9 Reasons Why Channel Islands Design Loves Wordpress

We at Channel Islands Design are huge fans of WordPress.  For the last several years, we’ve programmed 90% of our sites on the WordPress.org platform. WordPress enhances websites at every step of the process: our users to save money, take control over their own sites (add/edit/remove content), incorporate advanced functionality (e-commerce, mapping, user submitted content, etc.) and get better search results.  WordPress.org is simply a stroke of genius, and we take great pride in using it to make beautiful and powerful websites for our clients.  Below are nine reasons we believe in using WordPress.org for your website.  If you are interested in getting professional help setting up or optimizing a WordPress.org website, contact us any time.

1. WordPress is Truly Free and Open Source

Unlike other “free” and “open source” solutions that have hidden agendas, WordPress.org is completely free (learn more) for you, forever.  WordPress doesn’t start charging when you hit a certain size, nor does it close off any of its code to you.  This is one of the less tangible but probably most important elements of WordPress.org’s success.  No fees, no gotchas, no nonsense.

2. Plugins Give You More Functionality

Plenty of platforms out there offer plugin functionality, but I’ve never seen a more smooth and thorough implementation than the plugin effort on WordPress.org.  Plugins allow you to add great photo galleries, sliders, shopping carts, forums, maps, and more great functionality.  There’s a searchable, one-click install directory of plugins (think App Store for WordPress).  Their code is riddled with “hooks” that allow developers to add their code to virtually any aspect of WordPress without editing the core.  Look for a few new and important WordPress.org plugins to come from the Computer Courage labs soon!

3. The Visual Editor and CMS are Outstanding

The intuitive, user-friendly backend of WordPress is probably what made it so famous in the first place.  I’ll never remember the relief I felt when I first installed WordPress after a few Drupal experiences.  I always tell my clients, “if you can do it in Word, you can do it in WordPress.”  In fact, with the Paste From Word tool, that statement is more true than you would imagine (this article was written in Word).  WordPress is continually improving its CMS, adding features such as threaded comments, galleries, revision histories, trash, custom post types, and more.  If you haven’t maintained a WordPress site yet, give it a look.

4. Easily Add a Blog To Your Site

How is this number 4 on the list you ask?  WordPress really came to fame for blogging and is still considered by many to be a blog platform.  Even WordPress itself seems to identify with blogging first, as the default configuration is for the home page to be a blog.  Aside from the amazing advances in CMS (see #3 above), the blog functionality is still the best in the business.  With categories, tags, threaded commenting, gravatars, easy theming, widgets, fantastic moderation controls, anti spam solutions, and plugin infrastructure, you can’t find a better blog solution.  Adding a blog to a WordPress site is a great way to attract and involve visitors, and to keep Google paying attention.  If you don’t need a full site, and just want a quick blog, check out WordPress.com.

5. Themes Let You Style Your Site

I tell my business clients every day that their site doesn’t need to “reinvent the wheel” when it comes to design.  We love doing custom web design for our clients, but many of them don’t need it.  We’ve been able to make very beautiful and successful sites by starting from pre-existing themes and doing customizations from there.  Because themes are open source, you can buy or download them and then modify them to your heart’s content.  Remember, themes are independent from your content, so you can edit or swap out themes at any time and keep your content and functionality in place.

6. It’s Easy to Keep WordPress Secure

WordPress has always bragged about its “Famous 5 Minute Installation”.  Not only is WordPress pretty easy to install (it actually takes 5 minutes if you are handy with your web servers, newbies will have a learning curve), but WordPress is also surprisingly easy to update for security and new functionality.  When a new version is available, WordPress will give you an easy link for a one-click upgrade.  Warning: Channel Islands Design always recommends backing up your blog before doing an install in case something goes wrong.  Look for backup plugins or techniques first.

