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Having a website for a small-town business is crucial for promoting tourism, attracting new businesses, and providing valuable information to local customers.

 

However, designing a website for a small town can be challenging, as it requires a different approach than designing a website for a business in a large city.

 

In this blog post, we will discuss small-town business website design best practices that can help you create an effective and engaging website for your company. Let’s start by answering this important question we get asked all the time:

 

Do I even need a website if my customers are local?

Yes, a small-town business should have a website. A website serves as a digital storefront for businesses, and in today's digital age, it is essential for any business, regardless of its size or location. Here are some reasons why a website is important for small town businesses:

 

• Online Presence: Having a website allows a small-town business to establish an online presence and reach potential customers beyond their local area. With a website, they can showcase their products or services, provide contact information, and make it easier for customers to find and learn about their business.

• Credibility: A website can lend credibility to a small-town business. In today's digital age, many customers expect businesses to have a website. Without one, potential customers may perceive the business as less legitimate or less professional.

• Marketing and Promotion: A website can be used as a marketing tool for small town businesses. They can use their website to promote their products or services, offer discounts or promotions, and showcase customer testimonials.

• Customer Convenience: A website makes it more convenient for customers to interact with a small-town business. Customers can place orders or book appointments online, access business information from anywhere, and get in touch with the business through contact forms or email.

In summary, a website is important for small town businesses as it establishes an online presence, lends credibility, serves as a marketing tool, and makes it more convenient for customers to interact with the business.

 

A quick note on Local SEO

Having a professional website for your small-town business adds one other advantage: it helps with your Local SEO. Local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is crucial for small town businesses because it allows them to be visible to potential customers who are searching for businesses in their local area.

 

With local SEO strategies in place, small town businesses can improve their online visibility, drive more traffic to their website, and ultimately increase their sales and revenue.

 

Search engines favour local companies in their search results. But you can’t take advantage of that favouritism if you don’t have a website. How does a search engine like Google know what town you’re in or what local areas you service if you don’t have a website?

 

Now you might be asking why Local SEO is important at all. Here are some specific reasons why local SEO is important for small town businesses:

 

• Targeted Traffic: Local SEO helps small town businesses target their audience by optimizing their website and online presence for local keywords, phrases, and search terms. This ensures that when people search for products or services related to their business, their website will appear in the search results, resulting in more targeted traffic to their website.

• Competitive Advantage: Local SEO can help small town businesses compete with larger businesses in nearby cities or towns. By optimizing their website for local search, they can attract customers who are specifically looking for businesses in their area, rather than competing with larger businesses for generic search terms.

• Increased Visibility: Local SEO can increase a small-town business's visibility in search results, maps, and local directories. This can help them stand out from competitors and make it easier for potential customers to find them.

• Improved Reputation: Local SEO can also improve a small-town business's reputation by increasing their online reviews and ratings. Positive reviews and ratings can help build trust with potential customers and encourage them to choose their business over competitors.

In short, local SEO is important for small town businesses because it helps them target their audience, compete with larger businesses, increase visibility, and improve their reputation.

Now that you understand why you need a website, and some of the marketing advantages it offers your company, let’s dive into the best practices for small-town business website design:

 

Website Design Best Practices for Small Towns

Most great website designs have certain key features. It’s become best practice for great web design companies, like REM, to include these features by default in all its small-town designs:

 

1. Start with a Plan: Before we even begin the design process, it is essential to have a plan in place. Identify the purpose of your website, define your target audience, and establish your goals. Your website should be designed to meet the needs of your audience and align with your goals.
   
   Setup a time to talk with our Marketing Director if you need help defining your target audiences and setting up your marketing and sales goals.
    
2. Keep it Simple: When designing a small-town website, it is important to keep it simple. Avoid clutter and prioritize the most important information on your homepage. Use a simple color scheme, clear typography, and consistent branding throughout your website.
   
   REM websites are expertly designed by our in-house designers. You’re not getting a cookie-cutter template. With REM you get a custom website that is specifically designed to help convert visitors into customers. We don’t let design clutter get in the way of communicating with potential sales leads.
    
