Reasons Why You Need a Mobile Friendly Website

With the increase of the mobile device usage, there are some very important things to be aware of for all businesses. Your clients are mostly using mobile devices, and this means your clients and customers would like it if your website was mobile-friendly. This simple philosophy means that if your customers are happy browsing on your site, then this translates into more dollars for you.

Mobile Website Facts:

1.Your Customers Have Gone Mobile Check this amazing statistic; by 2015, the number of people using mobile phones for web browsing will for the first time overtake desktop users. Here is another crazy statistic. Australians are spending 6 hours all up per week using mobile internet. That’s nearly 1 day per week on their mobile phone on the internet. If your website has not been fully optimised for these users, and if their experience is not the best it could be, then you may loose potential revenue.

2. These Users Are in a Hurry. Mobile device users are very time poor. Statistics show that they are unwilling to wait more than 5 seconds for a website to load. This means that your website must be fully optimised to load quickly and within a matter of seconds. If they have to wait they will simply exit and go elsewhere.

3. Mobile Phone Information Is Awesome. Your mobile customers can now access as much information as they want on the fly. Every bit of information is at their disposal . Customers can now access reviews, look at various prices, and even search for the nearest hotel, cinema, bar, taxi rank – basically anything. The question is: how are you going to differentiate your business apart from all your competition in this mobile space ? A mobile website design is your answer. A Yahoo survey taken in 2012 shows that 72% of mobile phone users are going to buy from you if your site is mobile friendly. Need I say more?

4. Your Business Can Make Lots of Money Online In 2011, there was over 35 billion  in online sales made on mobile phones and other mobile hand held devices in Australia. Think about how your business can profit from having a mobile website.

5. Attract New Business with Your Mobile Website Having a great looking mobile-friendly website gives you access to new markets and clients that you would have never had before. If you have an SEO campaign going with your web company, then your mobile site will also rank. This will bring in the customers from all over the place and if they enjoy what they see, you will have a customer for life! What a great way to broaden your customer base, increase potential revenue and help your business grow.

These points above are only a few reasons to have a mobile website. If you think that this is just a passing fad and your business can survive without this, then this is a massive mistake.

A mobile website should now be part of your sales and marketing process and be considered as a must for your business.

Next steps in having a  mobile website: Call 02 9360 8514. We will have a look at your current website, make necessary recommendations and discuss a mobile strategy.

We pride ourselves in offering well thought out constructive advice that has been proven to work in the past. Hopping Mad Designs has been in business for over 19 years and we know how to implement web and digital campaigns that work. Working with us means that you will be partnering with the best in the industry – all at very affordable rates.

 

WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO REFRESH YOUR WEBSITE?

High Traffic – Low Sales.

You are getting the visitors to your website but this is not translating to sales. People are going to your site but they seem to be exiting the site before making a purchase or inquiry. You can tell this by studying your Google Analytics. This will tell you how many site visitors you are getting, how long they are staying on the site.

Boring + Uninspiring Web Copy

Well-written website content can can act as your best sales person. I tell my clients all the time that one of the most important components of your website is the copy. If it has been written by a copywriter then it is going to work. But, if it is dotted with grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, boring business speak/cliches, then it will fall flat. Remember that to succeed online, you need to capture peoples attention quickly. Only a copy writer can do this for you. How else are you going to position your business in the best possible light?

Far Too Many Customer Complaints

Here are some classic signs that your website needs a refresh if you are hearing complaints like this from your customers:
– your website takes ages to load and when it does I can’t view it properly
– I didn’t recognise your business – your logo has changed and it is not on your website
– I couldn’t find the checkout area for the site – I added the products to the cart but I can’t buy them.
– Your phone numbers and address are wrong
– Do you still offer that service/product – I was under the impression that you no longer offered that.
– I tried contacting that staff ember who I saw on your website but they no longer work for you.
– It took me ages to find your site – it wasn’t on Google.
– Your website froze 2 or 3 times each time I tried to access it.

If you hear any of the above points mentioned then this is a huge warning sign. Perhaps make a list of these errors or complaints that you get over time and give them to your web developer, who can them go about making these necessary web changes.

You Cannot Use Your Content Management System.