7. Google Loves WordPress

At Channel Islands Design, we focus on getting new customers for our clients via Search Engine Optimization.  Ever since we started doing WordPress.org installs, we noticed a spike in search results.  Over the last couple years we’ve used many valuable SEO plugins such as the All-In-One SEO Pack and Google XML Sitemaps.  But even without these plugins, I always felt like the simple layouts of WordPress, the permalinks, and the easy linking in WordPress would be naturally attractive to Google.  I even heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.  Matt Cutts, head of Google’s “web spam team” spoke at WordCamp SF 2009 and said it directly – “WordPress is a great choice” (video and slides here). He goes on to gush about how much WordPress helps you get better results.  We always recommend a conversion to WordPress when doing SEO.

8. WordPress Sites are Accessible

WordPress sites are usually built on relatively simple and accessible technologies.  It’s easy to install on Windows or Linux servers.  It uses all free license server software.  The web pages render in HTML and CSS allowing them to show up on iPhones, BlackBerrys, Android, iPad, etc.  It’s also easy for alternative browsers such as text only browsers (see Lynx) which are excellent for those with disabilities.

9. Your Site Can Grow With You

When you add up a lot of these features, you find that your WordPress site can grow with you over the years.  You can easily upgrade it for new features and security.  You can add a new theme without redoing your whole site.  You can add new plugins for enhanced functionality (add e-commerce if your business grows, focus more on search results, add a store finder, etc.)  WordPress.org is used by millions of sites, from the simplest little blogs to huge brand names like the New York Times blog, People, Flickr, and more.  See the WordPress.org showcase.

Have further thoughts on why WordPress.org is or isn’t a great platform for building websites?  We’ve love to hear from you in the comments below.  Thanks for your participation and interest in the web and in WordPress.org.  Finally, if you’re looking for a professional team to put a WordPress.org website together for you, contact us today! (805) 382-4243

Website & Facebook for "Our House of Abraham"

Channel Islands Design has created both a website and Facebook representation for new clients, "Our House of Abraham" - a group dedicated to the tolerance of world religions. Click here for the Facebook Business Page or here for the website!

Call us at (805) 382-4243 if you're interested in a new website or help with social networking!

Ten Reasons to Share your Blog Post on Social Media

Blogging helps you turn social networking into business networking. It allows you to promote your business in a subtle way, by sharing valuable information that your ideal clients are looking for.

The first step is to make sure you send out a notice to your social networks when you post something new to your blog.

But what do you do after that?  

Here are ten suggestions for when and why to link to your latest blog post from your social media accounts.

1. You posted something new – Integrate your blog with your social media accounts so this happens automatically. Typepad makes an app that streams any RSS feed to your LinkedIn account and WordPress has many social networking plugins - ask around for recommendations and find one that works for you.
   
   
2. You sent a link to the blog post to your mailing list – Similarly, you can set up most email broadcast systems to automatically post an announcement/link to your social networks when you’ve sent an email broadcast.
   
   
3. You mentioned a friend, colleague or industry bigwig in your blog post - Alert the person you wrote about. It’s a great way to start or deepen a relationship. And if the other person continues the conversation, then you both get an introduction to each other’s network.
   
   
4. It’s been a couple of days (or hours) – since you posted - The people in your network are not watching your stream 24/7. So link to your new blog post on Twitter and LinkedIn several times and on different days, to give them the chance to see it. (Note: Unless you have a high volume on your Facebook Fan Page, I suggest limiting your blog post links to once per day).
   
   
5. You have (or want) readers from all over the world - On a similar note, remember that if you post something at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time for example, people across the pond in the U.K. have already ended their business day. And making a big announcement about your latest post at 8:30 a.m. Eastern won’t have much impact on your friends on the west coast who are still sleeping.
   
   
6. Someone left an interesting comment – You can link directly to a particular comment or to the post itself so people can read it for themselves and then peruse the comments at the bottom.
   
   
7. No one left any comments – Ask people in your social networks for their feedback or opinion about what you’ve written. Just don’t be discouraged if comments are quiet.
   
