Category: SEO

HOW TO MAKE YOUR WEBSITE TOUCH FRIENDLY

With the whole world now turning to this new type of web experience it is vital for winning new customers that you design your website that caters for all these markets through touch friendly design. This is called adaptive web design and is very user friendly when is comes to the touch market. If you follow a few of these simple rules your chances of online success will be much greater.

Design Large Buttons and Do Not Be Afraid of Colour – fingers get in the way

Most adults have large fingers and the older you get the less control you will have over them so in order to overcome this, the button height should be at least 35pixels and the width should be 55 pixels. Anything less may cause problems for those seniors wanting a better touch experience on their screen.

No One Hovers Anymore.

Hovers have been phased out of touch devices so why even have them there. Look at alternatives such as links to other pages within the site that will display this information. Adding more relevant pages to your website will add value to your site and have very positive ranking ramification for the search engines as well. Its a huge win win.

The Larger The Font And Text Size The Better

The text that users read should be at least 12 point in size. If you have links in the site make certain that they are a different size than normal and to make them easier to read, look at introducing another separate colour. Size can vary for this but a great yardstick is 22 pixels and a 14 point type. If you are serious about your website and have engaged a company to work on this for you then they should know all about this especially if they have a graphic design slant to their work.

Give the site some space.

Ensure that there is enough room between all navigational points. Don’t over crown the top of the page with too many prime headings as this may make it difficult to get around the site. Spacing is vital especially if you want to have quite a bit of content on the home page. If users are find that they have to minimise too much to exact a point they will most likely leave the page. I know from my experience how frustrating this can be. All main content boxes should be visible with heaps of white space. It’s all about the UX and if you get it right from the get go, then you will be rewarded.

Make Field Spaces A Pleasure.

How many times have you tried to complete a form online only to find that the field spaces are tiny. If you need to join. sign up or become a member or buy a product, these field spaces need to be at least 35 pixels high, so that the average user will not become angry or skip necessary information fields. The adult finger needs this space for a touch friendly website. Missed opportunities are happening all the time by users not being able to easily touch a number or letter.

These are just a few simple points that any web developer should know to make the touch experience a pleasure. If you are unclear about any of these points it would be good to speak with your web designer or developer before progressing further.
 

Gear the process for guests

Hands up who hates to sign up and give all those details for the check out process on an ecommerce website. You have so many passwords and usernames to remember, the last thing you want to do is be forced to sign up and register your information each and every time a user goes through to a ecommerce website.
Both guest check out as well as the account registration process options should be made available to all users. Also, regular users should be able to have their details remembered on file so they do not have to go through the elaborate sign up process each time they return to the site. This part of an ecommerce website should be a no brainer and be a mandatory component. Remember, ease of use and simplicity during this process will keep users coming back for more and in turn more sales for your business.

Number of steps
Keep these steps to a minimum. Many websites will have a number of complicated steps till the check out process. This just frustrates and infuriates web users making them exit the site. The web interface should be intuitive enough to guide people in a funnel like manner through to the end buying stage in as few steps as possible. Again, the mantra you should be chanting is keep it simple.

Template Form design

Its wise to try to implement these form ideas as part of the ecommerce process.
• Go for a single column approach. Double or even triple columns will confuse users who like to tab through forms to complete them quicker.
• Show an example of how the form should be completed
• Make headings clear and large in text. Try not to hide or make points difficult to find as these will just lead to blank spaces, which is not the idea behind a form.
• If you require a certain bit of information, that to the user might seem unjustified, give them a reason why this information is necessary. Never assume that they will know the rationale behind your thought process.
• If you want to keep customers onside and loyal to you in the future, never auto enrol them into your newsletter subscriptions. If your customers start receiving newsletters without permission and on top of this find it hard to unsubscribe, you will be creating some tension. Be open and honest about the newsletter area and perhaps have a quick pop up window requesting them to sign up to your newsletter.

Prefill forms

Users are basically very lazy and I am speaking from experience in the industry. Where ever possible get users to fill in information only once and if the option is available ( like billing address and shipping address – if they are the same) get the form to auto populate. Users will absolutely love this and will make the buying process a lot easier.

These are just a few simple rules and tips to follow for your ecommerce web page checkout but if you would like to know more then please do let us know here at Hopping Mad Designs.
 

