Web Design Development Articles

While a basic idea of web design is needed, when dealing with church web design, there are several things that are basically different from regular web site design. A bad design will drive church goers away and will show that a church is irrelevant and out of touch. You must have a well designed site in order to attract people to your particular church. In the past, having a site was horribly expensive, very difficult technically and needed skills that your church may not have had in the past. Here is information that will help you to create an excellent site for your church.

You will need volunteers to set the site up and run it as well as using a click and build system or you can pay for the site design. If you are using volunteers that have the crucial design and technical skills to make a truly stand out site. The cons of using this method are that there is no technical support if the person leaves the church. Now if you are using a point and build system, try a free trial first and references need to be checked to be certain that they have served churches before. A good system here will have a full helpdesk that includes both phone and email support. The cons with this are that you need to watch out for hidden costs in regards to support calls.

Now hiring a web design company is the next topic. While this may not be economically feasible as the click and build system, there are several advantages to this system. The agency will be able to bring your church web site vision to life, especially if you have a particular design in mind. Now the cons for this include very expensive design. The sites are aimed at two different people. Your first audience is those that are not Christians, but who are considering coming to your church. This site offers them the way to find out about your church and the Christian faith.

Your second audience for the site is the current members of your church. The information provided on these sites must be relevant to this church and those who are considering coming to the church. Some information that is useful is who is preaching next Sunday? When is the next Prayer Meeting? along with other relevant questions. When you are creating a web site, you need to have a section marked Visitors that spells out in plain English what your church is about, what a visitor can expect and a few facts about the church.

This is just a simple view of how the basics of church web site design should go. By following these tips, you will have a more successful web site than others who have tried and failed to get a church web site up in the past. This information should help you to make the right kinds of choices when it comes to church web site design.

In working with a friend recently, it soon became apparent that we each had different ideas on what would work best for his integrated marketing campaign. I suggested he do some split-testing and roll out the “winning” combination in his full-scale program.

Jim was initially concerned that the time and expense of split-testing would never pay off. If these are the same concerns that are holding you back from split-testing your own web marketing, allow me to relieve your fears.

First, it’s quite understandable that many marketers think split-testing is both time-consuming and expensive. In fact, Future Now, Inc. has identified over 1,100 pieces that contribute to a successful conversion funnel. And if you take into consideration your various prospect personas and different emotional motivators, factor in your numerous offers and multiple all that by the number of your landing pages… yikes, I’m already overwhelmed just thinking about it!

But if we break the testing process down into actionable steps, it becomes much easier to look at web site split-testing as just another necessary cog in the internet marketing wheel.

The first step in split-testing your web page actually happens before your page is ever created - and believe it or not, this is a step that many marketers miss altogether. The first step is deciding what you want your page to do.

It might sound silly, but in our web site critique process we often run across web pages that do not have a clearly defined goal. Before you can improve conversions, it is necessary to define exactly what a conversion is.

Once you’ve decided the overall goal of the page, you must determine how it will be measured. Are you looking for an overall number? Percentage of visitors? Action within a specified timeframe?

Next, settle on the platforms that will be used for testing and measuring. Will you be using your standard web logs to measure traffic? Your shopping cart program to measure conversions? How will you feed different versions of the page to your visitors? Will you be using timed tests, replacing your page with a new version after a pre-determined time? Or will you simultaneously display different page versions to unique visitors? Will you be using the free Google Website Optimizer or the robust Offermatica or Optimost platforms? Or your own software and database program?

If you’re not sure where you would like to start testing, why not identify your least effective web page. Simply review your traffic logs to determine which page is receiving the lowest conversion rate based on the number of visitors it gets.

And finally, it’s time to identify the elements that can influence the conversion process. Will you be testing graphics? Text and copy? Placement of different elements? A combination of the above?

Some of the elements you should consider testing include:

• Calls to Action
• Security Indicators
• Product Narratives
• Buy Button Text

While it might seem a little intimidating, the key to testing is to just get started. If you “make a mistake” and land on an element that decreases conversion, it’s easy to go back to square one and test something else.

These are the questions, which most of the marketers of online business opportunities must go through again and again. In my case the answer was found from going back to my initial plan, to my online home business plan.

1. The Design Should Support The Content.

Both have a communication job to do, to deliver your website promise to the visitor and to make him to do the desired action, i.e. to give his name and email address, for instance.

