Writing Scannable Content Helps Hook Readers

People are constantly bombarded with blog content these days, and it's a real challenge to write copy that stands out from the rest. In order to understand how to turn content skimmers into actual readers, it's important to understand how busy people are processing all of the information that presents itself through emails, social media, and websites all day, every day.  

Set The Hook

  Obviously, the first step is to present your content in a way that gets readers to give it a chance. You do this with titles and email subjects that accurately offer the reader something they want. It's easy to write enticing titles, but if those titles turn out to be misleading or over-promising, people will quickly stop reacting to anything you send them. Sensationalistic titles that misrepresent the content break the reader's trust, and you may never get a second chance to win that trust back.  

Make Bite-Sized Chunks

  When you succeed in attracting readers to open your content and they're met with the sight of a page that's solid text, you're going to see a huge bounce rate for that page. People are skimming to determine whether or not a page's content merits their time and effort, so writing scannable content is a must.  

• Short, Tight Copy - Overall, the content on a single web page should fall into the range of 400-600 words. On most computer browsers (as opposed to mobile browsers), this allows the readers to see all or most of the page's text without scrolling. It also shows that you respect their time enough to keep your message brief.

 

• Subheads - Breaking your message into short segments with subtitles helps the reader understand the flow of the message at a glance. Even if the reader is in a hurry, they'll come away from skimming your page with the major points of your message, so you've still provided them value for their time.

 

• Bulleted Lists - Laying your message out in a logical manner with bulleted lists helps the reader absorb even more information in a short time, and it provides valuable white space on your page, which makes your copy seem more approachable and less overwhelming than a page written in large blocks of text.

 

Include Easter Eggs

  Ultimately, you want people to respond to your content by spending more time on your site, reading your content thoroughly, clicking through to more of your posts, and converting. Embedding links to additional, related content on your site creates a treasure hunt-type feel. Again, use anchor text that accurately represents the linked content, and don't break their trust with a wild goose chase of a link that has nothing to do with what they're interested in reading about.  

Is Your Website Content Converting Skimmers?

  If you'd like to see your company's web content bring better results, Design & Promote can help. Writing scannable content that drives conversion is our primary focus. Contact us for a complimentary website audit and we'll help you create content that builds your reputation as a valuable and authoritative source in your field.      

This subsequent blog post Writing Scannable Content Helps Hook Readers was originally published on Design and Promote Naperville

Are Your Email Subject Lines A Fast Track To The Trash Folder?

          Email marketing is a fiercely competitive field, and one whose trends shift continually. Yesterday's hottest trends and most clever ideas in email subject lines are today's sure-fire tickets to your recipients' trash folders. For example, writing too-long subject lines, like the title of this post, which most email clients would display as "Are Your Email Subject Lines…" Writing email subject lines that people will actually open requires creativity, but it also requires authenticity and continually fresh copy on your part. The following types of failing email subject lines were pulled from actual emails sent by business-to-business marketers.  

• Fluffy Promises - Writing a subject line that allows the recipient to assume she knows what you're going to say without actually reading your content is one of the most common ways to go wrong. "These 3 Things Will Help You Lose Weight Now," for example. Most readers are going to look at that and think, "So, I should eat less, exercise more, and buy whatever expensive diet supplement you're selling? Got it. Next email." It doesn't matter what your email actually says, because you've invited the recipient to assume that they already know it.

 

• Emojis & Emoticons - As email-marketing tactics evolve, so do those of spammers, and those of email client developers and network security specialists. Most business email servers and clients will automatically filter out messages that include emoticons and emojis in their subject lines, even if the sender is on their approved list. In some cases, the recipient will never see those messages because they'll go straight to Trash, and in other cases, they'll be captured in a Spam folder to rot in shame.

 

• Fake Apologies - Sending out emails that offer an apology in their subject line really need to contain a genuine apology for a genuine problem. The first time your email list recipients open an email from you under the subject line, "We're So Sorry," and the contents go on to say that you're sorry this hot deal can't last forever; they're going to stop opening your email messages. It's a lame trick that will leave people with the impression that you think they're stupid.

 

• Asking For Favors - "Do Me A Small Favor" sounds like the email subject line for a charity appeal at best, and a XXX-rated website a worst. If someone has signed up for your B2B mailing list, they've done so because you've offered them information they can use, not to do you favors.

