Website Design Usability Archives - Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress https://millermediadev.cloudaccess.host/tag/website-design-usability/ Mon, 13 Mar 2023 05:51:02 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://www.millermediainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/favicon.png Website Design Usability Archives - Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress https://millermediadev.cloudaccess.host/tag/website-design-usability/ 32 32 Healthy Data Tracking vs Unhealthy Data Tracking https://www.millermediainc.com/healthy-data-tracking-vs-unhealthy-data-tracking/ https://www.millermediainc.com/healthy-data-tracking-vs-unhealthy-data-tracking/#respond Fri, 03 Feb 2023 15:25:22 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3120 Data is very important for businesses of all sizes, but how do you know which data is truly helpful in understanding your customer? How do you collect this important data without crossing any lines or being too intrusive? First, start off with the goal of your product or service. Next, create a user persona to …

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Data is very important for businesses of all sizes, but how do you know which data is truly helpful in understanding your customer? How do you collect this important data without crossing any lines or being too intrusive? First, start off with the goal of your product or service. Next, create a user persona to represent your target market. Then think about their day-to-day activities and compare it to your goal. After this, research ways to collect data to further learn about them. If you are overwhelmed by the data tracking options, here is how to distinguish healthy data tracking that is helpful for your company versus data tracking that could hurt your potential customers and your business:

Healthy Data Tracking 

Websites save user data to better personalize and improve the customer experiences with first party cookies. These are small data files placed in web browsers to remember your language, layout preferences, or the contents of a shopping cart. This helps maintain a positive user experience by keeping important and relevant elements intact. There are also third parties that work with websites to insert additional tracking methods like their own cookies and web beacons such as analytics and page tagging. 

Companies use third parties to record what users read, click, and visit online. This method of collecting data is ethical if it involves giving users the ability and opportunity to opt out your company tracking using third party cookies, usually in the form of a pop-up box that contains settings and data preferences. Remember you want to have the user to have the power to control their info. If they feel you are abusing their private info it can hurt your company’s reputation and at worst get you into legal trouble. You want to give users the choice of giving you information freely. You can use subscription or contact forms, quizzes, and surveys for your company website or email marketing. Make it easy to unsubscribe from your email list if you use email mail marketing. The data you gather from these methods, should assist in your marketing and advertising plans. You don’t have to have all these methods going at once. Apply data collection methods based on your business goals.     

Unhealthy Data Tracking 

While data collection isn’t inherently bad, what you do with the data you collect is important. Sometimes data collection for advertising can veer away from its true purpose. Using ads through Google Ads and on social media platforms should have the goal of showing user the most relevant and useful ad. Track only what is relevant to help you sell your product or service. Never sell the data you collect to data brokers. Data brokers are companies that can merge anonymized online data (like from a public record) with personally identifiable information to build a detailed profile of you and sell it to other companies that don’t have your information. Avoid purchasing from brokers as well. Pause and think about how you feel when you get an email or ad from a company you never were in contact with. This can demolish any organic relationship building with potential customers. 

Researchers at the University of Washington have shown that mobile ad networks tracking capabilities could be manipulated for highly targeted surveillance. Some banks can also use data collection to determine your creditworthiness. Insurers can use data to assess your premiums. These ways of using data collection, are examples of controversial and potentially damaging ways to use data. This is causing many users to turn to private browsing and ad blocking software causing a loss of revenue of content creators. As a business make sure when you collect your data keep it safe and come up with an ad strategy that is ethical and brings value to your customer. 

We can help with healthy data collection for your website and ads. Call 248.528.3600 or visit our Google Analytics page for more info. 

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Yikes! It’s Friday the 13th! https://www.millermediainc.com/yikes-its-friday-the-13th/ https://www.millermediainc.com/yikes-its-friday-the-13th/#respond Fri, 13 Jan 2023 10:18:12 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3103 Here are 13 unlucky marketing strategies to avoid if you wish for business to be successful:  🐈‍⬛ Avoid keyword stuffing for SEO 🪜 Avoid plagiarizing body copy  ❌Avoid pulling images straight off Google & stealing artwork  ⛓️Avoid spamming email marketing ☠️Avoid posting only selling content on social media  🤖Avoid AI generated content if unfamiliar with the tools …

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Here are 13 unlucky marketing strategies to avoid if you wish for business to be successful: 

