Mozak Design Blog

Plugins In Review: Redirection

Picture this, a potential client is searching on Google and finds a link to your site. They click on it and … yikes … a 404 page not found error! How embarassing …

One of the more useful Wordpress Plugins that I have been using on my Wordpress Website is something called Redirection. This handy little plugin helps to keep my site navigation clean and useful. Being highly configurable, Redirection provides many different options to help you keep your website navigation in check.

There are two specific cases when I turn to this plugin.

• First, in the event of a page url change or removal.
• Second, if I want to add an external website as a link in my navigation bar.

In the case of the first application, Redirection prevents visitor loss due to “page not found” errors (404s).  Instead, this plug in will redirect visitors to a specific page you select when the invalid URL is requested.

Additionally, Redirection tracks all “page not found” errors that occur on your site. This is important as it tells you exactly which URLs bring people to your site resulted in a 404.

The second application where I find Redirection comes in handy is the addition of and external site to my navigation. This comes in handy if something like a “calendar”, “event registration” or “homepage” exist on another site. To add these items to my navigation I simply create a page with the name I want to show up in my navigation. I then use Redirection to send visitors to the external URL I want when they click on the page name I created. It really is that easy.

Redirection is one of those gems of a Wordpress plugin that helps you gain more control over where your traffic goes because of errors. Installation is quite easy, and works with Wordpress 2.6 and higher.

Check out my video below to see how to install and use the plugin Redirection. (coming soon)

Good Copy Tip #3: Linking within your website

One opportunity that is often missed is linking to internal pages within your website.

This is valuable in several ways:

1. It enables easier creation of scannable pages.
2. It creates Google optimized, topic specific, pages.
3. It allows you to guide readers into older blog posts.

By linking deeper into your website you can provide a readers with simple lists that they can scan; with the option to learn more on that topic if they follow the link. In addition, linking within your website allows you a way to continue using older posts in your blog. Most blog posts are not looked at once they are about 5 posts old. By guiding readers to older posts and series you have written, you are able to maximize your imvestment in them.

Finally, linking deeper into your site helps to guide your guest through your site to the information that interest them the most. This is crucial as web surfers have little patience hunting for what they are looking for.

Good Copy Tip #1: It’s not about you

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I often see website homepage text that reads more like an “About Us” page. While the history of your business and all the services you provide have their place in; make sure the homepage is engaging to your viewer. Speak to them. Why have they sought out your business? What needs do they have? What solutions to you offer?

By writing content that speaks to clients on an emotional level you can connect with them. If they feel understood then they will think … Wow, this business gets me – I’d like to work with them.

Craigslist – Advertising for Free!

Craigslist is one of the most popular websites on the Internet and presents you with a great marketing opportunity for your small business. The Internet has provided the world with a huge marketplace where people can advertise and market their goods or services.  Craigslist is a website that allows users to sell anything from furniture to real estate. It is a listing of classified ads that include job placements, personal ads, ads for home supplies, ads for pet food, ads for website designs for small business, etc. Craigslist is a flea market that is online and used by millions all over the world. 

People who visit Craigslist are looking for something that they want to purchase. If you advertise some product or service that suits their interest, you are bound to have an increased traffic to your website that converts to sales. For instance, a web design company based in Portland may advertise their services in Craigslist to expand their business worldwide.

Since the Craigslist site is conveniently divided into regions, it is very easy to place your ads in the city or country of your choice. Your ads will be displayed on the site for 45 days, but after that you can re-list them if you so desire.

Craigslist ads are given top rankings by search engines, especially Google. So, expect an increased flow of traffic to your site within a week of posting your ad at Craigslist. SEO web design for your web page ensures a good ranking at search engine listings. Make use of the same SEO techniques to design your ad by using the relevant keywords to ensure top-ranked listings.

There are a number of websites that allow you to post free ads. Posting ads at sites like Yahoo Classifieds, Backpage, Highland Classifieds or USFreeads will also help to increase traffic to your site. However, the volume of traffic generated through Craigslist posting is much higher than any of the other free classifieds sites available. This is the reason that Craigslist is so popular among net surfers.

Squidoo – It’s Truly Amazing!

There are numerous websites that allow you to create a web-page for any topic under the sun. One among them is Squidoo.com. It is a fairly recent site, created by Seth Godin, a marketing expert. The site is greatly popular among internet users for driving traffic to their own sites; in other words, it is a great marketing tool.

Squidoo web pages are known as ‘lenses’. Anyone can create a Squidoo lense. For this, you need not be a technical wizard, as you can have a lense of your own in three easy steps. The best part is that you can include all kinds of modules to make a site that is interactive and keeps your visitors involved.

