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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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.

The post Items Your Website Header Needs  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

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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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

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

The post 15 Graphic Elements to Improve Your Business’s Website  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

First, start off your web design by design for everyone, in other words, make sure your design is based on the basic principles of UX/UI design. Resist assuming older adults need increased font sizes or that they will be viewing your design on the iPad only. Some maybe near-sighted or far-sighted, some maybe on a laptop, phone, or desktop. Research what goes on in their daily lives and how they use their devices. This will help when you come up with a design with the goal that will direct them to your product or service. 

Secondly, for brand elements, imagery, and headlines avoid labeling everything as “Senior” and using cliché photos or illustrations. Not all old adults are bed ridden or on death’s door. Most are self-sufficient and may need a little help here or there in certain tasks. Use imagery that has them active, doing daily tasks, or using your product or service. Also avoid photos with washed out, hazy lighting. For some reason certain photographers think it portrays the “golden years’, but in reality, it looks messy and out of touch. The same can be said of chalky or pastel sketchy illustrations as well. These were fine when the newspaper was the medium but looks dated on digital devices. 

Tech illiteracy of older generations is a fallacy and myth that still proceeds, and it is annoying. People 50 and over were the first generations to adopt tech. They bought the first cell phones, played Pong, used the first Mac and Microsoft computers. They didn’t grow up touch screen natives, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t grow up exposed to certain user interfaces. Think about design that trains and builds habits of modern use. For example, the “hamburger menu” seen on mobile website is second nature to younger generations, but old generations may not know the purpose. Instead viewing is as incompetence think of way to meet them halfway. Try labeling the “hamburger menu” as simply “menu” near the graphic. This will let them know where the navigation is as well as make them remember for future websites. 

Lastly, while it would be best to hire a digital marketing team with the target audience included in the web design team, that isn’t always possible, or you are not able to tell who is on the team. However, it is possible of testing to be done by the target demographic. LinkedIn, Reddit, local outreach, job boards, email surveys, and more are all available ways to create a testing group for your web design. Take notes on what they found easy or hard. Take these notes to the design and development team to make improvements based on productive feedback. 

Ready to create an Age friendly website? Call 248.528.360

The post Design for Your Parents, Not Your Peers appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. What is the core flow of your user’s experiences?

How easy or hard is the experience suppose to be? Is it a website with games where tension is exciting, and friction is expected or it an ecommerce site that needs to be simply navigated to make the end-user happy? If you integrate a new feature, does it help or hinder this process? If unsure continue testing, if everything is working fine, launch!

2. Is the user’s ability to do a particular action going to determine the success of the launch?

In ecommerce, if a client completes a purchase by clicking a cart button that means the launch was successful. For a service-based company, a contact form was successfully filled out and sent to the correct email, it means the launch is successful. These processes should work smoothly. At least one test should be conducted on different browsers and devices to make sure everything if functionally correctly. If the buttons aren’t working notify the developer, and test again until it works. Once everything is working, launch! 

3.  Is this an area where we anticipate users could have difficulty?

Identify any pain-points a user may have. This may include the user interface design. Is the design accessibility-friendly? Is the design suitable for the target audience? Check if designs work on both on mobile and desktop. Are there any important instructional elements running off the page? Does one feature work on mobile, but not desktop? If possible, have someone from your target market or a group for your target market test at least once, identify any issues, and fix any problems in the front-end or back-end until 99% successful. 

4. Does this change the way current customers are accomplishing their tasks? 

Is this going to impact what customers are currently doing? Newer is not always better. Sometimes people can go too far into innovation that no one knows how to navigate your website. Make sure the basic principles of design are being followed. If a feature proves cumbersome for existing users to adapt to, it may be worth another look. You may need to replace it with an easier or more commonly used feature. Testing will also let you know if you need to invest in an onboarding experience to transition users accustomed to the previous version. This will come in handy for updates being made and whether you need to invest in instructional usage. For example, when we upgrade a php website to WordPress we send an instructional video or pdf for the use to refence for when they make updates. 

5. Is there already an industry best practice? 

For example, do you know that a green button signals success and a red button stops users from continuing? This does not need to be tested. If a feature is common knowledge and you already checked it functionality it does not need to be tested further. You should be ready to launch right away. 