🐈‍⬛ Avoid keyword stuffing for SEO

🪜 Avoid plagiarizing body copy 

❌Avoid pulling images straight off Google & stealing artwork 

⛓Avoid spamming email marketing

☠Avoid posting only selling content on social media 

🤖Avoid AI generated content if unfamiliar with the tools & copyright laws 

🗓 Avoid prioritizing traditional marketing over digital 

👓Avoid not proof-reading social copy 

🕳Avoid hiding cost for ecommerce 

🔒Avoid making hard to cancel subscriptions 

😈Avoid inconsistent branding 

⁉Avoid vague creative goals 

📉Avoid ignoring data tracking 

Avoid these tactics by working with us! Call 248.528.3600

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6 Useful User Research Methods https://www.millermediainc.com/6-useful-user-research-methods/ https://www.millermediainc.com/6-useful-user-research-methods/#respond Mon, 02 Jan 2023 10:00:42 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3092 Whether staring a web project or any other digital marketing project, it is important to understand your users’ needs and desires. Gather data that will help make an informed decision about how to create your digital design. 6 methods on how to do this are: 1. User Interviews  Go straight to the source. If you …

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Whether staring a web project or any other digital marketing project, it is important to understand your users’ needs and desires. Gather data that will help make an informed decision about how to create your digital design. 6 methods on how to do this are:

1. User Interviews 

Go straight to the source. If you can have a one-on-one conversation with participants of your target market, then you find out directly what they want and need. While it is best to do this in person, this can also be done via virtual meeting or phone call. Pay attention to their attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and experiences. Start will simple questions, then based on their answer go deep into the subject. If needed, have a list of pre-planned question ready, but make sure you are not too focused those questions that you don’t listen to the client. 

2. Surveys

Sometimes you only need info on a specific topic, or you need reactions after the purchase and use of your product or service. This is when you send out a survey to a large amount of your customers’ email. Make sure your email subject is clean simple and avoid all caps, you don’t want clients making the mistake of thinking your survey is a scam or spam. Keep the survey short, users are less likely to complete a long survey. If you want to provide an extra incentive by offering a discount to your store if they complete the survey. 

3. Focus Groups 

Gather a small sample group of your target market to discuss your product, service, or experience. Let them share their perspectives amongst themselves in a guided setting. This allows you to gain insights into the nuances and different types of views as individuals. This is especially useful when tailoring products, services, and experiences for individual clients, not just a whole demographic. Include a moderator so that they stay on topic and that they don’t influence each other too much. 

4. A/B Testing 

If you have 2 designs for your project, you can test them against each other. You can use live users or use A/B testing tools that can analyze your design and determine which your target market will gravitate to more. This is useful for designs that are similar but have a minor difference or the information is presented in a different order. If results come back overwhelming to 1 version, you can scrap the other. If your results are nearly even, you can chalk it up to personal preference and merge the two or provide personalized settings for the end user to allow them more control. 

5. Card Sorting 

This method can help determine items like website architecture. You break your products or services into categories. Using virtual or physical cards, assign each card an individual product or service. Provide them to the user and ask them to sort the cards into groups. The groups can be based on criteria based on user preference for example color, size, etc. This helps you identify patterns in what user views, which indicates what a user will like search when looking for a product or service like yours. You can then organize your website based on the results leading to the exact user experience your target market wants. 

6. Tree Test

Findability and usability of website content can be tested with the tree test method. This can be used as a follow up from the card sorting method or it can be used when you have large amounts of content, have multiple navigation options, or are updating your existing website. The tree test method involves asking participants to find specific items starting from the home page to the contact page. You give no indication of what the internal navigation or call-to-action buttons are but are allowed a few hints. This helps understand how users find and interact with your web content. 

Start a user-researched web project today? Call 248.528.3600

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Items Your Website Header Needs  https://www.millermediainc.com/items-your-website-header-needs/ https://www.millermediainc.com/items-your-website-header-needs/#respond Fri, 02 Dec 2022 13:49:08 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3066 It may seem easy to design the top of your website. If fact most CMS like WordPress have templates that have a basic top ready to use, but you may forget some elements if you are busy with more important content. Here is a list of necessary items that the header of your website must …

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It may seem easy to design the top of your website. If fact most CMS like WordPress have templates that have a basic top ready to use, but you may forget some elements if you are busy with more important content. Here is a list of necessary items that the header of your website must have to be functional: 

Logo

Your company logo is needed so that visitors know that it is your company website that they are on. Make sure your logo is visible at a small size and that the colors are in RGB (digital colors). If you have an old logo, it may be time for a re-design by a professional design agency. If you have an illustrative one or one with a lot of detail, you may need to simplify or have your logo visible embedded in your top image. Be aware that if you have it embedded in your top image it could mean for future images your logo must be visible or you will have to forgo sliders or videos where the logo isn’t there. Logos in the header are often hyperlinked to take the user back to the home page. 

