Posted on March 30, 2017March 30, 2017

Revamp for Online Country Decor Store

Giving a website a facelift is quite possibly my favorite type of web design work. As much as I love designing websites from scratch, there is something very gratifying about taking something that is a little worn and faded and injecting some much needed love into it!

That is exactly what I have done with In the Barn Treasures, an online country decor eCommerce site. I mentioned them a few weeks ago, they are my first new local client since relocating to Lancaster PA.

Here is the home page of their new site

and before we dig into what I did lets take a quick look at the before

before in the barn treasures

Clearly there is a huge visual improvement but this project was not all about producing a better looking site. We wanted to address a number of issue

Search Engine Optimization

We started with extensive of behind the scenes work addressing search engine optimization. The site is built on Volusion but was using none of it’s built in SEO tools. After a market analysis we pulled together a list of keywords and got to work enriching the site, renaming page file names, image names, and generally working in our key words wherever appropriate. Every single product in their catalog was optimized.

Visitor Engagement

Getting a user to do what you want them to do once they reach a site is a skill. First of all you need those few vital few seconds to convince them this is a site worth looking at, so a professional enticing look and feel is a must. Then “Call to Actions” come into play. We completely reworked the content of the home page, removing a slideshow that really achieved very little in terms of usability and replacing it with distinct call to actions which directs users to the newly reworked product categories

The objective here is to give a user quick visual prompts and not make them think too much!

We also added a featured product section which is dynamically driven.

We continued improving user engagement on the category homes.The original site had tiny photographs which hardly enticed the user to click further. There was also a “landscape/portrait” mismatch.

We gave each category a simple graphic banner, a title..great for SEO and a brief introductory paragraph. Then working from the original raw product photograph we adjusted them for better exposure, resized them so all the photographs were now identical in size, gave the each a keyword rich name and uploaded everything again. The result, a much more appealing category home page with photographs that are big enough to entice further clicks.

The product pages were also enhanced with much larger photos and keyword friendly descriptions of each piece.

Internet Marketing

Once the site was in ship shape condition from a usability and SEO standpoint it was time to re-launch it to the world. It has been submitted to all the big players (and lots of little players) in the search engine world and all the products uploaded to Google Shopping

We also created a number of social media profiles including Pinterest, Facebook, Scoop.it, Fancy, and Wanelo

Check out the site at https://www.inthebarntreasures.com and browse through their catalog of wonderful country home decor products!

Posted on April 13, 2015November 6, 2015

Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?

Mobile vs Desktop

Here is an interesting fact, 2015 has seen mobile devices surpass desk top usage when it comes to accessing the internet – check out this article by Search Engine watch.

Google Responds

So it come to no real surprise that search engine giant Google will be tweaking its mighty algorithm to favor those sites that offer the best experience for mobile users. Effective April 21st mobile users will receive search results that are relevant and optimized for their device essentially increasing the ranking of any site that is mobile friendly. Google claims these weighted results are only applicable to their mobile search results, but mobile friendliness clearly carries some clout.

Ahead of this announcement Google developed a handy online tool that will analyze a URL and report if the page has a mobile-friendly design.

You can test your site HERE

Time for Mobile Friendly Website

If your site passes and gets the “Awesome! This page is mobile friendly message” then all is well. But if you get the dreaded “Not mobile-friendly” result , then your site will be penalized in Google mobiles search engine results.

As a small business owner if search engine traffic is an important part of your marketing plan then now is the time to act and get your web site mobile friendly. Contact us today to find out how

Examples

We have done just this for two of our long standing clients, both original site failed the Google test, but now they both get the coveted “Awesome” notice.

The Rockwood is a St Louis senior living Community.

Burns Recovered Support Group offers support to burns survivors

If you are interested in making your site mobile friendly contact us today

Posted on January 8, 2014November 6, 2015

Money Saving Tips for Your New Business Website: From Creation to Internet Marketing

If you are planning on starting a new business in 2014, getting up and running online is probably a high priority. With budget concerns, many business owners will be willing to do as much as they can themselves. Here are some money saving tips to get started.