   
8. Someone has posted a question you can answer – You can set up a Google Alert or Twitter search, or just watch your streams for people talking about your area of expertise. When you see a question you’ve already answered in a blog post, send that link.
   
   
9. There is a call to action in your blog post – Whether your call to action is to attend an upcoming program or try out a new service, you’ll want to remind people about this opportunity. Try using a variety of “teaser” phrases to entice people to click through to your post.
   
   
10. You’re feeling shy, busy or you just haven’t posted in awhile – Sharing helpful information is always a welcome addition to a conversation. Once you’ve jumped in with that, be sure to follow up by responding directly to what someone else has shared.
    

By blogging about topics that your ideal clients care about, you are creating a mountain of content that will build your credibility and visibility online. Use these 10 reasons to keep sharing that content long after you’ve posted it on your blog.

24 Facebook Do's and Don'ts for your Business

A Facebook business page allows you to connect and engage with prospects and customers. With more than 750 million active users, it’s a social media outpost you don’t want to ignore. With the right tools, used strategically, Facebook can be an effective part of your online marketing, lead acquisition and customer-service strategies.

Here are a few do’s and don’ts to keep in mind for your Facebook business page:

Do:

• Create a Facebook business page for your company or organization.
• Spend time creating an outstanding, SEO-optimized profile for your business page.
• Obtain a custom URL after you receive 25 “Likes.”
• Create a Welcome page for first-time visitors so they don’t land directly on your wall. Introduce yourself first!
• Create an editorial calendar (or content matrix) that includes a plan for posting a mix of content (industry articles, blog posts, photos, videos, etc).
• Use Facebook for customer service and support for clients.
• Post questions, polls and conversation starters.
• Tag your business and your customers in videos and photos whenever possible.
• Search out influencers and “Like” –and engage with – their page.
• Make sure a link to your website and newsletter is well-placed.
• Track and measure your results with Facebook Insights
• Stay engaged, consistent, and always respond to comments.

Don’t: 

• Don’t be overly promotional or pushy.
• Don’t turn off your user comments function.
• Don’t use Facebook Events tabs for RSVPS. Always have users sign up on your own site.
• Don’t send out mass messages to your entire network.
• Don’t post an update more than twice a day (max).
• Don’t delete negative comments. If you’re being transparent (and you should), use this as an opportunity to reply with intent on correcting the problem helping the customer.
• Don’t have your Twitter updates auto-post to Facebook.
• Don’t be shy about inviting people to “like” your page.
• Don’t create a personal page for business.
• Don’t post your website link on someone else’s wall
• Don’t forget to drive your customers outward—to your website.
• Don’t take yourself TOO seriously!

Understanding how Facebook works before you start using Facebook as part of your social media marketing strategy is crucial. Setting clear goals and objectives–that are aligned with your overall business goals–will help you to be effective, and measure the results over time.

Need help creating a Facebook page? We can do that. Want to build your social media strategy?

We’ve got you covered there, too.

Drop us a note or give us a call today (805) 382-4243 and let us know how we can help you with your Facebook marketing.

New Website for Heavenly Honey

Channel Islands Design has recently launched a new website for Heavenly Honey - which includes vivid imagery and a robust shopping cart. Heavenly Honey is based in Ojai, CA and pride themselves on their all-natural, pure, raw delicious honey!

We also designed and continue to maintain their facebook presence at facebook.com/heavenlyhoney.co

If you are in need of a new website or a re-design, photography, a logo, or social networking for your business - give us a call at (805) 382-4243 for more information!

Local SEO: Not Just for the Mom and Pop Shops

National Company, Local Focus

[src] Google has made some serious updates to how they display local results.  They are now displaying localized searches for queries that do not contain a location modifier.  While they have been doing this for some time now, it has been seen in even more types of searches, including Google Suggest Search, a search for “weather”, on your mobile smart phone with Google using your location, and generic terms like “pizza, doctor, and movie times”.