Navigation Menu 

Whether you have individual links to each page, a mega menu, or a hamburger menu, you need to have a way for users to navigate your website. Usually access to a navigation menu is at the top. There are some exceptions to the rule like side menus, but those are usually reserved for apps where users will swipe to access the navigation. Before designing your website, it is ideal to have a sitemap where you can figure out how many pages you need and how they will be maneuvered. This will inform what type of navigation to use. 

Call To Action 

You want to encourage users to take the next step in the sale process. CTAs that are usually at the top-right of your webpage are:

  • Company phone number
  • Email Us Icon/Link
  • Contact Us Page
  • Request a Quote Page
  • Support Link

Search Bar 

A search bar is needed if you have a large website with a lot of products, services, or information. Distributor websites will have a search bar at the top of their website so users can type in the brand they want, and it will directly pop up. The users will not have to go into layers of webpages to hunt down what they want. This will prevent clients from giving up on your website and bouncing out. A simple search bar can improve click-through-rates and improve the user experience of your website. 

Ecommerce Icons 

 If your business is ecommerce, then you need icons your user can use to complete the purchase and continue for future purchases. These icons are: 

  • Login/My Account icon
  • Add to Cart icon 
  • Add to Wish List icon
  • A Like/Favorite icon
  • A Share icon 

Need help fixing your web design? Call 248.528.3600.

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Avoid Getting Your URL Blacklisted  https://www.millermediainc.com/avoid-getting-your-url-blacklisted/ https://www.millermediainc.com/avoid-getting-your-url-blacklisted/#respond Mon, 07 Nov 2022 15:01:27 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3037 The URL Blacklist is a list that contains different website links that have engaged in malicious or suspicious activity deemed dangerous or insecure to visit by hosting providers, search engines, authoritative bodies, or antivirus programs. When a web link is clicked, a warning message will pop up giving the user the option to go back …

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The URL Blacklist is a list that contains different website links that have engaged in malicious or suspicious activity deemed dangerous or insecure to visit by hosting providers, search engines, authoritative bodies, or antivirus programs. When a web link is clicked, a warning message will pop up giving the user the option to go back to SERPs page or proceed to the link. Most users will not continue to the link unless they have had previous experience with the company. In 2003, Google blacklisted around 10,000 sites per day. The number has grown in recent years, with Google blocking around 40,000 a week. It is vital for your company’s website to remain off the blacklist so that you do not loose web traffic and revenue. 

Why Would My Website be Blacklisted? 

There are several reasons a website might get blacklisted. Here are the most common reasons a website is get put on this the list:

  • SEO Spam

Hackers gain access to a website and fill it with spammy content to pages with the highest rankings and traffic. They will also tempt sell illicit, illegal, or counterfeit products using spammy keywords, injections, and pop-ups. 

  • Phishing Schemes 

Host links that lead users to sketchy websites or duplications of popular websites are categorized as phishing schemes. Visitors of these unethical websites end up sharing their private info, often credit card numbers, usernames, passwords, social security numbers, and more. Which in turn is used to access their bank account and get scammed out of money. 

  • Malware Code

This is the most common reason a website is blacklisted. Trojan horses are types of malicious software or code that looks harmless but deceives visitors into installing or loading the malware onto their computer. Once in place, the hacker can potentially take control of a device and perform various harmful actions.

How do I Prevent My Website from Being Blacklisted? 

You can prevent your company’s website from being a target for blacklisting by doing the following:

  • Use a Reputable Web Hosting Provider

Use hosting services that provides safety monitoring, security features, and strong firewalls that can help detect potential attacks and security breaches while also helping you detect certain site vulnerabilities. These providers should also alert you when they detect suspicious activity on your site and help you get rid of any online infections. 

  • Use Cybersecurity Services 

You want your website to be frequently scanned for different threats or infections. This dramatically decreases the chances of getting blacklisted. Acting as fast as possible is key in avoiding traffic and revenue loss. Implementing automated cybersecurity protocols can be highly effective, especially if your current hosting provider does not offer monitoring services.

  • Keep Apps, Plugins, and Site Software Updated

The most common problem a company has is maintaining their website’s apps, plugins, and site software, especially if you use a CMS such as WordPress. Hackers usually attack insecure points of entry and insert malicious code, spammy content, trojan horses, suspicious links, and more. The backdoors are usually old, outdated apps, plugins, and software. It is imperative that you keep everything up-to-date and secure, from your third-party apps to the site’s core software. If you or your internal team are too busy, look for a digital marketing agency that provides web maintenance services. 

