As a business owner, there are a lot of things to consider when building a website. The first thing you consider are the business goals of the site. Then, your thoughts turn to the current web trends. What do you want the website will look like? What features will be included? Next, your attention turns to the words and pictures on the site.
In your planning, do not overlook website performance. A high-performing website is crucial in today’s digital age, where many business and customer interactions occur online. Your website is often the first impression potential customers have of your business, so it must be visually appealing and functional. Here are eight must-have elements that every high-performing website should have.
With the ever-increasing use of smartphones and tablets, it’s crucial that your website is mobile-friendly. Being mobile-friendly means your website is easily accessible and readable on all devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
Let me point out a few reasons why a mobile-friendly design is vital for your business.
A website that is mobile-friendly delivers a more satisfying user experience, attracts organic mobile traffic from Google searches, and improves online visibility.
Your website’s content should be engaging and relevant to your target audience. When speaking of content, it includes both written and visual content, such as images and videos. High-quality, well-written content helps establish your brand as an expert in your field and improves your search engine rankings.
Remember, mobile users have different browsing behaviors compared to desktop users. First, they prefer to scroll rather than click. Also, they typically have more limited attention spans than desktop users. Therefore, they expect quick and easy access to information. Keep your sentence length less than 25 words when writing for a mobile audience. Keep your paragraphs to 5 sentences or less. Keep your sections under 300 words. Finally, provide sub-headings for every section. Subheadings make your content easy to skim.
From an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) perspective, Google’s search engine prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in their search rankings. Regular fresh content that serves as a helpful resource to the searcher is crucial in determining search engine rankings. Many businesses fail in this area because they do not update their websites with fresh content. They practice a “set it and forget it” mindset.
When your site offers valuable and up-to-date content, it increases the chances of ranking higher in search engine results, driving more organic traffic and benefiting your business’s bottom line.
Another expectation of users is social sharing. If your site has engaging and “share-worthy” content, you increase the likelihood of someone sharing your site’s content on social media platforms. Social sharing from your website significantly enhances your brand’s visibility, builds vital SEO backlinks, and attracts more visitors.
Calls to action (CTAs) are a vital element of high-performing websites. They should be clear, concise, and visible, encouraging users to take specific steps, such as filling out a contact form, making a purchase, or signing up for a newsletter. A CTA is a guide to your website visitors on what actions to take next, and it eliminates confusion and provides a good user experience.
A well-designed CTA significantly increases the conversion rate of a website. By explicitly telling visitors what you want them to do, such as “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” or “Contact Us,” you encourage them to take the desired action and increase the chances of them converting into customers or leads.website
Next, consider your website forms. Forms facilitate communication, establish trust, generate leads, drive conversions, and provide valuable insights. They are fundamental elements for your businesses to engage with your target audience, offer support, and create opportunities for growth.
Hence, you want to make it easy for customers to contact you by including your contact information, such as your email, phone number, and physical address, on every page of your website. One way to display your contact information on every page is to include the information in a footer section of the site.
Hosting is an often overlooked element that is essential for a high-performing website. Many business owners will opt for the least expensive hosting option. However, these options have some drawbacks, such as security, support, and performance.
A reliable hosting company implements robust security measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, regular backups, and software updates. They also employ professionals with in-depth knowledge of threat detection and response solutions to address any security vulnerabilities promptly.
Additionally, with some hosting companies, your site’s pages load slowly. A website that loads detriments your search engine optimization slowly and creates a poor user experience. Mobile users are impatient and will bail and go to another website rather than wait for a slow-loading one.
Some hosting companies offer limited storage space on their servers. Later, you discover that your hosting service needs to be more scalable to grow as your website content grows. Adding more storage space requires upgrading the hosting package with additional fees. A reliable hosting company has the infrastructure and technical expertise to handle high traffic volumes, ensuring fast page load times and smooth user experiences. So, choose your hosting package with growth in mind.
