website design | Advertising Is Simple Delaware

Why Every Business Needs a Website Audit

June 27, 2022 by Advertising Leave a Comment

photo of hourglass with text "site audit"

There are many reasons a business should get a periodic audit of their website, but the main purpose is to give a complete view of the health and wellbeing of your website. Just as all of us should go in for a yearly medical exam, your website should have its annual exam too. This will let you know the health of the website and show you any problems or issues that have arisen since the last time your website had been tested.

There are a few different audits you can do your website, but the types of audits we are going to focus on is the technical, SEO and social media.

The technical website audit is the basic and essential one to make sure the website is working properly. A technical website audit would test for a few key points which would let you know if anything was mechanically wrong with the website. These would be things like broken links, load time, mobile friendliness, indexing, txt errors, https status and crawling. This would be the basic things needed for the website to work properly.

The Search Engine Optimization audit can let you know how your website more visible to users. One thing that really will help with examining this would be to install Google Analytics on your website. Google Analytics will allow you to see many key performance indicators such as site traffic, new visitors to the website, time spent on site, pages visited, devices used and much more.

You can set up goals and conversions in the analytics to assess how your KPI’s are doing. Things you should be looking for on your SEO audit are making sure your meta data is correct, detecting any duplicate content, looking at internal links, keywords chosen and headings optimized.

Finally, you may want to looks at your social media channels and make sure they are optimized. Organic social media is the electronic version of word of mouth advertising. Make sure you have your social media icons on your website. You should claim all your social media channels whether you are using them right now or not.

When surveying a social media audit some of the key factors you would want to look at are how many fans you have, the consistency of posting, engagement with fans and interactions with customers and prospects. Also, a major factor in elevating your electronic word of mouth is getting reviews. People would much rather see what others are saying about you opposed to you tooting your own horn.

In summary, there are many more audits you could do, such as competitor analysis, conversion, content analysis and user experience. These are all great audits to examine as well, but the technical, SEO and social audits to lay the foundation for a good web presence.

If you have and questions or would like to find out more about how Advertising Is Simple can help you with a website audit, get in touch! We are running a 40% off sizzling summer special. Now till Labor Day we will run a technical, SEO and social media audit for only $299. Click on the graphic to fill out our form for the deal! Just use our contact info below.

Sizzling summer deal! 40% of website audit until labor day! now $299! Improve visibility in search engines, know what elements are broken, become more competitive

AdvertisingIsSimple | 302.407.0431 |info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

How Website Accessibility Can Label Your Brand as Inclusive

July 13, 2021 by Denise Bernstein

Website Accessibility is a Hot Topic & One to Take Seriously

Website accessibility is an important aspect of website design. Accessible sites present users with information through a variety of sensory channels, such a visual, auditory, speech, cognitive, neurological and physical. These accessible designs improves the overall user experience and satisfaction.

This is true in a variety of situations and across all types of devices. Digital accessibility means a full range of users, including those with disabilities, can readily navigate, understand and interact with your website.

WATCH OR LISTEN WHY WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY

IS ESSENTIAL FOR SOME, USEFUL FOR ALL

WHY WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY IS ESSENTIAL

Twenty Six Percent of the US Adult Population has a Disability

Many of these disabilities include blindness, color blindness, epilepsy, dyslexia, deafness or the visually impaired. That means that those websites with low color contrasts, missing alt text on images, ambiguous descriptive links text or no keyboard accessibility will lock a significant percentage of individuals out of its website.

Website Accessibility is Important for Individuals, Businesses and Society as a Whole

The Web is a massive resource for all types of reasons — business, educational and personal. It is important that the Web is accessible to all types of people with diverse abilities. According to the UN CRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities), access to the Web for all is a basic human right.

Accessibility is easily addressed through web technologies that remove all types of barriers. Whether through print, visual media or audio. Luckily, these solutions allow an unprecedented access to information and interaction for many struggling with disabilities.