  • Fix Broken Links 

Broken links occur when the website or page they have previously linked to has gone through reconstruction, and the redirect needs to be set up again. These links usually send both crawlers and users to 404 pages. This can have a negative effect both on site rankings and user experience. Also, broken links can be due to domain name changes. The new domain owner can redirect the visitors to phishing and/or malware sites, so make sure you own your domain name, or you will have to send a large amount of money to make sure you marketing material contains a new domain name. Regularly audit your site for link errors and replace broken ones. There are automated tools and digital marketing agencies that can do the job perfectly if you have a huge website that requires a thorough eye.

  • Limit Login Attempts 

Hackers will attempt to enter your website using aggressive tactics called brute-force attacks. They use bots that run through billions of potential password and username combos and might enter the correct credentials. When website owners limit login attempts, they can safely avoid these problems by kicking out a user if they misuse a username or password more than three times. Hacker prefer to go after easy targets and this is one easy barrier to implement. 

  • Use Strong Passwords 

This may seem like a commonsense answer, but many users use an easy password when starting off and forget to change the password later. Hackers try to access a site through logins as mentioned in the previous point, but they can also use dictionary attacks, where they list out common phrases and words to guess passwords to take over an account. Require your users to use strong passwords with a variety of lowercase and uppercase letters and symbols. You want to create a unique password that makes it difficult for malicious actors to enter your website through the administrator section of your website. 

  • Delegate User Permissions & Roles

When you have several users who help you run your website, you should consider assigning different permissions and roles to help secure your platform from attacks. When a hacker manages to steal or guess the credentials of your site admin, they can do tremendous damage to your website. However, if you limit permissions, you can also limit the hacker’s opportunities if they do manage to gain access. This will also create a more organized workflow. For example, your social media manger can manage the blog section and your sales team can manage your sales pages. Make sure your company has a password manager so if an employee leaves, they can submit their username and password for the website or marketing manager. 

  • Use an SSL Certificate 

An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that authenticates a website’s identity and enables an encrypted connection. Having SSL certificate means there is a security protocol that creates an encrypted link between a web server and a web browser. These help websites make secure online transactions and keep customer information private and secure. Most domain and hosting providers automatically include SSL certs, but if unsure you can check if you have an SSL certificate by checking if your browser has a lock icon. Click on it and a message should pop up telling you if you have an encrypted connection. If you do not see a lock icon there is a high chance your website isn’t secure.

Need help preventing your website URL from being blacklisted? Call 248.528.3600.

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10 Web Type Tips to Attract Viewers https://www.millermediainc.com/10-web-type-tips-to-attract-viewers/ https://www.millermediainc.com/10-web-type-tips-to-attract-viewers/#respond Wed, 26 Oct 2022 09:14:12 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3024 Using an un-web-friendly type can be keeping your business’s website from being seen. It is imperative that your website is easy to understand. Here are 10 typography rules to keep in mind when creating your website:  1. Keep the Number of Fonts Used at a Minimum Resist using more than 3 different types of fonts …

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Using an un-web-friendly type can be keeping your business’s website from being seen. It is imperative that your website is easy to understand. Here are 10 typography rules to keep in mind when creating your website: 

1. Keep the Number of Fonts Used at a Minimum

Resist using more than 3 different types of fonts for your website. If you use too many it runs the risk of looking like a broken site, which in turn, leads to high bounce-rates. Usually there is one font used for heading, one for body copy, and one for your main home display image. You may have seen fancy websites that have a bunch of fonts and look cool, but those clusters of fonts are usually images and are not meant to be read. They often don’t have any important info about the company’s product or service. 

2. Use Standard Fonts 

If you are wondering “how can you tell what type of fonts you can use for web?” Well, Google Web Fonts and Typekit have you covered. They have downloadable fonts that are guaranteed safe for web usage. Whether you are custom coding or using a web template from a site like WordPress these fonts can be integrated. Keep in mind the other rules mentioned and not get too crazy with downloading too many fonts. 

3. Limit the Number of Lines 

If you have a have a lot of content you want to share, make sure to limit the number lines of text. A wall of text can easily tire out a user. A general rule is to break up paragraphs every 6-8 sentences and break up paragraphs with supporting graphics. Different types of fonts can also eat up width space so before going live test out your website on different browser, screens, and mobile devices.  