Here are some examples of what you can include in your lense to SEO your small business:

• Creating Text Blocks enables you to make blog entries or post your articles.
• Setting up an interactive poll will keep your visitors involved in your business.
• You can keep your lense updated and active by allowing the visitors to give their comments. You may ask them to link their own lense to yours.

The best part of Squidoo is that it has the capability to drive appropriate traffic to your website, which in turn translates into large volumes of sales. Besides, you can also provide links to products sold on eBay, Amazon and other product vending sites. What’s more, you earn a commission for any sale that has taken place from these links!  And mind you, Squidoo.com is completely free!

Search engines like Google usually top rank long tail keyword phrases at Squidoo. You can thus create a network of lenses on Squidoo to target keyword phrases that will direct the search engines to your site. It is always a good practice to include some readable and informative content in the lense in order to target the visitors to your main site.

However, if the lense for your particular keyword is already in existence, you may need to get it transferred or purchase it. This is an ideal situation for you because you are getting a readymade lense without making any effort.

The early bird small businesses users of Squidoo.com are already earning the benefits. You can do it too. Since search engine optimization or SEO is the backbone of internet businesses, each relevant keyword phrase can have a squidoo lense devoted to it.

Building Customer Relationships

Shopping online is becoming increasingly popular and many enterprises are doing business through the Internet. However, a traditional store instills a greater sense of security and reliability for the customer as compared to an online store. Online stores cannot ensure the physical assurance but they can develop their relationship with the customers by building trust and familiarity through their websites.

• A well designed website will create a good first impression.
  The one principle that is common to both traditional and online stores is that business owners must think like their customers. This helps to get to know the customers better and anticipate their needs. Traditionally, methods for building customer loyalty ranged from offering dedicated customer service to conveniently placing the goods in the store. Similar methods can be extended to an online store/ web business in the form of a well designed website that is easy to navigate and provide customer service that includes prompt shipping of the goods.

• Familiarity builds trust.
  In order to make a lasting impression on the first time visitor the webpage must convey a feeling of familiarity when he /she views the home page. A website that sells clothes should have pictures of the items of clothing being marketed by it. A website selling garden supplies can be designed to look like a garden shed in order to incorporate the familiar concept of a garden store that the customer is used to. Retaining the visitor’s interest is the beginning of a good business relationship.

• Customers appreciate assistance while shopping.
  In case of an online store, you must have a web page where customers can get information on the products you are marketing. This may be in the form of an FAQ page or you could provide the product descriptions along with a picture of the product. You may also place testimonials received from your customers at strategic locations on your site so that visitors are assured of the reliability of your goods or services.
  Assure the customer that your financial transactions are performed on a 128-bit encryption system. This can be done by displaying the fact prominently on the sales confirmation page so that customers are aware of this security measure.

• Make efforts to improve on the relationship that your website has created.
  Once the visitor makes the first purchase, you must make sure that he returns to your site for more. You may do this by offering helpful tips and helpful material on the relevant subject. Offering perks and discounts on purchases made can be other options. You may invite visitors to subscribe to your newsletter and interact with them on issues related to your business and products.

Building customer relationships in the online world may be a difficult task, but by letting your website speak for itself, you can build up trust among your users.

SEO Techniques to Improve Website Traffic

In order to earn sales leads through internet marketing, it is crucial for a website to be highly ranked on the search engine results. Search Engine Optimization or SEO ensures high ranking results for a website. Most site owners are aware of this and therefore adopt SEO techniques to achieve the rankings they desire. Some of the most useful SEO techniques and some do’s and don’ts are discussed here.

• Web Page Title
  

When a search engine reports a result, the first line of each result is the title of the website page. When the user reads the title, he/she knows the relevance of the website vis-à-vis the search criteria. For example, if you are searching for a web design firm in Portland and one of the results is “Portland based ABC Web Design Company”, then you know that the page or website is what you want. Needless to say, the title tags should contain the strongest keyword relevant to the particular website that is understood by both, the user and the search engine.

• “Alt tags”

Alt tags refer to alternate tags which are assigned to images. It helps explain the image as well as notify the user as to which image is missing if it (the image) fails to download. Additionally, it is a location to tastefully integrate keywords. Good SEO web design practice to makes abundant use of them.

• Keyword Density

Keyword density is the percentage of the total word count occupied by the keyword/phrase on the web page. Strategic placing of keywords in the title and the body of the text will help to manage keyword density which is one of the essential SEO techniques.

• Content Quality

A site with rich and unique content usually ranks amongst the top in search engine results. Constantly updating the content on your site makes the site dynamic, therefore, search engines are more likely to rank your site among the top in the listings.

• Well Designed Websites

Creating an attractive website design is one way to keep up the flow of visitors. Many a times the users are put off due to a poorly designed site that is difficult to navigate or its contents are difficult to read. Website design for the site should be such that it can be viewed easily in all major browsers.

