7 simple tips to make your website stand out.

Your website is the digital home of your business, often the first page prospective clients land on.

Time to audit your site to make sure you’re not committing any of these homepage fails:

1. A clear call to action. If your users ask “what am I supposed to do here?” you’ve already lost their attention.

2. Simple navigation. Follow the KISS rule: keep your menus and top navigation simple! Don’t have too many choices to bewilder users.

3. Less is more. Your users are scanning your homepage for what they need, not cozying up with a cup of tea for a long read

4. Know your audience. Know who’s coming to your site and give them what they’re coming for up front, whether that’s news, your latest products, or a specific newsletter sign-up.

5. Be unique. Don’t break the cardinal rule of branding. It’s important that your audience can tell the difference between you and your competitors.

6. Update often. Keep your site fresh with updates on the regular, and you’ll keep users coming back.

7. Check your ABCs. Spell check, spell check, spell check.

Ready to get a professional website that works for your business? Call IES now at 781-816-9437 or visit iesAdvisors.com.

Your website is one of your biggest marketing opportunities. Don't let it fall victim to these 5 home page missteps.

It's all too common for small business owners who build their own websites to make a handful of rookie mistakes. Luckily, the professionals at IES know how to effectively design and code websites. If you need a website designed, give us a call at 781-816-9437 or email contactus@iesadvisors.com.

Your website is one of your most important marketing tools, so whether you're taking on the creation and design of it yourself or you're hiring someone else to do it for you, make sure you avoid these all too common home page mistakes:

1. Too Many Choices
People won't actually read your home page. They'll scan it, looking for the information that's most immediately relevant to them. If they can't find it quickly and with minimal effort, they'll visit a site where they can.

Your site should be designed to guide new eyes exactly where you want them to go, even if they don't know for sure what they're looking for....especially if they're not sure what they're looking for. Simple navigation with clean lines is the way to go. If your business requires that you offer robust, complex choices, do that on a deeper page. Your home page should be simple and easy to navigate.

2. Wall Of Text
A few years ago, a multimillion dollar ad campaign from five major magazine publishers who were touting the power of print stated "We surf the Internet. We swim in magazines." To do that surfing, people will interact with, share and return to websites that have pages with:

• Short paragraphs

• Bullet and numbered lists

• Lots of white space

• Images and other graphics

• Sections with subheadings

Anything that breaks up the information you're presenting means people will read more about your company, your products and services, and why they want to do business with you.

3. No Blog
Blogging for your business doesn't mean you have to post something every day, but it does give your website dynamic, rather than static, content. Dynamic content means something on your site changes often enough that people will come back to see what's new. More important, it engages Google in a way that unchanging pages don't.

Even one post per week will be enough to get the attention of Google and other search engines. To attract the attention of human readers, be sure to announce the newest blog updates on your social media platforms and encourage subscribers to sign up for your blog.

4. No Optimization
Yes, there's a lot of luck to search engine optimization (SEO). No, this doesn't mean you shouldn't build your site without sound SEO practices in place.

A full discussion of SEO could fill several books, which would then need new editions fairly quickly because of how rapidly Google changes its algorithms. A short list of essentials includes:

• Identifying three to five keyword phrases for your site to aggressively pursue

• Including keywords in metadata, URLs and similar "behind the curtain" aspects of your home page

• Avoiding "black hat" SEO methods like keyword stuffing and courting unrelated links

• Using smart, natural instances of your keywords in your blog and on the static pages of your site

5. Neglecting The Obvious
Google gives bonus points for including a handful of simple page components on your website, which will help your site perform better in searches. Including "Privacy Policy" and "Contact" pages with specific data about your company, information about how to reach you and what you'll do with customer information takes no more than 30 minutes per page, but it's been shown to give sites preferential ranking over similar sites that lack those pages.

Does your company have a website? Here's 3 things it should never do.

Is your website doing it’s job? If you’re not seeing the traffic, signup, or revenue numbers that you expect then your website might be making some big mistakes, but they might not be the mistakes that you think. Easily overlooked and often improperly implemented, these are the 3 things that your website should never do.

Create Ambiguity
A successful websites lives and dies on the strength and clarity of its messaging. It’s not just the copy, successful website messaging flows from site design and architecture all the way down to background images and font-type. Ambiguity is your enemy, so desired action must be clear: filling out a form, buying a product, or calling a phone number. Once you establish the action goals you can battle ambiguity by ensuring that every component of your website plays a part in pushing visitors toward these desired outcomes.

Get Pushy
Video and audio players that start automatically, “sign in to continue” pop-ups on informational pages, oversized images that reduce page speed – forcing unnecessary decisions or experiences can be the fastest way to push visitors away from your website. Instead of getting pushy, you should understand what a visitor wants from your site, and then work to resolve those intentions into a positive outcome.

Skimp on Visuals
Low-quality stock photos or mismatched color schemes send a bad message, you absolutely can’t afford to cut visual corners when building an effective website. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel on visual experience, leverage standard practices that visitors expect and appreciate. Resources like Kuler allow you to view user submitted color schemes to get inspiration and see what works for others while quality stock imagery is available from places like iStockphoto.com or Shutterstock.

If you have a struggling website, give IES a call. We can help you get a much higher ROI on your website by redesigning or reconfiguring it.