4. Choose a Typeface That Works Well in Various Sizes

Sometimes all you need is one font that comes in regular, bold, and italic. Find a font that has different weights, and you can use it for your body copy and headings. This will allow for easy contrast, and you don’t have to worry about mixing up fonts. 

5. Use Fonts with Distinguishable Letters

Certain fonts make letters too indistinguishable. Take the word “Illusion”. Can you tell which the capital “I” and which is the lowercase “l”? If your target market has vision problems or doesn’t use English as their first language you may want to find a clearer font. You are more likely to find fonts with distinguishable letters if your search for “serif fonts”.

6. Avoid All Caps

If you have a short headline or one word that you to emphasize using all caps it is fine. Avoid using all caps for any sentence longer than 3 words. Not only is it hard to read, but it looks like you are “yelling” at the user. Depending on what you are selling this can be a huge turn off. For example, you are selling psych services for people with anxiety. Which sentence looks more inviting:

“We here to help you calm down. Our company deals with patients with anxiety get back to living their lives.”

Or

“WE HERE TO HELP YOU CALM DOWN. OUR COMPANY DEALS WITH PATIENTS WITH ANXIETY GET BACK TO LIVING THEIR LIVES.”

7. Have a Reasonable Space Between Lines

In paragraphs spaces between lines, it is possible to be too tight or too far away. Usually, your template or code will default to even spacing, but you still want to check on mobile and other computer devices. If lines are running into each other or are too far away that they don’t look like the info is together, then this will negatively impact the user experience. 

8. Have Color Contrast

No light text on a light background and no dark text on dark background. If your logo or brand colors involve hard to read colors incorporate a neutral color (black, white, grey) into the web design. Neutral colors rarely destroy brand consistency. It is very important for text, especially if you want users to read it, to be in color that the majority of the population can see. 

9. Avoid Coloring Text in Red or Green

Speaking of hard to read text colors, red and green. Individuals that are colorblind cannot read red or green text, especially if it small. Avoid at all costs for body copy. You might be able to get away with large headings if your background is white, but it is best to avoid these colors. If these are your brand colors, incorporate them into the graphics instead. 

10. Avoid Using Blinking Text

While it fun to use flashing text for social media marketing or online ads, it is best to avoid on your actual website. Flashes or flickers can cause headaches or worse trigger seizures in certain individuals prone to seizures. Users want to able to read important info without interruption.   

Let us create a type-friendly website for you. Call 248.528.3600.

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6 Questions to Ask Before You Rebrand Your Business  https://www.millermediainc.com/6-questions-to-ask-before-you-rebrand-your-business/ https://www.millermediainc.com/6-questions-to-ask-before-you-rebrand-your-business/#respond Fri, 21 Oct 2022 13:30:31 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3018 There are many reasons why businesses rebrand themselves. They could have existed a long time and want to revamp their look, or they merged with another company, or they have a new target audience they want to appeal to. You may be itching to join in on the rebranding, but first ask yourself if this …

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There are many reasons why businesses rebrand themselves. They could have existed a long time and want to revamp their look, or they merged with another company, or they have a new target audience they want to appeal to. You may be itching to join in on the rebranding, but first ask yourself if this is the right marketing strategy for your business? Here are 6 more question to help decide to move forward with a rebrand or hold off for another time:

1. Why are you rebranding? 

You could be in one of the situations mentioned above or there might be other reason you want to rebrand you company. Here are some common reasons companies rebrand:

  • Branch Out Internationally
  • New Mission or Main Goal for the Company
  • Internal and external brand are not aligned 
  • New Owner
  • Product or Services has changed 
  • Your target changed age or interest
  • Name change 
  • Tech industry change (how brand in consumed)
  • Scandal repair 

2. What is your brand’s goal?

How do you want to reposition yourself in the market? Everyone wants to increase sales but be specific in your goal. Do you want the rebrand to focus on attracting a certain demographic to a certain product or service? For example, you are a clothing company who previous sold casual cloths for the public, but now you want to upgrade to sell luxury lounge wear for specially women. You will have to research and create goals around attracting middle-to-upper class women who enjoy lounge wear. 

3. Is your current brand outdated? 

This is more of a problem for companies that have been around for a long time, but small companies can also fall for outdated graphics if they don’t have an internal marketing team. Print used to be the primary source of advertising, so a lot of old logos can be geared towards fitting those standards. Also, old computer graphics and websites from the early day of internet may still be in use if you don’t have anyone maintaining your website. This can cost you clients due to them thinking you are not around anymore or worse your old website can be a security risk due to hacking of old PHP code. Updating you brand can create trust among new and existing clients. It will also indicate that you are up to date with current standards of your industry and technology.