Avoid those nasty and annoying pop up windows
Nothing irritates people and mobile device users more than pop ups. Sure you want to be able to put as much product or service information as possible within this small environment, but , if you feel that this is necessary for your site then try to think of another way of displaying this information. Look at accordion style scroll features as an alternative, but never go down the pop up path.

Think about employing a copywriter that will be able to reduce your web content
At hopping mad designs we have an in house copywriter that can look at your current web copy from a mobile phone perspective and customise it to work within this platform. People using hand held devices need information fast and the last thing that they would be prepared to do it wade through reams of information to get to the point. This will have the effect of irritating them and resulting in a lost sale. Use the ‘ keep it simple’ principle, which will do wonders for the user experience. If you unclear about this part it is important to speak with a web copy professional who will be able to guide you through this area.

Minimise and reduce overall site functionality
Mobile users are now so proficient in using their phones that anything that requires many navigational steps will be frowned upon. Too much functionality with too many levels will loose the customer as well as the eventual sale. Think carefully about what the user wants and how to get them there via simple, clear cut steps. Over complicating the interface is certainly not the way to go here.

Use PayPal
If you are a retailer or have a mobile site that is selling a product, you want people to be able to make the purchase in the most efficient manner. Paypal is a great platform that will facilitate this as users who are already a PayPal member only need to login and pay. If your customer has to fumble around with credit card details, and three digit pins, this is a huge hassle if they are on the go and you may wind up with a lost sale. Think like a consumer in this case and you will have a loyal customer for life.

Make sure that you are very kind to fingers and people with poor eye sight.
People hate to pinch and zoom. I know that I can’t stand it, and if I have to do it to find an important link in a body of text, I will exit the site. Plus as one ages, that small screen becomes harder and harder to focus on. This is why, you need to have larger, full, prominent buttons if you need people to see a link or go to a particular page within the site. These boxes should be easy to see and the text within those boxes, large enough to read.

Keep Branding Consistent.
Never dilute or create a mobile site that is not consistent with your branding. Ensure that the style you have created for your website is followed through all your branding including the mobile site. You will avoid confusing people who may be comfortable and come to know your image and branding
 

One Great Looking Website That Automatcially Adapts to All Screen Sizes

Hopping Mad Designs brings your website out of the dark ages with 'responsive web design'. The concept is quite easy to implement and is now a must have for your business.

The idea is the same website is viewed across platforms: mobile, tablet and desktop. What we do is make coding adjustments so that your web site is viewed on these screens seamlessly. There is now pinch and grab, it is all done automatically. This improves the user experience massively and will help with sales, revenue and inquiries.

By making your website design responsive you give your brand and corporate image the best chance of looking its best online.

At Hopping Mad Designs we have been designing responsive websites for clients and businesses all over Sydney and Australia.

Don't miss out on this great new technology! Call 02 9360 8514 to get your new responsive website now.

 

Can I make my Website Responsive Without an Expensive Redesign?

You certainly can! It is alot cheaper and more affordable than you think.

Responsive website design involves reprogramming your website styles, therefore we can use the current web designs – all done quickly and very cost effectively.

Hopping Mad Designs can implement a responsive web design & keep your current website – this save you time and the hassle of getting a new website redesigned.

 

Responsive Web Design and WordPress

Since WordPress is our preferred CMS platform we can easily integrate a responsive site solution with your current WordPress website – we can create a new responsive theme easily based on your current web design.

Hopping Mad Designs can ensure that your next web project has had a responsive web design solution implemented so that no matter the size of the screen, your website will be resized automatically.

It is an awesome new technique and one that promises to make a huge difference to the way in which we look at the whole web design process.

In years to come all you will need to do is design and build one website and this will be able to be viewed across a range of screens, not matter their size.

A couple of interesting statistics:  below should frighten those marketing people and business owners who have yet to embrace this new mobile and tablet market:

– The total number of Australian’s who have bought tablet computers is approaching the 3.5 million mark
– by the year 2017 it is estimated that this new mobile market is to reach 12.5 million Australians. These numbers are staggering, considering the size of our population. That is nearly half of all Australian’s will own a mobile device by that time.

 

So why is this so important and key to the next generation of web design, website development as well as the  e-commerce market?

The advantages of being able to design and build three separate websites: tablet, mobile and desktop market, with responsive web design are enormous; cost and time savings, not to mention the hassle of designing and developing 2 to 3 sets of web interfaces. 

It’s a one size fits all approach If implemented properly, this will mean that once your main web site is up and running, it will now be easily viewable on all hand held, mobile and other tablets devices.