3. Be Mobile-Friendly: With the rise of mobile usage, it is essential to design your small-town website to be mobile-friendly. Use responsive design techniques to ensure your website adapts to different screen sizes and devices.
   
   All REM sites are mobile-friendly and will work well on almost any mainstream browser or device. This gives you access to the largest potential group of clients.
    
4. Optimize for SEO: To make your website discoverable, it is important to optimize it for search engines. Use relevant keywords in your content and meta descriptions, ensure your website has a clear hierarchy, and use descriptive URLs.
   
   If SEO, or digital marketing in general, is a priority for your company, let your REM representative know right away. We can bring our marketing team in to consult on the design from the very beginning.
   
   By the time your site is done, it will not only be beautiful and easy-to-use, but it will also be setup perfectly to launch your online marketing campaigns.
    
5. Provide Valuable Content: Your small-town website should provide valuable content to your audience. Showcase local attractions, events, and businesses to promote tourism and engage visitors.
   
   REM also offers content creation services as well as content marketing. If your staff are afraid to write online, or they consider writing to be a tedious task right up there with going to the dentist, then our team can help!
    
6. Prioritize Accessibility: Your small-town website should be accessible to all users, regardless of their abilities. Use alt tags for images, ensure your website is navigable with a keyboard, and use high contrast colors for readability.
   
   REM websites come with accessibility basics included, but we can also upgrade your small business website design to be fully AODA compliant. If you are interested in a fully accessible site, just let your REM sales rep know.
    
7. Incorporate social media: social media is an excellent tool for promoting your small town and engaging with visitors. Incorporate social media links and feeds on your website to encourage social sharing and interaction.
    
8. Use Calls to Action (CTAs): Calls to action are an effective way to encourage visitors to act on your website. Use clear and concise language to guide visitors towards your desired actions, such as booking a hotel or visiting a local attraction.
   
   While we are on this topic, it’s also important that you work with other businesses in your area so that you can link to their websites for relevant services.
   
   For example, if you run a small-town yoga studio that is doing retreats, you should have links to local healthy-eating restaurants. Maybe a local store that sells yoga equipment. How about a link to local hotels or a bed & breakfast in case guests want to stay somewhere before or after your retreat.
    
9. Test: Once your small-town website is live, its important to continuously test your site and make sure all these key features are easy to find and use. Monitor your website analytics, gather feedback from users, and make improvements as necessary.

 

In Conclusion

Designing a website for a business in a small-town requires a different approach than designing a website for a business in a large city. By following these small-town website design best practices, you can create an effective and engaging website.

 

Guest post by Aaron Mears of Asterisk Marketing

 

If you have started to consider a new way to advertise your business through digital marketing, then you might be interested in using a pay-per-click method. This option is often called PPC, and it's one of the best ways to make sure you’re using your advertising budget to its fullest. If you want to explore this idea a bit more, have a look at this informative article where we'll talk about the 6 benefits of PPC for small businesses.

 

1) The Cost

When it comes to spending money on advertising, small businesses don't have a large amount put aside as major companies typically do. Their sales numbers are often unpredictable, so it's difficult to gauge what percentage should be spent on advertising each month. Pay-per-click advertising is the best way to ensure that you are only paying for those interested in your product or business instead of paying a large amount for potential customers.

 

Pay-per-click is exactly what it sounds like, and it means that you are only charged for every click that your website link receives. For small businesses with limited budgets, this is the perfect option! You don't have to worry about your budget being wasted on advertising to the wrong people, and you can adjust it monthly to suit your sales.

 

2) The Reach

Physical advertising only reaches those that are in the area, and you never know who will see it, so you need to strategically plan to make it as appealing and eye-catching as possible to ensure a good ROI. With digital advertising, you can adjust the ad to cater to the type of people you are choosing to reach, which means you are more likely to get customers that want your product.

 

General pay-per-click statistics.

Image source: webfx.com

 

Real estate has become one of the top industries that have moved to use PPC and other digital marketing based on the broad reach that it allows them. Many small businesses must rely on getting new customers all the time instead of helping their current customer base, and this means you need to advertise in many different places at once. A billboard will reach the people in that area, but for agents that want to advertise out of town to attract new clients, digital marketing is the best idea to consider.