Refreshing your website and updating it with new information, products or content is what your customers want. If you cannot do this through your CMS then you MUST look at changing your CMS platform. We recommend using a WordPress content management system for your website refresh.

Getting Ripped Off By Your Web Company

You are locked into web contracts that require you to pay expensive monthly fees for ‘ who knows what’. You have been paying it for that long that you actually can’t remember what it is for. If this is happening to you – then it’s time for a complete website change.

CONVERTING YOUR WEBSITE INTO A WORDPRESS CMS

REASONS WHY YOU WANT TO CONVERT YOUR WEBSITE TO A WORDPRESS CMS.

1) You are locked into a clunky, very hard to use CMS system, that is difficult to maintain and making any amend is a complete nightmare. Making any change to your website takes hours and things just don’t go the way you want them to. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t seem to make the system do the type of amends you want.
2) You made the mistake getting your website designed by a company that has it’s own proprietary CMS and things have gone pear shaped. You want to leave them, but because your website is built on THEIR CMS PLATFORM you can’t.
3) You are paying a monthly CMS fee that you feel is a total rip off. Some web studios will charge you a monthly ‘maintenance fee’ for using their CMS, which can add up over time.
4) Your CMS system does not allow for easy SEO integration. Your website is not ranking on Google because your current CMS has lousy SEO capabilities.
5) You want to join the social media world but your current CMS doesn’t facilitate this.
6) Your website is constantly getting hacked.
7) You want to start blogging to get your name/brand out there, but your old CMS simple is not able to accommodate this.
8) It’s about time you thought about a mobile/responsive website but this is a no go with your existing content management system.
9) Your web designer has gone missing, does not return phone messages or emails and you are totally fed up with dealing with them. Any time you have an issue with your CMS, and you try to get in touch with your programmer or web developer, you are met with either extremely high prices for the most basic amend or you get real attitude. Either way it is time for a change.
 10) Your website doesn’t work on most browsers, since it was built there have been no upgrades or add ons and you are loosing business because people on more current systems cannot view your website clearly.

IS IT EXPENSIVE TO MIGRATE YOUR WEBSITE OVER TO A WORDPRESS CMS?

The cost to convert your website over to a WordPress CMS really depends on the size and complexity of your existing site. If, for example, you have a basic brochure style website, that is not overly large, then the cost to transfer this over to a WordPRess CmS would be minimal. In most cases, this can be done in a day. Think of that. All your CMS issues over in just one day.

AND WHAT ABOUT MY CURRENT HOSTING?

With your WordPress CMS you can basically host your website with any provider. Think about is; for years you have been paying some web company a ridiculous monthly hosting fee. This can now end. With a WordPress website you can go on most hosting platforms at  very competitive rates.

CAN YOU MAKE CHANGES TO THE WEBSITE AFTER CONVERTING IT TO A WORDPRESS PLATFORM?

This is the best part. Once we have transferred your website over, we can make any amends you want:

Need a more prominent phone number on your homepage  – easy to do
Want to implement a shopping cart – easily done
Thinking about starting a blog – great idea – this is too easy
What about a company newsletter – done in a day
Want to change to overall design and have a website overhaul – this i what we do and specialise in. We can easily update, images, photos and text for you. Once we train you in how to use your new CMS you can do it all yourself.
Need to add social media and an SEO campaign – great thinking – WordPress is all about Search Engine Optimisation and social media marketing. There are many great features which are built into WordPress to massively increase the search engine rankings for your website. WordPress has plugins that instantly improve your chances of getting higher og Google by generating important metadata (keywords titles, page description, page title, etc.)
Want to work with a WYSIWYG editor – then WordPress is the best platform for this. After one hour of training you will be an expert at adding website content.

IS IT COMMON PRACTICE TO TRANSER TO A WORDPRESS CMS.

Yes it is. I can't tell you the amount of calls we get from people who are totally angry with their current cms platform and are looking to WordPress as the answer. It is very common and this happens all the time. Luckily, we can help people with these issues and get them over to a new WordPRess CMS very quickly.

BUT I AM LOCKED INTO A CONTRACT AND USING THEIR CMS

Don't worry about this! All you need to do is give us the go ahead and we can trasfer all the design files over to the WordPress platform – it's as simple as that. All we need from you is the domain name registration details and we can do this without your current web company having to know anything. All you need to do IS CANCEL YOUR CONTRACT with them and we will handle the rest for you.