 

• Mystery Marketing - Strictly speaking, mystery marketing involves building hype for a product that is yet to be revealed. In email marketing, there are several variants and tangents, which are painfully ineffective, such as the Red Herring and Much Ado About Nothing. One recent example of the Red Herring is an email from a telecomm company, under the subject line, "Do you like puppies." The email's content had nothing whatsoever to do with puppies; dogs have surprisingly little use for telecomm services. Nearly every email box in existence is filled with examples of Much Ado About Nothing. "Push your income over the 6-figure mark," exclaims an email advertising printer ink.

  Email Subject Lines That People Will Actually Open If your email-marketing program needs a boost, well-crafted email subject lines will increase your success rate significantly. Contact Design & Promote for a consultation and evaluation, and we'll help you create marketing emails that people actually read!      

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Design & Promote Sponsors Naperville Non-Profit KidsMatter’s FunMattersToo! Dueling Pianos 2016 Charity Gala

After last year’s success, KidsMatter and Design & Promote are back with the FunMattersToo! Dueling Pianos 2016 Charity Gala- it’s sure to be a rocking good time! Naperville SEO Company Design & Promote is proud to be a sponsor of the KidsMatter FunMattersToo! Dueling Pianos 2016 Charity Gala, an evening of celebrating the children of the local community. KidsMatter is a Naperville non-profit organization that works to equip families in the community to say ‘no’ to destructive choices and ‘yes’ to endless possibilities. Design & Promote, along with Team B2B of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce, teams up with KidsMatter each year to put on a charity night that raises money for the non-profit, and gives the community a chance to get together with friends to celebrate the progress they have made for their youth. Dueling Pianos will take place on November 12, 2016 from 6 to 12 pm at the Chicago Marriot Naperville. The gala features a buffet dinner, cocktails reception, silent auction, and other charity contests like a 50/50 raffle and wine tree valued at over $3500! Back again for the second year in a row is crowd favorite Dario Radio Network, joined by special guest Ray McGury as the entertainment of the night. Their Dueling Pianos performance is an all-request show that is all about getting the crowd to sing and dance the night away, working them in as part of the show. The battle between pianos combines music, comedy, theatrics, and partying for an unforgettable entertainment act. KidsMatter, along with highly successful initiative ParentsMatterToo, work year-round to raise funds and awareness for empowering children with the tools they need to make positive strides in their development. Throughout the year, KidsMatter hosts a variety of community events, including a skater’s picnic, student job fair, ladies’ night out, pizza night, and youth and family volunteer fair. All of these activities make up the organization’s FunMattersToo! social initiative. Design & Promote has been a long-time supporter of KidsMatter- the Naperville SEO company has worked with the organization over the years on everything from web design to event photography to sponsoring FunMattersToo! events like the KidsMatter job fair. For this FunMattersToo! event, Design & Promote helped to create the marketing campaign, plan the event, create graphics and signage, and other preparations. Come out and support a good cause while having a rocking good time with friends! Event tickets, sponsorship tickets, and raffle tickets are all available for purchase here. For more information, visit the KidsMatter website or their FunMattersToo! Facebook page!            

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Tips For Coming Up With Good Blog Topics

  Planning good blog content month after month presents a significant challenge, even to some seasoned writers. Keeping new content with effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your site is critical to your search result rankings and to building engagement with your site visitors. How do you keep producing a steady flow of fresh material on your company's website? Here are some tips for coming up with good blog topics:  

• Write For The Customers You Have - Write content aimed at your core customer base most often. Business blogging is evolving quickly, and it's no longer enough to throw a bunch of keywords into some second-rate content that mostly pertains to your business. Think about what challenges your customers face, and how your products or services can alleviate those. Think about what practices your customers could adopt that would benefit their businesses and cause them to use more of your products in the process. Write about new legislation or standards that may affect your customers. The goal is not simply to bring them to your site; the goal is to write blog posts that they will find helpful and want to share with colleagues. Use your blog content to showcase your expertise and make your site a hub for useful information in your niche.