 

3) It's User Friendly

When it comes to using PPC for your business, it couldn't be easier for a newbie to use. A good campaign will tell the customers about your business while giving them a "call to action" that requires additional interaction. This could include such lines as:

 

• “Click this link for more info.”
• “Sign up here to get to the front of the line.”
• “Let us know what you think in the comment section below!”

 

This strategic combination leads to high traffic on your website or social media page. By combining a great advertisement with highly searched terms, you can draw in tons of new people from all over the world.

 

Making your ad is simple, and there are tons of different resources online that can help you out. If you are having some trouble, consider hiring a marketing company to help you figure out what the best ad will look like for your company. A marketing team uses years of expertise in things like search engine optimization and social media trends to make an ad that will get the most traction and views possible.

 

4) Customize On the Fly

Physical advertising is something that needs to have multiple reviews before it's finalized, and this requires quite a few different processes that determine what will look the best. You need to ensure that the product or business is at the forefront of the ad, and you need to make sure all the information being given (website address, date, product name, etc.) is accurate before you publish the ad to the masses.

 

If you decide to change the URL of your website or even your business's name after your ads have been published, then you are basically throwing money away. PPC ads allow you to change things as they become relevant, so you can update the URL for your ad or company name in minutes instead of allowing your current ad campaign to run out after a few months.

 

Small businesses need to advertise smaller things (like flash sales or expiring discount codes) at a quicker rate than larger corporations. Choosing an ad campaign that can be adjusted immediately is much better for smaller businesses because they can easily adjust what they want to promote.

 

 

5) It's Quick

We mentioned a few times how instantaneous PPC campaigns can be when compared to something like a physical advertisement, and that's important for businesses that are ever-changing. Small businesses like real estate firms or artisanal makers rely on word of mouth within the local community along with worldwide campaigns that are in online business. Physical ads only appeal to those in the general area, so using your advertising for online marketing is a much better choice for anyone that wants to see a high increase in interest quickly.

 

A PPC campaign could take a few hours to a few days to create, but once it has launched, you will see results almost immediately. A good campaign will give you some higher traffic within a few days, but you will see major results after a few months. After 3-6 months, you will see incredible results that will last a long time if the campaign is properly maintained and updated.

 

6) Easy Tracking

Advertising to the right crowd is important, and you want to ensure your advertising medium can be easily tracked and adjusted to suit your customer base. If your business is geared towards a younger crowd, then a social media campaign is the best way to go, but that might not work if you are trying to advertise a retirement home. Tracking who sees your ads and how they respond is a great way to see which ones are worth the extra funding and which ones can be altered.

 

There are plenty of different statistics that come along with your PPC ad campaign, and it can sometimes become tricky to understand what each one means for your business. Hiring a professional marketing expert is a great way to help you figure out what all your data means, and it's the easiest way to get a clear explanation of where you should go next. If you choose to do your ad campaign by yourself, make sure you are doing as much research as you can to understand the various abbreviations and percentages that are often included in the data report.

 

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Choosing a company, like REM, to help you with your PPC digital marketing campaign will help you in so many different ways, and it's the best way to get expert help on improving your digital footprint. If you want to improve web traffic to your website, get new customers, or tell people about your new business in the area, then digital marketing will likely give you the best return on your investment. Talk to a professional today about what kind of PPC ad campaigns will work the best for your industry.

 

 

Websites have rapidly started to transition from being solely information-based online directories, to creations of art, interactive projects, and experimental fun.

 

Visually, web design is now harkening back to the beginning of website development when designers looked for ways to show off new, creative techniques just for the sake of it. Web designers are thinking outside of the box with contemporary styling, elevated typography, advanced interactions, and visual effects.

 

More and more designers are also becoming conscious of website functionality that’s centered on usability and accessibility. User-centric focus has grown considerably in importance so that website visitors can enjoy an experience that’s easy to navigate and flows smoothly.

 

In a highly competitive digital landscape, there’s more freedom for website designers to express themselves through unique visual elements that also center on inclusivity. 

 

Here are some of the web design trends that were popular in 2022.