 

Cost of Responsive Web Design

Pricing is usually set on a project by project basis but a good indictaor at a per page rate (anywhere between $400 and $900 per page for your average website). For more information please contact hopping mad designs

 

HOW CAN HOPPING MAD HELP WITH YOUR RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN?

 

Responsive web design requires that the web agency knows that graphics are key to a successful web experience and it is the application of these creative items right through to the development process that will ensure that your new website has been optimized for responsive website design.

With over 18 years experience in web design and working with a range of clients Sydney wide, we know that we are best equipped to handle this new technology and apply it to your website effectively, maximising your online exposure, all in an affordable, user freindly way.

Responsive websites are also going to have an impact on your search engine optimisation: this is because Google will rank sites better that are responsive – the logic behind this is that they want to display sites that offer a better user experience – simple as that!

 

 

If your website design has not been designed and developed properly, then chances are that you are not getting the online SEO rankings that your business deserves. One way to test this out is to type your service or product offering into the search box in Google and see the results. Ask yourself these two fundamentally important questions: 1) is my business on page 1 of the search results and 2)  are my competitors on page 1? If you have answered ‘no’ to question (1) and ‘yes’ to question (2), then you need to take a good long hard look at your website and make some serious design and programming amends.

What could be the issue?

There could be a number of problems with your site, and some of these are listed below. If you recognise any of these, then please get in touch with your SEO web design company and have these corrected immediately. Don’t take no for an answer from them, and if you have to pay a fee to get this done then you should be a little concerned–as these are web and SEO basics that should be a part of each design and build.