Research and Register Your Domain Name
When coming up with a name for your new venture make sure you also check out domain name availability. There is nothing worse than coming up with a great business name to find the domain name is unavailable. Godaddy is a good place to do you research.
Ideally you want one that is
- Short and sweet
- Can be easily communicated verbally – avoid weird spellings
- Avoids hyphenation
- Has the .com extension
Your Website
If you are technically savvy you may want to have a go at building your site yourself- WordPress.com is a good place to start. But if HTML, CSS, SEO, templates, plugins, widgets and web hosting give you the shivers it is probably best to leave the creation of your website to a professional web design company. Scope a few local web designers and when getting a quote be specific as possible in what you are looking for. This way you will help the designer come up with an accurate quote right from the start and not have to worry about hidden costs later into the project.
Some areas to consider are-
- The size of your site – sketch out a site map of all of the pages you would like, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
- The functionality – do you need e-commerce, a blogging platform or want visitors to be able to upload information. Think long and hard exactly what you want your visitors to do once they reach your site.
- The look and feel of the site -will you need a logo and brand image creation
- Do you want your web site to be responsive? – look great on a desktop. tablet, cell phone etc … full explanation of responsive web design
- Do you want to be able to update the site yourself ?
- Are there any third party tools that you want integrated into your site
- Search engine optimization- to get your site ranking well in the search engines required a myriad of behind the scenes code enhancements. All search engine optimization projects start with a researched list of keywords and key phrases. Get a jump start on your list –a great tool for evaluating what phrases are worth targeting is Google’s Adwords click “Tools and Analysis” for a keyword planner.
Online Marketing
Getting visitors to your site will require an online marketing strategy, many web design companies – including Indigo Image, can do this for you. If you decide to tackle this yourself some of the basics you need to address are
- Submitting your site to all the major search engine- each search engine is slightly different
- Creating quality links to your site from as many different sites as possible
- Setting up social media profiles e.g Facebook page, Twitter account, Linkedin , Pinterest. Make sure you use a brand image consistent with your site across all social networks.
- Engaging and promoting your business within your targeted social networks. It is much better to select a few social networks to focus on rather than dabble in all of them.
- If your site has a blog write it as often as you can…to begin with aim for a post every day for maximum impact.
- Promote any new content on your site through your social networks.
Website Maintenance
Keeping your website fresh is important not only for returning visitors but also for your search engine rankings. Search engines will favor sites with frequent content updates compared to those with few.
If your site has been built on a platform like WordPress you will be able ( if you are so inclined!) to update the site yourself.

Posted on January 24, 2013November 6, 2015

How much does a website cost?

How much does a website cost? If you are visiting this page looking for a definitive answer then I am going to disappoint because pricing a website can be a complicated process but it is a question on every potential client’s mind. The cost of a web site is a little bit like the cost of a house, the bigger and more complex the heftier the price tag. So lets break things down a bit to give you an insight as to where the costs lie and walk through some client scenarios.

Lets first consider the type of company quoting your project. A design agency with a portfolio full of fortune 500 companies and a trendy studio in a skyscraper in down town Chicago is going to charge more …well.. because they have to to cover their costs. If you are large company with mega$$ they may be a good fit. An offshore, say, Indian based web design company, may give you an unbelievably cheap quote but how comfortable are you doing business that way?

A good approach to selecting a company to quote your project is to take a good look at their portfolio and services and if their offerings match what you are after, they are worth a call. Also don’t be afraid to check out any testimonials.

Any decent web design company will lead you through a discovery process (ours is free) to understand what it is you want to accomplish with your web presence. Come prepared to talk about your marketing objectives, the type of functionality you’d like on your site ( e.g shopping cart, content management, video integration, social media, blogging capabilities etc.), who your customers are, who you competition is and what makes you unique. The more information you can provide at this stage the better, as the information will be used to create a comprehensive proposal which will outline the best plan of action to achieve your goals and a realistic price.

Whatever the goals of the project, the cost to create it can generally be broken down into the following categories

Design

A captivating design to engage you site visitors
Home page and inner pages of the site
email template design
Imagery selection
Navigation design
Definition of branding assets e.g color palette, typefaces
Working from a predefined brand style guide

Programming

Converting your design to a form which can be understood by web browsers
Integrating all content
Building and integrating functionality e.g shopping carts, databases
Integrating with a Content Management System (CMS) e.g WordPress
Integrating 3rd party application e.g newsletter management, Google analytics
Mobile version of site
Browser compatibility testing

Launch

Domain registration/configuration
Hosting setup
Email setup
Upload to server
SSL certificate
uploading data ( e.g for e commerce)

Marketing

Search engine optimization (SEO)
Submission to basic search engines
More extensive search engine, directory, portal submission e.g Targeting Local directories
Social media profiles e.g Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest
Email campaigns
Paid Advertising Campaigns e.g Google Adwords
RSS subscription

Now not every project is going to require all aspects of these categories so lets take a look at a few client scenarios

Client A: Online Brochure Website

A small interior design business requires a simple online brochure type website to market their services. They would like to set up a Facebook page, an email management tool so they can send out a newsletter and a Pinterst account to pin photographs of their design work. They serve a local area and would like to rank well for anyone carrying out a local search for an interior designer- they are not interested in paid advertising although this may change depending upon the site traffic. They already have an offline brand image but require a domain name. The site will be between 10 and 12 pages in total.