So in this sense, the design is the tool with which your online business opportunity content can be communicated effectively.

Very clearly your online income business website is a direct response tool, which has to make the influence right away, or the visitor is gone.

The influence, or the call to action, is the key. Of course there is a chance that the visitor bookmarks your site and comes back later, but that is a small chance.

2. What Is The Nature Of Your Niche?

For instance, if your online business opportunity website has only one job, to make the visitors to click your PPC ads, everything in the content, including the design, must support this job. It is very much direct response in that case.

But if you are marketing online affiliate programs, including tools and guidance, like I do, the nature of the market is somewhat different.

This target group seldom buys during the first sight, but they need repetition and multichannel influence. So I have to grab the visitor name and email address and put my autopilot into work to sell my online business ideas with repeated messages.

This requires that my online business opportunity website is sticky rather than memorable. The optin form must be in a visible place with a nice give away gift.

3. Your Website Must Have Only One Clear Job To Do.

Too often the online business opportunity owners try to cover too many jobs with their website contents or designs. They do not understand that the key is the clear, sharp promise, the benefit to the site visitor, which they have to tell.

I can say that the narrower your message is, the better you will do. The copystyle and the style of the website design, they both depend on the business plan of your home based business opportunity.

How visitors move on your site, which motivates them to act and where you have to call them into action?

Which metaphors capture your message vividly, so that website visitors will get it? Do they respond best to a mood that is soothing, moving, inspirational or flamboyant?

There is an answer to all these questions, when you go through your online business opportunity plan, the nature of your offer and the behaviour of the chosen target group.

As you understand, this is not a job, which can be done rapidly in the early phase of the career but you have to finetune it all the time and when you have marketed your online business long enough, you get the touch through many tests and changes you do with your website.

A dentistry website attracts numerous patients to a dental practice. Did you know it could also be an inexpensive addition to in office marketing plans? You can use it to advertise and increase the sale of popular dental treatments. While it can be difficult with others advertising the same product, the right dentist website design in combination with quality in office strategies can bring in additional sales and new patients at the same time. This works for everything from Invisalign and iBraces to tooth whitening systems and dental implants.

Introducing The Product

Before patients will ever be interested in spending money on a product or technique, they need to know what it is. A newsletter or email marketing campaign is a good place to start. In addition to that, consider adding a link and sales page to your dentistry website where you can feature your product of the month. You can picture the product or the results of the product along with some general information on what the treatment is, what it’s for, and how it works. This dentist website design strategy makes certain the product is the first thing noticed on the page, urging the visitor to find out more.

To increase interest in the procedure even further, add a slide show of before and after pictures so visitors can see the quality results for themselves. You may even want to add a short video showing how easy the product is to use to help alleviate some of the fear involved with many dental treatments.

Familiarize Patients With The Product’s Results

A common reason some patients never look at additional treatments is that they simply don’t know much about the product being advertised. This is where the sales copy in the dentist website design comes in handy. Use your dentistry website to go through the purpose and features available to help clients understand what the product does and why it is better than other treatments. Once patients understand how the item or technique can benefit them, the actual sale is far easier.

To increase the number of sales to interested patients, hold a set of open house events. You get an opportunity to show the product and answer any questions they might have. You increase your chance of making more sales by giving short consultations and let visitors book appointments for the treatment on the spot. Just be sure to drum up excitement about the open houses well in advance and be careful not to come off as overly pushy.

Effective Marketing By Staff

No matter how sold on a treatment a patient is with your dentistry website, he or she can arrive at your office and you will lose the sale if your staff knows nothing about it. Informing staff about the product and preparing them to answer questions can go a long way when it comes to continuing previous marketing efforts. This will ensure your patients remain comfortable with the idea in addition to demonstrating the optimum level of customer service.

Featuring various treatments on your dentistry website adds to your current marketing plan and increases the ROI on your dentist website design. For a small additional investment, you will find your patient numbers will increase as well as the profits made on each one.

As a business owner, the process of designing or redesigning your website can be a daunting experience. How do you get all of the elements of a good website to fit together? What are the things that you need to consider with your web designer in order to maximise your website’s performance. This is a list of elements that I consider when planning a website for myself or one of my clients.