CAN WORDPRESS HELP WITH CONTENT MARKETING +BLOGGING?

WordPress is the best CMS for content marketing. Your WordPress blog will allow you to easily publish content easily. Cntent marketing is invaluable for your search engine rankings and you will see the results almost immediately. Your clients and Google absolutely love fresh new content so it's a huge win win for your company.

If you are keen to do this and want to discover how easy it is to get your website put on a WORDPRESS CMS then call at Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514.

 

5 REASONS TO LAUNCH AN EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

1. Cost effective and simple

Email marketing campaigns are simple and a very cost effective alternative to what used to be considered traditional marketing. If you have a email blasting system set up like mail chimp you can send marketing emails out daily. Get your graphic designer to set up a template for you that can be used frequently. All you need to do is copy, paste and press the send button. Think about the alternative of getting flyers printed. The cost involved with this compared to an email campaign is prohibitive.

Sure emails get trashed and lost in the spam filers but this is a numbers game and overtime if your emails are worth reading and have something to offer, you will gather a larger online audience.

2. Website traffic with repeat customers

Emails campaigns are a great way to alert your client base about a new product or service, It keeps them up to speed about your company and if people want to know more they will go to your website. In crease web traffic may mean more business. Plus a email campaign keeps your business front of mind for your audience. They may not want anything now, but in the future if something interests them, then your email may just trigger that buy button.

If customers like your emails and are receiving them on a regular basis, then this becomes a habit, almost part of their daily work routine, in some cases a welcome break. This fosters an environment of consumer loyalty and repeat business.

You may think that this is an invasion of people’s privacy but your email campaign should always provide the user with the option of unsubscribing from the emails. Remember they must have filled out a form to receive these emails on your website so it is perfectly legitimate for them to be receiving these.

3. Will Add Credibility

Having established services that specialise in email campaigns like MailChimp and Campaign Monitor will add credibility to your email campaigns. Going through a service like these will ensure that your emails (in most cases) can get through to the intended email address and will not go into the spam folder. Dodgy email campaigns can be seen a mile away, but if yours looks professional it will add so much more to the end result.

Another pint to note is that if the email campaign has been professionally designed, the take up rate will be a lot more than if it has been cobbled together in an unprofessional manner. Spending the time to do it right at the beginning will pay huge dividends for your business.

Professionally designed email campaigns that ensure your branding is consistent will mean that your business message does not become diluted. Maintaining a harmonious look and feel throughout all your marketing material will ensure brand credibility.

4. Say Something Worthwhile

If you are going to be communicating with your customer base on a regular basis, make sure what you say is worthwhile. Keep it interesting and informative and make sure that you are offering something. Entice users to keep reading with content that has been written for your customer and not for yourself. If you get stuck with what to write, try using a copywriter. Never repeat or bore your clients with drab or uninspiring copy.

5. Use Infographics or Images Plus Social Media.

Getting your message across to time poor internet users is what counts in the email campaign world. Text heavy pages with little or no break in the copy is not going to work. Try to add graphics such as infographics to highlight a point or get a message across quickly. Don’t overkill on the infographics and keep the message short and simple.

Your email campaign should not be confined to emails only. Tie it into your Facebook or Twitter pages. Let your followers know about your campaign and make it easy for then to re tweet or forward this onto their friends. The power that these social media marketing platforms can have on your email campaigns can be huge. If what you have to say has merit then the social platforms will do wonders for your campaign reach.

WHAT YOU SHOULD INCLUDE IN YOUR COMPANY BLOG

Company or corporate blogging is not new. It has been around for many years and whilst some companies are great at writing articles and blog pieces, others find this task quite an issue. They have not quite got their head around the whole concept of blogging and how it can benefit their business.

Following are some general rules as to what your company should include in a blog. Remember, a blog needs to be interesting an informative. You want people to return time and time again and these simple rules should point you in the right direction.

Know what you are blogging for

What is the main purpose of your blog. Will it be used to attract a following, is the purpose to dominate your industries landscape online and block the competition, or is it just to get more of your companies message out there; almost like a live news feed.

Working out the intention of the company blog will set the tone and style of the blog, but it is vital that you stick to the type of blog you have created.

