19 Signs It’s Time to Update Your Small Business Website – Part 2: Content
Effective content is key for any small business website. Is yours telling your story as effectively as possible, or is it in need of a refresh?
Website Design
19 Signs It’s Time to Update Your Small Business Website – Part 3: User Experience
Effective content is key for any small business website. Is yours telling your story as effectively as possible, or is it in need of a refresh?
19 Signs It’s Time to Update Your Small Business Website: Part 4 – Technical
Your site may be beautifully designed and up-to-date, but it’s still not generating the results you want. Here are a few technical issues that may be wrong.
What Are Some Good Homepage Design Examples? – Ask EZ
Q: What are some good homepage design examples?
When it comes to websites, people absolutely judge a book by its cover. And the cover of your website is your homepage.
If your homepage sucks, people aren’t going to stay on your website
So today, we’re going to talk about what makes a good homepage and show you some of our best homepage design examples. Keep watching!
Hi, I’m Tom Malesic, Founder and President of EZMarketing, and you’re watching Ask EZ. This is where small business owners go to get real answers to their marketing questions.
What Makes a Good Homepage Design?
First, it needs to look good. An ugly website is embarrassing, and it’s going to going to drive people away.
Second, your homepage needs to say 3 basic things within the first few seconds:
- What do you do?
- How can you help me?
- What do you want me to do?
The trick is: you can’t make it all about you. Your homepage is about helping your customers solve their problems, not talking about how great you are.
Homepage Design Examples
With those things in mind, let’s take a look at some of our best homepage design examples.
Broderick’s Landscape Contracting
First up is Broderick’s Landscape Contracting.
This is a perfect example of communicating those 3 key things the moment someone hits the page.
- What do they do: Landscapes, Hardscapes, Planting, and Erosion Control
- How can they help: Practical Landscaping, or a Spectacular Oasis
- The benefits-oriented language, along with the hero images, helps the visitor visualize how Brodericks can help solve their landscaping problems
- What do you want me to do: Get a quote
Further down the page, they have an awesome map that identifies their service area, a link to their gallery, and 3 steps for how their process works.
Majestic Paws
Next is Majestic Paws, and I just love this opening video on the homepage.
They’re a Chicago dogwalking and pet-sitting business, and you can tell right away, they’re not your run-of-the-mill dogwalkers.
They talk about the “Royal Treatment,” “Regal Services,” and a “Majestic Experience,” which does two things:
- It identifies their ideal customer. They’re not looking for customers on a tight budget
- It shows how they uniquely solve that customer’s problem. These are people who are seriously concerned about their pets and probably aren’t getting the experience they want from other providers.
As you scroll down the page, you can see their different services, a video that helps you get to know the owners, simple steps that show you how easy it is to work with them, and lots of clear Calls to Action throughout.
What I especially like is the testimonial section. By including both video testimonials and online reviews, Majestic Paws is adding a ton of credibility and trust.
Cushions by Wicker Imports
Finally, here’s Cushions by Wicker Imports.
As an e-commerce business, their website’s job is to make it easy for customers to buy replacement furniture cushions.
This is a great homepage design example, because the layout and navigation organizes their huge catalog of products, and has lots of clear calls to action.
From the navigation, you can browse cushions by type, brand, or size, or get fabric swatches. These categories are repeated multiple times on the homepage. While that might seem like overkill, it really helps customers find what they’re looking for.
There’s also a testimonials section. Online reviews are important for any business, but they can absolutely make or break an e-commerce business.
Let’s Make Your Homepage Great, Too!
These are just a few of the homepage design examples we love. We’d love to help you get a website that you can be proud of too.
To get started, just click the link below to schedule a consultation.
And if you like this video, don’t forget to like and subscribe.
How to Get More Out of Your Forms Submissions with Thank You Pages
Q: Why Should I Use a Custom Thank You Page?
When someone fills out a form on your website and clicks “Submit,” what happens next?
Most of the time, you see a generic message like, “Thanks for submitting our form.” Maybe you even have a customized thank you message.
Here’s an opportunity to get even more out of that form submission: a custom thank you page.
To find out why you should add a custom thank you page after every form submission, and some ideas for what to include, keep watching.
Hi, I’m Tom Malesic, Founder and President of EZMarketing, and you’re watching Ask EZ. This is where small business owners go to get real answers to their marketing questions.
What is a Thank You Page?
A thank you page is a dedicated page on your website where users are taken after they take a desirable action– like submitting a form or making a purchase.