 

1. Animated typography

Interactive fonts are an innovative way to truly elevate the text that you use in web design. Designers have been making text move in creative ways through a user’s mouse movement. Certain websites use fonts that change weight or size when a curser hovers over the text offering a truly unique and engaging function for users to play around with.

 

2. Inclusive copy and design

Inclusivity has become a more consciously considered concept that a growing number of websites are moving towards embracing. Making an effort to be more inclusive in visual design, content, and language has become a developing priority. Ideally, this will become a permanent shift. More inclusive copy and design is necessary so that all users can feel comfortable when using websites.

 

This includes strategic decision making about a website’s target audience and ensuring that it’s accessible in terms of your brand’s tone of voice, and language that’s accommodating to all genders, viewpoints, and diverse experiences. It’s also important to be intentional with how you say things. Using alt text (descriptions for images to visitors who aren’t able to see them), text that’s legible in terms of font, size, and colour, and ensuring that users will be able to clearly read everything you post without difficulty.

 

3. Horizontal scrolling

Horizontal scrolling is a surprisingly engaging balance between text and images. Sideways navigation can add a great deal of visual appeal to a website, making it fun and appealing to navigate.

 

4. Multilayered imagery

Multilayered imagery focuses on more visually complex designs. Combining multiple layers of images challenge the conventional visual components that people are used to seeing. This style makes aspects like photo galleries more engaging and unique.

 

5. Oversized typography

Oversized typography is a bold design trend that’s been a fresh font take this year. Once they reach a certain size, words become their own form of graphic design, and can be used in minimalist or maximalist visuals.

 

6. Contrast colours

Contrast colours distinctly pop and stand out against any website that chooses to boast them. Colour is a basic tool to draw a user’s interest and stimulate emotion. A vibrant website aesthetic is anything but boring and is distinctly unique.

 

7.  Going off grid

Veering off-center is an effective way to emphasize a segment and make your website truly stand out. Experiment with bold text that ventures off the page in a non-traditional format.

 

8. Abstract illustrations

Abstract illustrations have endless potential in terms of complexity, shape, colour, and scale. They can be tailored to suit any subject matter or mood and have the ability to be incredibly distinct to a website’s overall brand design.

 

9. Page speed prioritization

When looking at the technical functionality of a website, a front-of-mind consideration for web developers has been page speed. Even taking precedent over SEO, the desire for increased page speed reflects users and their high expectations for this website feature. No longer are the days where people expect to wait for loading screens, and the majority will abandon a site if a page takes longer than three seconds to load.

 

Page speed optimization is essential in ensuring users stay on your website and can appreciate all the functions and features your site has to offer.

 

10. Split-screen websites

Split-screen websites are an interesting visual technique to break up a design. This dual layout offers eye-catching contrast, natural separation of content, and an opportunistic excuse to experiment with colour. 

 

11. Linework

Linework has the ability at times to look modern but distinctly retro. Linework illustrations can range from simple to detailed and abstract. The line weight will hold the largest impact on the effect of the style and can be an engaging method to make the graphic design on your website memorable.

 

12. Collage illustrations

Collage illustrations offer a tactile feel with varying levels of texture and colour. These kinds of graphics open up more white space on a website and allow you to incorporate a variety of elements without making a singular image the entire focus.

 

13. Nostalgia

Many trends lean on nostalgia, and web design is no exception. People love to reminisce about the past, which can be translated into a website’s visual elements. This style calls for a more analog feel with typography and images, vintage filters, retro fonts, blurred effects, grain, textures, softer lighting, and pastel colour palettes. These elements create a sense of familiarity and closeness that people like, which work well to capture and hold users’ attention.

 

14. Brutalist typography

Brutalist typography lives up to its namesake. It’s bolder, brasher, and dominant. A simple way to make a website pop while relying on a limited array of elements.

 

15. One-page websites

Often the most effective websites are ones that are simple. There has been increasing popularity seen with the one-page website design. This style forgoes the typical menus and multiple buttons in favour of simple scroll navigation. When the subject matter is narrower, one-page websites work better.