Since Google has been increasing their ability to pick up on local signals, they thought it best to update how they display those results on their search engine results page.  If you are unaware of this change, it was quite significant.  Some of those changes include moving the map to the right and displaying the local results more like the tradition search results.

Because of these two changes it has become imperative that even national companies have to have a local focus online.

Improving Your Chances with the Locals

Local SEO is very similar to traditional SEO, but there are certain signals that you should be aware of in order to improve your chances with the Locals.  For the sake of brevity, we will only focus on three of those signals; Google Places, consistency, and reviews.

Have You Seen My Google Place?

The first thing you can do to dramatically improve your chances for showing up in localized searches is to create a Google Places listing.  The best part about Google Places is that it is free.  Both Yahoo and Bing have local listings too, but we've found them to be either very hard to work with or consistently broken.

Creating a Google Place listing is very easy to do and can be completed within 30 minutes or so.  The first time you create a listing it may take a little while before it is approved, since you have to verify you are the true owner/guardian of the business. This can be done by phone or via snail mail.

Once you have verified your listing you can then go back in and finish adding to the listing.  There are some other great things you can now do with this listing, but we will save that for another post.

I Should’ve Made a Left at Main St.

Google needs constant and consistent reinforcement of your business.  This is done through keeping your business name, location, hours of operation, and etc all the same across all of the various places on the internet that have and can have your business listed.  Some of those places include YellowPages, Local directories, Linkedin, and Facebook.

When I mean consistent, I mean to the letter.  If your address is 101 Main St., then make sure it is 101 Main St. and not 101 Main Street.  While we are able to clearly tell that it is the same, and Google probably can too, that consistency needs to be there.  It only reinforces to Google that it is in fact at 101 Main St.   There are thousands of places on the internet that your listing can be, so it takes time to get these updated.

The Best Pizza in Town

Google’s ability to pick the most relevant sites over and over again for billions of searches has been built upon the notion of votes of confidence.  This is most notably referred to as PageRank, but in all reality those links are just votes in a popularity contest.  Using the same system of voting, Google has put a lot of weight into the reviews each Google Place listing receives.

Getting good reviews can be hard, but anything you can do to get your customers to write a positive review will help in increasing your position in the localized search results.  There are even some 3^rd party sources that Google incorporates into its algorithm; Yelp, Yellow Pages, Insider Pages, Dine, and more.  While these 3^rd party reviews are not as powerful as a review written directly within the Google Places account, they do provide ‘supporting evidence’ to Google that in fact your listing is the best and most relevant.

Local SEO is a Must for Everyone

As noted above, Google is placing more and more focus on localized search results.  Your company may be national and may have overlooked optimizing for localized searches in the past, but now more than ever is the time not to overlook the importance of local searches.  With the change in how Google displays localized searches and providing local searches without the need for a location in the keyword, you too need to take control of how your company is represented in these search results.  As stated above this can be accomplished, for the most part, by applying what was written about above to your business location(s).  If you need help with anything stated above please don’t hesitate to contact us by adding a comment, calling us at 1-805-382-4243, or filling out our contact form.

New Website for Perches Academy

Channel Islands Design has created a new website for PerchesAcademy.org. It includes a robust tiered navigation menu, interactive calendars, and an enrollment application form. How can CID help grow your business? Call us today at 805-382-4243 for a quote or more information1

16 Reasons Your Business Needs a Great Logo Design

Every business has a logo…but not many have a GREAT logo.  A great logo is one that is truly representative of your business.  If your company is dynamic, your logo should be dynamic.  If your products are friendly, your logo should be friendly. If your service is fast, your logo should convey "fast."

Take the time to have a professional designer create not just a logo, but a great logo.  After all…isn’t your business great?

Does this old logo make you
hungry? Me neither!

Here are 16 reasons your business needs a great logo design:

1.     A great logo creates a great first impression. Conversely, a bad logo creates a bad first impression.  

2.     Look more professional. The worst thing you can convey to potential customers is that you are unprofessional.  A great logo tells your customers that your business is well-planned, professional, and here to stay.