6. Is what you are looking to test a matter of user preference?

Light mode vs dark mode is a good example of how certain users prefer different set ups but isn’t explicitly impactful on the overall project. If is your first test has a split percentage of reactions, it may be a simple user preference that you don’t need to spend too much time focused on. Your focus should be elements that focus on the main goal that will bring success. If unsure test one more time and if the percentage is still split move on or launch anyway.   

7. How much effort is this test going to take? 

Do you have the timeline necessary to undertake this effort? Always have due date for the project to be done, especially if you already spent money on it! Limit the number of tests that can be done. If the project is failing discuss a pause to the project and see it there is a way to exit the project or re-organize the timeline. This should be rarity if you discussed the timeline in the first initial discussion, but chaos happens and it wise to develop a web strategy with testing at the beginning of the project to avoid time wasting. 

Develop a web UX design with us! Call 248.528.360 

The post 7 Questions to Ask Before You Test Your UX Design appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

What Affects Click-Through Rate?

• Relevancy 

Your content should be relevant to the channel and landing page. Any ad, email, or campaign should contain the same message as its landing page to avoid confusion for the user. This is important for CRTs, bounce rate, and conversion. 

• Ad Rank 

PPC click-through rate will be affected by where your ad will show on a results page. This can be at the top on mobile or desktop or the right column on desktop. Ad rank depends on your quality score, relevance, and the amount you’re willing to bid (CPC budget). 

• Device

According to Web Marketing Pros, mobile CTRs are higher than on desktop. Filter your target audience by device, especially if your budget is limited. If you are not limited by budget, create content that works for both devices and monitor the CTRs for both. The more clicks you have the higher chance that user becomes a customer. 

What is Good CTR? How Do You Improve It?

While there is no set number that indicates a good CTR, organic click-through rate in position 1 averages are typically around 30%. According to Wordstream, a good PPC search ad hovers around 1.91% and for display 0.35%. Average email click-through rate stops around 2.5%. There are many factors that can influence the CTR of each marketing channel. Focus on using your click-through rate to determine which content your users consider relevant and important.

If your rates are not where they need to be, here are several ways you can improve your CTRs: 

1. Use Ad Extensions 

For PPC campaigns, Google has announced using ad extensions can lead to an increase in your CTR. Ad extensions can include reviews, locations, sitelinks, and call buttons. Ad extensions cover more space on the SERP, so you will increase the chance to catch more views.

2. Use Symbols 

Symbols or emojis in an ad title or email subject line can bring attention to your campaign. Special characters in your content make copy easier to read and breakdown. A word for caution, make sure you apply strategically and do not go overboard, otherwise your ad may be view as spam or a scam.  

3. Use CTAs

CTA, or call-to-action, tells users what steps they need to take next. Add a verb and a sense of urgency to these actions, then link the CTA to the matching landing page. For example, you want the user to learn more about your services. A CTA you might use is “Learn More Now” and link it you your company’s services page on its website. 

4. Understand Your Audience 

You may think you now you user, but maybe you are missing some key info. To help with ad targeting, do as much research as possible. What platform has the most engagement and what style draws in more views. Use the Organic Traffic Insights tool to view your most important data from your Google Analytics & Google Search Console data to help you as well. organic traffic can tell you about how your current audience finds and interacts with your website, which you can use to develop better ads similar to the appeal of your website. 

5. A/B Test

Test every step of the user journey, including the copy and landing pages you use.

To make A/B testing easier, try an A/B testing tool. Look for one designed specifically for SEO professionals or hire an agency that provides these services. This will help you quickly determine which optimizations increase organic growth. 

6. Do Keyword Research

Do keyword research before you create a PPC or paid social ad. The correct keywords to target can save time and money. For PPC campaigns, use a PPC Keyword Tool to organize your target keywords for Google Ads. Plan out ad groups and automatically generate cross-group negative keywords for your campaigns. Then export the plan to a file for future integration with Google Ads. Keyword CPC and search volume on a local level for a specific city or region can also help businesses who have a certain audience in a town they want to target.  