 

• Write For The Customers You Want - The next most important set of readers you should be writing blog posts for is the group of customers you want, but do not yet have. As an example, if your company sells industrial gases and your core customers are shops that use welders, ask yourself who else would use industrial gases. They're used in laboratories, food-processing plants, cryogenics, and by wedding planners, to name a few. The customers you have now are welders, and you should address them, but don't overlook the opportunity to court new groups of customers by acknowledging them and showing them that you can support their businesses and alleviates their headaches, too.

 

• Look For The Tangents And Spins - Browse the blogs of competitors and look for points mentioned in their blog posts that you can take and develop into an original (and hopefully better) post of your own. Another way to make use of your competition is to cherry-pick the best points from posts by more than one competitor and combine them into an original piece with your own spin. Take a topic that someone else has covered in broad strokes (like a listicle) and expand it into a series of in-depth pieces.

 

• Hitch A Ride On The Latest Trend - Always keep an eye out for new trends, product releases, laws or regulations, or breaking news affecting your customers' businesses. Frame those posts in terms of your customers' interests, not those of your own business; this is a fine distinction that many bloggers fail to make. Customers return to and interact most frequently with blogs that are in tune with the challenges and opportunities those customers are dealing with. Be the first one to turn your customers' attention to some helpful new technology or practice, even if it's not something you sell, and you're building a loyal following of customers who are more likely to remain engaged.

 

• Plan Seasonal Content - "Seasonal content" reaches far beyond holidays. How you take advantage of seasonal changes depends on your business. But in general, think of seasonal content as an opportunity to build business for traditionally slow times and to get customers planning your products or services into the budgets for the future. For example, if your company sells and installs windows, winter is going to be a slow season. Plan a post for January that explains how much it could cost customers to "tough out" the rest of the winter with a broken window, and how surprisingly simple it is for your installers to replace that window, even in the snow. Start in March by telling those same customers how important it will be, once the snow melts, to have their windows inspected and take care of any needed repairs of maintenance in order to save money and maintain comfort through the summer.

  Plan For Your Most Effective Blog Posts   Taking the time to study the trends of your own industry and those of your customers can offer a wealth of ideas for good blog topics, and so can shopping the competition. Keep a running list of topic ideas, and a master calendar that you'll refine from year to year as you learn what content resonates most strongly with the customers you have and the ones you hope to gain in future. If you find yourself struggling to find enough topics on a regular basis, start looking for ways to develop short, simple laundry lists into series that will bring readers back at regular intervals to learn more. Working with an SEO company like Design & Promote, Chicago area customers have access to expert advice and professional help with keeping their content fresh and on-target. Contact Design & Promote for a complimentary website audit and additional information about developing effective blog topics for your company's website.

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How the Growth of Mobile Search is Changing PPC Advertising

Mobile device use has skyrocketed in recent years, and this is especially true for search engine use. Now, Google has announced that more searches are officially performed on a mobile device than on desktop computers. As a Chicago Internet marketing Company specializing in PPC management Chicago, Design & Promote understands that it is more important than ever to keep up with the changes in mobility and adapt to the mobile world. On April 21^st, 2015, Google decided to take action based on this tremendous mobile growth, with a new mobile-friendly update. This update, nicknamed “mobilegeddon” aimed to make a seamless user experience for those on mobile devices, lowering the search rankings of websites who do not have responsive and mobile-friendly designs. Now, Google AdWords is becoming mobile-conscious as well, rolling out new features to better help both businesses and users get the best experience from mobile devices. Our Chicago Internet marketing company explores these new features. PPC Management Chicago: Exploring Google Changes in PPC Advertising   Google is especially focused on mobile device research being performed on search engines. In the first quarter of 2015, Google has seen a 175% YoY growth in shopping searches on mobile devices. What’s more, 93% of people that do research about their shopping on their smartphones go on to make the purchase. As a result, Google is focusing its efforts on enhancing mobile ad features to help advertisers be noticed by their customers during three key stages: ‘I want to know’; ‘I want to go’, and ‘I want to buy’.   Now, Google is making advertising on mobile devices better than ever for PPC management Chicago users. A few major features to come stand out as the star improvements of Google’s mobile changes. Auto-resizing for image ads: With the new update, PPC management Chicago advertisers now only have to create ads in three sizes (778x90, 160x600, and 300x250). Google will resize these images so that they can show on 95% of placements.   Automotive and hotel ads: An exciting update for any Chicago Internet marketing company, ads for these industries are now being specifically designed to help advertisers.   Data-driven attribution: Google will become more open about which keywords have led to a conversion so that advertisers can make smarter, more informed decisions about which keywords helped to lead to the conversion before the sale was made. This is one of the favorite features at our PPC management Chicago Company, because it helps businesses to evaluate SEO efforts and better their keyword usage.   Expandable product card shopping ads: When a search engine user is looking for a particular product, they will now see high-resolution images, user reviews, prices from different sites, and more.   Improved estimated conversions: Another favorite of our Chicago Internet marketing company, Google has new, improved estimated conversions. Today, 9/10 conversions start on one device and end on another. Essentially, most consumers may look onto a mobile device for research of a product or service they want, and finish the sale on a computer.   How a Chicago Internet Marketing Company with Expertise in PPC Management Chicago can Help   Do these new changes to Google sound like they will help your business perform well in search engine results? If you would like to benefit from paid advertising changes in Google, contact our PPC management Chicago company to learn more about the pay-per-click and advertising system, plus more of what our Chicago internet marketing company can offer you. But, don’t wait, because mobile searches are getting more important each day. Contact Design & Promote to talk more today:  http://www.designandpromote.com