1. Domain Name - do you have a domain name already or do you need one? A good domain name is one that relates to your business name or activity, and is easy for your clients to remember.

2. Main Purpose of the Site - is your site designed to be informative? Do you want to collect leads? Are you selling product?

3. Audience and Target Market - who is your website aimed at? What kind of crowd are you looking to attract?

4. Launch Timeframe - how long before you want to launch your website. How long is it likely to take for your site to be created? Do you have a buffer if something goes wrong?

5. Design Team - how many people do you need on your design team? You might have one or you might have many. This will depend on the skill levels of the people involved, the size and complexity of the website, and your launch timeframe.

6. Layout - Is your site easy to follow? How easy is it to find the navigation links? Is it clean or cluttered?

7. Navigation Links - navigation links must be easy to find and must clearly define where the visitor is going to, otherwise you will lose people from your site quickly.

8. Integration with your corporate or business image - your website is a reflection of your business onto the World Wide Web. So, your site should be consistent with your business image.

9. Colour Scheme - colour should be used to draw attention to the areas of your site that you want your visitors to focus on.

10. Content - This includes text, photos, articles, eBooks and other information that will be useful for your visitors. The web is about providing information to people. Answer their questions and they will find your site valuable.

11. Artwork - your artwork should be used to complement your business image. What do you want your website to say to your visitors? Your artwork should help to answer this question. It can also help to distinguish you from your competitors.

12. Banners - these are part of your artwork and help with the visual experience that your visitor gets on your website.

13. Fonts - your fonts should be easy to read, and consistent throughout your site.

14. Photos - photos help to sell product. If you are selling product then your photos should help your visitor to understand the product. Photos can also give your visitors an experience of what it will be like to use your product. Further, photos can help to build trust, by showing the human face of your business and also your business premises to help your visitor understand that you are a real business.

15. Internal Links - how do each of your pages link with each other? This helps both your visitors and the search engines to understand your site, which is critical to its success.

16. External Links - what other sites are you linking to? If you use other people’s content then you should provide a link to their website to acknowledge this. You can also link to other sites that will provide relevant information to your visitors. This increases the value of your site to your visitors.

17. Incoming Links - this is vital to your search engine ranking. How many other sites are linking to your site?

18. Ecommerce Requirements - Are you selling product on your site? If so, it is vital that you have a shopping cart that is easy for your visitors to use, helps to build trust, and makes it easy for them to make payment by a number of means.

19. Members Section - can you create more value on your site by having a member’s section that requires a login and password?

20. Forum - do you want a forum on your website where your customers can interact with each other, thus creating a community?

21. Newsletter - is there information that you want to convey to your customers on a regular basis? If so, a newsletter is a great way to stay in touch with your clients and build trust.

22. Video - video on your website is a great way to add a personal touch to your website. A personal welcome message from you to your visitors outlining your key points of difference about your website and your business is a great way to build a relationship with your visitor.

23. Audio - audio can be used in a similar way to video.

24. Blog - do you want to use a web blog on your site to interact with your customers on a regular basis? A blog is a great way to convey short pieces of useful information to your clients, and they can interact with you by replying to your posts.

25. Programming Languages - this is one for your web designer. There are many different types of languages that can be used to design a website? Which ones are most appropriate for your website?

26. Ongoing Content Management - how are you going to manage the content on your website? Do you have someone in-house, are you going to do it yourself, or are you going to outsource it? Do you need a Content Management System?

27. Site Updates - how often are you going to update your website? Do you want to apply different themes for different times of the year? E.g. Christmas, Halloween.

28. Search Engine Optimisation - do you want free traffic from the search engines? If so you must undertake some search engine optimisation.

29. Keywords and Key Phrases - do you want free traffic from the search engines? If you are looking for free traffic then you must pick words and phrases that have reasonable search volume, but less competition from other websites.

30. Budget - how much money do you want to spend in creating the website? Can you create the website you want with the budget that you have?

31. Marketing - how are you going to market your website once it is live? Are you going to market it online or offline or use a combination of both? How much money are you going to spend in doing this?

32. Code Validation - has your site designer or programmer properly validated the code for your website? This will have a bearing on the speed at which your site will load, how it will display in different browsers, and how the search engines will see it.

This list is quite comprehensive in giving you an overview of the things you will need to consider in designing your website. These are things that you should discuss with your designer or design team.