IES, Inc.
781-816-9437
iesAdvisors.com
 

Own a business? Here's why a professional website will be the best investment your business has ever made.

Hello, and welcome to the 21st century - the era of technology. If you own a business and don't have a website, you are significantly missing out on acquiring new customers. If you own a business and have a cheap, template driven site (example: Intuit, Homestead, FatCow, GoDaddy Website Builder, etc.), you are still missing out.

Why? Nearly all consumers - 97% - now use online media to shop locally. (This includes searches from computers, laptops, or mobile phones). I think it's safe to say the Yellow Pages have officially died.

So how would a website help? Well, it's all about exposure and being found on Google. A simple, cheap website builder usually does not accomplish that. Not only does your website need to be aesthetically pleasing, but you need title tag optimization, descriptive tag optimization, image description optimization, keyword optimization, and a large amount of content. That simply cannot be done using a template builder.

And let's not forget about the tax advantages! Usually, websites are 100% tax deductible business expenses. After all, it is a marketing expense. *Legal disclaimer: I am not an accountant, please consult your tax advisor.

So if you're ready to pull the trigger on a professional website, give IES a call or shoot us an email! We look forward to helping you build your business.

IES, Inc.
781-816-943
estimates@iesadvisors.com

10 eye-popping statistics proving you need a mobile website.

Technology has been enabling the world to become more and more mobile. We have faster Internet connections, better screens and faster processors. With the trends of mobile device and tablet sales, mobile growth doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. To illustrate how important it is to adapt to the new mobile world, here are 10 eye popping mobile statistics:

• By 2015 there will be one mobile device for every person in the world.
• In 2013, more people will use a mobile device to get online than use PC’s.
• A staggering 50% of local searches are performed on mobile devices.
• 61% of mobile users who find your business while searching online end up calling the business.
  • 59% of those users end up stopping into the business.
  • 50% of the mobile users who found your business online end up converting into a purchasing customer.
• If a mobile user is not happy with your mobile website, there is a 40% chance they will go visit a competitors.
• If a mobile user has a poor experience on your mobile website, they are 57% more unlikely to recommend your business other mobile users.
• It’s projected that in 2013, tablet devices will make up nearly 21% of the mobile market.
• 60% of mobile users expect your mobile website to load in under 3 seconds.

Find a mobile device and visit your website, are you happy with the product? Is it easy to navigate and user friendly? Show it to 10 friends and see if they have the same response. If you’re not sure about this either, it might be time to look into a mobile website. If your business hasn’t already adapted their marketing strategy to embrace mobile, it’s time to get started before you’re left behind the competition and having to play catch up.

IES offers the best when it comes to web design and mobile web design. Give us a call today at 781-816-9437 or visit iesAdvisors.com. (Yes, our website will work on your mobile device, too!)

Source: Savvy Panda
*Statistics as of March, 2012.

What's my current (or future) website worth?

Valuing a website is never easy, but there are a growing number of web site owners wondering "How much is my website worth?" Well, that all depends on two main factors:
1). Is your website driving traffic
2). What is your ROI (return on investment)?

For many business owners in the 21st century, a website is a necessity. No longer can you simply purchase phone numbers in multiple towns and forward them to your main line. Marketing just isn't that simple with the rise of the Internet. (If someone needs to find a local business, you can just Google Maps a keyword, say web design, and the town, say Pembroke, MA - see results here and pay special attention to business letter B) to get a result. Just think - when was the last time you used that 20 pound Yellow Pages book? (And before you ask, yes, they still make those).

Most of our clients tend to spend more than $1,000 on their websites. And that's a once in a lifetime fee. But even if you spend as little as $300, your ROI can be significant. If one potential customer sees your website, it can be worth it. The key is to be professional and showcase what you want people to see.

Don't be tricked into paying monthly fees for your website. Our websites are designed with your budget in mind, and you own the site files 100% after payment. And it only costs $72/ year to maintain with hosting and a domain name.

If you're looking for a new website or to redesign your current site, give IES a call at 781-816-9437. Or visit us online at iesAdvisors.com.

The Myth of SEO and Why CONTENT is KING.

SEO is just an acronym used by IT professionals to make clients believe they are doing magic or brain surgery in order to hit them with a massive invoice. Search Engine Optimization sounds so complex and astounding, as if the IT guy you probably have can even spell it out. The plain old truth is that SEO can be done by anyone. It should by no means cost you much money. Regardless, it won't do much for you alone. What is the key to moving up in those search results? Key="Hits", plain and simple. Your site is not going to get hits if you have no content. Have as many pages as you can squeeze into your budget. Blog or at least do something. Post pictures of your dogs or 47 cats. (If you do have 47 cats, please do not call us, at least not to your house as walking onto the set of an episode of "Hoarders" is not something we want to do). You can have every keyword possible but if your content is not interesting, it will not be disseminated (i.e.…go viral) and thus you will never get enough hits. The best bet is to combine sound SEO with great content. Do the best you can and be creative, don't be boring.

Hello World!

IES has officially begun blogging! After all, it's the 21st century...why shouldn't we have a business page on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, and YouTube?

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back often for stories, tech news, updates, and promotions; or signup for blog updates in the section to the right.

International Enterprise Services
Web: iesAdvisors.com
Phone: 781-81-MY-IES
           (781-816-9437)