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How do I know if I need a website makeover?

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Truth be told, no one wants to hear that their website sucks. It can be a very awkward conversation especially if a business owner is in love with their current site and is in denial. What may have been cutting edge 5, 10, or even 15 years ago is just no longer going to cut it today. #TruthBomb

We get it, having your website created probably took a lot of time, decision making, and money, but if your website just isn’t converting anymore or it’s very clunky for your viewers to use – then it’s time for an overhaul.

The goal of any website is to convert visitors into customers and if your site design and/or structure is a barrier in that, it needs to be fixed. Identifying the problems that hinder your site from being conducive to conversion and visitor engagement is an important step in the right direction.

Below are a few reasons why a redesign should become a priority for your company\’s web presence and some negative effects you could face by not taking action now.

  1. Your bounce rate is too high. Every website should have Google Analytics installed so that you can review your bounce rate – this the percentage of visitors that only visit a single page on your website during their session. The average bounce rate is about 40% to 55%. Anything higher suggests that your visitors are having a poor user experience.
  2. Long load times. Is there anything more frustrating than when a website takes FOR-EV-ER to load! There are several tools, like pingdom.com, that can help you figure out your load time. If it takes longer than 3 seconds, you should make some updates to speed it up.
  3. No on-page SEO. In order for your website to rank on search engines like Google and Bing, your website needs to have on-page Search Engine Optimization or SEO. Each page should have its own unique keywords and title tag or H1 tag. Search engines use these tags and keywords to create listings and how your customize these can affect how and how often your website is displayed when someone searches your keywords. There are other ways to increase your SEO as well including adding links, meta descriptions, alt tags, etc.
  4. Stale content. Yes, adding fresh content to your website matters – without it you will struggle to attract and retain new visitors. Fresh content increases your site’s exposure in search results – one of the easiest ways to add content is a blog!
  5. It’s still an HTTP. You need to have a secure site and upgrade to an HTTPS site – this lets visitors know that your site is secured by an encrypted network communication protocol. An HTTPS scrambles the data transmitted to and from your site to prevent unauthorized users from reading it.
  6. It’s not mobile responsive. This is a big one! 3 in 5 users will visit your site on a tablet or mobile device. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, visitors may abandon your website. A mobile responsive website means that not only does your website look good and function great on a desktop, but it’s compatible on a mobile device – the design uses proportional units of measure rather than fixed so it can adapt to the device it’s viewed on.
  7. It’s clunky aka hard to navigate. Visitors should be able to easily find the content they are looking for on your site. Whether you put the information on your homepage or in your menu, visitors shouldn’t have to look hard to find what they came for. Navigation can affect every aspect of your website performance!
  8. It doesn’t match your brand. You already know how important branding is to us here at Red Barn. Your website is a direct reflection of your brand, your colors, logo, styling, pictures, and even font should all match your brand.
  9. You aren’t using CTAs. A Call to Action tells your visitor what to do next. It can be something simple like read this article, download this whitepaper, click here to email or call, etc. it gives them direction on what they need to do next to get information or to work with you.
  10. You have bad links or 404 errors. Having broken links or links to pages that are no longer available can really affect a user’s experience on your website. It can also slow down your site’s speed and performance. If you don’t want to check every link page by page, a great resource is com.

In addition to the list above, you should also make it very easy for people to find your contact information and social media profiles – make it easy for them to contact you and follow you. It’s also important to note that if you are in an industry like banking, you may be required to have an ADA compliant website – that’s a whole different animal, but you can read a previous blog about it here.

Don’t look at upgrading and updating your website as an expense – it’s all part of your marketing strategy which should be seen as an investment. After all, marketing is designed to bring in leads that convert to sales. If your website is crappy and outdated, odds are you aren’t making the best first impression to your prospects and could be losing sales and not even know it. Need an honest assessment of your website or thinking of giving it an overhaul, give us a call!

