INBOUND ACCELERATOR

We’ve all run into it at some point: a broken link. Maybe you were following a trail of backlinks to try to get the origin of some statistic (I’ve traced many back trying to find out just how outdated a social media or digital marketing stat might be — you’d be amazed at how long some things continue to circulate!). Or maybe you discovered an error on your own website that explained why some pages weren’t getting the traffic you thought they should.

Either way, a 404 error is more than just irritating. For your website, it could mean serious damage to your reputation and performance, as Spiralytics oulines in this infographic.

Is 2020 the year your company refreshes its online look with an updated website? Or launches a new brand or branding that means building a new site from scratch?

Here are the design trends you’ll want to keep in mind to build an effective website that not only looks great, but performs from the first click.

Between the growth of hands-free use of mobile devices and the explosion home “digital assistants” like the Amazon Echo, voice searches are rapidly becoming the norm rather than the exception.

But these types of searches require web pros and marketers to take a new approach to optimizing their pages, though some of the tips included in this infographic from Headway Capital apply equally to all types of search, including search engines’ preference for pages with fast loading time and searchers’ preference for results that provide easy-to-read information.

When it is time to build, or rebuild, your company’s website, the options can seem difficult to weigh, from completely outsourcing all stages of development and maintenance, to creating it yourself with a free do-it-yourself website builder, and everything in between.

When was the last time you visited your business website and really paid attention to what you find there? Have you looked at it, not with the eyes of a seasoned team member who breezes through it every day for a few essential links, but with the eyes of a first-time visitor seeking information about either your products and services, your employment opportunities, or just advice on a topic you’ve covered in your business blog and website content?

If you had to give it a grade, how would it score?

No matter how large or how small your business is, your online reputation matters. It isn’t enough to simply create a website or a couple of social media accounts and post periodically (though you should be doing those things). You need to actively analyze and manage what is said about your business on multiple platforms.

Nearly all consumers and B2B purchase decision makers turn to the web to research products and services before making a buying decision. That means your social media accounts and your website are essential in establishing a connection.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to turn visitors and potential customers into leads because you haven’t presented them with offers where they can easily find them.

Whether you are writing a business blog post, an email, or the content for your standard website pages (the home page, “About Us,” product pages, FAQs, and more), first impressions matter, and the quality of your content is one of the four elements that make an instant impact.

Your blog posts and website content must be on-message, educational, valuable and well-written.

Creating a successful business website requires blending together elements that touch on all aspects of marketing, design and public relations. It requires a multi-faceted approach that takes in the big picture while also focusing on the little details.

I’ve talked recently about using conversion rates to pinpoint your most effective inbound marketing elements — which offers, landing pages and blog posts most consistently generate new online leads — so let’s continue geeking out about metrics and numbers for just a bit. While I love the creative process of developing marketing strategies and campaign materials, I also love seeing the results in cold, hard data.