1. Many web designers know how to design and develop awesome looking websites–but unfortunately Google just doesn’t register them. Have a look at your site and check if there are moving or animated images; commonly referred to as Flash animation. All SEO website designers know that search engines do not recognise flash programming. In the past this was a common trend in website design as flashy, moving, colourful images were very eye catching. Many web programmers and designers ignored this negative component of flash as they were able to use other techniques to rank a site. Today with the many algorithm updates and changes, ranking a site is no longer as easy as it used to be and as a business owner having flash on your site will hurt your ranking. Get your SEO web designers to take down all flash animation and if you must have rotating images get them to program it in java or another SEO web friendly language.The sooner you do this the quicker you will see your rankings start to improve.
2. If you are going to have images on your site and if it is going to be content heavy make sure that the site loads quickly. Users do not want to be waiting around whilst a site is loading. Having them wait will result in massive site exits, lost business as well as a poorer SEO ranking. Reason being, Google now looks at site bounce rates; that is people coming to your site and leaving quickly. The higher the bounce rate, the lower the ranking. A useful tip here is to keep image size small, say no more than 72dpi and if you must have animation, keep it in the banner area and to a minimum.
3. Is the content on your website too thin? Are there just a few paragraphs on the home and and internal pages? If so you may need to start looking at beefing up content through out your site. Google love content so the more you have the better your ranking. If this seems like a hard task and you find that you don’t have the time or ideas its probably a good idea to get a copy writer on board like us here at Hopping Mad Designs. Copy writing is now the cornerstone of any (SEO) search engine optimisation campaign. People need to be engaged with your site and its only the combination of graphics and content that will keep users on the site and keep them there for a long period of time. The search engines now recognise this even more and reward sites that cater for this. If you are the kind of person that want to do things yourself then a blog is a great way to add content. In fact, there is no reason why you can’t write, say 1 article a week, that is industry specific. Most blogs a very easy to use your web designers should be able to install a blog to your site easily. Open source, free blogs such as WordPress will enable even the most non tech savvy user to start writing away. One important rule to note is that everything that you post on your blog has to be unique as well as relevant. Remember that people who come to your site or blog are there for a reason and want to be either entertained or leave with some handy information. Never bore them and never copy articles or content from other websites. This will be picked up immediately by the search engines and will not work in your favour.
4. Try to limit the amount of links leaving your site. There are two reasons for this; firstly you do not want users exiting your site and secondly, external links drain your page rank authority. Its OK to have 1 or 2 links to external sites as this seems natural and organic in the eyes of the search engines but having pages of links might seem a bit spammy and will hurt your SEO ranking. Any web designer should know this and advice you against too many links. If you must link to external websites make them very industry aligned such as associations or organisations. A golden rule to remember is that once people leave your site through a link, the chances of them getting lost online and nor coming back to your site are very high. To maintain page rank authority to help with your SEO, try to get in bound links to your site from these associations. Generally speaking, they are perceived as sources of authority and a link from them can only help with your SEO. I know, as a graphic design company Hopping Mad Designs are members of AGDA (The Australian Graphic Designers Association) and have a link from their site pointing to our site. This helps immensely with our SEO. Just type graphic design into Google and you can see that we are on page 1 for this search query.
5. Have your checked your webmaster tools account in Google yet? If not, do so immediately. A reason why you site might not be ranking as well as it should be might be because there may be an important message for you from the search engine that you have not seen. Google communicates to web owners through this account and if there are any issues or problems with your site they will let you know. Addressing issues will result in SEO rankings improving. Your web company should be advising you about this and act on any correspondence quickly.
6. Install Google Analytics through out your website. This is a very useful tool as it lets you know site wide statistics and can be used to your advantage if understood. One main aspect of analytics is the number of site visits and how long they have stayed on the site. Poor rankings will mean site visits and a poorly designed site will result in high bounce rates. Addressing these 2 factors with your design team should see an overall improvement.
7. There is a very fine line between web design and SEO. More often than not business people want to have as many visual and creative features through out the site regardless of how it affects their site indexing. Reining in the graphic a bit and focusing on site usability, navigation, user interaction and content are all necessary variables that now need to be taken into account for online rankings.Try not to get carried away with placing as many graphics, moving animated banners and images on the home page. Try to spread it out evenly so the site has a consistent look and feel. There is the tendency to cram as much information as possible on the home page but this will only result in the users getting information overload and existing the site. Keeping the user experience as simple as possible is the key to online success. You will notice that the websites that have the biggest names and brands are all designed in a very stylish and simple manner. Their interface is simple and buys/clients/customers are led through the site in a seamless fashion.
8. Make sure that your URL’s, titles, and H1 headers are all consistent as well as relevant to the page that the user is on. For example if the web page is about about superannuation then make certain that the URL, title and header has the word superannuation in them. This is called site semantics and if they all line up correctly, then this will result in a higher ranking for that particular page. Make sure also that this page has well worded content of over 500 words. A warning however, never stuff as many keywords as possible into the content thinking that this will help your ranking. Sure, it used to work about 10 years ago, but keyword stuffing will only result in a page penalty by Google.
9. If you are going to engage a web firm to implement your SEO strategy, be realistic about how much things actually cost. If you are promised super fast rankings at very cheap rates then you must be careful about what is on offer. Generally speaking, fast rankings mean that ‘black hat’ non compliant SEO techniques are being used and this will result in future ranking suppressions. To be properly ranked you must use SEO techniques that take time and use a fair amount of human resources. Depending on the competitive nature of the keywords being targeted you might be looking at around 10-20 hours work per month per website for say 4-5 keywords. If your web designers also offer a SEO service its best to use them and keep everything under one roof. But remember, cheap and quick SEO rankings are no longer an option and are no longer able to be achieved. Algorithm updates by Google will see any unusual spike in activity and this again will result in your website being suppressed. SEO is all about the ‘long term’ and it is these companies that are prepared to partner with their web designer and pay for this premium service are the businesses that will see all the benefits.
10. If you are business owner and are very concerned about getting the very best possible ranking for your website and SEO is something that matters a great deal, then you really must use a web design company that has experience in this field. Choosing such a company can prove very difficult and making the wrong choice at this early stage in the design process can and will lead to issues once the site is deployed. If you follow these 3 simple rules you may just end up making the best marketing decision of your career.

• Choose a company that has a good ranking themselves. You can do this by checking their ranking and if they are on the first page for the keyword graphic design, then you are on the right path.
• Use a web design company that can prove that they have not only designed many great looking sites in the past but have also been able to rank them. Ask for some testimonials and do your phoning around. Don’t just believe what you are told. Clearly web companies will only give you the best references but call a few from their online portfolio that they haven’t provided.
• Use a company that has experience and longevity in the industry. The barrier to entry for web designers is very low and any person with a Mac and a bit of programming skills can claim to be a designer. Avoid these people like the plague. You might pay next to nothing for your site now but you will end up having to go through the whole exercise again once you see the final result. Believe me, I have had people call me up in tears, having been ripped off by these so called web designers. What they do is quote so low that you think why not give them a try. But, once they have your deposit you are left hanging. What follows is scrappy, poor design with no regard to your business or SEO. Plus customer service is generally non existent. They are super friendly to begin with but will soon turn cold once you start asking some design questions. Pay the bit extra now by using a credible and professional design team and you will start reaping the benefits immediately.