3.     Your business will look like it’s arrived. A great logo can make you appear to be as accomplished and as solid as a Fortune 500 company. This can be especially important if you have a new business; a great new logo can make it look like you’ve been in business for years.

4.     Customer trust. A great logo conveys a sense of trust (the number one reason people buy from companies). Customer retention is also easier when they feel confident that the company they are doing business with is trustworthy.

5.     It can help brand your product or service. The objective of branding is create the perception that your product or service is unlike no other, unique in the marketplace, and worth spending more money for. A great logo, along with a well-planned marketing campaign, can help in the process.

6.     Your logo can be a profit center. If you have a valuable brand, your logo can be a huge cash cow via merchandising and licensing-clothing, mugs, games, etc.

7.    It makes your business memorable. A great logo is more easily remembered by customers, especially if you are consistent in advertising that logo. People do business with familiar faces…and your logo is your company’s “face.”

8.    It’s cool. Sometimes a logo can create the “wow” factor.  Sports franchises have found that their merchandise sells much better if their team logo looks cool, even if the team stinks.  Have you noticed how many teams have redesigned their logos recently? 

9.    Easier marketing. A picture is worth a thousand words. A great logo says volumes about your company-so you don’t have to spend as much time and money writing or telling people about it.

10.    Save time explaining your position. People want to know what your position in the marketplace is (what makes you different from your competitors).  A great logo can help explain that at a glance. Classy, funny, hi-tech, old-fashioned, funky, expensive…no matter what your company is (or aspires to be), a great logo lets your customers (and employees) know right up front.

11.    Gain confidence. This is probably the comment I hear most often from clients starting a new business—that their great logo gave them the confidence to compete with businesses that had been there for dozens of years.

12.    Charge more for your product or service. One of our clients sold a generic lemonade product.  When we designed their logo, we created a memorable brand that clicked with kids, and sales went through the roof; plus, they were able to charge more for a “premium” product.

13.    Create goodwill. Goodwill is “prestige that a business has acquired beyond the mere value of what it sells.” The famous Nike “swoosh” logo design cost $35 in 1971—it’s value now is immeasurable.

15.    Lends credibility to your business. People choose to do business with credible companies. A great logo gives you a much better head-start to being credible than a poorly designed logo does.

16.    Make more money. A great logo adds to your bottom line by accomplishing all of the above.  Having a great logo does not guarantee business success…but having a lousy logo just does not make good business sense.

Visit us at http://cid4design.com today to talk about growing your business with a fresh, new approach! (805) 382-4243

CID's newest Social Media client: Havasi Wilderness Foundation

We've created a new Facebook design for a wonderful non-profit called "Havasi Wilderness Foundation." They try to instill a greater respect and awareness of wildlife & nature around us. Click here to check it out!

New website for Anocolor.com

Channel Islands Design has created a new website for Anocolor Paint: "An anodizing simulation, Anocolor is a radiant paint that can be removed easily or remain durable for years." Not only did we handle the web design, we also took care of their product photography & package design. Click the image above to check it out!

SwimPod USA

Channel Islands Design recently created a new website for SwimPodUSA.co (Yes! .co - not .com) - Formerly known as Swimman, Swimpod USA are the innovators of waterproof music - they've waterproofed the iPod - from the inside out! This website includes a great visual slider animation on the main page, plus a shopping cart solution that is easy to use & easy on the eyes. Click the image above the see it in action.

A new website for Plowboy Landscapes Inc.

We've recently created a new website for Plowboy Landscapes Inc. (Offering Full-time on-site Gardeners, Daily Supervision, Full Service Facility Gardening & Landscape Construction in the Santa Barbara & LA Counties for over 35 years).

How can Channel Islands Design help grow your business? Give us a call at (805) 382-4243 for more information.

RowlandAir.com

Channel Islands Design recently redesigned RowlandAir.com - better navigation & visuals throughout the website overhaul! Click the image above to see it in action.