Lastly, with some less expensive hosting options, you cannot have 24/7 access to customer and tech support. You will be frustrated when your website runs into a problem you need help fixing.
Analytics tracking is crucial for understanding how visitors interact with your website and making data-driven decisions. Ensure you have a reliable analytics solution, such as Google Analytics or Google’s Search Engine Console, set up and configured correctly. These two tools offer data and therefore provide different benefits.
For example, Google Analytics measures your website performance and user behavior and tracks conversions, website traffic, and website traffic sources. These data points provide essential information for making decisions to improve your business profitability.
Then, Google’s Search Engine Console tells you if Google has issues crawling your website or if any mobile usability issues negatively impact your search engine rankings.
Lastly, viewing your data using a dashboard that centralizes your data management is wise. A dashboard saves you time and gives you a clear view of your digital presence across multiple platforms – web, social, Google Analytics, and Search Engine Console. Your dashboard can even be customized to pull in third-party data your business needs to track.
Regular maintenance and updates are essential to ensure that your website remains high-performing and secure. Maintenance tasks include:
It is wise to have a professional developer make the updates. Sometimes the updates will temporarily “break” your website. When this happens, it may take a pro to determine the best way to fix the site and get it back up and running.
In conclusion, having a high-performing website is essential for business success in today’s digital age. And ensuring that it is optimized is critical. The eight elements discussed in this article are a starting point for creating a website that looks great, functions well, and provides a positive user experience.
Blue Corn Harvest Bar & Grill in Cedar Park, Texas, is a hidden gem that is a must-visit for food lovers seeking locally-sourced fresh cuisine. The restaurant boasts a warm and inviting atmosphere that is perfect for a night out with friends or a business dinner. Proudly serving farm to table locally-sourced foods which support local farmers. The décor is simple yet elegant, with dim lighting and comfortable seating both indoors and out. And, for those looking for a place to hold a small business meeting, Blue Corner Harvest does not disappoint.
The menu at the Cedar Park location of Blue Harvest is carefully curated and offers a variety of options that will please even the most discerning palate. The kitchen has you covered whether you are in the mood for a hearty steak, tacos, burgers or a scrumptious salad. It is hard to pick out the star of the menu. Some might say it is the Artichoke Stuff Chicken served with mashed potatoes and farm fresh vegies. Others go for the 12-13 oz. Chipotle Rib-eye with chipotle cream and sour cream drizzle. Either of these dishes is a must-try for any meat lover.
In addition to the delicious food, the drinks menu at Blue Harvest is also worth mentioning. The bar is well-stocked with various spirits and beers, and the bartenders always recommend the perfect drink to pair with your meal. The restaurant also offers a great selection of wine, both by the glass and bottle, perfectly paired with the food.
One of the best things about Blue Harvest is the service. The waitstaff is knowledgeable, friendly, and always ready to assist you. They are also happy to make recommendations and help you navigate the menu if you need help deciding what to order.
Overall, Blue Harvest Bar & Grill is an excellent restaurant that is well worth a visit. The food, drinks, and service are all top-notch, and the atmosphere is perfect for a night out. Whether you are looking for a romantic dinner or a night out with friends, Blue Harvest is the perfect place. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting the northwest Austin area. It’s worth a stop in Cedar Park. I am confident you will not be disappointed.
For more restaurant reviews and business travel tips, check out these related articles.
When running a small or large fleet of rigs, you want to make sure everything relating to the trucks and your workers is ticking over as it should. So, it can surprise many rig fleet owners when they discover that fuel card fraud has occurred in their own company.
Fuel card fraud is a significant concern for small businesses that use fuel cards to manage fuel expenses. Fuel card fraud occurs when an unauthorized person purchases fuel with a business’s fuel card. This unauthorized purchase results in financial losses for the company and, of course, potential issues with trust and a hiking in insurance fees!
Luckily, there are some steps that you can take to prevent fuel card fraud from happening to your fleet, and this article will explore 5 of the most effective ways to avoid this typical kind of theft.