The following blog post How the Growth of Mobile Search is Changing PPC Advertising was republished from http://www. designandpromote.com

A Content Marketing Firm Helps Get Your Sales Team On Board With Content

As a marketer, one of your main jobs is likely developing content that is useful to your customers, especially if you have a strong online presence. From compelling web content that first draws a prospect in, to highly-targeted email campaigns meant to close the deal, content is a vital component to the overall marketing strategy for many businesses. Unfortunately, many marketers find that they struggle getting their sales team to use the content they created. Why? It often boils down to a lack of alignment between the two teams and a lack of communication about the type of content and messaging needed. To get sales to use your content, you have to be on the same page about content development. Here's how: Powwow With Sales One of the easiest and most effective ways to get on the same page as your sales team is to meet with them on a regular basis. At minimum, get together monthly; more often for larger companies producing a lot of content. The goal is to get feedback as quickly as possible about what's working and what's not. The more often you meet, the more quickly you can change gears and adjust your content strategy to provide sales with the content they need - and will actually use. Understand Your Brand's Sales Cycle How a consumer goes from a lead to a prospect to a buyer is different for every brand. Making sure both your sales and marketing teams understand the sales cycle each person goes through is vital to creating appropriate content at each touch point. Be Helpful, Not Promotional Obviously your content should promote your brand to some degree, but content that is deemed as too "salesy" is a turnoff to buyers. Instead, work with your sales team to understand your buyers' needs and concerns and create content that addresses those in a helpful way. Make Your Content Easy To Find Your content should be easily accessible and organized so that your sales team can quickly find what they're looking for. Cloud or server storage is ideal so that the content is updated in real-time and everyone has access to the most recent files. Be Sure Your Content Meets Its Goal If a free eBook download is supposed to result in 50 new leads per month but your email list is only growing by 20, you need to figure out what the problem is. It could be you're not promoting it enough and an extra email campaign may provide the boost you need. If not, the issue could be with the content itself. This goes back to the importance of regular meetings to provide feedback on the effectiveness of content. Meet Customers Where They Are Not all of your content will be in the form of an email or PDF. Brands looking to boost their online presence and authority will use various platforms for publishing content and connecting with customers. One of the most effective is LinkedIn. With more than 400 million users in various niche industries, it's one of the best places to find customers who are already interested in the type of solution you provide. The key is to ensure your LinkedIn profile is well-optimized so that your brand and content receive good exposure and traffic.   Design & Promote Can Evaluate Your Content Marketing Strategy If you're struggling to align your sales and marketing teams around content, a content marketing firm like Design & Promote can help evaluate and update your Chicago business's strategy. Call 630-995-7109 to learn how we can help you create content that your sales team will actually want to use!

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Social Media Marketing Strategies: Is Social The New Search?

When consumers want more candid information about a topic - say, real pictures from other people about the latest wedding venue in town, or frank reviews about a hot new restaurant - Google and other search engines no longer provide the most relevant data in real-time. But social media does. And more and more consumers are turning to social to discover raw, user-generated content that isn't indexed in regular search engines.