Find What Facebook Pages Like Your Facebook Business Page

Creating a Facebook page for your business is a pretty good idea; most of the world seems to be on it, public business pages are indexed by search engines and it is an easy way to interact with your fans, customers and people in your industry. Facebook has taken some hard hits from businesses (especially B2B businesses) that it isn’t a real arena for a business to use as a marketing tool. That said, Facebook is regularly updating the site to answer some of these calls.

This week I noticed a small change that helps the user experience of a business Facebook page:

Being able to see what other businesses ‘like’ your page

HOW TO DO IT: When logged into Facebook as your Business and viewing your Page, click on the "people like this" link next to the number of Likes your page currently has (on the far left). A pop-up window will appear with People (or personal profiles) that have Liked your page. In the top left-hand corner of this window, there is a little dropdown tab that says "People." Click this and switch it to "Pages." Eureka! You are now looking at a list of fellow Business & Community Pages that have clicked your Like button. 

A few reasons I think this is important

Even though other pages ‘liking’ your page doesn’t add to your number of people that like your page, it does show you who is tuned in to your content. Business pages now can interact with other pages as their business. They can also set up a news aggregator just in and around their industry, location, interests, customers, partners and more. Knowing which pages have ‘liked’ you lets you know who is really tuned into your messages.

Posting content to Facebook and Twitter: When, What and How

[src] I’m often asked about posting content to Facebook and Twitter. I receive questions like: "How many times a week should I post content?" and  "When should I post content? What kind of content should I post?"

These are all valid questions that should be part of your social media strategy. To answer these questions, we have to separate Facebook and Twitter to give you the best answer.

How many times a week should I post content?

Facebook: Short answer: 4-7 times per week.

Content on Facebook will hang around longer then Twitter. When you post content on Facebook, your Facebook community will see your content on their personal Newsfeed and not your actual page. It’s possible for your community to see your post multiple times. A Facebook user has two different Newsfeed views; one is “Most Recent” and the other is “Top News.”

 

When a Facebook user is viewing their Newsfeed as most recent, they are viewing posts in real-time. This means every time one of their friends or pages they have “liked” posts content, it will be shown in the order of time. When a Facebook user logs-out and logs back in later, they will be shown their top news. Facebook will pull the posts from the users friends and pages that they engage with the most and display that content in their top news feed. You see why engaging your community is important?

Twitter: Short answer: 3+ timers per day.

Twitter is like being at a large event with conversations happening all around you. When a user logs into Twitter, they see a timeline of tweets made by everyone they are following. This means if a user is reading over their timeline in the morning and you post content in the afternoon, they will not see your content.

Posting multiple times a day on Twitter will help ensure that your content will be seen by your community. But that doesn’t mean post the same content multiple times a day. However, if you have an event coming up that you want to build awareness for, you could post content about the event on Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon and again Saturday evening. Just change up the context of the post.

When should I post content?

Facebook: Short answer: Before 10 am or after 4 pm.

Most engagement on Facebook happens before and after normal business hours. When posting content, you should be aware of the time of day when your Facebook community is online. When you log-on to Facebook later today, check and see how many of your friends are online. Then a few hours later, check again. When there is a peak in users logged-in, you have a greater chance of your content being seen.

On your Facebook business page, do this experiment over the next four weeks. Post a picture with information about a used boat in your inventory three times per week. Make sure you pick a different boat each time and pick different times throughout the day. After the four weeks are up, go back through and see what day and what time of day you received the most engagement.

Twitter: Short answer: Evenings, but only during “Social Hour.”

Conversations on Twitter are taking place throughout the day, but they peak in the evenings. Twitter also peaks during times of major events, like on Sunday night when the U.S. attacked and killed Osama bin Laden. Sohaib Athar actually live tweeted the event and didn’t realize he was doing so until the next day. You can read his tweets here.

