Don’t Welcome Me To Your Website

Here’s a “Bottom 10 List” of things that seemed like a good idea at the time … but may have ended up hurting your site’s effectiveness. So what can we do about these web worst practices? Read on. 1. Don’t ‘welcome’ me to your website. Hey, I appreciate the...

The Big-Scary-Dog approach to marketing

The September sun was beginning to set on the peaceful neighborhood park. Peaceful, that is, until the air was suddenly filled with a screechy “Waaaaaaahhh!” The little boy was about 5, and someone’s big, playful Great Dane somehow had gotten off its leash and run...

Everyday Charity: Making Someone’s Day is Easier Than You Think

“Wow, that floor looks so shiny. You’re doing a great job.” I’m not sure what prompted me to say it. Walking across the marble floor of a building lobby after hours, I happened to notice the middle-aged woman in the maintenance uniform. She had both hands on the...

What does website planning often fail to plan for?

When we’re deciding what goes where during the planning of our new website, sometimes we forget that we’re not really creating a site for ourselves, but rather a site for our customers. Approaching the website from their perspective, though, means...

Website Layouts Designed for How the Human Eye Works

Have you ever looked at how you look at things? If you did, you’d notice consistent visual patterns that have a lot to do with what you end up absorbing. Well, what if your website layout was built around these natural human tendencies — rather than just the...

The Secret to Sales is the Right Message Sequence

Want me to buy something from you online? Sure you do. But in your enthusiasm, I hope you don’t jump out too soon to ask for the sale. A car salesperson doesn’t expect me to sign a contract as soon as I step onto the lot. Experience has taught me not to...

5 Insights for Home Pages that Convert

When a typical web visitor lands on a typical business home page, what single button are they most likely to click next? Sadly, it’s the Back button. Gawd, I hate that statistic. So let’s consider it a call-to-arms to learn how to grab our gentle readers by the throat...