How Does Social Search Work?

Using social search is as easy as logging into your platform of choice (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) and using the search function. In this I-Want-To micro-moment, you want to quickly know something, do something or go somewhere, and the relevance of what your search uncovers greatly depends on other users' micro-moments and how they (knowingly or unknowingly) categorize the content they publish on social media as they go through their days. Any time a person posts on social media using hashtags, location tagging and check-ins, they instantly become a "micro-content producer," making their content public in order to share their experience and connect with like-minded consumers. Whether the content is relevant and useful to you is subjective, but the raw, unfiltered results in social search is part of the appeal to most users.

Search Multiple Social Media Platforms At Once

For casual users who only use Facebook or Pinterest, searching directly from the site isn't an inconvenience. But for more serious searchers who want to get the pulse on a topic from across all social sites, there are social search engines with aggregate results in one place. Smashfuse and SocialMention are some of the most popular, and are free and easy to use, returning real-time results from all the major social sites. Of course, not to be outdone in the search sector, even Google offers a free social media search engine called Social Searcher.

How Can A Brand Leverage Social Search?

In a society dominated by social media with consumers who strive to be in-the-know at all times, social search provides the trending information about people, places and events they crave. For brands, the important thing to remember is that a lot of consumers are more interested in content created by other users - not content put out by brands themselves. That's not to say you should halt your own social media marketing strategies, but instead shift your focus to encourage more engagement from customers and followers. Create unique, but intuitive, hashtags for your brand and use them in your own posts. Don't hesitate to ask users to use them as well! Also make sure the information on your location listings is accurate, and ask customers to check-in when they arrive to your place of business, or share their content using specific hashtags. Most people know that when they check-in, use location tagging or a hashtag in their social media posts, the content becomes public. The reason people choose to do this is specifically because they want their friends and family to know where they are, what they're experiencing at that moment, and what their opinion of the place or brand is. And that's precisely what other users are looking for when they use social search.  

This following post Social Media Marketing Strategies: Is Social The New Search? was originally published on Design and Promote Naperville

Think You Need SEO? Ask Your Chicago SEO Firm

High rankings in the search engines will make any website owner proud. As a leading SEO company in Chicago, we know firsthand the many benefits and advantages offered by a search engine optimization campaign. We also know the limitations on SEO. Work an SEO strategy just right and businesses of every size and scope, even a startup, can stand out from the online competition. However, there might be a time where an SEO professional tells you that SEO is NOT the solution.

Design & Promote: Working With a Leading Chicago SEO Firm

Once our clients understand SEO, they often collaborate with us on ways to effectively include this method into their current web strategy.  While SEO in Chicago is one of our core services, we don't always recommend moving forward with a search engine optimization plan. Our reluctance to work with a client on SEO may initially come to a surprise. But we don’t shut the door on SEO without explaining why. We will sit down with our partners to discuss why, or why not, they should consider a specific marketing approach. Not sure if you should team up with our Chicago SEO firm? Here are some of the most common reasons why SEO in Chicago may not make sense for your organization: Industry Saturation (A.K.A. Too Much Competition): Type in a few common industry keywords; how many results return from your search? If you find yourself weeding through an endless list of competitors, a general SEO campaign may not prove enough to help you stand out from the opposition. At Design & Promote, we suggest pinpointing a few distinctive specialties to really separate your company from everyone else operating in your industry. New Product Provider: Maybe too much competition isn't the issue; perhaps you're a business bringing a new product/service to market with no current competitors. Emerging product lines often struggle with a SEO strategy because customers simply don't know how to search for your company. The team at our Chicago SEO company can help you create a plan that showcases your business in various search results based on solving problems for your consumer sect, rather than relying just on industry keywords. Wanting Complete Site Control: As a business owner, it's understandable to want some control over your website. However, an effective SEO plan often means strategically reworking your current content. If you are ready to give up some of your creative control, this type of marketing may not be right for you. Not Ready To Commit To The Process: A plan for SEO in Chicago can yield impressive results; however, achieving sustainable marketing momentum requires time and patience. If you're looking for a quick fix, this strategy probably isn't the right option for you. Keeping The ROI Bar Too High: Finally, many business owners come into the SEO process wanting maximum results, without having the appropriate type of budget to achieve it. Our team can work with you to ensure you have reasonable expectations on results. We can partner with you to take management steps forward to build sustainable momentum for long-term ROI. Rest assured, if it turns out that SEO is not the right solution for you, it’s important to work with an agency who gives you some other options. There are other things you can do to craft your best online presence, i.e. redesigning your website or pumping up your social media marketing. It’s important to discuss your options with a search engine optimization professional. Want to get in touch with a Chicago SEO firm? Contact the team at Design & Promote today!  