Give your blog personality

A company blog is all about connecting your company brand with a new online audience. If they have found their way to your blog, they need to be informed. Perhaps get different people within the company to be responsible for 1 blog per month. This varies the blog tone and injects varied personalities into these blogs.

An authorship at the end of each comporate blog will give the reader ownership of their blog and they may even find that they get a loyal readership. This is not unheard of and its an awesome way to promote your companies message.
 

Sharing is the key to online blog success
Let your blog posts be shared via easy to see social media links on your blog. The more they are shared the greater the reach. Interesting company blogs with attention grabbing headlines make for viral blog posts. Perhaps you might feel that your blogs are a bit dry to be shared and go viral, but never underestimate the power of the internet. It is amazing what can happen if you write a blog that is aimed at your audience. Honest, well written content will do wonders for your website traffic and user blog readership.

For more tips about corporate blogging please read the blog article

Designing E-Commerce Sites Learned From Real Stores

In today’s online world where everyone has an opinion on what makes an eCommerce site work and what doesn’t, it’s hard to make the right choice.

The trick here is to sit back, look at the bare basics and make sure that these are done correctly. Simply put, an eCommerce online store isn’t too dissimilar from a retail brick n mortar store.

The following article will highlight, how incorporating the elements of a physical store can be adapted to your eCommerce store making it a great online experience – all these means, greater sales and online visitors for you!

We need to break your website down into all the main pages. On the home page, the category page, the product page and the checkout page you can see the similarities.

The home page is like the storefront, the category pages are like the aisles, the product pages are like your products displayed on the shelves, and obviously, the check out page is the check out process.

THE SHOP FRONT: Let’s start out with the store from which is the basis for the home page. In terms of the branding for the store, you can see in most shop fronts the brand is present but does not overpower or dominate the store’s landscape. So whilst branding is important, your products are the things that need to stand out and this is true of the eCommerce website. Don’t focus too much on the logo, emphasis should be placed on the products and how they appear on the website. Remember, people are coming to your site to make a purchase and they need to see what you are selling instantly – keep the overall clutter and internet noise to a bare minimum.

The second area is an inviting display. Your shop front needs to be appealing to get passers-by interested, the question here is how to make this display inviting for your audience. Are they young, old, retro, funky, there are so many types of consumers that you need to cater for their tastes. Who are your customers and what type of display’s do your think your shop may need? Older, more mature audiences may want a cleaner looking store, whilst younger more youthful markets are happier with a lot of clutter and distractions. The same goes for your eCommerce website. Appealing to varied audiences will determine, how your home page looks in terms of font, colours and imagery. Remember the design of your home page will set the tone for the rest of the site. For this reason, be very careful in how you design this page as you do not want to alienate or lose customers. Design for your audience, but keep certain elements generic.

In terms of navigation, many stores will have a clear point of entry into the store and it will be very easy to make your way around the store to browse. The same goes for the website. Easy navigation will make the buying process easier and therefore more sales. Impressions count and if the navigation is easy, the customer will be a lot happier. Make all clickable links large, and easy to be seen. You don’t want to make the user think too much.

What you need to remember is that people are on your website because of your brand and not your product. Therefore, you don’t want to overkill the user experience with too many products on the home page. Teasers are great and small snippets of products are a good way to entice users. But, overall keep the home page generic and let the user make their decision whether they are interested in progress to the product pages. So if you have a clothing site, for example, you might have featured images and below you may have wools, knits, hats, jackets, socks, to show your variety. But remember, keep it clutter-free and use white space without too much animation. The focus should be a balance between your branding and your products.

So to recap:

The storefront is your home page and it should have:

  • balanced branding
  • the style for your audience
  • take care with what you feature
  • easy to navigate
  • show your wide range
  • clutter-free.

THE AISLES: This is similar to your site structure. You need to find the main categories and put these in their respective URLs. This is because a cleaner site structure and layout, like the aisles in a store if presented cleanly, will lead to a better shopper experience. One point to note is the checkout process. Like any store, it is easy to find where to checkout. The same goes with the shopping cart. Make this button as easy to find as you can and limit the hurdles in the way of this check out process. This is where you make your money so it has to be accessible from all site pages. Read more from PayPal at 6 ways to reduce shopping cart abandonment.

