I recommend Robert to clients who are impressed with his work. Check out his new site at https://schoenphoto.com.

We all know that cell phone use in the United States (and worldwide) continues to increase each year. Statistica.com states that “…73 percent of the population in the United States were actively browsing the internet from their mobile device.”  So, if you are hobbling along without a responsive website, you are falling behind. An article on the Five Reasons You Need a Responsive Website, they list three additional important points.

• Great User Experience is a Must.
• Responsive Website Design is Ideal for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Speed of Your Responsive Website is Key

The tendency to use plugins to fix your lack of a modern theme runs a risk of it not working well. It can take several hours better used to build a new site and lastly, it sets up a scenario where the plugin causes conflicts and the site breaks. The free versions are far from perfect.  The plugin may not include a tablet version. Pro versions are costly. And why would you pay to have a band-aid option?

Meet Divi. Our modular theme includes all the tools to customize both cell and tablet versions. You can resize text and remove sections or images. It is built into the theme and completely compatible.

Since DIvi is constantly being updated and improved, you won’t need to change themes ever again. There are thousands of designers and developers that can help you make changes and even alter the look and feel of the site.

So for me, it’s a no brainer. Switch to Divi and take control of your website for the rest of your life. (Divi can be purchased by you at https://elegantthemes.com or through your web designer…me.  😉

If your bounce rate is more than 40%, your web site is not doing a good enough job capturing their interest. Ideally you want a bounce rate of 10% or less. So how do you get the conversion you want?

Here are some tips:

1. Use Call to Action buttons: These buttons should be colorful, attractive and at the top half of your pages. You can add them to any and every page if you like. Pop ups work too.

2. Offer a freebie: Do you have a White Paper, Power Point Presentation, Video, Information Graphic or booklet you can offer? Joke of the Day? People willingly fill out forms to get their free info.

3. Make the forms short: We hate to fill out long forms. If all you want is their email, then just ask for that.

4. Use Landing Pages for ad campaigns: Landing pages reside on your web site but look different. They are more a flyer with a form than a web page. There are no menus or side bars. You can advertise your product or service discount and direct people to that page. Such as “http://yoursite.com/offer”.

5. Make your website easy to use: This is more about good design. The information on your website should be easy to access and logically laid out. Also called Information Architecture or IA.

6. Make it Mobile Friendly: We’ve all heard about Google’s new algorithm by now. As of April 21, any site that is not Mobile Friendly, moves down the search list. 20% of first time visitors to your site are using their smart phone. Time to look for some Responsive themes and upgrade your site!

You may be wondering how does one check on their conversion rate? If you have a google email account, you can go to the Google Analytics website and use that user name and password to sign in. Then, type in your web site’s address. It may take a week or two for any activity to propagate there, so be patient. Check back to their website again to read your stats. And let’s hope it’s good news!

Avinash Kaushik from Google

A few months back I talked about how to know when to update your website. The general rule is to update after three years. A lot can change in that time, and you may not be aware of what you can do to keep up. Two important ways are: 1. Running a Responsive theme and 2. Using Google Analytics.

Is your site responsive?
Does it have a simpler more vertical design for the phone and tablet? Nearly 60% of your viewers will see your site for the first time on their phone. If it is not legible, then you can bet they will immediately go elsewhere for the service or product they need. (See Bounce rate below)

Did you know that many WordPress themes, but not all, are built with responsive styling? Basically, this means that the design adapts to different browser sizes — so that instead of needing a separate mobile site or mobile plugin, the content will be resized and rearranged to fit smaller screens.

My favorite responsive theme is Divi by Elegant Themes. Not only is it responsive, but it comes packed with a module based design layout. You can drag and drop elements or blocks of information around your pages.

For instance: You find out that the Call to Action block is recommended to be at the top of the page. Or, you want to call attention to a sale or special event. You can go right into that block and change the color, text or photo without any other change and then move it into a different position. Likewise, any slide in the slider module can be moved to a different order, or you can remove one slide or add a new one.

Bounce rate may be more critical than seo
Many of my clients are concerned about search engine optimization. They want it, and they assume new customers will be calling immediately. But, what if the customer is browsing when they find your website? They won’t necessarily respond to your Call to Action or Contact Us page. Many visitors will stay less than 1 minute and not go beyond the home page or page of entry.

But what bounce rate is good? According to Rocket Fuel Team at gorocketfuel.com: “As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. 41 to 55 percent is roughly average. 56 to 70 percent is higher than average, but may not be cause for alarm depending on the website. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing for everything outside of blogs, news, events, etc.” To find out more about bounce rate, how its determined and how to improve it, go to this Google page.

Check out the video above from Google’s You Tube page: “If you could only choose one metric to look at, Bounce Rate might be your best choice. Learn why in this entertaining and informative segment from Avinash Kaushik.”

You can set up and see your bounce rate with Google Analytics. If you don’t already have Analytics up on your web site, do ask your webmaster to help.

The design came from a talented guy somewhere in Europe. He sent me a beautiful, but many layered photoshop file with all the graphics, text and images of the site. My job was to figure out how to get the closest look using a WordPress template. Setting up this site using a team from Boston was already tried. But the developers there failed to complete the project and gave up, leaving the client with a depleted budget and a lot of frustration.

Keeping a reduced budget in mind, I recommended a theme by Elegant Themes, called Divi. It offers enough flexibility and is also a single page setup not unlike the designer’s vision. It is also responsive, which allows one layout design to adjust to all media: large screen, laptop, pads and phones. A few weeks later, I was able to present about 98% of the original design to the company, who met their deadline. Owner, PR agent and designer are very happy. One of their best clients emailed shortly after congratulating her on the beautiful new website.

Perugi Design did for less than half the price what a team in Boston couldn’t complete. Now, That’s good value!

The internet has infiltrated our lives

Today, more than 40% of the public will look at your site on their smart phone and decide if they will do business with you. If you took the leap early on and procured a website for your business. but have never upgraded to make it responsive, then it’s time for a change. You don’t want your overage website to turn away potential customers.

Here’s what I suggest you do. Call a web designer who works with WordPress to get your web material copied onto a new site that uses a theme already programmed for smart phones, tablets and laptops. This is also the best time to refresh your material and take advantage of the functionality that WordPress offers.

WordPress comes built with blogging software. Many people feel they can’t write or don’t want to write as seldom as once a month. I suggest you use it as a News page for announcing events, new hires, products or services, and advancements in your field. Invite associates to write a guest blog. Many people feel comfortable to recite their elevator pitch. Just put it on paper and you have your first post. Posts are the best way to establish yourself as an expert in your field and increase traffic to your website.

Other WP functionality includes “Call to Action” buttons, forms, slide shows, video, sliders and ability to add publications such as White Papers. Your web designer can train you how to update your text and photos. And did I mention … WordPress is free! No monthly franchise fees.

Here’s a before and after picture of a company website we recently were asked to consult on. The one on the left is the old site. It is a good looking design, but is not responsive. Its the same size on any screen, which is a problem. The one on the right is the top part of the new vertically oriented site. It adjusts to any screen. and is using a responsive ready WordPress theme called DIVI, by Elegant Themes. It can be updated from any computer in any browser with a user name and password. You can have it too! Are you ready?