Almost 60% of US Households with Internet Have Someone with a Disability under their Roof

Making a website accessible ensures that all visitors, including those with some form of disability, have a positive user experience. Oddly, this often translate into an overall improvement for all site visitors. Also, a website that takes accessibility seriously goes beyond a typical navigation experience. In addition, it goes well beyond the point-and-click interface to include keyboard-based control and voice-based control.

6.5 Million of US Population Have Intellectual Disabilities

According to W3C, web accessibility encompasses websites, tools and technologies. Hence, these all need designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them. That means people should be able to perceive, understand, navigate, interact and contribute to the Web no matter their disability.

Fifteen Percent of the World’s Population has Some Form of Disability

Various forms of accessibility is important. Because there are a vast number of potential visitors to your site that will have a disability of some sort. While it is hard to tell what form of disability your visitors may have, addressing all forms can help with your site’s user interface. Likely keeping ‘ambulance chasing’ lawyer types at bay.

Lawsuits against Non-Compliant Websites are up 50% in the Last 2 Years

One major advantage of designing an accessible website is the reduced in legal exposure. Sadly, many businesses, large and small, have found themselves on the wrong side of ADA lawsuits. Interestingly, US courts are overwhelmingly ruling in favor of accessible websites.

Website Accessibility Improves SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Not only does an accessible website improve usability and make its services or goods more readily available to millions more potential customers. Also, it improve SEO rankings. In addition, search engines reward websites with relevant content and a positive visitor experience. Consequentially, the better the user interface, the better a website ranking. Making website accessibility a win-win for all.

How to Improve Website Accessibility

Many accessible measures are easy to implement, such as ensuring your website has alt text for all images. Also, a high contrast of colors and easy to read graphics makes for a better experience. However, others are more complex and take technical knowledge to implement.

There are evaluation tools that can help to identify problem areas of a website. Yet, knowledgeable human evaluations and continued monitoring of a website is required to determine if a website is accessible and to keep it that way.

If you are looking to improve your website accessibility, have your website evaluated by a professional. In addition, take the suggested steps to mitigate the issues. Keep in mind, keeping compliant with accessibility and providing a better overall user experience takes continual effort.

If you need help, get in touch with Advertising Is Simple. We have some quality solutions and products that can help improve your brand’s inclusiveness and make your website accessible to all.

Website Design Elements that Enhance User Experience

Good Website Design is Important for Business Growth

Plugins That Enhance Website Functionality

At Advertising is Simple, we consistently stay up-to-date on the most effective methods of SEO, that’s why we call it Adaptive SEO. What works today, may not work a few months down the road. We monitor your advertising results through A/B testing and in-depth analytics to get you the highest rate of return on your advertising dollars.

Advertising Is Simple | 302.407.0431 | info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

5 Design Elements Your Business Website Can’t Do Without [Video]

September 15, 2020 by Advertising

Your business website is your most valuable online resource. A well-designed website with quality content is a must these days as it’s a necessary base to any digital marketing plan. Since it is your most valuable asset, it’s essential to create a well rounded marketing strategy that points any traffic back to your main domain, whether it’s on social media or in directory listings.

Look at it this way. Your website is typically the first and foremost digital marketing tool your business has. It is not only your way of informing your customers who you are and what you do, but also how you do it better than your competition. More and more customers are doing thorough online research on companies before they make a buying decision and they let website design impressions form their opinion about your brand. That is why your website needs to look professional.

When was the last time you updated your website? If your site is at least a few years old, here are 5 must have website design elements you need to invest time in now:

5 Design Elements Your Business Website Can’t Do Without

5 Must Have Website Design Elements that Enhance User Experience

August 18, 2020 by Advertising

Things happen quickly in the digital world and it should come as no surprise that website design has been rapidly changing over the last few years. With Google favoring mobile-friendly websites as well as the explosion of consumer need for graphic content such as videos, it has become necessary for a constant monitoring and adjustments to a company’s digital strategy.

Not to mention, a well-maintained website generates more leads and helps to grow your business. If your site is more than a few years old, it is safe to say that you are in need of a website makeover.

