Your website is the hub of your business, the place people turn to first when they need information, services, or products. You want your website to be attractive, engaging, and relevant, so people find you and find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. You might offer a killer product or service. But if your website doesn’t show up when people are searching, you’re missing out on leads.

Try this simple website audit on your own to see how well your website is working and identify possible issues.

Remember, you can always reach out to a local website audit expert like Beanstalk if you need the professionals to handle it.

In the meantime, here are 12 easy things you can check to make sure your website is operating smoothly and maximizing conversions:

1. Does each page of your website have a focus keyword?

Each page of your website should focus on a keyword that highlights a specific aspect of your business. Even if you run a business that sells flowers and chocolates, you should consider making one page that focuses on flowers and one that focuses on chocolates. People searching for flowers don’t want to have to skim through information about chocolates to find what they need.

Creating a narrow focus for each page or aspect of your business allows for users to quickly find exactly what they’re looking for. Focus keywords provide a seamless experience from search terms to landing pages.

2. Do your website’s pages use <H1> headings?

An <H1> tag is an HTML heading at the top of a post or page that clearly conveys what the reader can expect to discover by reading the page. There should be one <H1> tag on each page of your website.

Interesting headlines can encourage visitors to continue reading and assure them that they have found what they are seeking. They provide a small SEO boost on each page.

3. Have you written meta titles and meta descriptions?

Meta titles and descriptions are what users see when they organically stumble across your website in search engine results. They should be clear, relevant, and unique to encourage people to click on your site.

Interesting meta titles and descriptions promote a positive user experience, are more likely to get clicks and lead to more conversions when the information on your website matches what people are seeking.

4. Do the images on your website have alt descriptions?

Alt tags are text descriptions of images. They convey the purpose of an image in situations where that image can’t be seen, like for the visually impaired and for search engine crawlers.

Images are a dynamic and effective way to convey a lot of information. When images aren’t available, alt tags allow you to convey some of that information with text. Alt tags are another place you can include important keywords in a post or page.

5. Does your website contain duplicate content?

Duplicate content is content that appears more than once on your website. It can happen if you update your site and don’t redirect your old pages to new ones, or if you include the same information on multiple pages.

Duplicate content makes it hard for search engines to determine which of your website’s pages are most relevant, so it can negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Use tools like Siteliner.com to find out how much duplicate content your website contains.

6. Does your website have a sitemap?

A sitemap is a roadmap of your website. It is a list of all of your website’s pages that tells search engines how your website is organized.

Sitemaps are highly encouraged because they boost SEO by allowing search engines to find everything on your website.

7. Is your website redirecting to a secure version?

The www resolve simply means that when you type in your website’s address with or without “www” at the beginning you’ll be redirected to the secure version of your website. 

If your website doesn’t redirect to the secure version, when people type in different things to reach your website, they’re actually hitting different pages that look identical, meaning that your website is going to be interpreted by Google as having duplicate content.

To check this, try typing your website’s address without “www.” at the beginning. If your website is redirecting to the secure version, you should land on a page that begins with “https://”.

8. Do you need to renew your domain registration soon?

We recommend that you renew your domain for the longest amount of time possible. Your domain name gains authority as it ages, so websites that have been around longer are interpreted as more trustworthy than newer sites.

You can use ICANN Lookup to check when your domain was created and when it will expire.

9. Is your website mobile responsive?

A mobile responsive website automatically adapts to the size of a mobile screen. Viewing a website that isn’t mobile responsive from a phone is frustrating. Mobile users will likely click away from your website rather than mess around with small buttons and unreadable text.

The quickest way to test if your website is mobile responsive from a desktop screen is to reduce the size of your browser’s window to roughly the width of your phone. 

10. What is your site speed?

Your site speed is a measure of how fast pages on your website load and how quickly users are able to interact with elements of your site.

A slow site can turn away users before they’ve even seen anything. And, with more users than ever before using mobile devices to access websites, mobile site speed has become critically important.

Use free websites like PageSpeed Insights to find out your site speed.

11. Do your pages and posts contain calls to action?

A call to action provokes an immediate response from your audience. After reading your great content, a call to action like “Sign Up,” “Call Today,” or “Buy Now” encourages your audience to complete an action.

Calls to action motivate customers. If you are selling a product or service, it is something a customer will expect to see. The call to action conveys the intent of a given page and boosts interaction on your website, helping you land more leads and conversions.

12. Is your website’s message immediately clear?

If a complete stranger stumbles across your website in their search results, is it instantly clear what your business does? People today expect to search for something, click on a search result, and immediately find what they are looking for. We live in a fast-paced world! If your purpose is not clear within moments of them landing on the page, they won’t hesitate to click away. Besides, there are millions of websites out there – they can easily find another similar company.