 

The following conversation will hopefully enlighten you about SEO.

Me: Hello
Client: Hi, I am wondering about how to get my web page on the first page of Google.

Me: You mean you want to get your website ranked on the first page of Google and you are wanting our help?
Client: Yes, that’s why I’m calling you……I have been speaking to a few different companies, I think they call themselves SEO companies and I am getting some different answers from each person and I’m getting a bit confused. I mean all I want is for my website to be on the first page of Google and no one can give me a straight answer.

Also Read: 20 Questions Your Potential SEO Partner Must Know

Me: Why are you confused??

Client: Well I spoke to this one SEO company and they said they could get me to the first position in 2 weeks and then I spoke to this other guy who said it would take 6 months. The prices varied so much that I don’t know who to believe and I do not fully get the timing difference.

ME: Uh ha….is that all?
Client: No, one of the SEO companies wanted to lock me into a 12-month contract that he was really pressuring me to sign, whilst the other guy said that that he was happy going on a month by month agreement. To be perfectly honest with you, I am not particularly comfortable signing anything long term but the guy trying to get me to sign said that this was common practice and that an SEO contract was needed as a lot of the work was done upfront and it was not fair to him.
Do you put people on contracts?

Me: No we don’t and having a long term SEO contract is a big mistake. At Hopping Mad Designs never lock you into any type of contract, however, we do feel that SEO is a long term partnership and if you are serious about getting your website ranked on the first page of Google then you have to have a long term digital strategy as well as a long term search engine strategy. There is really no point committing your business to a project like this if you are going to give up after 1 month. You have to be in this for the long haul and be prepared to watch your ranking fluctuate a bit until they stabilise.
Client: That’s what the other guy said to me and I feel a bit more comfortable going down this path. What do you charge for something like this?

Me: Well, that all depends on your keywords, and how competitive they are. The more competitive the search term the longer it will take to rank and the more resources we need to invest into this project.

Client: The other SEO firm told me that they could get me to page 1 for $99.00 per month and he guaranteed me this result within 3 months.
Me: Mate, did this guy speak English? ( trying to imply that he was from the subcontinent)?

Client: Yes he did and very well. But, when I did want to meet with him he said that he was very busy and preferred to do things via phone and email.

Me: Well that’s not good. You really cannot start your SEO strategy or implement any type of SEO campaign without first meeting with the client and discussing things thoroughly. At Hopping Mad Designs we really encourage you to come into our studio to meet with one of our search engine experts to work out a proper campaign to get you started. Are you based in Sydney? I always tell them at this stage that even Google recommends meeting their prospective SEO agency and to never believe fake ranking guarantees.
Client: Yes

Me: Well, why don’t you make a time to come in and we can go over everything needed to get you started?

Client: Sure would love to, but I just want to ask you a couple of more questions.

Me: Surefire away.
Client: Well firstly, I have a budget of only $1000 per month and was hoping that this was enough to get me where I want to be and secondly can you show me exactly what you have done for other companies in my industry.

Me: The budget should be OK but again we really need to look at the keywords and work out a strategy to fit within this budget. Secondly, no problem, I can show you the ranking for about 10 companies that we currently work with who are on the very first page of Google. They are all doing really well and we have been working with them for many years. As I said before SEO is not an instant, flick the switch and you are on page 1. You have to have patience and be prepared for the long term. If you want a quick fix then we are the wrong company for you.

Client: Why does it take such a long time? I mean the other SEO guy was showing me companies that he ranked within a couple of weeks. I want instant results as I need the business.

Me: OK, firstly, don’t believe everything that that you hear from guys like this. Remember they are there to sell you a service and they are probably under heavy pressure to make the sale and get you to sign on the dotted line, so they will say and do anything just to get you on board. Once signed, watch out, this is where the real fun begins.

Client: What do you mean?

Me: Well this is where you have committed your business to a contract that you cannot get out of so they really do not have to perform that well. Sure they promised quick results but you have to ask yourself this one very important question. How on earth are they going to do this? As far as the rest of the online world is concerned SEO takes time and if these cowboys are promising fast results then they are using what is termed ‘ black hat’ techniques. Sure they may rank you quickly and you may see quick results but once Google gets a whiff of this then you are gone. They will punish your website and give your website a penalty. Yes, a penalty!