4. What marketing strategies will help support a rebrand? 

Speaking of digital and print marketing, what avenues will you new graphics appear on? Think about all the place your brand needs to be represented on. Common marketing materials are: 

  • Social Media Ads + Profiles
  • Website 
  • Google Ads 
  • Google My Business Profile
  • Business Cards
  • Letterheads
  • Outdoor + Indoor Signage 
  • Clothing
  • Tradeshow Banners
  • Product Packaging 
  • Photography or Illustrations

5. How long will a rebrand take?

Depending on how much research needs to be done rebrands take a long time. It evolves a lot of research of human behavior and interests as well as designing of different marketing materials. If you are losing salesand need change right away go ahead and rebrand. It is more of a guaranty that success will occur and leads to fast results. If you are doing good, but pivoting to a different demographic, maybe slow down and stay in the research phase a little longer before rebranding your marketing material. You may discover that a rebrand is not needed or that you could start a separate business. 

6. How much should your budget be? 

If you do the marketing research yourself and create graphics in a free generator it should cost, you next to nothing. However, this might not be good thing. Maintaining your brand may turn out difficult as you need more graphics to continue advertising. That also may deter you from more important task related to running your business. An effective rebrand done by a digital marketing agency starts at $30,000. If you’re a small business this may seem high, and you may get away with upgrading your logo for $2,000 and having your internal marketing team do the rest but consider saving for more advanced services in the future. 

Ready to rebrand your company? Call 248.528.3600.

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E-commerce Techniques to Get Customers to Complete the Purchase https://www.millermediainc.com/e-commerce-techniques-to-get-customers-to-complete-the-purchase/ https://www.millermediainc.com/e-commerce-techniques-to-get-customers-to-complete-the-purchase/#respond Fri, 07 Oct 2022 09:22:12 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=3002 Customers are increasing relying on online sales and businesses to purchase everyday items they need. With so many options they are often bouncing between websites too gain the best deal. This may lead to them abandoning their chart or only “window shopping” through your online catalog. Here are several e-commerce techniques you can use to …

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Customers are increasing relying on online sales and businesses to purchase everyday items they need. With so many options they are often bouncing between websites too gain the best deal. This may lead to them abandoning their chart or only “window shopping” through your online catalog. Here are several e-commerce techniques you can use to help your company stand out and encourage your customer to complete the purchase of your product: 

🏆Reward Customer After They Complete a Task 

Offer a discount code or free shipping to customers that sign up for the first time or spend X amount of dollars. This creates a positive experience and rewards customers for giving up their personal information to your business. Customers will feel they are gain a bonus in addition to the product. Create trust and build a relationship between your company’s brand and the client. Building on that trust will help increase revenue and purchase conversion in the long run because your company will be helping the client make a valuable choice. 

🏷 Add a “Last Item Left” Label 

Exclusivity and scarcity motivate customers to decide quicker on whether to make the purchase. If an item is never coming back or not coming back for a long time, they may want to purchase the item right away, so they feel like they own something rare and unique. Most CMS websites such as WordPress call it a “Ribbon” feature that you add to your product, and it will show up at the top corner of your product image. Say something like “1 left” or “gone Oct 15”. 

📧Send a “Item Left in Cart” Email    

Sometimes clients like to gather products but purchase them later. This can lead them to forget what they have in their cart. Send a reminder email 2-3 days later, notifying them that they have items in their cart. A lot of email campaign plugins on websites allow you to automate this task, it is called a trigger workflow. Depending on the type of plugin, it might ask something like this: send abandon cart email every _______ days. It will also allow your business to track your web visitors’ actions. This is helpful info for when coming up with a marketing strategy to keep user retention. 

🎥 Partner with an Influencer 

An influencer isn’t just a young famous rich person, it can also be anyone with knowledge authority. Take a local boutique shop for example. If a travel blogger gives a raving review about how much they admire your hiking boots, reach out to see it they would like a free pair in exchange that they wright an article exclusively about those boots and send to their readers. This can help increase web traffic and brand awareness. Keep in mind a lot of followers doesn’t mean those followers have purchase power. Develop a social media marketing plan to include market research and specifically target potential clients that would be interested in your product and are able to purchase it. 