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John Vuong of Local SEO Search Inc. talks hard work, sales, and being an entrepreneur

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\"JohnJohn is a seasoned sales professional and Internet marketer with an exceptional track record helping companies grow their clientele and profits. Through 15 years of experience working with CEOs, business owners, and marketing leaders at some of Canada’s most successful corporations, John developed a deep understanding of local marketing dynamics and consumer behaviour. John’s entrepreneurial spirit and experience working with more than 5,000 local business owners inspired him to start his own company, Local SEO Search, in 2013.

His parents were among the last of the “boat people” refugees who immigrated from South Vietnam in 1980, and John was born a few months later. Like many newcomers, his family persevered through difficult times, and relied upon help from various community organizations (including the Salvation Army and Canada Employment Centre).

Early on, John embraced the value of hard work. Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, he held a number of jobs and studied the many challenges faced by business owners. John set a goal to one day own a business and give back to the local community.

Armed with a strong knowledge of digital marketing changes — as well as the importance of search engines like Google and Yahoo — John became the sole owner of Local SEO Search five years ago. John invests time getting to know each client, taking a personal approach and making customers feel valued and appreciated. He educates them about how the “LSS” team draws more targeted clientele to their websites and storefronts, and why design, optimization, and authoritative content expands their bottom line, with a high return on investment.

A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, John earned his Bachelor of Administrative and Commercial Studies (ACS) in 2003. His career began at Yellow Pages Group, where he was among the top 2% of sales representatives across Canada. Now a proud father, John enjoys coaching and mentoring new entrepreneurs, and runs an annual school supply campaign to help deserving young people in elementary and primary grades. Local SEO Search also provides free education to small business owners through live events and their podcast, Local SEO today.

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Is Google Plus Dead?

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Originally launched in 2011 Google Plus (Google +) was set to be the next big thing in social media with the expectation of overshadowing Facebook. We’d seen it happen before when Facebook overtook MySpace in the social media popularity contest so it was possible it could happen again.

My first introduction to social media was MySpace. Whoa…I think I just aged myself a little bit there but I digress. Anyway, MySpace was the place where you could change your background settings and songs and make your page uniquely you anytime you felt like it. You could shuffle around your top 8 friends daily depending on your mood! How could it get any better? Introduce, Facebook.

Since the inception of Facebook in 2004 the platform has undergone huge changes. While some have been skeptical we all know the only thing constant in life is change and Facebook has never shied away from making changes good, bad or otherwise. So how did Facebook overtake MySpace in social media popularity? I’m glad you asked. According to former MySpace CEO Mike Jones, MySpace was just the introduction to social media while Facebook works to perfect the social media world. One of the biggest differences noted was that MySpace didn’t allow users to use their real name but rather a pseudonym while Facebook encouraged users to post their real names to better to connect with others.

When Google Plus was launched, Facebook had already been active for 6 years with millions of users worldwide making them a formidable social media opponent. There were now personal and business pages, sponsored ads and groups to join. So where would Google Plus fall into the mix? Initially Google Plus was designed to integrate all Google services to allow the users to be more transparent with the people they communicated with the most through a variety of ways including Hangouts and Circles which are currently still active. The idea was that you could arrange your circles to communicate with certain people through posts, videos or blogs etc.

Similar to Facebook, with Google Plus you can check into a location and let your followers know where you have been or what you have been up to. One of the most popular uses was Google photo’s which has since been separated from Google Plus and is its own program. So, in a nutshell, why is Google Plus still active and is it worth it to spend time and energy on?

In a word, yes. While Google Plus may not be the most active social media site the hidden perk is SEO. Search Engine Optimization. When you post on Google Plus you increase your SEO on Google and increased SEO is always a good idea. Key words, photos and tags will help direct traffic to your posts which if linked, will direct back to your website or whatever you are posting about. Talk about a win-win. Facebook may be the leader in being social, but Google Plus is the winner for SEO. According to a Stone Temple Consulting study, 90% of users with a Google+ profile have never posted to the network. So you may wonder, how can it work, how is it beneficial if people don’t post to it? From a study conducted by Statistic Brain 70% of brands have a presence on Google Plus proving that for business purposes it is a useful tool.

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