I have seen this happen many many times before and if you think that your new SEO company can keep your ranking on page 1 after getting you there in a couple of weeks then you are mistaken. The only real method of ranking a website comes from many factors not just limited to ‘dodgy back linking’ practices.

Once your site has been punished it is very difficult to get out of this.

Client: Wow, this is all so new to me. This is why I am getting so confused and don’t know who to believe. I mean you are now sounding so convincing that it’s just making matters worse.

Me: I am not trying to sell you anything. I just want you to be fully aware of what SEO is and how the whole search engine process works. There is no point in starting something that you do not completely understand.

This is why entrusting your SEO with a company like Hopping Mad Designs is the best move you can make. We have been doing this for many years and we are not a ‘fly by night’ start-up company looking to rip you off. All our work is ‘ white hat’ meaning that all our SEO techniques are well within the very strict guidelines of Google. We make sure that we do things on a gradual, organic basis so we do not trigger any alarm bells and have a team of SEO specialists that really know their stuff.

Client: This all sound very promising. One other quick question. Does your company just do SEO or does it do web design as well? If so, I really need you to have a look at my website as I had it designed and developed about 3 years ago by the same company who I was speaking to about my SEO and I have never liked the design and think that it’s time for a complete change.

The problem is that every time I ask him to do something on the site it takes weeks to do and he charges me an absolute fortune.
Me: And this is the guy you want to handle your search engine optimisation campaign?

Client: Yes, but I am starting to make a connection now and see a bit clearer.
Me: Totally! Why on earth would you get this guy to work on your marketing if he, firstly can’t design and secondly is terrible at customer service?

Client: I did not tell you this but he is a friend of mine and I do not want to hurt his feelings. I went to school with him and he has been working on the website since we started the business, but now I really feel it’s time to move on.

Me: Good move. Working with friends or relatives is a recipe for disaster. I’ve seen this many times before. Listen to me carefully, if you want to succeed online, then you have to firstly partner with a company that specialises in this type of marketing and understands how to get a ranking and secondly you must pay a fair price for this. Skimping on your marketing and SEO budget will not work out for you.

If you want the best outcomes for your business then you have to be prepared to pay for their service, advice, guidance and expertise. Dodgy, cheap, companies will only get you into hot water and at the end of the day, you will be contacting a company like us to rescue you. Only this time, it will cost you a whole lot more money.

Client: OK sounds promising when can I come in?

If you have read this and it sounds familiar then you should take this advice very carefully, as I have to repeat myself on a daily basis to people who have no idea about SEO, online marketing, web design or about rip off companies looking for suckers who will part with their money.

Golden rules that will come in handy if you are on the lookout for an SEO Firm

1) Never believe what you hear

These people do not care about your business or about your ranking or even understand what they are selling. How do I know this? It’s because they actually cold call me daily. Yes, can you believe it? I get cold-called by SEO salespeople wanting to offer me SEO.

2) Never ever do all your marketing in the virtual space

Personalise it a bit and make sure you meet face to face with the people that will be handling your SEO. If they are reluctant to meet with you then walk away. Simple as that. If everything you do is in the virtual environment then if things do not go according to plan they can be less accountable. Go into their office and get a feel for who they are and the kind of company they represent.

3) Make sure that they mention the following words: ‘on-page optimisation’

If this is never brought up then this is a bad sign. On-page optimisation refers to the work that will be carried out on your website. SEO is not all about backlinking. It also requires a lot of work on your current site to ensure that it is search engine compliant. This comprises around 50% of the work so any credible SEO company wanting to do business with you should have a good grasp of this side of things. On-Page optimisation is a crucial part of your SEO strategy and you will never rank if your website is not completely Google compliant.

4) Ask to see some of the previous websites that they have worked on

Ring up a few of their past clients or clients that they are currently working on to get an idea of their work ethic, standards, customer service.

5) Pay only on a month by month basis

Never sign lengthy long term contracts longer than 1 month. You want the flexibility of being able to test a few companies out to see which one fits your corporate personality best. If you find that you have started with one SEO or Web design firm that simply is not working out, you need to be able to get out of the arrangement fast.

6) Try not to take cold calls from SEO companies

Be proactive and make your own calls. If they approach you, then you are probably getting calls from South East Asia and this is where your SEO will be carried out. Not a good move or a positive start.