Need help with your click-through rates? Call 248.528.360 

The post Click-Through Rate and How to Improve It appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Lack of Proper Research 

It is important to understand the needs, experiences, and behavior of your target users. Not only is your product or service solving their problem, but your website is too. You need to know their likes, dislikes, bad experiences, good experiences, and more. Create user personas that embody your target audience. This will make it easier to focus on the most likely person to buy your product or services and not stray into accommodating people that don’t need what you are selling. Research successful competitors and create a swot analysis of the strengths and weakness you have compared to them. 

2. Missing Key UI Fundamentals 

Contrast, color, size, alignment, intuitive calls-to-action, typography, mobile responsiveness, and much more are some of the core fundamental principles of UI design. Missing any of these key elements can hurt client interaction with your website and in the extreme circumstances, make your business look like a scam and turn off the client completely. Take the time to at least learn about the basics, there are free YouTube videos or low-cost course online, but if your time is finite, go straight to hiring professionals. They have years of experience to where these fundamentals are already baked into their design plans and processes. 

3. Prioritizing Trends Over Usability 

Design trends can be fun, but if compromise the usability of your website ignore them. If you look at some of the most successful platforms and products on the market, you’ll notice that “trendy” designs are rarely used. That is because they fade and change quickly. Trends should be used more for social media marketing or to upgrade non-essential imagery. Trends are attention grabbers, but if you want a user to stay on your website longer, than you need to create design that can last. The previous point should help with that. 

4. Forgetting Accessibility 

Blind, color blind, and visually impaired individuals need to be able to use your website as well as individuals without these barriers. Start with designing in black and white, then pick a color pallet that has high contrast, then use this link to check to see if colorblind individuals can see your colors: https://www.color-blindness.com/coblis-color-blindness-simulator/ .  Those hard on hearing also need to be considered. E-readers for computers scan alt tags and meta descriptions of images and read back what is going on. Label your photos with short and accurate descriptions. This will also help your website SEO, considering Google, Bing, and other search engines are prioritizing accessibility. 

5. Not Seeking & Applying Feedback

Listen to professionals, co-workers, and most importantly your audience. If possible, have beta-testers check the design and functionality of your website to see if it accomplishes your goal. Listen to feedback and suggestions. You don’t have to adhere to all of them, but any of them that are useful to improve the quality of the client relationship, implement them. This might unfortunately come in the form of a complaint. Resist the urge to ignore or dismiss the negative commenter as a “hater”. Ask questions for details on why their experience is bad. If you can fix it, do so. If it something you think they are confusing you with, you may need to fix the marketing copywrite or design of your product, service, or website. 

Let us help you with correcting these mistakes or avoiding them all together.  Call 248.528.360 

The post 5 Common Website UI Design Mistakes to Avoid  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. Keep the UI design simple

It may be tempting to put a lot of neat backgrounds and graphics to draw attention, but too many could actually be detracting and cause confusion. Make sure the navigation is clearly identifiable. Leave room between text and photos so that they do not run into each other. Visitors need to able to read important information so avoid too fancy fonts and text colors for the body copy. 

2. Predict & preempt

Before you start designing you must know who your target audience is. Who are your products or services for? Create a primary, secondary, and anti-client profile. This will help you create content that is relevant to the end user as well as predict what they might need in the future from your company. 

3. Put the user in the driving seat

The user should feel as though that they are in control of their experience. This means if there are any issue with page speed, image loading, or form/cart functions on your website they need to be fixed immediately. Optimize videos and photos for the exact size you need. Think mobile first as most users check Google from their phone. Make sure pop-up newsletter subscription or discount boxes are easy to exit out off. This will help reduce bounce rate and keep visitor on your site longer. 

4. Be methodical & consistent

Your website should align with your brand. Make sure images, fonts, and format match or look similar your other marketing materials. If possible, have a brand guide that contains brand color pallet, logo information, and the vibe information (aka photo or illustration samples). Headings, navigation, and body text should be consistent from page to page. Micro changes are expectable but avoid messing with the justification paragraph settings too much as it is unprofessional looking. 