Why are other conversations on Twitter important to you? If you want to post content about a new boat you just received or an upcoming event, you want to make sure that the Twitterverse (the cyberspace area of Twitter) is in a “social hour” mind set. If not, your message will get lost in your followers’ timelines.

What kind of content should I post?

Facebook: Short answer: Pictures and video.

Pictures and video are the most shared, liked and engaged content you can post. While text is important, the headlines are sometimes the only text users read. 250 million users access Facebook through their mobile devices,  which means pictures and video are easier to see on smaller screens.

The old saying “pictures are worth a thousand words” remains true today. With only 140 characters allowed in a Tweet and 420 in a Facebook update, you’re limited to what you can say. Using pictures and video allow you to connect with your community on a deeper level.

Twitter: Short answer: Headlines and links

With 140 million tweets per day, your message can easily get lost. When posting content to Twitter, use powerful headlines and links to the heart of the story. For example, you have an upcoming event that you want to build awareness for. Write a blog post with all the detail. Post the link to your blog post with a headline to grab your followers attention so they click on the link and visit your blog for all the details.

 

Creating content, monitoring your social profiles and engaging your online community takes a lot of time and effort if you want to be successful. That’s because you’re building actual relationships with actual people. The more they engage with your content, the more they will see your content which will help grow your community and build stronger relationships. Let me know in the comments how often you post content and what time of day seems to increase your chance of engagement.

Five Tips to Improve Your Website Results

[src] How many times have you visited a Website and abandoned the site almost immediately?  Most of us come across ineffective Websites every day.  In too many cases, businesses make it difficult for their Website visitors to engage with them and suffer the consequences of poor results.  The five strategies below can help you ensure that your target customers have a positive experience on your Website.

1.  Lead with a clear message
Remember that Web users scan content before they commit to a deeper site visit, and they leave in about five seconds if they have not connected in a meaningful way.  It’s critical that site visitors instantly validate that your company offers the products/services they are seeking.  Look at the lead statement on your home page.  If you were to ask someone less familiar with your business to read the statement, would it give them a clear indication of what your company offers?

2.  Provide simple, intuitive navigation
Look at your Website’s navigation and ask, “If I were one of our target customers, would I immediately know where to click to find important information on my site?”  Use clearly-labeled navigation links that are understandable and relevant to your site users.  Then, apply this navigation in a consistent manner throughout your Website. Consider conducting some usability testing with users less familiar with your business.  Give them some basic tasks to accomplish on your site, then observe them as they interact with your site.  Is the navigation clear to them?  Where do they struggle to find key information or action steps?

3.  Offer compelling calls to action
From each page of your Website, visitors should be able to answer the question “what now?”  Once they read about your products, services, or capabilities; they should be presented with prominent on-page calls to action throughout your Website, such as:

• Request a Quote
• Ask an Expert
• Download a White Paper
• Read a Case Study
• Find a Dealer
• Sign up for our Newsletter
• Watch a Video
• Follow us on Twitter
• Share via social networks

4.  Maximize your reach on search engines
It’s critical to leverage the power of search engines like Google to connect with customers.  Research how your target markets search online for the products/services you offer.  Use these words within the content of your Website, particularly in page titles and headings.  Also, look for opportunities to acquire links to your Website from other sites.  Consider engaging with a professional SEO firm to help you maximize your results, and take advantage of classes and Internet marketing seminars to enhance your learning.

5.  Measure your results
Using Web tracking tools, you can evaluate the success of your Website and identify areas for improvement.  Google Analytics is a powerful, free tracking tool that provides detailed reports on your site traffic sources, keywords, conversion actions, and more.  Look beyond the quantity of traffic and focus on the quality of visits.  How many visitors are spending time on your site and taking meaningful actions (completing a contact form, requesting a quote, placing an order, downloading information, signing up for a newsletter, etc.)?

Most importantly, adopt a mindset of continual improvement.  Your Website is never really “done.”  It’s a dynamic marketing tool that should be consistently updated and improved.