The point of SEO is to create a cohesive experience for the user, from the time they type something into Google until they are ready to take action on a page. Websites that get the most conversions make their path to conversion as simple and effective as possible.

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That about wraps it up! Take a stab at the tips above to check out how your website is doing. If you have identified any issues with your site based on this audit guide or are unsure how to proceed, contact your St. Louis SEO experts, Beanstalk Web Solutions! We’re here to help. Let’s grow your business together!

The post How to Audit a Website appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen some fairly dramatic changes in Google’s search algorithm. Some of these have been slipped into updates unannounced, but others, like mobile-first indexing, were publicly announced before being released as major algorithm changes. The digital marketing community must decipher many aspects of Google’s algorithm. But we have seen that the changes that Google does announce are usually some of the largest, most critical changes. Google’s latest major update introduced Core Web Vitals.

Core Web Vitals

Google’s Core Web Vitals include three metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), & Cumulative Layer Shift (CLS). To simplify, these can be respectively defined as load speed, interactivity, & visual stability. Essentially, Google is encouraging sites to be faster and more user friendly than ever. 

Previously Known Ranking Signals

If you’ve worked with us on your website or marketing efforts in the past, you’ll likely remember us talking about site speed & mobile-friendliness quite a bit, as these have been two of the most important site aspects in terms of SEO & site functionality. Google’s new Core Web Vitals take the mobile-first indexing further, an expansion of mobile-first.

Along with the above signals, it is also important to ensure that your website has a valid SSL certificate, has Schema.org markup & metadata that support your content, and provides valuable information to your users, resulting in good user experience signals sent to Google for ranking consideration.

What These Mean for Your Site

Although LCP, FID, & CLS are technically new ranking signals, they build on the foundation that Google has been building for years – search results that return the most relevant & useful information to users, and metrics to track the success of that goal. As long as you have been following best practices for SEO (or having us manage that for you), you should not see large changes in your rankings or SEO health. White-hat SEO techniques have a strong, proven track record of building true, relevant SEO. These strategies move your content further up the page, leading to more relevant traffic & quality leads for your business. Quality content & link building will likely always be pillars of Google’s algorithm, but they are moving the bar up in terms of user experience.

If you’re not sure where your site stands, it is never a bad idea to log in to Google Search Console for a quick wellness check – all of these metrics as well as several other helpful tools are readily available and free to use. And if you happen to find yourself in over your head, we’re always here to help!

The post Core Web Vitals: What Google’s New Ranking Signals Mean For Your Site appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

With this in mind, it becomes clear that aesthetics matter. What is more, we know that design choices and website color schemes will have an overt influence on a website’s success.

If you’re developing an online presence for your brand or doing a redesign, it might not be a bad idea to pay a bit more attention to the choice of hues you use on your site. The following are some of the top tips for choosing the right color scheme for your website.

Do Colors Have Meaning?

The first step in picking the right color scheme for your site will definitely come in the form of determining the right hues for your brand.

When approaching this task, you must have a clear vision of what you want your business to stand for. What is your industry, your mission, your values? How are you different from your competition, and what impression do you want to leave on your clients? Are you approachable and user-oriented, or do you want to exude a sense of luxury?

Throughout history, brands have used a variety of colors for their logos and visual assets, usually based on color psychology. In fact, the effect that color has on how humans feel has long been studied, going back to Goethe and his book Theory of Colors published in 1810. In this book, the writer described the psychological effect and meaning of colors. Most of these effects are still widely accepted today. But while the book is a printed work, it is far from a scientific document. And color theory, as such, relies more on the assignation of meaning than on scientific evidence.

This means that, when choosing the color scheme for your logo or website, you might want to stay away from the standard cliches that seem to be ruling today’s color trends.

Source: Canva.com

Instead, it’s not a bad idea to start from your brand’s core identity and try to create a visual representation of it. Once you’ve got the basics down, you can go on to choose the most appropriate color combinations and determine which hue you will use for which purpose.

You can go in a minimalistic direction and use color only to draw attention to valuable elements. Or, you can attempt to create a cohesive impression that web visitors will experience by interacting with your site.

Connect Colors with Intent

When choosing a color scheme for your website, you will want to make sure that every hue found on your website is connected to some form of meaning.

For example, you can use colors to categorize different elements. Look at the Sleep Junkie homepage. You will notice that each of their articles is placed within a broad category. As each of these resource groups covers a different topic area, they’re assigned different colors: green for buying guides, purple for scientific data, and blue for personalized tips.