Small businesses can prevent fuel card fraud by implementing strict gas credit card controls. Such controls involve setting limits on fuel purchases. For example, set the amount of fuel allowed to be purchased in a single transaction. Or another control is to set the total amount of energy that can be bought in a given period. By putting these limits in place, businesses can reduce unauthorized purchases and limit the financial impact of any fraudulent transactions. It will also help you spot when anyone in your rig goes over the limit and can allow you to take the proper steps to assess the causes for this.
The internet certainly plays a part here, mainly if your rigs operate nationwide.
Many fuel card providers offer online account management tools that allow businesses to monitor their fuel card transactions in real time. Small businesses can use these tools to track fuel purchases, monitor fuel usage, and identify any suspicious activity. Subsequently, companies can quickly detect and prevent fuel card fraud by regularly reviewing fuel card transactions.
Another core and effective way to prevent fuel card fraud is to educate employees about the risks and consequences of fuel card fraud. Small businesses can train employees on the proper use of fuel cards, including how to safeguard the card and report any suspicious activity. By raising awareness of fuel card fraud among employees, small businesses can prevent fraudulent activity before it occurs.
Auditing isn’t fun, but small businesses can prevent fuel card fraud by conducting regular audits of their fuel card transactions. In fact, it is wise to conduct audits on several areas of your business, including your billing and invoicing. These audits can be performed internally or by an external auditor. By reviewing fuel card transactions regularly, businesses can identify any suspicious activity and take action to prevent further fraudulent transactions.
Small businesses can prevent fuel card fraud by implementing fraud detection software. This software uses algorithms to identify patterns of fraudulent activity and alert companies to suspicious transactions. By using fraud detection software, small businesses can quickly detect and prevent fuel card fraud, reducing the financial impact of any fraudulent transactions.
Running a startup tends to be many things. Exciting, yes. Challenging? Absolutely. But also, sometimes, nerve-wracking. It isn’t easy to run a business when you’re a seasoned campaigner working on an established brand. Moreso, it is not easy to create something from nothing. It is daunting. What complicates matters is that more than simply offering a great product or service is needed. You also need to handle all the associated admin — the worst is financial management.
As a startup, paying close attention to something as basic as billing is essential. The seemingly-simple process of getting paid for what you do is far more awkward than many assume, and there’s no shortage of short-lived companies that went under because they couldn’t nail their invoicing. To ensure your business doesn’t follow suit, you must prioritize proper billing.
In this blog post, we’ll provide helpful information and tips to help you ace your billing process and give your startup a great chance at succeeding. If you can choose the most appropriate billing process, implement software artfully, and master sending follow-ups, you can get somewhere. Let’s get started.
The first thing we need to cover is how you bill, which is how you determine what to charge people. Depending on your industry, this can get complicated, so you must ensure you’re using the method that best suits your company’s strengths and goals. Here are the four most common billing methods:
Now, how can you decide which billing type is right for your startup? Here are three core questions to answer (but remember that you can always follow your gut):
If you take these questions seriously, you can decide on a transparent and fair pricing structure that reflects the value you deliver to your clients while protecting your bottom line.
Handling financial matters manually is a terrible idea at this point. Software systems (particularly those featuring automation options) have become so cost-effective that there’s no reason — aside from a general fear of technology — for you to avoid them. But if you invest in billing software, you need to choose well.
Here are the key factors you need to investigate while considering which software system (or systems) you’re going to use for your company’s foundation:
If you take the time to select the right billing software, you can put your business in a strong position for long-term growth — so don’t rush this step.
Smooth and efficient billing requires clear terms of conduct. If you are clear regarding what you and your clients expect you to deliver, you’ll minimize the likelihood of dealing with tricky disputes, late payments, and misunderstandings. Be sure to include each of the following components in every invoice:
In addition to displaying these things in every invoice, be sure to include your payment terms in your contracts or agreements — and if you think there may be any uncertainty with the terms for a particular client, communicate clearly to ensure that they do not miss anything.