 

There isn’t always a need to clutter up a page with unnecessary details and images. Remove unneeded distractions and instead shift towards a visually pleasing poster that doesn’t require needless scrolling or searching.

 

16. Scrollytelling

Scrollytelling is a great way to leverage a digital interface and intricately present a visual story. Scrollytelling refers to an engaging technique where visual elements are sequenced together and organized together chronologically to convey a message to users. This method can include close-ups, large-scale typography, smooth transitions, and different animations.

 

17. Gender-neutral design

Another approach that goes along with inclusive web trends is gender-neutral design, which is already being adopted by an increasing number of websites. To embrace this option more fully, you can begin by opting out of visual assets and details that are excessively and stereotypically gendered.

 

It has become more standard practice for websites to allow users to choose from a list of multiple genders and pronouns in drop-down menus. To take it one step further, websites can take those options away completely when there isn’t a pressing need for them, like Snapchat has chosen to do.

 

18. Less neumorphism

Neumorphism is a minimalist design style that gained popularity in 2020 and used low-contrast monochrome elements, no sharp lines, and borders, with subtle shadows. It’s different from most used website designs, but the style is awful for accessibility. Lack of contrast makes sites with this design difficult to navigate for users with vision impairments, and overly shadowed elements pose a challenge for visitors being able to tell which buttons they are pressing.

 

19. Grainy gradients

Gradients with added grain have a very distinct look that grounds a design by giving it texture and a more natural feel.

 

20. Subtle motion design

Although interactivity can be a wonderful feature for websites to have, it’s important not to go overboard on motion design. Subtle movement can do a lot to enhance the visual appeal and dynamics of a site, but you don’t want to cause potential harm to users by making them motion sick. Animation such as parallax effects, mouse-triggered scaling, and plane-shifted scrolling should be avoided if possible. Instead, use motion selectively, not excessively.

 

Conclusion:

These are 20 examples of the hottest trends in web design in 2022. Try integrating and experimenting with some of the suggestions above to see what would work best for your website and make it stand out.

 

REM’s in-house graphic designers are very talented and experienced in designing modern, trendy business websites. Speak to your REM Sales Rep today to get started on your new site.

 

 

Colour is one of the most important visual elements to consider when designing your website. Each colour is associated with a different meaning and can elicit various feelings and memories depending on the person. However, most people make snap judgements about products based on colour alone, which is why so much consideration should be placed on the task of choosing the right palette.

 

Therefore, it’s necessary to seriously think about the colours you want to use when thinking about the look of your website, as they can have a direct influence on the people who engage with your business’ online presence.

 

REM’s in-house designers and our marketing team are available to help discuss different colour options for your business website. In the meantime, check out the tips below for the most effective ways to use colour on your website and understand colour symbolism and connotations before you speak with them.

 

1. Warm colours

Warm colours are yellow, orange, and red. These colours are associated with energy, passion, positivity, enthusiasm, pleasure, and interest, to name a few. Be mindful of how you use these colours, as they can appear harsh and over-stimulating if they’re used too extensively.

 

2. Cool colours

Cool colours are blue, green, and purple. These colours have a calming effect on viewers, which is why they’re so commonly chosen for websites. Be wary about overusing them, as they can appear cold and impersonal if incorporated incorrectly.

 

3. Neutrals

Neutrals include white, black, grey, and brown and are popular choices for design. If used correctly, neutrals balance out more overpowering colours and can be incredibly elegant and chic.

 

4. Include an accent colour

When planning out the basic colour layout of your website, apply the very effective 60-30-10 ratio. When broken down, this means the main hue is applied to 60% of the website, the secondary is applied to 30%, and the remaining 10% applies to an accent colour that heavily contrasts the other two colours. The accent colour should be utilized as emphasis for the most important site materials and content.

 

5. Don’t go overboard

One of the worst things you can do is go overboard with your colour choices. Don’t feel the need to clutter your website with an overabundance of different colours, hues and tones. Less is more in this instance, and you don’t want to visually overwhelm the users on your site with too many conflicting and overlapping colours being used at once.