I have been working at Hopping Mad Designs for over 18 years and I am writing this article to protect business people out there from getting burnt by SEO companies.

 

 

One of the best ways to help your website climb the rankings ladder is to have your web design team design and build a website that loads images and text with speed. Slow download times are a thing of the past and if your site does not appear on screen almost instantly, the effect on rankings as well as customer retention will be detrimental to the success of your online marketing. Internet users want to be able to arrive at a site and interact with it immediately. If this does not happen, they will simple exit your site and look elsewhere.

The use of images through out your Website

A visual website is just not complete without the use of images. If the site is commercially based the effect of images are to grab users attention, make a point or statement or highlight a product or service. Most well designed websites will have a number of images on the site, especially the home page. In fact, most web designers will have images rotating on the home page to really make a statement and to create a dynamic environment for the user. What is important is that these images must load quickly and efficiently, if they are going to succeed at doing their job. It is all well and good to have four or five images rotating, but if they are unable to be viewed within a couple of seconds ( and I would say two to three at the most), then they are actually having a negative effect on your site. People are jus not going to hang around and wait for them to download. Everyone has high speed internet connections and they expect lightning fast downloads to accompany this. People pay a premium price for this service and if your website does not deliver, then users will exit the site in less than five seconds.
A good point to note as well is that images only need to be 72dpi when used online. If they are provided to you as 300dpi, make sure that your web design company reduces the resolution before uploading them to the website.

Website hosting can have an effect on site speed

If you have your site hosted in another country, this may have an effect on website speed. For optimal web site speed it is best to have your site hosted in Australia on local servers. If your site is hosted for example in The United States where hosting is somewhat cheaper than in Australia, you may be saving a few dollars each month, but you need to take into account about the number of potential customers you may be loosing by them exiting your site. All you need is one major client to bounce off your home page and you could loose a huge contract. Your web designer should be able to organise suitable domestic hosting for you and should be able to provide this information to you upfront prior to commencing the design project. A website that is aimed at Australian clients should have all hosting and servers located in Australia. This is a mandatory rule and should never be compromised due to cost.

Animated gifs throughout your website

If you have a website that has been designed with many animated windows throughout the site, especially on the home page, this will have an effect of the speed of the site. A good idea is to try to limit the number of these animated gifs in order to speed up your websites download times. Aesthetically, this may also have the effect of reducing the user’s online experience which would also result in them exiting your site. A good rule of thumb when it comes to site speed is to keep moving images and text to a minimum and if you really need to have animated gifs dotted throughout your site, then spread them out evenly so that they are all not on the home page.

Google looks at site speed as a factor in determining rankings

If you want your site to rank organically in the searched then site speed is a critical factor. Google want to throw up websites that not only offer the most relevant information but also sites that offer the customer a great user experience. If your site is rich in great content and is totally relevant in terms of information relating to the topic, it might not rank as well as it should be if it doesn’t load quickly. You might have spent a fortune on developing the best website copy that the search engines will love, but if your website speed is not performing as well as it could be, then you are not going to get to the very top. Its as simple as that. The combination of great well worded copy with fast, slick graphics will give your website the best opportunity of search engine ranking success. Try timing your website and if it opens within two seconds thats great but if it doesn’t, you really need to speak with your design team.

Full Colour Backgrounds Will Slow Your Site Down

Some websites will have complete coloured backgrounds throughout their sites. Whilst this may be visually strong, it is terrible for site speed. Its great to use some splashes of your corporate colours throughout your website to enforce brand recognition, but having full coloured back drops on your home page will slow your site down and repel clients in their droves. If you really want a full background colour ( and I have seen this in the case of some design/architectural sites), then try this on an internal page, and never the home page.

Hopping Mad Designs has been at the forefront of website design and web development for over sixteen years in our Sydney studio. If you are thinking about having a new web site for your business of company, why not pop in for a chat or simply call us on 02 9360 8514.

Real Estate Agents Website Design Must Haves

Look Stunning: As a real estate agent you need a point of difference. You need to look unique, stand out from your competitors and have that visual online competitive edge. As a graphic design and web design studio, our team of design experts will be able to transform your web presence into a powerful marketing tool that not only looks awesome but will rank very high on Google and help drive those juicy new sales leads!