Beyond being content-complete, a good invoice should have a professional design. Putting some effort into the design will serve your brand well and make your invoices more likely to prove effective. Aim to achieve each of the following:
Some clients may still miss payment deadlines even with clear payment terms and professional invoices. Effectively managing invoice follow-ups can help you recover outstanding payments while maintaining good client relationships. Here are some tips for managing invoice follow-ups:
Regularly monitoring and evaluating your billing process is essential for identifying areas that need improvement and ensuring its ongoing efficiency. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and making data-driven decisions can optimize your billing process, reduce late payments, and improve your startup’s financial performance.
To effectively evaluate your billing process, consider tracking the following KPIs:
Once you’ve identified areas needing improvement, take appropriate steps to address them. You may need to refine your payment terms, improve your invoicing and follow-up processes, or offer additional payment options. Continuously monitor your KPIs to assess the effectiveness of any changes and make further adjustments as needed.
In this blog post, we’ve covered numerous parts of acing the billing process. We’ve looked at choosing the suitable billing method, implementing billing software, establishing clear payment terms, streamlining invoicing and follow-ups, and regularly evaluating your billing process.
However daunting billing may seem, you mustn’t forget that you have all the resources you need to get it right and make it sustainable. If you follow the advice covered here and give your best effort, you should be able to get where you want to go. Good luck!
Once upon a time, working from home was a lovely dream for the average worker. Those at the top of the professional pyramid have always had the option of avoiding offices, of course, but building a middle-class career has long meant accepting a static desk (likely in an inconvenient location). During the worst of the midweek slog, there was joy in imagining working from a sofa. But, there are a few things about working from home that nobody tells you in advance.
Then came the one-two punch of robust internet infrastructure and a global pandemic. With technology making it possible for most people to work remotely and lockdowns forcing companies to accept that they didn’t need people to be office-based, things changed massively. Before the pandemic, only 5 percent of the American workforce worked from home. Now, nearly 30 percent of all work is remote. And ever since then, working from home has been a standard option. Some forecasters suggest that as much as 39% of global knowledge workers will work hybrid (hybrid is a combination of remote and in-office) by the end of 2023.
This is great news. It’s inarguably true that having the freedom to work from home if you want to work remotely is a spectacular addition to the world of employment. And you surely want to — right? Well, it’s not quite that simple. There are some things you need to know about working from home if you’re going to make a long-term decision about your working environment, and we’re going to look at five of them in this post. Let’s get started.
We all know about health and safety concerns. Sitting at a certain angle, taking regular breaks, and setting your display at the ideal height benefits your health and well-being. There is a wide range of actions to make your working environment comfortable. Arguably, most workers need to focus more attention on this area, lest they discover it was a mistake to overlook the physical setup of their remote working environment.
Admittedly, you might not discover this for a while, and during that time, you’ll assume that it’s all overblown. Indeed, you tell yourself that you don’t need an ergonomic setup, and that your workspace is adequate. Maybe ergonomics is essential for some people, such as those lacking strength and flexibility. However, you can forge ahead with the most basic setup imaginable.
Then, one day you discover that working in a slumped, unsupported position is not a good idea. Once physical issues develop with your hands, arms, or back, it’s more difficult to address them. So if you’re going to work from home, take your setup seriously — before you have to undo practices that harmed you.
Picture the scene: you are focused on your work all day. You’re primarily motionless in a “cubicle” as you complete your tasks; you look forward to leaving your workplace at the end of the day. Finally, you’re unleashed! Skip to the next day. Where are you? In the same place, essentially motionless at your desk, with the same confining postures with the same unchanging views.
Part of the idea that you feel stuck in a cage is mental. We all get stuck in routines, and sitting at the same desk daily is routine. But another part stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of working from home. When you work remotely, you can work from almost anywhere. “Not overseas,” you might object. However, I have three words for you: employer of record.