Project Estimate

Design: 12 hrs
Programing: 18 hrs
Launch: 4 hrs
Marketing: 10 hrs

Total: 44 hrs = $4,400

Client B: Content Management Website

A company offering summer camps wants a web site they can manage themselves. The would like to upload photographs of camp events and allow parents to register their children – they already have an online application to allow this through a 3rd party but this need to be integrated seamlessly into the site. They would also like to be able to write a blog. They have a Facebook profile already set up but this to be linked to the site. Most of their customers are by word of mouth but they would like a basic SEO and search engine submission. They have a comprehensive offline style guide and already have a domain name. The site will be approximately 25 pages.

Project Estimate

Design: 24 hrs
Programming: 50 hrs
Launch: 8 hrs
Marketing: 5hrs

Total: 87 hrs = $8,700

Client C: E commerce Website

A small business want to launch an online store to sell their products. They also want the ability for their clients to sign up for an e-newsletter which will offer monthly promotions. They need assistance in selecting a provider for these email blasts and a custom template designed for the newsletter.They already have a merchant account set up and are interested in paid advertising to generate traffic. They have a logo and all copy for the website ready.

Design: 35 hrs
Programming: 70 hrs
Launch: 20 hrs
Marketing: 20 hrs

Total: 145 hrs = $14,500

As you can see the price range for a website can vary dramatically depending on what you want it do do and want to achieve. If you would like us to quote on your next website give “The Chicago web Designer” a call at 847 607 8679, we may be a Chicago web design company but we don’t have a trendy studio in the city and don’t charge ridiculous prices!

Posted on April 24, 2012May 18, 2016

Local Search Directories offering free listings

Gone are the days when people would use the trusty old “yellow pages” to search for services they require. Now the first port of call is the internet and many times will turn to an online local directory such as Yelp.

Does your business have a local search presence? Getting listed in local online directories can help the overall ranking of your site and give you more opportunities to connect with potential customers.

There has been a real growth in local directories over the last couple of years and generally getting listed in them is easy…although quite time consuming.

Here is a list of 43 directories that offer FREE listings.

Google ( view our Google local directory listing)
Bing ( View our Bing local listing)
Yahoo ( view our Yahoo Local listing)
Yelp ( view our Yelp profile)
Merchant Circle ( View our Merchant Circle listing)
Linkedin ( view Indigo Image profile)
Yellow Pages ( yp lisiting)
White Pages (local lisiting)
Local Pages( listing)
SuperMedia (listing)
Mapquest ( view listing)
Local ( view our Local Listing)
Think Local (listing)
City Slick ( view our listing)
Show me Local ( listing)
Insider Pages ( Chicago web designer listing)
Manta(Manta Listing)
Volta.com (Indigo Image Volta Listing)
Zip.pro (our profile)
Twibs (listing)
Localeze (listing)
Localdatabase (Chicago web design company listing)
Yellowwise (listing)
MojoPages ( listing)
Tulapo (Indigo Image profile)
Best of the Web (profile)
Yellowbot(Listing)
Yellowee (listing)
City Squares (listing)
Kudzu (listing)
Brownbook (chicago web design profile)
Match Point (listing)
Hot Frog (listing)
Zoom Info (listing)
Magic Yellow (listing)
UScity
Yellowbook
City Search
Yellowassistance
Localdex (Indigo Image-Chicago web designer listing)
Business Journal
US yellow Pages
City Search

If you are looking to increase the visibility of your business in local search give us a call to see how we can help: 847-607-8679

Posted on April 20, 2012November 6, 2015

Tips for Making your blog images more search engine friendly.

If you have just started blogging, or even been blogging for a while here are a few tips that will make your images more friendly to both the search engines and your site visitors.

Before you upload: Optimize your image

Scale
Scale your photographs to the exact dimensions which you wish to use them, don’t rely on your blog to re-size your photos, they will download much faster if they are scaled pre upload.
File size vs quality
Ideally your photographs need to be small in file size but in great quality, large files can take a long time to download frustrating your readers and driving them away.
How?
Most image editing software will allow you to easily optimize you images to be web ready, however if you don’t have access to anything suitable try Pic Monkey . It will allow you to crop re-size and add text and graphic overlays

Rename your images
Most camera will name photographs some like D03456, an arbitrary number that means nothing. Re-name your photographs so they encompass the following.

The content of the photograph
The content of your blog post
A phrase that someone may search

e.g You are about to write a blog post all about how to make some rope pencil pots.

The image below is named rope_pencil_pots.jpg, which reflects the composition of the photo, the content of the blog post and could feasibly be a phase that someone would use as a search query. Each word with an under score _, but is perfectly OK to separate with a hyphen instead (rope-pencil-pots.jpg)

Why?

When search engines visit you site they are unable to “see” a photo of a rope pencil pot, all they understand is the code (HTML) powering the site which in this case looks like this.