Source: SleepJunkie.com

On Transcend’s website, however, the design team chose to go a very similar direction, all the while achieving a completely different visual effect. On their homepage, which is monochromatic gray, only a single shade of red is used. Assigned to the highest-value elements on the website: the company logo, the copyright banner, and collection pages in the navigation menu, it’s used exclusively for highlight.

Source: transcend-info.com

Or, you can even go with a combination of the two methods. Amazon repricing software Aura has a well-designed homepage in which a minimalistic basis combines with contrasting color choices to call attention to high-value elements. So, all CTA buttons use a shade of green, while software benefits are represented in blue. It’s a simple design strategy, yet it’s one that works. It directs the website visitor’s attention precisely where it needs to be.

Source: goaura.com

Use the Available Tools

Color psychology doesn’t need to influence your choice of color scheme for your website. However, it’s still crucial that you don’t make the wrong decision.

When it comes to combining two or more hues, it’s surprisingly easy to make a mistake. Yes, everyone knows that red and green do not mix, especially for text. But what about the more subtle nuances of good design?

The one thing you can do to ensure you’re making the best possible choice of color scheme for your website is to always refer to a color wheel. You can use a variety of tools that are found online. Nonetheless, one of the best ones comes from Adobe.

By consulting a color wheel, you can pick analogous, complementary, or shades of monochromatic hues that will be in harmony and won’t clash. Still, they will provide the necessary contrast to allow you to emphasize high-value elements.

Furthermore, don’t forget that color schemes alone don’t make for a well-designed website. For a complete aesthetic experience, you will also need to pay attention to negative space, layout, typography, and images. All of these make for a cohesive visual impression that will result in a pleasing user experience and, consequently, a satisfying number of conversions.

Final Words

Source: depositphotos.com

As you can see, color schemes can be difficult to get right. That’s why the key element in choosing the best one is going to be time. Whether you’re designing your website on your own, or have hired a professional service, give yourself sufficient time to think your choices through. In the end, the perfect website color schemes don’t have to adhere to your industry’s rules. However, it does have to be complementary to your branding and part of a positive UX, contributing to the overall success of your business.

Interested in custom web design and revamping your site? Give Beanstalk a call! Let’s grow your business together.

The post Aesthetics Matter: Choosing the Right Website Color Scheme appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

Most people who aren’t that tech-savvy use the terms UI and UX interchangeably, even though they mean different things. While it’s understandable if someone who isn’t too knowledgeable about design makes this mistake, confusing UI with UX is unacceptable for professional designers. Let’s learn more about the key differences of UX vs UI. But first, it’s vital that you first have a clear understanding of both of these terms.

What Is UX?

UX stands for user experience and is primarily based on ensuring a user has a great experience with a company’s services or products. One of the main factors that determine whether UX design is good is the functionality of a product. If it’s easy to interact with each element of a specific product, the user experience designer did a good job.

UX design can be applied to virtually anything that you can experience, whether it’s using a blender or navigating a website. It’s a common misconception that UX designers only work on visuals. In reality, they have to create both unique and straightforward experiences for the end-user to accomplish a certain task.

What Is UI?

UI (user interface) design is more based on the visual elements that users interact with. Unlike UX, this is a strictly digital term. 

Companies that want to improve their website’s design often hire UI designers to deal with the aesthetic aspects of their page. Twiftnews designers say that the main focus of a UI designer is to improve the look of color schemes, graphics, diagrams, typography, button styles, imagery, and icons on a website. Simply by making these aspects of a website better, UI designers are able to ensure more user engagement.

UI Design Is for Artists

If you want to have a career in user interface design, then you’ll need to have an artistic side that you can tap into when you’re working. On the other hand, UX designers should have excellent research skills. As we previously mentioned, UI is a strictly digital term that focuses on the design of certain aspects of a product (in most cases, a website). Therefore, you need to know how to use your creativity in order to be successful as a UI designer.

When you’re working as a UX designer, you’ll be primarily focused on finding solutions that’ll improve the usability of a certain product. That means that you need to know how to conduct proper market research and communicate with consumers to find ways you can improve a product or service.

UX Deals with Functionality while UI Focuses on Customer Psychology

As a UX designer, one of your main tasks is to improve the functionality of a certain product or service. You’ll have to do a lot of experimenting and testing to find the perfect way to shape a product. Analyze the products your competitors are selling and find out what people like and dislike about them.

Meanwhile, a UI designer will focus more on human psychology. More specifically, they develop ways to trigger an emotional reaction from users through design. As a skilled UI designer, you must know which color schemes will trigger a reaction from a customer. Of course, the design you create has to match that of the brand you’re working for.