 

Generate leads from online inquiries: Our WordPress content management system means that you will be able to upload content through out the site through your own personal back end admin area. This system is super search engine friendly, which means that once we upload the site, it will have the very best chance of achieving a great online ranking. Obviously, we would need to go over a search engine strategy, but we lay the solid foundations for the perfect start for your real estate agency.

Our web programmers have been developing 100’s of websites over the past 18 years and we are up to speed with the latest technologies and Google algorithm changes.

This means that you get the benefit from a team of highly skilled programmers who really know their stuff.

 

Automatically include property listings: Once you upload your property listing on your website, it will be automatically listed on other major real estate websites. This avoids duplication of work and saves you valuable time.

 

Website Content: Hopping Mad Designs can help you with; well written, sales driven, search engine friendly web content. Google now looks at website copy as a factor in determining page rankings and if your copy is relevant and fresh, it will help in your online rankings.

We have a team of web copywriting experts that have a enormous amount of business to business writing experience and could certainly give your real estate web design copy a valuable lift.

Web copy and design are 2 crucial features you need in delivering your real estate agency a site thats way above your competitors.

 

The Web Interface is simple. This means that potential vendors or buyers who come to your website will be able to easily navigate twithout getting lost or confused. Large, easy to read ‘call to action’ buttons, combined with a very intuitive site map, will ensure that users stay on your website. The last thing you want is for potential vendors or buyers to not be able to find a property or find out relevant information.

Some sites are over complicated and very difficult to maneouvre around, meaning a very poor user experience. At Hopping Mad Designs we will ensure that all web page designs are not only visually very creative but also simple, clean and very uncluttered.

 

Most professional Real Estate websites are generally complicated and expensive to design and build. With our experience and technology in this area we can plan and launch your website faster and more cost effectively than traditionally possible. With Hopping Mad Designs you receive a detailed proposal and fixed quotation for your Real Estate website requirements.

 

Cost effective: Many web design studios, knowing that you are a real estate agency or are looking to design a website for a property development, will hike up the price. We know that you are a small business and this means that you are looking for the best value for your marketing dollar.

This is why our web designers and web programmers are able to combine their skills to deliver your agency a site that is very affordable

Why Use Hopping Mad Designs for your next Real Estate Agency Website

 

GRAPHIC DESIGN EXPERTS. This means that your new website will have that graphic design edge needed to be competitive. Some web studios will go with the easier, cheaper option of just recycling an old web template and passing it off as a new design, We never ever do this at Hopping Mad. All our website work is fully customised, and all our work is bespoke based on your very specific brief.

We encourage you to come to our web studio in Darlinghurst, Sydney so that we are able to meet for a face to face meeting and discuss your requirements in greater detail. Our office is very easy to find and conveniently located on the city fringe.

SEO FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS. We know search engine optimisation. This means that throughout the design and build of your website we consider all factors and variables that will ensure your Google rankings are goings to be extremely high. We can even help with your pay per click campaign if you like.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS. Another great online tool to generate interest in your real estate agency is through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We are experts at writing relevant, catchy, content that will generate real interest in your business.

Developing these social media pages is just one small component in this complicated social media maze. What you say on these pages will have a huge bearing on your business and the public's perception of your real estate agency.

Post new listings on Facebook, write informative articles on LinkedIn, post tweets about a new sales agent on Twitter or write a great well worded article on your blog – all this can be done and is a great way to BOOST YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE!

 

CUSTOMER FOCUSED. We like to think that we are very reliable, super friendly, and very customer service orientated.

Partnering with Hopping Mad Designs means that you are dealing with a team of seasoned design professionals. We know that it can be frustrating in business when you have to work with suppliers or contractors that are very junior. This is why at all stages of the web project, you only work with mid-weight or senior designers with a minimum of 5 years web experience.

ALL YOUR DESIGN NEEDS TAKEN CARE OF.  If you are just starting out with your real estate agency, we are able to design everything you need. This includes, the design of your corporate identity or brand, all the stationery that goes along with this ( such as business cards, letterheads, signage), sales brochures and other marketing material ( including property flyers, corporate positioning statements), right through to domain name registration, website hosting, and lastly web design.

Consider Hopping Mad Designs as your one stop design studio that you can turn to for any piece of marketing material you may need.

Think of all the hassles and headaches that you will save by having one company handle everything for you, even your printing!

At Hopping Mad Designs we are not just your every day design studio. We are your marketing partner. If you are a real estate agent and want a first class looking website combined with a well thought out and well planned social media and search engine campaign, then please call 02 9360 8514.