A new website for Hormex.com

Channel Islands Design has created a colorful new website for Hormex (a leading brand in rooting powder & plant growth liquid concentrate). This site features interactive FAQ, retailer & distributor lists complete with maps, e-commerce, and vivid imagery throughout.

How can we help grow your small business? Call us at (805) 382-4243 for a quote today!

Are you ready for the Facebook Business Page changes?

[src] If you have a Facebook business page – and we hope you do! – you may still be a bit confused by the optional “upgrades” Facebook introduced last month. And, since the preview month ended with automatic switchover for every business page on March 10, many clients have asked for a quick overview of what they need to know.

These upgrades/changes present several great marketing opportunities for small businesses, and we're very excited about several of them. So if you’ve been putting it off, here’s a quick primer on the major changes you need to deal with:

Option to log in as a business (as opposed to with your personal profile)

- Your business can post/comment on other business pages (not as your personal profile)
- Your business can “like” other business pages
- Business pages you “like” will stream on your business home page now
- You can choose to post on your business page as your personal profile

New masthead/photostrip at top of business page
- Allows five pictures at a time
- Can be customized, preferred or even turned into small clickable ads
- Default setting will show most recent pictures you’ve posted

Navigation tabs formerly across top of your page are now “links” on the left column
- Can change their order
- Some links can be renamed/customized

Option to be notified by email whenever someone mentions your business or comments on your business page

Ability to edit your business category or business type now (used to be “frozen”)

Display of your most recent followers and comments in upper left notification area (just like on personal profile)

Choice to have posts on your wall listed in order of “most recent” or “top news”

Featured “Like Pages” allow you to feature 5 businesses you like, on your business page

Featured Page Owner tab allows you to display who the Page Administrator is

So tell us, are you happy with the upgrades/changes Facebook is making? Do you have any questions?  We'd love to hear from you in the comments below – thanks!

5 Things You Are Doing Wrong on Twitter

So you're on Twitter & you're ready to tweet! Here's a healthy list of no-no's that'll help you learn from others' mistakes.

5 Things You Are Doing Wrong on Twitter: [src]

1. Only tweeting about yourself
   • You will come off as boring, self-centered, and generally lose followers
   • You will miss out on gaining followers, since talking about people often leads to them following you
2. Not tweeting at all
   • If you don’t tweet then you don’t exist
   • To be relevent and read on twitter you must post
3. Tweeting too often about every minute detail of your day
   • No one cares about your steak unless it’s really good and they can get one too
   • No one wants to know how many times you go to the bathroom
   • All this extra noise will drive followers away
4. Repeating your tweets too often
   • If your followers see the same tweets over and over they WILL get annoyed
   • Your followers will think you are a robot or a spammer
   • Your followers WILL unfollow you
5. Not repeating your tweets
   • Not everyone is logged into twitter at the same time
   • Twitter is a STREAM of information
   • If you don’t repeat a little then your tweets will vanish under a flood of more recent tweets

The trick is to find a balance between the land of "Me, me, ME!" and the land of "everything BUT me." Keep the account active, and remind your followers that you're there & you offer something of value. Happy Tweeting!

AdvancedConcreteSupply.com

CID has created a new website for Advanced Concrete Supply. Click the photo below to check it out!

Brand New Website for Atlanta General & Remodeling

Channel Islands Design has finished the web design & development for client Atlanta General & Remodeling: http://www.atlantageneralandremodeling.com - Their projects range from very basic to high end custom work.

How can we help grow your business? CID offers services in web design, print design, photography & more! Contact us at http://www.cid4design.com or give us a call at (805) 382-4243.

GoMetroRetro.com

We recently finished a redesign & restructuring of CID's long-time clients, Metro Retrofitting: http://www.gometroretro.com. The largest retrofitting company in southern California, they help homeowners and apartment owners meet mandatory state and city requirements, prior to the close of escrow. New site design included Wordpress integration, new navigation, flash animation, and more.



How can Channel Islands Design help grow your business? Call us at (805) 382-4243.