UX and UI Designers Use Different Tools

You’ve already learned that there are some major differences between user experience and user interface design. It only makes sense that different tools are used in each field. Some of the most common tools used by UI designers include InVision, Adobe XD, Sketch, and Figma. These tools are used for creating images. On the other hand, UX designers favor tools like UXPin, UserTesting, and Optimizely.

Conclusion

As a designer, it’s extremely important for you to know the main differences of UX vs UI. Although some use these terms interchangeably, they represent two different things. The most important difference between the two terms is that UI focuses strictly on digital design, while UX can be applied to physical products as well.

The post UX vs UI: Key Differences Every Designer Should Know About appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

Today, it is easier than ever to build and launch a good-looking website. However, you wish for your website to actually drive business growth in terms of more traffic, sales, and customer retention. Just having an appealing website won’t cut it. That’s where UX research can help you.

You need to focus on the user experience (UX) side of things. User experience is all about ensuring that your site’s visitors find your website relevant in terms of content. It needs to be easy-to-use in terms of navigation. If you check these two boxes, your website will bring in real business and ROI, instead of just looking good.

So, how do you ensure a great UX in your website’s design? It starts with UX research to gain a thorough understanding of the desired outcomes of your audience and their pain points, consequently revealing valuable information that can be used in the design of your website.

What is UX Research?

According to the Interaction Design Foundation, UX research is “the systematic study of target users and their requirements, to add realistic contexts and insights to design processes.”

In other words, UX research is a process that’s used to understand the user’s needs, behaviors, experience, and motivations through various qualitative and quantitative methods with the goal of not just solving the user’s problems but delighting them.

The Role of UX Research in Web Design

The modern business owner is aware of the importance of having a business website and an active online brand presence. Designing a basic business website often means that the nuances of creating a high-performing website are lost.

For your website to provide real returns, generate new leads consistently, convert prospects, and collect valuable customer data and feedback, UX research is key. In essence, your visitors want a site that flows coherently and provides useful content that’s relevant to the problem they’re trying to solve.

Three Great UX Methods for Web Design

The better you understand your audience, the more likely you are to engage and convert them. For that, you’ll have to invest some effort into learning what your target audience wants from brands in your niche and who are your biggest competitors.

Here are the top three methods of UX research you can use right away.

User Interviews

You can gather a lot of useful information just by conducting interviews with your target website users. “User interviews allow you to directly uncover the challenges users are currently facing, why they behave a certain way, and how a specific website design would be beneficial for both the users and your business,” explains Devesh Sharma of Design Bombs.

In particular, you can use contextual inquiries wherein you observe people in their natural context and ask them questions to fill in the gaps of your observation. Contextual inquiries are useful as you’re able to interview people and learn important things like the common issues they’re facing while they are doing their tasks with little interference. You can then use this data collected to design a website that’s better than what’s already out there.

Usability Testing

Your UX research would practically be incomplete without usability testing. This is the best way to determine your website’s usability. This method can be moderated or unmoderated (with the use of surveys and testing tools). It can be offline or online (with the use of live streaming sites and screen sharing software). It just depends on how you choose to approach it.

Simply put, usability testing is a real-world test scenario where groups of users are asked to complete certain tasks. You can also have a moderator to ask questions and get feedback during the test.

Using this technique, you can achieve real-time, real-world data from users navigating your website, providing their thoughts and observations on what they like and what can be improved. So, for instance, if you have a B2B SaaS website and you find from usability testing that users are finding it tricky to adopt your software, you can decide to leverage a user adoption platform.

User testing can be performed on a live version of the existing site, a prototype or work-in-progress, or even using clickable wireframes or pen and paper.

Click and Scroll Heatmaps

A great way to learn about how users interact with your website is to utilize click and scroll heatmaps. Heatmaps are a visual report of where users are paying attention and what they’re clicking on.

Heatmaps help determine areas of confusion. For instance, if users are trying to click on something they think is clickable, but it’s not. They also help to gauge what visitors care about more in a given set of items. For example, if you have five different types of products, you can see which one is getting the most attention and clicks.

Likewise, scroll heatmaps help you understand how far down website users are scrolling down on the page. They give an idea as to how engaging your content is and if it is being consumed or ignored by the users.

Also, heatmaps enable you to see which call-to-action buttons are being missed by users. You must try to improve on those button designs so you get more clicks. You can use the heatmap data to better structure your website. Heatmap data improves the design of important elements to improve engagement and conversions.

Final Thoughts

Long story short, you don’t want to just have a business website that’s only easy on the eye. You need an actual marketing tool that your audience loves to use.

Your business’s primary goal should be to delight your audience with outstanding user experience (UX). It all begins with user research. Integrating UX research will be the only surefire way to drive tangible business results in the long run.

More questions regarding UX or web design? Talk to an expert at Beanstalk!