5. Avoid unnecessary complexity

Keep click steps to a minimum. For example, a purchase button should go to a cart and then a checkout form. This is 3 steps. Add anymore and you increase the chance of clients abandoning the product. This goes for forms as well. No one likes to spend an hour on a task that should take 10 minutes. Employment forms are notorious for been too long and burning out potential candidates. Have name, contact information, and message (upload resume/file if employment forms). 

6. Provide clear signposts

Make sure that page architecture is simple, logical, and clearly signposted. Users should never be in any doubt as to where they are within the website they are or where they need to go next. Buttons should go where they say they should go, and calls-to-action should lead the visitor through the sales funnel with ease. Page Headings should be clearly visible at the top of it assigned page and easily identifiable from other text. 

7. Be tolerant of mistakes

Have undo functions or breadcrumbs just in case a visitor clicks on the wrong page, epically if your website is large. You want to make it easy for visitors to go back to the beginning. Sometimes using the back button on the browser isn’t a first thought or even visible. This will also help you avoid lost data and give the visitor confidence that if they mess up, they don’t have to exit your website. 

8. Give relevant feedback

Have way for clients to provide feedback about your product, service, or website function. This can be through a comment section, a rating system, ticket system, or with use of off-page notification (email campaign or Google review). Make sure to reply to the comments, especially the negative ones. Negative reviews can also be helpful when creating a FAQ page. You can have a “how we are improving” section. Including customers into the improvement process will help strengthen their attachment. 

9. Prioritize functions

Before launching your website. Have someone test the functions. Make sure your website accomplishes your business goal. If there are any broken links, have a developer fix it, but maybe have a well-designed 404 page in case of future breakage. If there is any confusing layout that might interfere with the sales process, make adjustments. Running a website can be a full-time job, so either have someone internally oversee web updates or hire a web agency that provides web maintenance. 

10. Design the UI for accessibility

Alt tags and meta descriptions make it so an e-reader can understand what is happening in an image and relay the information back to the user. This is important for users with a visual impairment. Label your images accordingly. Also make sure your design has enough contrast for increased visibility. This task is why most business hire a professional designer or agency. Knowing the correct colors, complementary fonts, and layout for maximum visibility for visitor of all types is done by research and user testing. 

Ready to create a website using these principles? Call 248.528.360 

The post 10 Fundamental UI Design Principles You Need to Know for Your Website  appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.

1. WordPress is Everywhere

WordPress is used by more than 60% of all the CMS websites and more than 35% of all the websites in general. This indicates how strong and flexible the platform is by supporting a huge chunk of the internet’s websites. 

2. Open Source, Free & Super-easy

WordPress is an open-source content management system. It is available for free for everyone to download and install. You need to pay for themes, plugins, domain name, hosting services, etc., but the platform essentially does not put any extra burden on your pocket in terms of building a foundation. The upgrades and updates are also free, which is important for keep your business relevant and SEO-friendly. 

3. Effortless to Set-up and Manage

WordPress is extremely easy to setup and manage. One can easily access it from anywhere and anytime by hosting the website online using cloud hosting services. You can also create an account on WordPress and link all your existing websites to one platform. All these websites can be accessed and managed from a single login. The user-friendly interface makes website management simple with a hierarchy of menus and sub-menus reduces the cognitive burden. 

4. Endless Customizability Support

WordPress is its immense customizability. Highly flexible, it suits both static and dynamic websites. Manage your WordPress website yourself or hire experts to maintain. An endless supply of themes and plugins available for WordPress enables endless customization. Most importantly, WordPress websites are highly compatible and adaptable to different types of screen sizes, thus boosting responsiveness and mobile friendliness.

5. Themes & Plugins for Every Need

There are hundreds of themes and plugins that make it easy for businesses to enable various functionalities on the website and fulfill various goals. These items are commonly used by many blogging, eCommerce, and other kinds of website owners. For example, many users integrate Google Analytics to monitor and track their website data, some use Yoast SEO for their search engine optimization related needs. The plugins can also be activated and deactivated as required and themes can also be chosen and adjusted as per requirements.