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Free Website Security Seminar Offered by Design & Promote this July

On July 14, 2016, Design & Promote is hosting a free seminar at the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce to debunk website security myths and reveal the reality of website hacking dangers to keep your business protected. How safe from hackers, malware, and other predators is your website? All too often, website security is an issue that is overlooked, leading to costly website repairs. When you create a new website, your aren't done; websites require constant updates and maintenance to be effective. In fact, 73% of Wordpress websites are currently vulnerable- that’s nearly 55 million Wordpress websites. If you haven't updated your website in the past week, then you are probably one of them! Luckily, websites can easily be better protected with the proper security strategy. This July, Design & Promote has teamed up with WebClinic Pro to explain website security to local businesses and individuals in “Debunking Website Security Myths.” The presentation is offered as a free seminar in Naperville, part of Design & Promote’s series of free monthly seminars that are open to the public. In this Seminar: Securing your Website “Debunking Website Security Myths” will focus on explaining how website security really works, while dismissing certain misperceptions about how hacking happens. By understanding the reality of website security, you can take the necessary precautions to avoid a security breach on your personal or business website. Design & Promote CEO Bruce Jones, along with WebClinic Pro’s Jason Richmond, will be covering topics such as:

• Basic website security measures: encryption, backups, updates, scans, and more
• Website security on Wordpress websites
• Website hacking on commercial and non-commercial websites
• Time and cost effective website security tools
• The dangers of website loss, damage, and blacklisting

Join Design & Promote for our “Debunking Website Security Myths” Seminar Whether you are an individual with a personal site you created at home, a business with a web design and hosting team, or somewhere in between, join our free seminar in Naperville to learn how to prevent costly website damage by hackers. For any questions regarding the event, contact us at Design & Promote! When: Thursday July 14, 2016 from 3 to 5pm. Where: Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce- 55 South Main Street Conference Room A-55 S, Naperville, IL 60540   This is a FREE event, however RSVP is required. Sign up below!  

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Using Color Effectively In Branding And Logo Design

  Whether you're building a brand from the ground up, or you feel like your business's logo could use a facelift, you might be surprised to learn that there is actually a science behind effective branding and logo design. While being recognizable and memorable is priority number one in a logo, the colors you choose will elicit subconscious emotions from people. This is important to understand because these emotions should be a reflection of your brand's meaning and values.   Before you engage a logo design firm to start work, consider how the basic element of color will impact the perception of your brand.  

Choosing A Color For Your Logo Design

  Science has shown that color can stimulate a wide range of emotions, from euphoria to anger and everything in between. Let's take a look at some of the moods each color tends to invoke:  

Bold, Powerful Colors

  Red - The color red physically stimulates the human body by raising the pulse rate and causing excitement. In small amounts, it can be the ideal color if you want to quickly get a person's attention, but too much red can cause stress and anger. Target, Pinterest and Coca-Cola are famous all-red logos that positively stimulate the brain with pleasure and enjoyment emotions.   Black - The color black is bold, simple and sophisticated. It is often used to represent expensive brands or products. The Nike Swoosh and Chanel double "C" are instantly recognizable all-black logos that bring to mind high-end brands.  

Warm, Exciting Colors

  Yellow - The color yellow brings to mind sunshine. It evokes warm, happy emotions and can reflect the positivity and helpfulness of a brand. At the same time, yellow is the universal color for caution, and is used for tape, signs, flashing lights and other applications that require attention to safety. McDonalds, IKEA and Yellow Pages are all examples of brands that effectively use yellow in their logos.   Orange - Like yellow, the color orange triggers positive emotions. Known for boosting creative, energetic and youthful moods, brands like Nickelodeon, The Home Depot and Harley Davidson all use orange effectively.