The post What Is UX Research and Its Role in Designing a Profitable Business Website? appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

Mobile browsing increases a bit more each year, with many people now using their smartphones exclusively for this. The growth of smaller screens means sites should be responsive to these devices. Cutting the clutter reduces the number of elements that must adjust to different browsers. It also ensures the page isn’t so smushed together that it’s unreadable.

Whether you love the look of minimalist design or wish it would go away, there are some clear advantages to using a simpler style. One of the best ways to perfect this technique is by studying the successful creations of others. 

1. Create a Singular Focus

The objective of minimalist design is to create an on-point focus for the user. There is no confusion over where to go or what to do on a landing page. Designers cut all the elements not needed and keep only what is of absolute necessity. 

You won’t find a lot of information on the Koox website outside of what you need to place an order. Even though there is some slight animation to the illustrations, they are kept simple and to the point. The navigation is limited to Home, Food, About, and Order. Everything on the page guides the user to place an order without additional bells and whistles to distract. 

2. Load Pages at Lightning Speed

Less information means your pages load quicker, and you’ll cut down on the amount of code needed. Simplistic designs also get rid of any unnecessary scripts, which can bog down your speed. Everything is limited, from the number of images used to the forms needed. The simpler the design, the faster it pulls up. 

At the same time, ensure you use compressed images, so they load even faster. Consider placing photos within a content distribution network (CDN) for load times rivaling the biggest websites on the planet, such as Amazon.

3. Balance Positive and Negative Space

One of the most basic components of good design is a balance between positive and negative space. Minimalistic design means you have plenty of negative space where the user can rest their eyes. White space also draws attention to the most important elements on the page. An excellent balance creates a calming effect and reassures site visitors you are a professional. 

Juiced Bikes balances the white space on its page. Note the expansive white background with subtle gray lines to indicate motion. The simplicity highlights the product showcased on each slide. The color palette is also simple, so there are no distractions. The text is black, there are red accents, and everything else on the page is white and light gray. 

4. Improve Scannability

People tend to skim over material. Sometimes they access your website while on the go, while at others, they’re just in a hurry. Whatever the reason, cutting the amount of information on your website allows them to read through it quickly and gather the main points. A simpler design lends itself to a more readable format. 

5. Simplify Navigation

If you add too many categories, your navigation becomes clunky and difficult to maneuver. A minimalist design lends itself to fewer main labels. You can always extend the offerings through a mega menu and subcategories. However, keeping the choices limited guides your users where you most want them to go. 

Leen Heyne keeps everything simple right down to the monochrome color of its design. The background features different shades of gray, and the logo is a muted white, as is the navigation. Five categories take up a mere portion of the top of the page. Everything is simple, and there is plenty of white space. Focus is on the navigation and where you should go next on the site. 

6. Make Content Pop

When you use limited colors and elements on a webpage, you draw attention to the few things there. You can make a product image pop or draw attention to a video or article. What is on the page becomes vitally important. Use a monochrome design with a pop of color for the one thing you want users to notice first. 

A Trend Never Going Out of Style

Minimalism is less of a fad and more of a viewpoint. Keeping things simple and honing in on one vital thing at a time never gets old. You’ll likely see minimalist designs for many years to come. Adding even a few elements of this style to your website ensures it has a timeless quality your users will love. 

The post 6 Reasons Why Minimalist Design Is the Way to Go appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

If you want to increase your conversion rates, there’s no better time than now to learn how. Find out the main principles of conversion-optimized web design in this article.

Many marketers insist on the importance of SEO, social networks, creating lead magnets to increase conversions, and the like, but they often forget about the importance of website design. The listed components are vital, but the design is not just a “pretty cover.” This is something that can significantly increase or vice versa, reduce conversion.

According to qualified specialists and professionals, the majority of people say website design is one of the three most essential criteria for deciding whether a company is reliable. That is why it is crucial that your website looks professional. Both internal and external elements of your website must be accessible for various groups of users, so you have to include all the necessary parts – for example, the unique content of your blog and quality backlinks. In order to complete the mentioned steps professionally. However, let us continue with web design principles.

High-quality, thoughtful website design increases conversions. Two-thirds of people prefer beautifully designed content according to recent studies. So if you want people to read your professional blog posts, they should look attractive. Today, we are going to review the most significant principles that can boost your conversion rates.

1. Make Your Brand More Aesthetic

If you have ever seen the originals of Monet or Van Gogh, you are familiar with the possibilities of beautiful design. Unfortunately, there are very few websites on the Internet that can rightfully be called works of art. Gifted designers put soul, talent, and experience into their work, trying to evoke unforgettable emotions among visitors.

