Substance and Style

    Read posts about Web Design below:

    • Choose A Hero Image That Creates The Right First Impression

      A hero image is usually the first thing people see when they visit your website. It’s important that it sets the right tone and makes a good first impression. Ideally, your hero image will be:

    • Balance UX and UI for a Better Website

      It’s important that your website focus on both UX (user experience or functionality) and UI (user interface or aesthetics). Most websites favor one over the other. However, if you’re looking for your website to produce results around sales and marketing, you need it to both function well and look good. Start by having clear goals…

    • Battle of the CMS: WordPress vs. Wix vs. Squarespace vs. Shopify 

      What is a CMS?  CMS stands for Content Management System. Content Management Systems allow you to build websites without necessarily having to code. Usually, they have a visual editor where you can add elements to a page, such as text or graphics.  Choosing a CMS can be daunting for people who are just starting out.…

    • Basics of Mobile First Web Design

      What is mobile first? Using a mobile first approach means designing your website specifically to suit the needs of people who access it on a phone. Mobile first has become popular in recent years as phone users have outpaced computer users on the internet. It’s now absolutely essential that your site be responsive, which is…

    • Web Accessibility: Basics of 508 and ADA Compliance

      If your business or organization has a website, and it probably does, it should be accessible for people with disabilities. Websites are considered public spaces; as such, there are serious ramifications for running one that isn’t accessible.  There’s a lot of confusion about Section 508 Compliance, ADA Compliance, the difference between the two, and who…

    • Can Social Media Replace Your Website?

      With how easy and inexpensive it is to market your business on social media, it’s natural to wonder if you even need a website anymore. Like every other marketing decision, it depends on your audience and your goals. There are some very specific local businesses that rely on walk in traffic and do very well…

    • Use Your Own Online Frustrations to Guide Your Website Revamp

      It’s hard to look at your own website and evaluate user experience objectively. Because you’re so familiar with your business and marketing objectives, you tend to see what you intended to create rather than what exists. If you want to create a good user experience, it’s probably not enough to try to see your site…

    • Create More Effective Landing Pages 

      Landing pages are pages on your website (or created elsewhere, like mailchimp or constant contact) that are separate from the rest of your site and serve one main purpose. The goal is almost always to achieve a type of conversion (acquiring leads, sales, or subscribers). Because they have only one goal and users focus only…

    • 10 Digital Design Trends Coming In 2024

    • Six Steps to A Better Nonprofit Website

    • PLEASE Fix Your Unresponsive Website

      Recently I visited the website of a major bank (I won’t name them here, though it’s tempting) on my phone. The site was huge. The homepage had a thousand things going on, all of which were tiny. I had to scroll left to right and back again to read every sentence. Popups took up so…

    • Avoid Common Website Legal Issues

      If you’re running a website, the last thing you need is a legal issue to shut you down or break your bank. The issues are complicated, and rules vary from industry to industry, as well as by company size and location. In the United States, rules even vary from state to state, with California enforcing…

    • Please Update Your Website!

      A couple of weeks ago, I tried to join a professional organization by visiting their website. Their schedule of events was from pre-pandemic, and the information on membership (including dues) was from 2021. I clicked the “Join” button anyway, figuring the price would update when I checked out. Unfortunately, the link to the membership form…

    • Create A Pillar Page to Improve SEO and Increase Sales 

      Everyone in marketing seems to be talking about pillar pages. Creating a pillar page can be a lot of work, but it really pays off with search engines and customers by establishing expertise, building trust, and making your website more user-friendly.  What Are Pillar Pages? Basically, a pillar page is a guide to one topic…

    • Make Your Website Work Harder For You 

      Most companies and organizations need a website these days; customers and clients have less confidence in companies that don’t. However, putting up a website just to have one is a missed opportunity. A good website can support your overall business goals, be an important marketing and communications channel, and even make money on its own.…

    • Six Free and Easy Ways to Make Your WordPress Site More Secure

      If you don’t have a lot of traffic or sales going through your website, you might think it’s safe from attack. However, the motivations for hacking are many: installing malware, taking advantage of your search rankings to slip links or ads onto your pages, taking advantage of your good reputation to send spam from your…

