Website Content is Important

April 5, 2012 Anthony Tips Leave a comment  

You probably read the title and said, “Really? No kidding.” I know it may sound like an obvious statement, but I see a lot of websites that are using content completely wrong. Some websites have too much content, some have too little and others have a horrible design. These are major reasons why users immediately leave websites.

Let’s pretend your website is a book store. Would you rather shop at a bookstore that has one shelf with every book they carry in no particular order or would you rather have labeled sections, books alphabetically ordered and someone working who can help if you have any questions? If your website is the bookstore with no organization and a poor design then your customers are going to leave. If your website is organized, designed well and makes it easy for users to find what they are looking for then you’ll have the most important variables nailed down.

There will always be changes to how search engines rank your website, but the layout and ease of navigation of your content will always be important. We know writing content can be boring and repetitive, but it’s something you have to do in order to grow a strong business online. Our team of web designers develop websites around content and the keywords that target your customer. Correctly using content with a clean design is something that will always help your business. Luckily for you that’s all our team develops.

If you have any specific questions or would like to learn more about how our services can help grow your business then send us an email or give our office a call.

Motivation For Your New Business

February 25, 2012 Anthony Motivation Leave a comment  

Our entire team knows the feeling of starting a new business. There is a mental and monetary investment, sacrifices and a level of risk that most people cannot tolerate. You will have ups and downs. You will feel happy, sad, mad, beaten down and many other feelings combined. For the bad times, it is good to remember one of our favorite quotes by Jim Rohn, “If you are not willing to risk the unusual you will have to settle for the ordinary.” Believing in that quote will help during bad times and when it is time to make sacrifices. Hopefully there are more ups than downs on you roller coaster, but it is good to be prepared.

We enjoy riding the roller coaster with all of our Michigan web design clients. A big part of success depends on your motivation and mental happiness. We find ways to motivate our clients when it’s needed. Motivation can come from blog posts like this, a text message, email, a phone call or even an office visit. Support is important for any entrepreneur and we’re here to do just that.

Our previous post contains a video related to motivation and how badly you want to be successful. If you have not seen the video, view our previous post Michigan Web Design.

The video we are including in this post is also motivating. Watch below and let us know if it motivates you.

Michigan Web Design

February 23, 2012 Anthony Business, Michigan Web Design, Motivation Leave a comment  

Michigan Web Design

Michigan Web Design Professionals

We are Michigan web design professionals and serial entrepreneurs. Our team has a strong passion for web design and developing successful businesses. We use our passion and experience to help our Michigan web design clients succeed in their own businesses.

Previous projects include everything from new law firms to complex e-commerce businesses selling over 10,000 products. You can view some of our previous Michigan Web Design projects or contact us to learn more.

Our first goal is to understand exactly what you want to accomplish with your website. Every business is different, which means every website needs to be designed differently. We take the time to understand you, your business, competition and how your market will find you through search engines. It is extremely important to design a website based on how people will find you online. After all, the main goal is to generate business and continuously grow. This is why our experience in helping other businesses succeed is important. Our Michigan web design services start with one of the most important aspects of a successful business, which is planning. Once a solid plan is set, we can begin designing an effective website. If you do not know where to start, contact our team and we will help you throughout the entire process.

What are other important factors to look for in a Michigan web design company? We believe communication is just as important as the web design service. Our team treats our client’s websites as if we are building our own business. That means the business is always on our mind. Building a business is not a 9-5 job. Our Michigan web design clients can contact us at any time. There have been many times where we work with clients past 1AM. If that is what it takes to make your business successful then that is what we do. Watch the video below to get an understanding of our work ethic. Is yours the same?

Michigan Web Design Work Ethic

Simple Clean Websites

February 16, 2012 Anthony Web Design Leave a comment  

If you look at previous posts on our blog you will notice related topics to simple clean websites. You may think we are being repetitive or crazy, but our current clients understand what we are doing.

Simple clean websites

We only design simple clean websites. Over the years we developed “glamourous” websites, flashy websites and other non simple clean websites. Since we have lasting relationships with our clients we started to notice which businesses were growing and which ones were not. We noticed that simple clean websites were more effective than cluttered flashy websites. Do not think simple means ugly though. To us, simple websites look better.

How to get a simple clean website

The best way to get your own simple clean website is to look around for sites you really like. You may find some things you like on one website and a few more on a different website. Make a list of all the simple clean websites you like and why you like them. Once your list is complete you can either make your own website based off the designs you combined or hire a company who focuses on simple clean websites.

Simple clean websites win!

We try our best to make blog posts quick and to the point. We find that a lot of people read the first couple sentences and then the last couple sentences. If you’re skipping to the end, leave this post knowing that with our experience we recommend developing simple clean websites. If you need a company to design your site, our team includes developers who only focus on simple designs. Take a look at some of our previous sites for ideas. You can also check out another blog post that has a list of simple clean websites. Like always, if you have any questions feel free to give us a call or send an email.

simple clean websites

Simple Websites

February 10, 2012 Anthony Business Leave a comment  

Simple Websites

We. Love. Simple Websites.

That is why we develop simple websites. If you look at some of the most successful websites you’ll see simplicity. Amazon, eBay, Facebook, etc. all have simple websites. The reason is because simplicity works. If you go to one of those websites you’ll see that your focus is on what they sell. You can take the same concept that “the big guys” use on your own business.

Simple websites are more effective

The main purpose of your website is to motivate users to take action. The action can be to call your business, send an email, fill out a survey, learn more about your business and so on. Simple websites are more effective because there are only a couple actions a user can take. When your website has too many actions, users are going to leave. Nobody wants customers to leave because their website is too complicated.

A few examples of simplicity include avoiding too many links in your navigation, using pictures that give users a clear idea of what you do and limiting the amount of content a user sees when the page first loads. Take our homepage as an example.