Remember that a website or landing page must convey the spirit and corporate culture of the company. The colors, fonts, and overall design of the page depend on the internal culture. Each color causes a certain emotion. For example, orange is associated with pleasant moments, youth, joy. Red, on the contrary, causes associations with a stop signal, danger, pain. Decide on the emotions that you are going to bring up and choose the colors of your design.

2. Justification of Your Value & Offer

You have to immediately explain what your company is doing and what sets you apart from ​​competitors. This explanation is called the “value proposition.”

A value proposition is usually the first thing a user sees on a page. It is what inspires confidence in the user to convince him to purchase your product. Only a couple of lines. One movement. Of course, the offer on the landing page for generating leads will differ from the main page of your company, but the essence is the same.

3. The Negative Space

In website design, spaces are called negative space. Positive space is a space that contains all the components of your website, while negative space is all the space between them. Regardless of the name, negative space has a fundamental purpose in website architecture, since the website will be confusing and unreadable without it. 

Negative space incorporates not just the separation between huge page components, for example, the title and essence of the page or the sidebar and content. It additionally comprises the space between all the little parts of the website. For instance, it may be the separation between focuses, among lines, and even between letters. In case you center around a wide range of negative space on the website, you can make it progressively clear and conveniently seen by guests. Also, this prompts an extension as far as the change.

4. The Eight Second Rule

This rule claims that you have only 8 seconds to attract the attention of the user. That is how long a person can concentrate on one thing. You have a tiny window of opportunity for interacting with the user when he/she gets to the website. So count on these seconds!

Here are some tips to get your attention in the first 8 seconds and increase your conversion rate:

• Use a large, prominent headline that briefly and permanently speaks to the benefits of your product.
• Deploy eye-catching images that convey the primary purpose of your page and draw attention to the main call to action.
• Make the call-to-action button large, simple, and straightforward.
• Apply unique words to make your offer more attractive.
• Exploit media content such as video, audio, etc.
• Operate the hover effect on your buttons (for example, changing the color or cursor on hover) to increase the desire to press them.

5. Don’t Forget About Gestalt Design

The first Gestalt principle is the law of similarity, which says we subconsciously group together objects within one assortment. In terms of web design principles, you can use this law by grouping elements together. For example, thank-you images or a conversion button.

If you have an excellent recommendation, use it to increase conversions. To do this, place a review under the application or subscription form. Even if the proposal does not apply to this form, the user will associate it with it because it is located in close proximity. This principle is especially important for increasing conversions since people switch their attention very quickly.

6. Testing Always Matters

It’s better to test the website on at least one user than not to test at all. It is better to test on one user, but at the very beginning of development, than on 50 closer to the end. The later issues come up, the more expensive it will be to eliminate them. Testing is a repetitive process. You design something, test, remake, and test again. In the following stages, new problems can be identified. 

Usability tests are always beneficial. Either they identify the problem, or, conversely, indicate that you have no issues. In both cases, this is useful information. Programmers know, it is useless to give the program code for verification to the author himself — the same thing applies to web design principles.

7. When Words Are Stronger Than Images

Not many individuals will read the sheet of a constant article from the screen – without captions, representations, bulleted records. 

What’s more, it merits speaking just about the case. If you want the content to be client-arranged, keep away from profound words, slang, promoting terms. Try to include more points of interest. For instance, the engraving “Register” button is significantly more powerful than the unclear “Start now!” Also, attempt to employ less promoting talk. Rather than advertising calls, there are sensible and persuasive contentions for why you should utilize your products or even remain on the website.

Marie Barnes is a writer for Bestforacar. She is an enthusiastic blogger interested in writing about technology, social media, work, travel, lifestyle, and current affairs. She shares her insights through blogging. Follow her on Medium.

The post Seven Web Design Principles That Can Magnify Conversions appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

Graphic design is inseparable from the world of marketing – it’s easy to see why. Humans are highly visual creatures and are attracted to graphical representations.

Marketing strategies are critical to any business, as strategies can dictate the generation of leads, increase ROI, and promote user interactivity. This further launches any business to new heights.

Marketing tactics are quite all-encompassing and tend to include a myriad of different things within them. The written word, catchy musical tunes, and of course, proper graphic design all play a crucial role in marketing. All of these work in tandem to stimulate the viewer to promote the business or product at hand.

Graphical Elements in Competitive Marketing

Visual aspects of a product or a service are far more abundant than we realize, and all of them are carefully calibrated to result in more leads, better interactivity, and, ultimately, more sales.

Graphical elements can include:

Calls to Action

Since humans are highly visual creatures, it’s natural that they’re going to prefer visually stimulating CTA’s as opposed to written ones. Visual calls to action look better and add a level of reliability to the product.