To demonstrate the must have website design elements that will enhance the user experience, we will use one of the recent website makeovers we did for our client, Frank’s Wine.

5 Must Have Website Design Elements:

1. Use a Responsive Design – Your website design should respond to the visitor’s behavior and be displayed properly on different devices or screen sizes. This is achieved by designing flexible grids and layouts and well as including images and CSS media queries.

2. Mobile-Friendly Functionality – It is important to have a clean and efficient design that fits a small phone or tablet screen that is easy to navigate. Making contact and taking action are important features to take into consideration when planning out a mobile website. Many smartphone users are making spur of the minute decisions, such as where to eat or purchase an item by searching for reviews, price comparisons and product specifications from their mobile device.

3. Multiple Optimized Landing Pages – While redesigning your website should focus on the visual elements, form and function need to work well together. Make sure to incorporate SEO on each landing page you create. Building a beautiful website does you no good if no one can find it!

4. Include Social Media Links – Showcasing every way you can communicate, connect and engage with your potential customer is crucial in today’s marketing climate. That is why you need to make sure that you include your social media links on the website in the clear way, should your visitors choose to connect with you through different platforms.

5. Provide Calls to Action on Every Page – Whether you provide services or sell products, in order to encourage your website visitors to take action you need to include CTA buttons on each page. See the example below:

Related: 5 Reasons Why a Good Website Design is Important for Business Growth

Advertising your business is a big part of growing your business. But if you don’t have all your ducks in a row, you could be wasting your advertising dollars. To be a success, you need a website that works for you and allows your customers to get what they are looking for.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about how Advertising Is Simple can help you design a website, get in touch!

AdvertisingIsSimple | 302.407.0431|

info@AdvertisingIsSimple.com

5 Must-Have WordPress Plugins That Enhance Website Functionality

July 21, 2020 by Advertising

Building a website without SEO is like building a road without direction. It could be costing you more than you imagine. Your website is the home base for all your marketing efforts. That’s why your page loading time should be up to speed and design clean and user friendly and all content fully optimized for search. One way to achieve it? By installing some WordPress Plugins that enhance the performance of your website.

According to this research, a visitor can form an opinion about your online presence in about .05 seconds once the page loads. That means what they see online can either make or break your business! If a well-designed website is not one of your most utilized tools at the moment, we’re here to tell you it’s time to use these must-have WordPress Plugins.

5 Must-Have WordPress Plugins That Enhance Website Functionality

Yoast SEO– This WordPress plugin is one of the most popular ones as it helps you with your search engine optimization. Since we all know how important it is to feature optimized content on your website, it’s worth considering this plugin for its readability and SEO analysis.
Google XML Sitemaps– Once you install and activate this plugin on your website, a sitemap will be generated automatically. This way it’s easier for search engines to index your blog. The plugin does everything for you, updating your sitemap after each new piece of content that you publish.
W3 Total Cache– As Neil Patel once mentioned, many people overlook just how important it is to provide a lightning quick experience with each website visit. Even Google has made it clear that site speed is an important ranking factor. Thankfully with this plugin, you can improve site speed, as well as the overall user experience.
Jetpack – We cannot stress enough how important it is to invest in your website’s security! This plugin provides just that, plus it offers performance and site management. Jetpack is your site’s security detail, guarding you against brute-force attacks and unauthorized logins.
Akismet Anti-Spam– Quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from spam. Akismet checks your comments and contact form submissions against our global database of spam to prevent your site from publishing malicious content.

As they say, your website is a window to your business, so make sure it’s fully optimized and set up for success! If you still don’t know where to start, we can help!

Advertising is Simple is in the business of making advertising simple and we begin by creating you a great website to show off your brand. We make sure that your site has all the necessary features so that you can create a lasting impression and take pride in your web presence. To view our website portfolio, click here.

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Why Every Business Needs a Website Audit

How Website Accessibility Can Label Your Brand as Inclusive