    • Ten Tips For Your Nonprofit’s Website 

      Start with your goal. This is true for any website, and for any piece of marketing. You have to know what you want your website to do before you can figure out how to do it. For most organizations, the overarching goal will be to bring in revenue; everything else will support that goal. Keep…

    • Create Lead Magnets that Actually Convert

      Ostensibly, the purpose of lead magnets is to get people to give you their contact information in exchange for something of value. However, this is only a first step. Your real goal is to get them to become your customer or client. If you want your lead magnet to accomplish this, try the following: Make…

    • Avoid These Common Digital Copywriting Mistakes 

      Not having a clear call to action (CTA). You should have a specific goal in mind as you write any copy, and every part of the text should support that goal. You have to know what you want the reader to do, and it should be obvious to them. Don’t leave them confused about how…

    • Five Steps to Better Landing Pages

      Have a clear goal going in. Know your desired result (a sale, a sign up, a post share, etc.) before you even start designing the page. Once you know your goal, you can use the entire page to guide your customers through the process. Design for maximum impact. While what you’re saying is important, you…

    • Write Better Web Copy In Five Easy Steps

      Get into the head of your audience. I give this advice for all aspects of marketing, and I know you’ve heard it before. I repeat it so often because it’s the single most important thing you can do. Look at everything you write for your site from the user’s perspective. What have they come looking…

    • Add Paid Newsletters on WordPress

      If you’re looking for yet another an easy way to monetize your WordPress site, a paid newsletter can be a great option. Unlike a lot of content creation businesses, you can make money from it right away without building up a huge following. Plus, subscriptions are a more reliable income stream than one time sales…

    • 2022 Website Pet Peeves

      There are a lot of things on the internet that annoy people or even make them furious. You don’t want your website to be one of them. Below are the top four complaints I see about websites. These don’t just annoy your customers or clients; they can actually drive people away from your site. Frustrating…

    • A Tour of the WordPress Appearance Menu

      WordPress beginners with no design background are often intimidated by the appearance menu (mostly because of unfamiliar acronyms like AMP and CSS). While there are a lot of options, many of them are self-explanatory, and WordPress is very user-friendly even for beginners. Once you know what you’re looking at, you will find yourself less wary…

    • Protect Your Digital Content With WordPress Premium Content Subscriptions

      Selling digital content is one of the least expensive and easiest businesses to start. Once you create ebooks, online courses, manuals, templates, or any other number of products, you can sell them indefinitely, potentially earning out the amount of effort you put in and generating passive income in the future. However, if people share your…

    • How to Do Your Own Site Audit

      When you build your website, you design it with certain goals in mind. As time goes by, it can be easy to neglect. A lot competes for your time and attention, and you might think of your site as “done.” However, it’s important to look at your site with fresh eyes periodically to make sure…

    • Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Building Your Website

      It’s a given that every business needs a website. COVID made that even more clear as businesses struggled to serve customers from a distance. If you need a site and you aren’t a designer, you really should hire one. Even if you’re tech savvy, you’re going to run into issues that could be solved quickly…

    • Six Easy Ways to Make Your Website More Accessible

      The standards for web accessibility can be a little overwhelming, but it’s important to keep them in mind when designing a website. The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) technically does apply to websites because websites are public spaces. Government entities should be especially conscious of this, as they are held to a higher standard than…

    • 5 Ways to Speed Up Your WordPress Site

      We’re living in an age of unprecedented impatience. The last thing you want your website to be is slow. If you’re visiting your own site frequently, it probably seems very fast to you, but it’s important to check from other computers and devices that have never visited your site before. The more times you visit…

    • Nine Tips for Persuasive Web Writing

      Know your purpose. What do you want your audience to think or do after reading the piece? Keep this purpose in mind while you write and edit. Make sure it comes through in the text, and edit out extraneous detail. Respect your audience. Know who they are and how to reach them. Don’t waste their…