When a call to action is appropriately designed, it should attract the user to act, order a product, add it to the cart, or interact with the website or service in some way — calling your users to commit to something. However, graphics are a fantastic way to establish a deeper relationship with your clientele.

One sad thing about your readers, customers, or clients is that their attention span is not that big. When you’re working with someone, you will need to capture their attention and retain it just enough to send your message. 

Visual CTA elements serve that purpose. They attract your customers and drive them to do a particular action before their attention swoons away. 

Data Visualization

If you’re looking to add a tad of legitimacy to any claim you make, you want to add some reliable data to it. The thing about data is that, in most cases, it can be quite dull without visual context. If you’re looking to add a dash of reliable data and make it look good, you’re going to need to create a visual representation.

People love custom-made infographics and photos as opposed to text, which they rarely read. When you’re reading an article, you’re likely going to see some anchors added to the text to add a sense of reliability. Most people don’t understand these, and more often than not, these pieces of data are lacking or disingenuous.

When you’re looking to represent something excitingly while remaining professional, you’re going to need a visual representation of data. These can come in the form of:

• Charts
• Graphs
• Maps
• Visualized Statistics
• Infographics 

Visualizing essential pieces of data is bound to increase the interactivity with your content. It will also give your content a particular measure of reliability. 

Data visualization is particularly important if you’re looking to build up a reliable name for your company. If you’re dealing with any content or service, you want all of your information to be bulletproof.

While you want to remain a serious and credible source of information, this does not mean that you shouldn’t attempt to visualize your data. And, by doing this, you are going to make it understandable for more people.  

Logos 

Visual representations of data are an excellent way for a corporation to interact with their consumers. Customers, consumers, and clients don’t like the soulless, faceless corporations, yet prefer a face they can recognize. 

Graphic design has worked hard to optimize what consumers like about brand logos entirely, and have cracked the code. When you’re looking to create a unique logo for your business, you need to pay attention to:

• Shapes
• Sizes
• Proportions
• Subliminal details
• Color pallet
• Applicability

A good logo should be universal. It should apply to any product, graphic, or surface possible, and that’s precisely why you need to solicit professional graphic design services to optimize your logo.

Plenty of people go the DIY route when they’re creating a logo for their small business. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, graphic design is no easy task. There are several factors at play when logos are concerned and a multitude of different rules that apply.

The best way to go around logo creation is to solicit the use of graphic design services, as they’re professionals. Since your logo is an essential graphic in your company, business, or corporation, getting help from industry professionals is a must. 

Graphic Blending and Inclusion

When you’re the owner of a business or corporation, you want to include graphical elements in virtually everything you do. We’ve said this several times in this article, humans are highly visual creatures, and require constant visual stimulation.

An image can say a thousand words, but it’s that much better if it accompanies a strong message. Designing isn’t strictly based around graphical elements, though, as virtually anything within your business arsenal can be designed.

Text design elements, graphical design elements, and marketing design efforts all play a very significant role and work together to further the prosperity of your company. Seamlessly including these elements is going to impact the way your business operates.

Graphic Design Processing and Impact

Unlike text content, visual content is processed far quicker. This means that the message you’re trying to convey with your graphical elements has to fulfill all of the necessary prerequisites. When graphics are concerned, you need to pay attention to what message you’re trying to convey to your customers. 

Every single piece of content has to have a particular amount of visual elements to it. Visual elements are rarely the star of the show, as their primary purpose lies within furthering the point of your representative, marketing, or proposal effort.

Customer Connection

Graphical elements allow corporations and companies to connect with their audience naturally. They also provide recognition, allowing any company to develop itself into a brand. A good logo will always be remembered, and so will carefully planned-out advertisements.

When you’re advertising anything, you want to make it memorable. The effect that your advertisement will have on your targeted demographic will last as long as the marketing effort. That is why particular ad campaigns, commercials, and products are so fondly remembered. 

In Conclusion

Graphic design isn’t simple, and understanding it requires a particular set of preset knowledge. That is why soliciting the services of Graphic Design Services is going to improve your marketing efforts significantly.

The role that graphic design plays within the competitive marketing world is virtually unmatched by any other participant.

The post The Importance of Graphic Design in Digital Marketing Strategy appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

The way the outside world sees your business has as much to do with your brand identity as the way you see yourself. Building a name for your company takes a lot of effort and focus. It all starts with knowing who you are and what you stand for. However, there are many things you can do to ensure your message comes across the way you want it to. 

Keeping branding consistent across all channels equals a 23% increase in revenue. Not only will you be more recognizable to your target audience, but people whose values align with yours may also turn into ambassadors, telling others about your company. There are five simple steps you can take today to develop your brand identity now and in the future.