🖱 Offer Free Trial Periods 

This tip is more for software or subscription-based services. Some products clients like to try before they buy. Keep generic tools free but provide one advanced feature that make your product special and different from the competition. Don’t make too difficult to cancel. Have turn-off auto-renewal payment available in their settings. Some companies make the mistake of putting cancelation too deep in the app or website account settings and this ends up frustrating the client leaving them never to return. In addition, have a survey that you send to gain feedback on how you can improve your product. This will encourage brand loyalty and make them feel included in the creation process. 

Update your E-Commerce Website with these features. Call 248.528.360

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15 Graphic Elements to Improve Your Business’s Website  https://www.millermediainc.com/15-graphic-elements-to-improve-your-businesss-website/ https://www.millermediainc.com/15-graphic-elements-to-improve-your-businesss-website/#respond Thu, 29 Sep 2022 09:35:55 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=2970 To create a website that grabs viewers’ attention and stands out from your competition it takes a robust study of psychology, sociology, marketing, and graphic design. This can take years and if you are busy business owner your time is limited. While it is best to hire designers internally or a digital marketing agency to …

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To create a website that grabs viewers’ attention and stands out from your competition it takes a robust study of psychology, sociology, marketing, and graphic design. This can take years and if you are busy business owner your time is limited. While it is best to hire designers internally or a digital marketing agency to create your business’s website, you may not have the budget for it yet, especially if you are a small business. Here are 15 graphic elements you can quickly add that makes you website look a little more upscale and help you gain more profit so that you can build a bigger marketing budget for the future: 

1. Half-Page Graphic 

Most commonly used for landing pages these elements are pretty simple and allows you to create contrast. Play with layers and give the illusion of depth to help your main product or service photo pop. 

https://www.straightfromyard.co.uk

2. A Framed Viewpoint 

This element can help you present CTAs (call-to-actions) in fancy ways. Limit the scrolling area in a frame and create empty space at the top and left or right areas. These layouts are often seen on architecture, museum, corporate, and other formal websites. 

https://korsel.bold-themes.com/main-demo/home-5/

3. Horizontal Scrolling  

Think of this element like you are flipping through a book or magazine. This element is best if you have a portfolio of items to show off. For example, you are company sells luxury wine. You can showcase you top sellers on your home page and users can “flip” through to view your brand’s story and products. A word of caution for this element, it can be glitchy on mobile so you may have to deactivate it for phone viewing. 

https://scepterandsword.com

4. Translucent Skewed-Shape Layout 

Use an abstract shape and dim the opacity a little to partially obscure your product or service shot. It acts as a little sneak peek and gives a feeling curiosity to your website. Brands that also want to covey speed, strength, and boldness usually adopt this layout.  

http://www.themestarz.net/html/lovely/index-parallax.html#nav-home

5. Dynamic 3D Renderings

Pre-rendered video or 3D scenes as backgrounds can create a unique look to your product or service. There are free assets available on websites like Canva.com, Pixabay.com, Shutterstock.com, and Adobe.com. 

https://www.drpepper.ca/en/

6. Line Design

Lines are an underrated way to clean up you design. Strategically place lines to break up important info. This will also come in handy if your website is copy heavy and has only a few pictures. 

https://www.display.care

7. Arrow Links

Point to where you want users to go to. Where they are bold or thin, arrows are a universal symbol of direction. Place them in areas you want potential clients to interact with. They can act as a sales trail for visitor.

https://consulting.stylemixthemes.com/barcelona/

8. Marquee

Use keywords as decorative elements for momentum-scrolling websites. Brands that use short action words should incorporate this element either at the top or the bottom of your home page. This will give you website movement and encourage the user to stay on your page longer. This great if you want to gain a higher-clickthrough rate. 

https://chriscarruthers.co.uk/home

9. Chaotic Centered Hero Piece

This is when a horizontally centered product or service has used different fonts, typefaces, and misaligned images that create abstract look. Be careful with this technique. Avoid putting any important in hard-to-read layouts. This look is mostly for snappy headlines and images that do not show off the product or service directly. 

https://www.therailpark.org

10. Gravestone Images

Gravestone images refer to an image with top border-radiuses edited to make the full composition look like half circle shape or a gravestone. Perfume, Shampoo, Vitamin, and other Wellness or Beauty website adopt this layout to look cleaner and more high-end. 

https://dt-aia.myshopify.com

dt-aia.myshopify.com

11.  Misaligned Card

These kinds of cards have the text floating partially outside the background creating a nice depth effect for your product or service shot. This is best used both in informal and elegant styles. Make sure the drop shadow isn’t too intense otherwise it will look dated. 