 

6. Think about your target audience

Really delve into your primary target audience, as this can help you narrow down your top colour choices. If your market is mainly women, studies have shown that they prefer blue, green, and purple. Men prefer blue, black, and, green. Blue seems to be a universally liked colour, so when in doubt, try to lean towards using blue. Lighter shades are typically associated with health and wellness, relaxation, and travel.

 

7. Consider the contrast of the background and text colours

Think about the colour of the background and the colour of the font you’re using and whether they will work well together visually. Colour combinations with enough contrast so the content is clearly visible and distinguishable on the page are important to consider for website visitors with visual impairments.

 

8. When in doubt, use a colour chooser tool

Colour scheme generators can be incredibly useful tools that can help you create a palette that’s professional and unique to your website. Play around with different colour wheels and try out various combinations to see what works best.

 

Conclusion:

Deciding on just the right colour scheme is so important for the efficacy of your website. Make sure you’re considering the symbolism and connotations of different colours, and you play around with combinations that are best suited for your target audience.

 

When you’re ready to go forward with an amazing business website design, contact your REM sales rep to get the process started.

 

 

Building an effective business website takes time and effort, and there are multiple factors to consider in the process. It’s an overwhelming and daunting ordeal to make a website when so much of the health of your business is tied to its success.

 

Read the tips below to find out how you can work with REM to build the best business website possible. Creating a great website will help establish your brand, cultivate conversations, and generate leads.

 

1. Customize your theme

You want your website to stand out and be a unique reflection of your brand, which is why customizing your website’s theme is key or else it will blend in with the countless other websites that all look the same. Personalize your site and look through customized designs that will be the best reflection of your business’ image and content.

 

All REM websites are custom designed by our talented web designers. We can guarantee that your site design isn’t just a template that is downloaded and then re-sold to hundreds of companies online. And because the design is custom, we can do almost anything you like for the look and feel of the site, including changing the layout.

 

2. Make your site mobile responsive

It’s critical that your website operates well on mobile devices, considering the average adult spends at least 5 hours per day on their phone and is how the majority conduct their online shopping. Mobile optimization for your website is important.

 

Offering a positive user experience for potential customers will encourage them to stay on your site. If text is difficult to read or the mobile site is hard to navigate, prepare for users to abandon your site altogether in favour of a competitor.

 

All REM sites come mobile-friendly with responsive designs that change so that they display in the best possible way on any device.

 

3. Prioritize readability

Users should have no difficulties reading the content on your site, which means you should be thinking about your website’s design and how easy it is to read.

 

Keep font sizes consistent, choose fonts that are known and prioritized for their overall readability, and always opt for contrasting colours. Background images should never drown out or overshadow your text. Readability should always be your number one priority.

 

Speak with our marketing team if you would like help with having your content written. We do the research on your target audience and write content that converts visitors into paying customers.

 

4. Make it easy to find and navigate

Your website should be simple to understand and easy to navigate. Don’t overwhelm users with unnecessary elements. Less is more. Stick to the basics in your navigation bar and keep your navigation standard.

 

5. Keep your pages tidy

Your site should not be cluttered with an overabundance of information and detail. Text and graphics should be tastefully balanced so that pages look clean and are simple to use. Don’t feel the need to add any “filler” info like a Twitter feed social widget, for example. Prioritize the data your audience will truly care about and cut out the rest.

 

6. Keep information accurate and accessible

No one likes to spend an unnecessary amount of time searching for information that they need. On top of that, they especially don’t like finding info that’s out of date or inaccurate.

 

As simple as it may seem, try to keep your most basic and important information (like contact details, store hours, etc.) readily visible and accessible to users on your website and make sure that it’s regularly updated.

 

7. Go easy on the pop-ups

One pop-up can serve as a helpful reminder about joining your company’s mailing list, following your social media accounts, signing up for an upcoming event or offering a discount. Multiple pop-ups can be jarring, disruptive, and turn someone off from staying on your website completely. Use pop-ups sparingly and save them for the most important information you want users to see when they go onto your website.

 

8. Ensure your website is responsive

The staggering majority of people will quickly leave a website if it is loading too slowly, and the loading time on a webpage directly affects the purchasing decisions of most people as well. It’s necessary to prioritize website responsiveness.