Your web designer should take the time to understand your business and develop a simple website that promotes the action that leads to business growth. Once the plan is made it’s time to build a simple website.

Simple websites are beautiful

simple websitesSimple websites don’t have to be boring or ugly. When we build websites simplicity is important. However, simple websites need to look modern and attractive. How likely is it that you would buy candy from the van to the left? It’s a safe bet that most people would say no or even call the police. You don’t want that happening to your website. That is why it is important to develop simple websites that also look great. To us, simple websites that promote growth are beautiful.

Simple websites are better

If you skipped to the end of the post you only need to know one thing. Simple websites are better.

Why SEO is Important Now

January 10, 2012 Anthony Business Leave a comment  

SEO (search engine optimization) has always been important, but is becoming a must as more and more businesses hire talent to maintain search engine rankings. Imagine your company as a store in the mall. Would you rather be an anchor store or one located in a secret room in the janitor’s closet? If you said janitors closet you can stop reading now. If you said anchor store please continue.

In this example the mall is Google. Malls have many different stores and Google has many different websites to display. There are stores in the mall who receive a lot of traffic and other ones like our secret janitor’s store who receive one or two by accident. We will assume the anchor stores are #1 in Google’s search results and the janitor’s closet is #100. Nobody is going to find the closet on Google, just like they won’t in the mall. No customers equals no sales. How do we get your closet store as an anchor store? Search engine optimization or SEO for short is the answer.

If you’re starting off in the closet, chances are nobody really knows about you. We need people to start talking about you and get the word out that your store is open and legit. You run an ad in the paper, tell your social networks and offer free pizza and pony rides for a day. On your special day you had 50 customers. 5 of them decided to tell other friends about your store. Well, Google heard about those 5 people talking about your store and bumped your site up to #90. Thanks Google, but why did you do that? Google likes to see websites that are talked about. In the real world these are called back links. Back links are pretty important when it comes to SEO, but are not the only factors that help your ranking. Just like a store, you’ll need a nice environment, friendly staff, good products, etc.

The same principles apply to your website. The sooner you apply effective methods the sooner you will see an increase in traffic. SEO is becoming increasingly popular with businesses, which means it’s time to beat your competitors before they beat you. Playing catch up with a competitor is no fun, especially when it comes to SEO. It’s easier to beat your competition and stay ahead of them in rankings before they hire talent to manage their rankings. Our Michigan SEO services have helped many businesses throughout the nation grow and maintain desired rankings. Contact us if you have any questions or would like us to go in more depth about our closest example.

Simple and Creative Logos

December 28, 2011 Anthony Web Design Leave a comment  

We love simple logos. We also like to see creativity when it’s appropriate. Some brands need to show creativity to add value to their brand. Other companies need to stick to simple and clean. Check out the below logos and let us know which ones would fit your company.

Rework is a good book

November 28, 2011 Anthony Motivation Leave a comment  

There are many reasons I really like the book Rework. The biggest reason I like the book is because it’s straight to the point and simple to understand. If you are a client of mine or read other blog posts you know I like simple. There’s no point writing two paragraphs when you can get the point across in five words. Just because you have thousands of words doesn’t mean you have one clear message.

The company behind the book is successful. They’re small, operate in a niche market and make everything simple. Things like working long hours just to “work,” meetings about meetings and hiring the “right” person because they technically have years and years of experience aren’t in their policy book. They’re running a business that is far ahead most companies. They go into more detail than I do, but you should be able to read the book in a day or two. The advice they give is definitely worth the read.

I suggest reading the book, but my summary would be that you need to be making money doing something you love, in a niche market, surrounded by the least amount of employees (who are good people) and focus on customer service without being fake.

Web Designer Michigan

November 25, 2011 Anthony Blog Info and News Leave a comment  

What does being a web designer in Michigan really mean? Well, the easiest way to explain it is that we’re going to make your business grow. We are based out of Michigan, but have helped small businesses grow around the nation.

Designing a website starts with understanding your business and what it will take to make it grow. Every business is different and every plan is customized for your specific needs.

A couple important factors in the success of your website will be the way the website “feels” and knowing what your customers search for online in order to find you. The look and feel of your website should reflect the business you have. Is your business fun? If so, then your website should look and feel fun. Do you have a professional business that sells an expensive service? If so, your website should look clean, simple and modern. The feel is something a web designer should be able to express throughout your website.

Knowing how customers are finding you or your competitors online is also important. The easiest way to think of it would be to ask yourself, “What would I type in a search engine to find my product or service?” Remember to think of that question as a customer and not as a business owner. Knowing which keywords to target from the beginning will make it easier to bring in more traffic when your website launches. Not only are we great web designers, but we’ll also be able help you plan which keywords to target for your business.

Web Design is a Passion

November 22, 2011 Anthony Motivation Leave a comment   ,

Something I learned over the past few years is making a living from a passion is the way to go. When I decided to leave the “safe” job, I was basically starting over. It was pretty stressful, but I can see now that it was the right choice to become a web designer. I combined my skills with passion and now help businesses grow.

Instead of waking up and following the same routine everyday making a big corporation money, I decided to design websites for other people trying to make a living from their passion. I am a strong supporter for small businesses and it is a great feeling knowing that the websites I create are helping people become more successful.

Every website is a chance to help someone become more successful and that is my passion. When passion is combined with a specific skill set, you’ll find great success. Everyone has a different image of success, but in the end, if you’re happy, you’re successful.

Below are a couple good quotes related to passion.

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
– Harold Whitman

“If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you.”
– T. Alan Armstrong

“When work, commitment, and pleasure all become one and you reach that deep well where passion lives, nothing is impossible.”
– Nancy Coey

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