Main points for you to consider:

  • categorise products neatly
  • checkout should always be in view – perhaps in the top right-hand corner with an icon ( a cart)
  • give the customer an overview
  • DON’T make them explore – you want them in and out as soon as possible.
  • Keep it as clean and simple as possible.

PRODUCT DISPLAY pages are similar to your product pages. Typically like to try your products before they buy ( think the Apple store) – essentially the shopping experience in a store like this is awesome – hence its success. Online, however, customers are unable to feel and test your product. So you need to recreate the in-store shop experience as much as possible. So imagine you are selling a new laptop. At the retail level, the customer can pick it up, turn it on and have a play around. Online, you need to offer a similar experience, except for the physical component. You need to be able to have 360-degree viewing, close-ups, zoom outs etc etc. make people feel as though they are really interacting with the product. The price if it is discounted should show it with a slash in the price and really highlight it. A good product description area is vital as well. Don’t make the consumer search online for this information as they may end up at a competitors website. Also, list product benefits and important features. Think about useful product information ( washing instructions for clothing, health benefits for food ) and highlight these on your product page.

As a summary for your product pages:

  • multiple product images
  • clearly display price/discount
  • clear and to the point description
  • additional details

The CHECKOUT COUNTER is your SHOPPING CART.

Think of this as automated and fast, but if there is an issue then help is never far away. In the retails shop you have a person there who can help and online you should offer a live chat feed if there is an issue or a clear contact form to handle any check out sales issues. Put the customer’s mind at ease that if they are going to but from you then there is a real person at the other end who can help.

You will note in some shops they have candies or magazines for those impulse buys. Yes, we are all guilty of it. The same goes for your shopping cart process. Once they have made the purchase you may like to have alternative product options pop up for the online consumer before they exit the site.

So Remember for Check Out Pages:

  • Make it easy
  • Make it clutter-free
  • Upsell if appropriate – for your target market.
  • Trust is the key – third party logos are ideal.

INTERACTIVE ANNUAL REPORTS – Bring your content to life

This can either be through a simple toned downed electronic version that accompanies their annual report or a full blown version that has many interactive and dynamic features. What is clear is that this trend is likely to continue and grow well into the future.

Whatever the reason, your company may decide to go with an interactive annual report: environmental, company or government regulations/initiatives, there is no doubt that having an interactive annual report has many positive benefits for your company, these include:

  • Think of the huge cost savings when you don’t have to print all those reports. That is a massive saving and in today’s economic climate it’s a no brainer. Not to mention the effect on the environment ( paper, ink + distribution).
  • It can be viewed by most people nowadays who have access to the internet and their mobile devices. Think of the broader shareholder base who would prefer to receive their annual reports electronically.
  • Being interactive is basically limitless. You can have videos, simple animations, forms, feedback, galleries, displays of real work in progress. It brings your company to life, Yes, you might have a website that does this, but remember we are focusing on the financial data and company achievements over the past year. What an awesome way to do this.
  • Having a deeper and more dynamic level of shareholder and user engagement where a viewer can explore the interactive annual report thoroughly, via related internal page links, animated graphs and charts that can have pop up windows, additional hot boxes of content that link right through to relevant pages, or get a quick overview via an animated infographic.
  • Think about the impact of your CEO actually speaking on your annual report via a video. Or even better, what about small video grabs of key stakeholders all having their say on the success of the company over the year plus providing summaries of the annual report.

 

WHY USE HOPPING MAD DESIGNS FOR YOUR NEXT INTERACTIVE ANNUAL REPORT?

  1. Based in Sydney we have over 18 years graphic and web experience and know how to merge design with technology. Meaning your interactive annual report will not only have impact but will work well extremely well for your company.
  2. We have a team of user experience experts ( UX)  ensuring that your viewers will be impressed with the end result. Report navigation will make sense. We eliminate any hurdles or dead ends.
  3. All our work is carried out in our studios in Darlinghurst and we never outsource our work.
  4. We are fast, efficient and are happy to work to tight Annual Report deadline. Simple as that. If you need it done, we will get it done.
  5. We have great in house animators, programmers and web developers and if there are any special requirements we can easily outsource them.
  6. We take into account that many shareholder might be elderly so our interactive navigation is simple, uncluttered and user friendly.