 

Test your website to make sure it runs smoothly, all software is up-to-date, and you’re using the proper website host for your needs and demands.

 

REM works very hard to make sure your servers are fast and secure. We also make sure your site design loads quickly and that important items on your site are loaded first. Speak with your REM sales rep to get the full details.

 

Conclusion:

The overall efficacy of your website can be the determining factor for a client when they’re deciding on whether they would like to learn more about your business or purchase your products. Prioritize your website’s design and ensure you’re looking for ways to make it faster and more reliable.

 

 

Congratulations starting on your journey as a small business owner! As you navigate the waters and try to stop your head from spinning, we figured it would be a great time to get your feet wet on the steps to building a great website for your small business.

 

Here at REM Web Solutions, we provide you with everything you need to design, build, and support your website, we have compiled a list of services that we offer to help get you started and some key information to ensuring your website works best for you.

 

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In Conclusion

When building a website for your small business there are a lot of things to consider. Remember, the key is to have your website work for you. Your website acts as your resume to the rest of the world, potential, and existing clients. Your website should be a tool that you are using to generate business and a significant amount of thought should be put into the process. Bringing all of the pieces of your business together can be quite the daunting task, however, we’re here to help you.

 

If you’re not sure where to start or if you want to make changes to your website feel free to contact us!

 

 

It’s been over a year of some businesses struggling to stay alive as a result of the pandemic. This year has taught us how to restructure our teams, building work from home infrastructures, taking every precaution in the book for essential workers that are required to physically be around each other. This year has truly taken a toll on our businesses, unfortunately some were forced to close their doors, but many were able to adapt, and with the inevitable changes that we face moving forward we see new opportunities and new businesses rising from the ashes of COVID-19.

 

As we continue to soldier forward, now more than ever is the perfect time to re-evaluate your business’ online presence. Do you have one? Do you have social media accounts? If you do, are you easy to find? Are you attractive to your target audience? Are you reaching your target audience? These are a lot of questions I know, but having an online presence is the most important thing you can do for your business today and it’s extremely important to make sure you’re doing it right.

 

Websites

I know this sounds strange, since most companies do have websites, but it’s something that we need to bring up, having an updated website is incredibly important these days. Here are a few questions I suggest you ask yourself in regards to your website:

1. When was the last time you did a redesign on your website?

2. Is the information that you have on it accurate with the services and products that you have to offer?

3. Is your site responsive – meaning does your site automatically change based on the device it’s being used on?

4. Is your contact information up to date?

5. Do you have links to your active social media accounts on your website?

6. How are you ranking in terms of Search Engine Optimization?

7. Is your website AODA compliant? Should it be?

8. How are you informing your clients of changes on how you do business?

These are all very important questions that you need to be asking about your website, and if you don’t have a website yet, these are most definitely questions that you want to ask when designing your new website.

 

Search Engine Optimization

This is one of the most common questions that we are asked about from our clients and prospective clients: “How do I get my website to show up on Google’s first page?” Search engine ranking is one of the most sought-after results and there are things you can do on your website to help increase your ranking such as having a responsive website, blogging, redesigning your content to ensure you have proper heading structures in place, and optimizing images that you have on your website. If you’re looking to boost your ranking, give us a shout – we’re here to help!

 

Social Media Marketing

The concept of social media marketing for businesses has really taken off over the past year. Businesses have turned to social media applications such as Instagram and TikTok to attract potential clients and highlight their products and services. Are you making the most of these applications to help generate business?

 

eCommerce

In a previous blog we touched on some of the eCommerce tools that we have available to you, with the increase of curbside pickup methods, businesses are now required to offer their products available to purchase online and picked up at a specified date and time. We have built solutions to help businesses meet the needs of their customers – allowing them to browse online, request quotes, and make purchases. This functionality has almost become an absolute requirement for the survival of businesses.

 

In conclusion the reality of face-to-face interactions is dwindling and it’s incredibly important that the world can find you online, not only should they be able to find you, but they should be able to KNOW you based on your website, social media, SEO and eCommerce platforms. Having a well-rounded online presence will directly increase your sales and we’re here to help you make sure you’re well prepared to tackle the new normal of business. Aside from our tools, our team is here to support you throughout your journey, make educated recommendations, provide you with industry knowledge to help increase your profits and guide you through your marketing efforts.