https://theartoffinance.biz

12. Add a Hamburger Menu

In lieu of a traditional navigation where you see all the page names, try a hamburger menu. It appears as 3 lines at the top right corner of your website. Mobile is becoming the first device most people will see your website in, and the hamburger menu is more mobile-friendly than traditional menus. 

https://www.atumobile.com

13. Use Bauhaus Shapes

These shapes are generally made with rectangles with maximized border-radius on 1 or 2 corners. Bright colors are also incorporated. Bauhaus design has a rich history, and more people are starting to appreciate it in web design, not just print or architecture.

https://yourleadershipbridge.com

14. Rotated Text

Vertical text for headlines is a great element to create if you want to encourage users to scroll down. Like the marquee style, avoid using for important info, but use for headlines that are easy to read or well known to your audience. 

https://avantt.displaay.net

15. Animated Cursor

This element is underutilized by most. Not only is it fun, but it can act as a call to action. Have you mouse cursor come up as a circle that says “click” will encourage more people to interact with your website. User will stay on your website longer if they something to engage with. 

https://www.lecantiche.com

Let our team create a website with 1 or more of these elements for you. Call 248.528.360

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4 Necessary Elements of UX Design for Your Marketing Plans  https://www.millermediainc.com/4-necessary-elements-of-ux-design-for-your-marketing-plans/ https://www.millermediainc.com/4-necessary-elements-of-ux-design-for-your-marketing-plans/#respond Thu, 22 Sep 2022 12:16:27 +0000 https://www.millermediainc.com/miller-blog/?p=2956 User experience aims to put customers first and perform in a way that is best for them when visiting a website or experiencing an ad campaign. It is important to keep this in mind when building out your business’s marketing plan. Here are 4 ways to strengthen audience engagement using UX designing your plans:  1. …

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User experience aims to put customers first and perform in a way that is best for them when visiting a website or experiencing an ad campaign. It is important to keep this in mind when building out your business’s marketing plan. Here are 4 ways to strengthen audience engagement using UX designing your plans: 

1. Collect Detailed Demographic Data

Ask “Do customers even want this project?” or “How does my product/service meet my customers’ expectations? After that, do market research on who might need your product or service. Discover their daily habits and compare them to your product or service. Think about in what way will it help improve their lives. UX focuses on getting to know a specific demographic and building a product/service that will enrich and engage those users. The goal should be to get them to purchase initially and continually engage with your business. Use Google Analytics and keep track of who is already visiting your website pages to start. Look for their location (do get more local engagement or distant engagement?), age, gender (including non-conforming), profession, and lifestyle (what other items or brands do they purchase from).  

2. Build Strong Customer Relationships 

UX incorporates extensive knowledge of the customers to gain an understanding of why they use the products or services they do. This helps you build what customers need, as well as what they want. Getting to know the habits and expectations of your target audience means you can speak to them more easily. Hit specific messaging points that will bring them into harmony with your company’s mission. Social media and information sharing define consumer tastes. So, if you get stuck don’t be afraid to ask directly through email surveys or social media polls or questions. These two effective marketing avenues could be considered a successful user experience in themselves. 

3. Create an In-Depth Competitive Analysis

Examine the landscape of products and services that users may choose to use instead of yours. It is vital for creating the right set of features that will make your business different from similar brands or services. You want to fill in the gap that your industry has yet to solve. This type of analysis helps your marketing team recognize what features resonate with potential consumers, and therefore should be emphasized in your marketing material. Start with a framework to guide your assessment. Frameworks usually include these items:

  • Mission
  • Elevator pitch
  • Products offered
  • Strengths
  • Weaknesses
  • Brand differentiators

After establishing a framework, select targets based on what other options your customers have. Prioritize which competing businesses you want to keep a close eye on and those that currently offer a product or service most like yours. You want to monitor them in the long term. Also be on the lookout for partnership opportunities with your competitors. Sometimes your strengths and weaknesses balance each other out. 

4. Make Sure There is Adherence to a Core Idea 

Your product or service must serve its central goal. Every feature and interface element needs to serve the core of the product/service. Follow good UX practices, like staying true to your core messaging at all your company’s brand touch points. From your website and offline to social media, your marketing material must look like it belongs to your company while simultaneously relating to you target viewers. Regularly audit your marketing material to make sure every piece has purpose and is fulfilling the mission of your company. If you are busy, start with hiring a digital marketing agency once a year to consult and discuss your marketing material. They can help with one area of your marketing that you are neglecting, or they can simply provide thoughtful questions to help you improve your client’s experience. 

Let us help include thoughtful UX into your business’s marketing strategy! Call 248.528.360

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