1. Segment Your Audience

As you collect names for your mailing list and reach out to the general public, you’ll find your audience is pretty diverse. However, experts recommend personalizing your message as much as possible. The best way to reach a lot of potential customers but still keep things personal is to divide your list by demographics. 

Group people into similar categories based on factors such as age, location, gender or interests. Create a buyer persona for each segment and personalize your messages based on what you know about their demographics.

2. Keep Things Simple

It might be tempting to come up with an artistic logo that stands out from every other brand symbol. However, if it is unreadable, then it won’t serve you well. Think about companies like  Google and how simple their font and design is. Follow the lead of more prominent corporations and choose a readable font, and limit color choices to two or three. 

If you’re just starting, keep the name of your organization as simple as possible. If it tells what you do, so much the better. One example of a memorable company name is FedEx, which is short for Federal Express. Not only does the title state what the company does, but it is also easy to remember. 

3. Brand Identity on Social Media

The majority of people online are also on social media. Having a page on these platforms is no longer an option. If you want to establish a strong online brand presence, you need one or more social media pages. 

If you offer shopping directly on the page, make sure it aligns with your core philosophies for your business. Do you pride yourself on the best customer service around? Appoint someone to oversee sales on social, and respond to any inquiries within minutes. The experience customers have on Facebook should match what they’d have on your website or in a physical store.

Control negative feedback by responding immediately to any concerns or complaints. Even if a nasty review lives on the internet forever, people will see you rectified the situation or at least tried to. 

4. Choose Your UVP

Your unique value proposition (UVP) is what you have to offer consumers that is special or unique. Think about some of the brands you do business with. If you order curbside pickup from Kroger, the UVP is that you don’t have to go inside the store, and someone else does your shopping for you for a minimal fee. The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is known for its superior service. There are numerous stories about it going out of its way to make sure customers have what they need and want.  

What do you want your brand to be known for? Choose your UVP and then promote and abide by it. 

5. Invest in Employees

Your workers are the face of your brand. They are who the customers interact with. They also have family and friends, and what they say about your company can impact how others see you. Hire the best people you can find and then pour into them with training, perks and teambuilding exercises.

Encourage your employees to tell others about your organization and what you do. Give them paid time off to volunteer in the community. Recognize their efforts, and have them share your social media posts with others. The more your employees speak about your positively, the more likely your local community will think of your brand as one they want to do business with.

More Than a Name or Logo

Brand identity is so much more than your name, logo or mission statement. You must know who you are at the core and why you started the business in the first place. Your goals and policies should all align with your purpose as a company. 

It’s easy to get off track in the beginning and lose sight as your company grows. However, if you write out your mission statement, create policies that match your philosophy and review things frequently, it is much more likely you’ll develop a robust and consistent brand image. 

Lexie is a digital nomad and web designer. You can normally find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

The post How to Establish a Brand Identity Your Customers Want to Interact With appeared first on Beanstalk Web Solutions.

The reality is that the global pandemic is affecting most businesses, whether directly or indirectly. Whether you are just a consumer, a B2C business, or a B2B business odds are you have been affected in some way by COVID-19. Many small businesses need to find new ways to make money and stay afloat. There are various ways that you may not have thought of, but we hope to provide you with some ideas to boost your business during uncertain times.

For B2C businesses, one thing you can do is make gift cards available for purchase online. Offering gift cards for your customers gives your business a small cash infusion immediately to make it through these uncharted times and also allows your customers to feel included.

Gift cards basically work as a no-interest loan from a consumer to business. Consumers, in turn, feel as if they have helped, even if it is just in the form of a simple gift card that they will eventually use at your business, whether that be now or post-pandemic. If they use the gift card, they are helping bring business to you, and may even bring others with them. Or they might forget about the gift card and never even use it, making it a loan that you never have to pay back. Unfortunately, or fortunately, in this case, $1 billion in gift cards go unused every year.

Support Small Businesses

Another way that you can support fellow businesses is by supporting them online. Shout out other small businesses whether they are in your industry or in another industry. We are all in this together. We need to support each other and let any rivalries go. Don’t be afraid to reach out to businesses, collaborate, and be creative together. Small businesses more than ever need to stick together and lift each other up. Is there a product or service that you could provide that will help another small business prosper?

The bottom line is, whether you are selling gift cards, supporting other businesses, or working together with other businesses, you will make it through to the other side and be better than ever before. This pandemic does have a silver lining, and many businesses will come back even more efficiently than before, with new strategies for gaining revenue and growth. Keep working hard and doing your part to help businesses around you.

If you are interested in adding gift cards for purchase on your website, contact us!

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