Why Do You Need a Thank You Page?
But why do you need a separate thank you page, when you can just use a simple on-page message?
First, a message alone is easy to miss. It can get lost on the page, making it hard to tell if the form submitted successfully.
Second, if you’re running online ad campaigns, you often need separate thank-you pages to track conversions.
But most importantly, a thank you page is an opportunity to continue the interaction. The person who filled out a form just told you exactly what they want, and they want to hear from you. Don’t waste that opportunity! If you leave them on the same page with only a thank you message, there’s nothing else for them to do but leave.
How to Create an Effective Thank You Page
So what should you put on your thank you page? Here are a few ideas:
1. Confirm the action
Let the user know they successfully completed whatever they were doing. So, if they just filled out a form for a quote, let them know you received their quote request. If they requested a downloadable PDF, repeat the name of the PDF and give them a download link.
2. Let them know what’s next
What questions do people have immediately after converting? Here’s your chance to set clear expectations. If they just signed up for your blog, let them know what you’ll be emailing and when. If they just purchased a product, let them know how they can track the order.
3. Reassure them that they made the right choice
Whether it’s requesting a quote, placing an order, or making a donation, make people feel good about what they just did. Show off reviews, testimonials, case studies, videos, or social proof that reassures people that they made a good decision.
4. Move them through the funnel
If your forms are for generating leads, get users to take the next step toward the sale. For example, when someone fills out our Schedule a Consultation form, we give them a thank you page with a calendar link so they can book a time on my calendar right away.
5. Cross-sell & upsell
If you’re selling online with an e-commerce website, a thank you page is the perfect place for selling recommended or related products. For non-e-commerce businesses, you can provide relevant content or a special offer for a related service.
6. Send an automated email
You just got someone’s email address–continue the conversation in their inbox too! Like welcome emails, an automated email after a form submission is a great way to reiterate any details or offers you make on your thank-you page and provide links that they can refer back to whenever they want.
Are You Getting The Most From Every Form Submission?
Do me a favor: go to your website right now and fill out a form. Then see what happens. If you don’t have a dedicated thank you page that’s making the most of that conversion moment, let’s talk.
We can help you create customized thank-you pages for your website that continue to engage and build the relationship with your leads and customers. Schedule a consultation with us to get started.
And if you like this video, please like and subscribe.
What is an ADA-Compliant Website? – Ask EZ
Video Transcription:
What is an ADA-compliant website and why does it matter?
The ADA or Americans with Disabilities Act is a law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. It applies to things like making public buildings accessible by wheelchair or adding braille to public signage.
Why Do I Need to Update WordPress? – Ask EZ
Video Transcription:
When you think about updating your website, you probably think about things like correcting old information, or changing the design. The stuff you can see.
But when was the last time you updated the back end of your website? The stuff you can’t see?
If you have a WordPress website, neglecting updates could put your site at major risk. To find out why, keep watching.
Hi, I’m Tom Malesic, founder and President of EZMarketing, and you’re watching Ask EZ. This is where small business owners go to get real answers to their marketing questions.
Why You Need to Update WordPress
If you have a WordPress website, you need to be doing regular updates. Here’s why:
The WordPress platform is built around the concepts of plugins. Your site relies on plugins for things like forms, galleries, e-commerce, and more.
Most sites have at least a dozen plugins. And each one of those plugins regularly releases updates.
Sometimes these updates fix bugs or add features, but most often, they are security updates because hackers have found a way to exploit that plugin. If you don’t keep your plugins up-to-date, your website is more likely to get hacked.
It’s a lot like the regular updates for Windows and Office products. Because everyone uses Microsoft programs, hackers love to target them. If you’re not installing Windows updates, you’re vulnerable to getting hacked.
How to Make WordPress Updates Simple
OK, so you need to be updating WordPress. But especially if you have tons of plugins, how do you keep track of them all, and make sure they’re up to date?
We offer a WordPress Security Updates service to handle everything for you.
Every day, we’ll scan for and implement updates to your WordPress installation and plugins. We’ll handle all the configuration and make sure none of the updates interfere your website’s functionality. Plus, we do extra backups so if something does happen, it’s easy to restore your site.
And in the event that your site does get hacked, we will fix it for free.
We provide a report each month that summarizes all the updates and backups, so you can be confident that your WordPress site is secure and up-to-date.
Protect Your WordPress Website Today!
Don’t leave your WordPress site vulnerable. Keep your website running smoothly and securely with regular WordPress security updates.
Contact us today to get started!