• Pratices to Avoid

Avoid bad SEO techniques like spamming which may cause your site to be banned. Your website should contain pages that are rich in content while using the targeted keywords. However, be careful not to overwhelm the reader with a very high keyword density.

The best SEO web design practice would be to keep things simple on your website. See that your site loads easily, is simple to navigate and above all provides useful information to the user. Following good SEO techniques will certainly help you achieve your desired ranking; leading to increased traffic to your site and an increase in business.

Expand your Business with Google AdWords

Today, the Internet has become a way of life. From imparting knowledge to selling goods to providing services, the internet promotes all kinds of business. Therefore, most of the business ventures are going online and there is cut-throat competition in all areas of business. Advertising your business helps to gain an edge you’re your competitors and therefore entrepreneurs are spending huge sums of money on advertising.

An effective method of online advertising is to use Google AdWords. Google is the most popular search engine and over 80% of Internet users prefer the Google network. Since Google has a wide reach, it brings in a large amount of traffic to your website. This translates into more sales and profits for the business owner.

Some of the advantages of using Google AdWords are discussed below:

• Google AdWords is a simple and convenient way to advertize as once the link has been set up, the ad can be run immediately. They also have convenient pay-per-click schemes for ad campaigns.
• It is advantageous for small business websites that operate on a budget. Owners of such small or new businesses can put a limit on their budget per day and choose to stop the running of the ad once they reach the fixed limit.
• Advertisers have a control over their ad campaign; they can edit or improve their ads anytime they need to do so.

Google AdWords provides target marketing:

Using Google AdWords to advertise your online business is an effective tactic to increase the traffic to your website. This kind of advertising reaches the target market and increases sales leads. Online surfers are searching for a particular product or service; hence, they will click the relevant ad links in order to find what they want. Getting a high listing in the search engine results page is the goal of the website owner. By using specific keywords in the ad campaign, Google AdWords assists the web owner to achieve this goal.

Retaining customers:

It is one thing to attract customers to your website, quite another to retain them and entice them to buy your product. First impression is the last impression, so make sure that your home page is attractive, informative and interesting to viewers. Anticipate your customers’ needs and provide the relevant information about your product in a lucid manner. The website should be user friendly and easy to navigate. You cannot afford to lose your customers to the competitors just because of a badly designed site.

Designing for Your Ideal Customer

Is it bringing the you the business your need?

So, who are your customers? This may seem like a silly question. However, I do not want you to focus on the breath of customers your serve. Instead, consider the ideal customer you want to reach. This is who you want to design your wordpress website for.

Imagine your perfect customer just walk through the door. Describe them:

• Who are they?
• Why are they coming to you today?
• How will you solve their issue?

Once you know who your ideal client is, you can design your wordpress website to serve them.

Robust CSS Website Design

I have seen numerous post by designers struggling to transition into the world of CSS from table based design. One book I have found extremely useful is “Bulletproof Web Design” by Dan Cederholm.

This is one of the first books I picked up when I was learning and one I still grab every now and then. It is readable, clear, and thorough.

Topics covered by this book include: Flexible Text, Scalable Navigation, Elastic & Fluid Layouts, and Creating Floats.

While each of these topics warrants it’s own blog (and hence its own chapter in the book) I want to highlight how each topic makes for a high quality final web design.

Flexible Text:

• This is the concept of using relative font sizing instead of hard coding in a font size. The author gives a great example of a website for eyeglasses where the font was hard coded at 11px. While this might work for someone with healthy eyes, someone searching for eyeglasses might prefer to have control of setting the default size to something larger. By coding text size in relatives, this allows users the ability to control the overall font size of the site. The design controls the relative font sizing of headers and content.

Scalable Navigation

• This next topic goes hand in hand with flexiable text. Now that the font size can change, the website needs to behave well with these shrinking and growing letters. Scalable navigation allows for this. Instead of having fixed size images for your navigation. Buttons can be created using thin images slices that can be arrayed. Link button names can then be written as text with the graphic slices arrayed as needed behind them. This not only saves design time & graphic maintenance it make the website faster and more accessible to search engines.

Elastic & Fluid Layouts

• This chapter provides a great discussion on the benefit of layouts without tables. Furthermore, it explains how to utilize your viewer screen size by defined sections as percentages of the entire space. This enables websites to present well on both a wide and narrow screen. It also enable the ability to have the html content order different from the website presentation order. In other words you can place higher quality content at the beginning of your html even if it is not the first item displayed on the website.

Creating Floats

• Floats is a powerful part of table free web design. However, with all the wonderful browsers out there that each seem to interpret directions differently getting things to work as desired can be tricky. This chapter does a great job explaining how to achieve cross browser compatibility.

These are just some of the topic covered in this book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to refine their web design skills. It will take you from creating an okay site to building a high quality site you will be proud of.