<img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_lBtkHUaGZQ/TxhQ30_6TJI/AAAAAAAAA78/YYvdehrboig/s320/rope_pencil_pots.jpg" width="320" />

By giving the photo a meaningful file name it essentially helps the search engines ” see” the photo.

You have uploaded your photo now what?

Add an ALT tag to your photo

What is an Alt Tag?

Alt stands for “Alternative text” and adding an alt tag to an image further enhances the ability of the search engine to understand the content of the photo.

In the case of my rope pots my alt tag would be

alt=”rope pencil pots”

As you can see the phase I am using is the same as the name I gave the image file.

How To Add an ALT Tag

The ease in which an alt tag can be added to a photo depends on which blogging platform you are using, WordPress is much easier than Blogger.

And because this is difficult to explain in words I have made a video which covers adding an Alt tag to your images in both Blogger and WordPress (and just in case you are wondering the accent is English!)

Is it worth the effort?

And here is a little test to show you this effort does pay off. Click the link below, it is the Google image search for Rope Pencil Pots …now look at what they have listed as the first image!

Google Search for Rope Pencil Pots
And just in case you are interested in making some rope pencil pots for yourself check out a tutorial over at Creative in Chicago

Posted on December 15, 2011November 6, 2015

7 ways to increase the visibility of your small business website

Here is a list of 7 things you, as a small business owner, can do TODAY, to increase the visibility of your web site. The better visibility, the better rankings in the search engines . End result more site visitors.

Start a Blog
Google’s blogger or WordPress.com are both good candidates for the novice blogger. They are easy to setup and require no technical knowledge . Ideally your blog should be integrated into your web site and given the same look/ feel for a seamless branded image (we can definitely help you with this). However having a standalone blog gives you a great platform to test the blogging waters and find your voice. Write regular blog posts relevant to your business expertise or product offering and make sure to create linksto your web site. Here are some articles on blogging which will help you get the most out of your blog.
Comment on blog posts
Commenting on blog posts is a great way to increase the visibility of your site. A fitting comment and a relevant link to your site where applicable can lead to considerable traffic. Tread carefully though and do not spam.
Open a Twitter account
Twitter is a micro blogging tool, each Tweet, or post can have a maximum of 140 characters. Spend a little time setting up your profile which can include a picture, an all important link to your web site and a short bio. Next find some people to follow using the tools offered on the Twitter web site, then tweet away. The more you interact the more you will get of Twitter.
Create a Facebook Fan Page for your business
To get started with Facebook you first need to create a personal account. Then visit this page https://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
Select a good name and populate the info section of the profile with your business information. You are now free to start sharing your thoughts, ideas, products, links, video and anything else you think is relevant to your business via the Facebook status window. You will need to build up your fan base so include a Facebook “like button” wherever you can e.g In your email signature, on your blog, on your web site.
Get listed on YELP
Yelp is a local directory allowing users to search for all sorts of services, everything from hair dressers to website designers. Once you are a member (free) you can post reviews on any listing.
See our listing on Yelp
Upload a video to YouTube
YouTube is the world’s 2nd most popular search engine ( Google is the 1st) so it stands to reason a presence there is worth the time and effort. Creating your free account is easy and uploading a video a breeze.
See our videos on YouTube How to select a great Domain Name and How to add video to your Internet Marketing Mix
Pin something on Pinterest
If you have visually appealing images on your website particularly if they relate to your products or services e.g You are a landscaper and have a portfolio of completed landscape projects, Pinterest is a great place to share them. Pinterest is one of the newest and fastest growing social media platforms. It is a virtual pin board allowing you to organize and share all the fabulous images you find on the web. Boards and images can be shared and repined .
Check out our profile on Pinterest

Posted on April 25, 2011

Does your web designer do this?

Creating a great web site is only the start of an online presence for many business.

Does your web designer take care of:-

Domain name registration
Hosting
Email setup
Web Analytics – see how many hits your site is getting, where they are coming from, how long your visitors are staying etc.
Social Media Avenues – what is best for your business
Social Media Profiles, setting up Twitter, Facebook YouTube, Flikr …
Social Media Training
Search Engine Optimization
Getting your site listed and ranked in the search engines
Getting your site listed on local directories e.g Yelp
Email campaigns

If not then you are using the wrong web design company.

We take care of all the nuts and bolts to make your web presence work for you.

Posted on October 5, 2010

Video Internet Marketing: a New Service from Chicago web designer

Since moving to Chicago I have been busy networking and last week met with a very interesting local business that offers video production for the web. Adding a video element to an online marketing strategy can reap huge returns. While many samll business owners are eager to jump on the video bandwagon, once they have their video what do they do with it?

We now offer video internet marketing services and what better way to present them than a video!

Your Creative Partner

A Chicago web and graphic design company

Category: SEO