 

If you’re an existing client and are looking for suggestions on ways that you can improve your online presence, or if you’re a new business looking for some guidance feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. We want to help you be the best you can be!

 

 

Now that I have a few training sessions under my belt upon my return to REM, I’d like to share my experiences with you as a trainer, and as a fellow student. Once we have designed, built, tested and reviewed your website, we typically reach out and schedule a training session with you. Pre-pandemic, we would invite you into our awesome office and hangout in the boardroom. Nowadays, we’re inviting you into our homes and conducting training sessions virtually.

 

Depending on the site we’ve built for you, sometimes we split your training sessions into two parts, one 1.5-hour session for our standard modules and a secondary session for anything custom on your site, for example – eCommerce. As a student, I know first-hand that there is a lot of information provided to you, and it really is difficult to absorb new material. As a trainer I know the majority of what is presented to you in the training session doesn’t quite resonate until you’ve had a chance to play with the tools. 

 

Here are some tips to help you through the training session:

 

Taking notes is NOT essential

I know this is slightly breaking every rule when it comes to learning. However, we have compiled training documents for you and will send them after the session is complete for your reference. I honestly believe, you will get more out of the training session if you’re focused on how to navigate our tools.

 

Ask questions

Our trainers won’t get upset if you interrupt us. I promise. If you’re unclear of how something works based on the way we’ve presented it to you, ask us to clarify or explain it in a different way. Remember, we want you to succeed.

 

Provide us with hypotheticals

Our trainers do our best to understand your business, however we are limited, during your training sessions, give us examples of the results you want to achieve and we’ll show you how.

 

Once your training session is over, you’ve received the training documents go into [email protected] and update your content, make changes and get a feel for how it works. Remember, that’s not the end of the road for your learning either.

 

If you’re trying to change something and you’re stuck email us at [email protected] – we’re here to help.

 

 

I have to admit, I’ve never been one to shop online. I was stuck in the mindset of only making purchases if I could touch a product. With the onset of COVID-19, I was forced to surrender myself to the world of online shopping. Let’s just say I may never return to a shopping mall again.

 

The year of 2020 brought us all challenges, it also brought us new experiences and the way we do things has forever changed. My online shopping addiction holds a strong case for business owners that are selling tangible products – it’s time to look at your options.

 

Of course, there are many platforms that exist that can give you an online marketplace, however they do come at a cost. Some of them charge transactional fees, some require you to pay a monthly subscription and you will often find yourself waiting for assistance on a support line when something goes wrong.

 

If you haven’t guessed yet, this is my shameless plug for our [email protected] eCommerce Module. It really is a behemoth of a platform and allows you showcase your products, limit your transaction fees (we don’t believe in dipping into your hard-earned profits), and feel confident that you are in full control of the products you want to sell and how you want to present them to the world.

 

Here are a few reasons as to why I personally enjoy working with our clients who use our eCommerce module:

 

It looks great

When we design the look and feel of your eCommerce pages, we ensure it’s cohesive with the design of your website. Most online marketplaces offer you template looks and colours, with our eCommerce module we deliberately design and build it to give your customers a pleasant visual experience that keeps them searching through your products.

 

It’s easy

Yes, you can have complicated product offerings, however we have done our best to build you a tool that makes complicated, easy. Not only are we here to train and guide you on how to showcase and organize your products, we’re also here to support you throughout your journey of selling online. When you hit a roadblock, we’ve got your back!

 

It’s customizable

Not only is the design custom to the look of your website, our developers are able to tweak the module to ensure that it fits your needs. We’re aware that each business has different needs, especially right now and our team will work tirelessly to ensure that we provide you with the tools that you need to succeed.

 

If you like what you’ve read about our eCommerce module, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to have a conversation about what you need to flourish!

 

 

Did You Know:

 

Businesses & non-profit organizations with 50 or more employees should have made their website and web content accessible by January 1st, 2021?

 

It’s not too late! Make your website AODA compliant.

 

Visit aodawebsites.ca!