Make your website More Better
This is a collection of free resources to help you make your small business website spread your message better and convert more customers.
Keep it to the point
Wanna have awesome content that visitors read? Keep it to the point! DO stay on target DO keep it short DO break it into sections DON’T ramble DON’T go on tangents DON’T give too much info It makes your life easier, too. See you next time!
read moreNext Actions
Take positive action toward your goals Having goals is great; Knowing what our next actions need to be is even better! It’s pretty easy to say what we want. The slightly more difficult part is figuring out how we’re going to get there from here. Let’s take a look: Rubber, meet road “Next actions” are the steps we need to take to achieve our goals. They are also tasks we can complete in one sitting (make a phone call, send an email, write a blog post, etc.). We can have as many next actions as a particular goal...
read moreMake your copy scannable
Wanna make sure your visitors read every single word on your website? TOO BAD! People scan webpages. Our eyes are drawn to differences, like bold… …and whitespace… and things in lists. Use your new powers for good. See you next time! PS: In case you missed it, I wrote a more detailed post about creating scannable copy last week.
read moreHow to make great links
Wanna make great links that grab customers’ attention? DON’T CLICK HERE! (See what I did there? ) Use the link text (the actual words that are underlined/highlighted for the link) to your advantage. Make link text that describes where visitors will go or what they’ll see when they get there. Imagine you’re talking to someone, describing what they’ll see on your awesome page: “And then there’s a flaming purple motorcycle jumping over an elephant…” (that’s not a real link, BTW). As an...
read moreSet your goals
Everyone wants something. You and I are no different in that regard, except that I can immediately name what I want. If I forget, I can look at a list of my goals on the wall, on my computer, or in my wallet. I’ve surrounded myself with reminders of my goals, so that when I feel slow or tired or uncertain or fed-up (and we all get there sometimes), I can remind myself of what I’m working toward, and what I can do right now to move myself closer to the end. How to set your goals It’s easy: Grab a piece of paper or a new Word...
read moreAction Friday: Make your website copy scannable
On Wednesday, I wrote about how to write scannable copy for your website. Now it’s time to take action! Step 1: Choose a page I want you to choose one page from your website that you want to improve. Go ahead and do it now; I’ll wait. Step 2: Improve your copy To refresh your memory, here’s the list from Wednesday again: Keep it to the point Use supporting typography Lead with your main idea Create strong headers Short and easy = fast and happy Apply each point from the list to your page. For most of these points, it may...
read moreMake an outline
Wanna create great content for your website? Make an outline! This is nothing more than a quick list of the major points you want to hit on each page or section of your site. It won’t take long – just five or ten minutes. The ROI is huge, though: It’ll help you: Organize your thoughts Get things in the right order Make sure you don’t miss anything Make writing a whole lot easier To get started, just jot down the main idea of the page, then list the main points you want to capture underneath. As you go, you’ll...
read moreHow to write scannable copy – A guide
Writing scannable copy for your website keeps visitors on your pages longer, passes more of your message along, and helps increase conversions. Best of all, it’s free! Sound good? Read on! How your visitors read websites To shamelessly rip-off web usability expert Jakob Nielsen: “They don’t.“ Most people (79% of ‘em) scan webpages. They cruise down your website, jumping from place to place, landing briefly on differences (bold, italic, headers, space), then skipping on. They only dig in and read if they feel like...
read moreWhat’s a nugget?
Every Tuesday and Thursday, I’m going to post a little tid-bit of something related to small business or websites (or both!). It might be interesting. It might be funny. It might be useful. It’ll definitely be short, to the point, and easy to consume and move on. See you next time!
read moreList power – Organize your everything!
Lists are the multi-tools of organization: They’re powerful, flexible, and can be used for almost any project. Lists are especially good for: Brain dumps; To-do lists; Plan of attack; Brain Dumps These lists capture what you’re thinking about a particular project. They tend to be unordered (ok, more like “chaotic”) and full of valuable associations and tangents you may not otherwise find. To-Do The good ol’ “Here’s a bunch of stuff I need to do” list. These are especially good for putting...
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