6. Super-smart Content Editor & Manager

WordPress has multiple content editors like block editor, Gutenberg, and classic editor that are all super easy to use and highly functional with no code knowledge required. This makes the content creation process more efficient and flawless. Scheduling and publishing blogs posts or other posts is also extremely easy. Add blogs from other platforms as RSS feeds using plugins like RSS Aggregator and others. 

7. Powerful Media & Gallery Manager

Media of any content adds to the overall aesthetic charm of the website. With WordPress’ smart media management, image optimization functionalities, and in-built settings it helps optimize media and boost the page load time. If needed, you can use plugins to automatically optimize the images when the page loads for a website. Users can also edit the media on WordPress itself and create a gallery of images, videos, and audio clips. 

8. Effortless Task Management for All

WordPress allows users to upload files with a drag and drop function making it easy to edit posts, pages, tags, or categories in bulk. Adding SEO information and other data related nuances is also very easy along with interlinking pages and managing other information. Beginners can make use of all the support; experts can tap into the customizability features and make the most of it. WordPress also does not require huge bandwidth and can be installed and run on even limited resources. The same goes for creating and publishing posts on WordPress as well.

9. Support for Custom Categories & Tags

The world’s best CMS is perfect for blogs, eCommerce websites, e-learning platforms, dating websites, and a whole wide range of industries. It supports custom categories and tags that makes it suitable for creating large and nuanced websites with extremely detailed navigation features. Create an extensive hierarchy of segmented pages and posts on your business’s website and add as much detailing as needed.

10. Easy Spam & Cache Management

Caching is an important feature and WordPress makes it super easy with the smart plugins and functionalities. The most popular ones include WP Fastest Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket, etc. These plugins will speed up the site and boost load time. WordPress also makes it easy to protect your site against spam. Users can monitor comments and reviews, filter out spam, and keep their websites free of any unwanted material. Many WordPress hosting, security and maintenance related services and tools available online or used by web and marketing agencies to help. 

11. Social Media Integration & Marketing Support

In today’s world, any brand is incomplete without a robust social media presence and audience. WordPress have plugins available for social media integration and sharing. Users can encourage social sharing and inspire reactions, engagements, etc. for blog posts, images, and products. Email marketing and contact form related plugins can help you build your subscriber and emailing list too. 

12. Google & SEO friendly

WordPress is as Google and SEO friendly! Many features and functionalities that can power your website and make it more search engine friendly, thereby ensuring higher ranks and good visibility to your target audience. You can also get SSL certification for your website and add a layer of security and authenticity. This in turn, will further strengthen your website’s image in the eyes of Google.

Some additional important features: 

• Plugins for sitemap management: Help Google understand the hierarchy of your website pages and files and mark the important ones.
• Easy permalink management: Easy to structure the permalink and optimize it on WordPress with inbuilt features and settings.
• SEO plugins: WordPress has many SEO plugins that can help you optimize your website for better ranks, visibility, and traffic.
• Code-compression: Google hates long unstructured code and considers it as malicious. This is not an issue on WordPress as it has code-compressor plugins that can compress codes from HTML, CSS, JS, etc.

13. Easy Back-ups, Restorations, & Updates

Updates and backups are a part any website longevity. WordPress updates are free and super-easy to implement. It is also easy to manage backups and restore website data. Leave these tasks to the hosting and maintenance services if needed. They can manage regular security checks, install updates, and facilitate regular data backups and one-click restorations. While minor and easy, these can pile up when you are business running the rest of your business. 

14. Strong Knowledge Base, Support & Community

WordPress has a strong and huge global community, free from any monopoly and every user can interact with other users, developers, etc. There are endless forums and communities dedicated to discussions related to WordPress and it is easy to connect with these circles and resolve any issue or query. The internet is also full of ample literature and informative pieces on WordPress. Thus, whether you or a professional maintains your website, they are do not get stuck and can get all the required help for achieving anything on the platform. This can also save on cost. You can resolve issues quickly, instead of having your website down for a long time and hurting profits. 

We build our websites on WordPress and can create an amazing custom websites for your business. Call 248.528.3600

The post 14 Reasons Why WordPress is the Best for Creating Websites appeared first on Miller Media, Digital Marketing Agency, PPC, Industrial Web Design, WordPress.