment group. She looks forward to keeping entrepreneurs and business owners moving forward for years to come. Connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @Deathbysassy

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How to build a successful website tip #15: Focus on your forms

If you want to increase conversions and improve the usability of your website, ensure all forms are present at the top of your landing pages and feature a clear, concise call to action. Not only is a short form more likely to be filled out by web visitors, but a clear call to action doesn’t confuse visitors. They know what they are supposed to do, whether it’s filling out the form, calling your business, or clicking on a button to make a purchase. 


This tip was kindly shared with us by Keri Lindenmuth from KDG, a leading provider of web design, custom software development for businesses, and small business IT support for over 17 years. Connect on Twitter: @kyledavidgroup or on Facebook

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Why you need to start your Christmas shopping now

The older I get, the more I love Christmas. It does help that I have two young children who look forward to this magical time of the year as much as their birthdays – the anticipation of Christmas is unavoidable in our house. I have also worked in retail for many years, where Christmas planning starts months in advance and perhaps it is this planning that kicks my excited anticipation of Christmas into overdrive. On the flip-side, I am fully aware of how stressful Christmas can be – financially and emotionally. Just thinking about how many presents need to be bought, what food needs to be purchased and prepared (and how much money this all costs) can send anyone into a state of overwhelm. Not to mention spending precious holiday time with challenging relatives. The only solution is to plan early. By getting all the boring (and expensive) stuff out of the way, you free yourself up to enjoy the fun festivities of Christmas, like parties, carols, etc. 




Do these five things NOW to make your life easier in December:

1. Plan what you need to buy for who
Think of at least a couple of options for your recipients so you have a back-up plan if your first gift isn’t available, or ends up being out of budget. 

2. Set a budget (for gifts, food and decorations) and spread out the cost over the next couple of months. Don’t leave all your purchasing until December (unless you think some of your purchases will go on special), or your credit card bill will be insurmountable in January. Once you’ve worked out your budget, this will also motivate you to stop spending money on things you don’t need until after Christmas (or add them to your Christmas Wish List!)

3. Get overseas gifts in the post by beginning of December
Posting a parcel to the UK usually takes 6 working days to arrive, but over the busier Christmas period delivery time will increase. The best bet is to get your parcels away at the beginning of December, when hopefully the queue in the post office is also shorter. This means that the sooner you start shopping for gifts for family and friends overseas, the better chance you have of meeting this deadline. 
Use Australia Post’s Delivery Calculator to work out delivery times for overseas and in Australia.  https://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/calculate-postage-delivery-times/#/

4. Shop around and save
There’s nothing worse than running around, fighting the crowds trying to purchase gifts days out from Christmas. This is when the risk of impulse buying is at its highest. The earlier you start your shopping, the more time you have to browse shops (local and online) to get the best prices for the gifts on your list, and maintain your budget. 


5. Don’t limit your shopping to gifts
Stock up now on other Christmas purchases, such as food, booze, gift wrapping, cards and decorations – even your outfit for the Christmas party. 

The more you can purchase now, the more free time you’ll enjoy in December so you can actually make the most of the Christmas festivities by being able to relax, socialise and stay away from the shops. 

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How to build a successful website tip #14: Simplicity + Optimise

1. Simplicity is key

“There’s a popular saying that true creativity is making the complex simple – this is a saying that you should live by when you’re building a website. User experience is key when it comes to designing a website, if a user finds your website too stressful or complicated to use, they won’t stay around for long, they will leave, and look for something to satisfy their needs elsewhere. Keep your website simple, make it easy to navigate and easy for the user to find what they need.”



2. Optimise it for SEO

“A website is useless if nobody can find or access it. You need to ensure that your website appears on the search results pages of Google when people search for things relevant to your site. Optimise your site for the right keywords, and make sure it is technically sound to ensure that people are able to find it. It may take time before you get it to rank highly, but it is important that people are able to find it, so invest some resources in SEO when building a new site.”

Steve Pritchard is Digital Marketing Consultant at Cuuver.com, a health insurance comparison site. Connect with Cuuver’s on twitter @cuuver

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How to build a successful website tip #13: Keep it simple!

The best way to build a great website is to keep one overriding factor in mind: simplicity. 



Everything about your website should make life easier for your visitors. The design should be simple so they don’t get overwhelmed. The navigation should be simple so they don’t get lost. Even your offerings should be simple to make their decision-making process easier. If simplicity is your guiding factor, you’ll make a great website.

Dann Albright is a freelance content strategist and creator specializing in generating demand and leads for B2B SaaS organizations. Learn more about Dann at www.killercopy.pro

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How to build a successful website tip #12: Tyler Hanna’s Top 5 Essentials for every website

Here are the top five things that Tyler Hanna from creative agency, 8-bit Rex recommends every website have on its home page:

1. There needs to be an offer “Above-The-Fold”. Meaning the website needs to offer something of value to the viewer immediately upon the viewer landing on the home page of the website.

2. There needs to be an obvious CTA (Call To Action). A website viewer needs to know immediately how they can purchase your product/service. For example, “Buy Now” or “Schedule A Free Consult”.


3. There needs to be images of success or testimonies. Social proof is the most powerful marketing tactic that you can leverage. There needs to be someone else besides you to tout your business’ offer.

4. There needs to be a bite-size breakdown of your revenue streams. Further down your home page, customers need to know all the services/products that they can purchase from you. This makes your product/service offerings explicitly clear.

5. There needs to be very few words. Don’t confuse or force customers to read a ton of unnecessary text. Simply let customers know 1. What you offer 2. How it will make their lives better and 3. What they need to do to purchase it.

8-bit Rex is a creative agency in Minneapolis, MN that specializes in digital marketing, branding, and strategy. Combined, the two founders have approximately 15 years of digital marketing, branding, and strategy experience. Connect with 8-bit Rex on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

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