If you’re thinking, “What is the employer of record supposed to mean?” you should follow that link. But the gist is that any company can hire people anywhere. For example, working for a Spanish company not only doesn’t require you to be in Spain (or prohibit you from working vacations). But, working for a Spanish company also does not require you to be based in Spain. Sure, you might need to convince your employer to accommodate a big overseas move, but if you want to escape, then why not try? In today’s working world, knowing that most boundaries are gone gives you flexibility and won’t limit your options.
Say goodbye and good riddance to an exhausting drive through dense traffic. Parting is such sweet joy. If you commute by train, you find them expensive and only available at inconvenient times. Get away from a tedious commute when you work from home. You get more free time and reduce expenses. What’s not to love about those two perks?
There are a few people who enjoy the commute. You may find something undeniably nice about commuting. The journey gives you time to think; necessary travel prevents your attention from wandering. You can gather your energy before you start your workday and decompress when you head home. The result is a satisfying first step back into your home in the evening.
Others who enjoy the commute find it allows them to take extra steps during the day and do some people-watching. Even if you never strike up a conversation during your commute, simply being around other people makes some people feel more connected to society. If you feel a sense of loss concerning your commute, consider creating a fake commute by adding a 20-minute walk before work and at the end of your day.
Whatever area you call home is your haven: the one place you can feel relaxed and comfortable. As your domain, it’s under your control and filled with good memories: playing games, watching movies, and laughing with friends and family. So what happens when you bring work into that area?
The work becomes more pleasant: you enjoy familiar surroundings and have more freedom to step away from work for a few moments. But just as the environment lightens the work, the work weighs on the environment. Slowly, your home stops feeling like a safe area for retreat, and it becomes a place of relaxation and work, making it suboptimal for when you want to get away from anything that even reminds you of work.
If your home has always been your refuge, then think about where else you could build a refuge while working from home. An eatery you enjoy, a public park you can visit, or a friend’s house. Your mental health needs to have somewhere to let your guard down and fully get away from work.
When you subtract the commuting time, reschedule the mandatory breaks, and clear out the previously-unavoidable last-minute exchanges, you end up with a significantly-shortened workday. You’d think, then, that a typical day of work would speed by relative to office drudgery — yet that isn’t often the case. In truth, the day often feels longer.
There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that you miss many office-based conversations that soak up time. A minute here, a minute there, five minutes catching up with someone, ten covering what you’re getting for lunch. These are the interactions that keep you engaged and going.
And when you don’t have the variety of an office around you (the buzz, the hustle, and/or bustle), the only distractions that come along are the kind of pulling you away from work for extended productivity-busting periods instead of reassuring interludes. That means you need to add the variety, and take control and build them into your day. Only you can break up your day and throw in enough twists and turns to keep the clock advancing, so if you start feeling tedium, make some changes.
Digital advertising and digital marketing are two misunderstood terms, and many people think the terms are interchangeable. However, while they share some similarities, they are distinct in their approach and purpose. Here, we explore the differences between digital advertising and digital marketing services.
First, digital advertising refers to promoting products or services using digital channels such as websites, search engines, social media, email, and mobile apps. Digital advertising involves using various ad formats, such as banner ads, text ads, video ads, and sponsored content. The main objective of digital advertising is to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales.
Breaking Down the Different Types of Digital Advertising:
Then, we turn our attention to digital marketing. Digital marketing is a broader term that encompasses various digital channels, sometimes including digital advertising, but not always. Digital marketing involves using multiple online channels to promote products or services, build brand awareness, and engage with customers. The main objective of digital marketing is to create a robust online presence that drives awareness and supports conversions.
Breaking Down Digital Marketing
Kit Mullins, co-owner of Jemully Media, LLC, has been a leader in digital marketing for more than twenty years. A writer, designer, and developer, Kit enjoys travel, photography, and Bible study. With six kids and fifteen grandkids, she has no choice but to find ways to be creative.