 

Professional, Business-Like Colors

  Blue - The color blue is calming and evokes a sense of stability, confidence, power and credibility. While it should come as no surprise that professional brands such as JP Morgan, American Express, and Microsoft Word all use blue in their logo design, its prevalence in social media logos like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Vimeo, Flickr, and Skype might indicate that users are more trusting and embracing of brands with blue logos.

 

Tranquil, Nurturing Colors

  Green - The color green represents nature and the peaceful, relaxing and hopeful emotions surrounding it. Businesses in outdoor adventure, organic cooking, and science and engineering often use green. Whole Foods Market and Land Rover are popular all-green logos that successfully capitalize on the emotions that the color inspires.  

Royal, Spiritual Colors

  Purple - The color purple has long been associated with wealth, royalty and luxury. It is also connected with spirituality and the arcane. Hallmark and Crown Royal use purple and physical crowns in their brands that are well-known for quality products, while SyFy and Wonka use purple to represent arcane and magical aspects of their brands.  

Loving, Feminine Colors

  Pink - The color pink is nurturing, warm and healing and is often associated with femininity. Although a variation of red, pink is soothing rather than stimulating, and is used by well-known and trusted brands such as Barbie, Mary Kay and LG.

 

Clean, Sophisticated Colors

  White - The color white evoke emotions of purity and sophistication. Personal care brand, Kleenex, utilizes an all-white logo, as does technology mogul, Apple.  

Get A FREE eBook To Learn More About Branding & Logo Design

  Choosing a color for your logo design is one of the first steps toward creating a memorable and instantly-recognizable brand. To learn more about the impact of color, and for bonus material about how to use shapes in your logo design, download the free whitepaper, "The Science Behind Logo Design" from Chicago-based branding and logo design firm, Design & Promote. To learn more about our services and schedule a consultation, call 630.995.7109 or visit our site at www.designandpromote.com.        

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Use These 4 Simple Tips For More Newsletter Opt-Ins

  Email marketing has been going strong for more than two decades, and it's not going anywhere despite the critics. But in order for it to be effective, you have to have a solid strategy for increasing newsletter opt-ins. An email marketing company can help your Chicago business develop a comprehensive email marketing strategy, choose a third party email service, and implement a simple plan for increasing opt-ins and building your newsletter lists, fast.  

Benefits Of Email Marketing Vs Social Media

  The email marketing naysayers are the same ones touting social media marketing as the next best - and only - thing you need. Let's be clear: both strategies have their pros and cons. Social media excels at engaging users and giving your brand a "face" - when done right, followers feel like they get to know the people behind the brand and you become more credible and trustworthy. Email, on the other hand, provides guaranteed reach, more site visitors, clicks, conversions and ultimately, sales. Most seasoned marketers agree that a blended strategy is ideal, with an emphasis on email marketing.   While building a social media following can be slow going for new brands, building an email list can be fast and painless if you have the right strategies in place.  

Tip #1 - Use A Third Party Email Marketing Service

  Whether you use WordPress or another platform, it is highly unlikely it will have the built-in and robust features you need for effective email marketing. This is a common pain point among marketers, and the use of a third party email marketing service is the simplest solution   Some are better than others. Some are free. Some are pricey. All will make your life easier with a variety of stock and custom templates, workflow automation and auto-responder options, split test campaigns, and in-depth analytics about the effectiveness of your emails.   Some top picks include:   MailChimp Aweber Constant Contact   Once you have a delivery method in place, it's time to start increasing opt-in rates:  

Tip #2 - Make The Sign Up Process EASY

  Collecting a name and email address is usually enough. If your content naturally lends itself to segmentation, a couple extra questions are okay to better personalize your messaging. Be aware that too many questions may annoy visitors and result in them abandoning the sign up process. Alternatively, you might consider putting separate sign up forms (for separate newsletter lists) at different points on your site to capture your target audience where they already are.  

Tip #3 - Offer Incentives To Sign Up

  Especially if someone is on your site for the first time, they might not be ready to commit to receiving ongoing communication from you. Better to sweeten to deal by offering something valuable upfront in return, such as an eBook, whitepaper, free webinar registration, coupon/discount, etc.  

Tip #4 - Careful Placement Of Sign Up Form

  This is a hotly debated topic. Some businesses (and consumers) are vehemently against pop-ups of any kind; others swear by them. Many businesses choose a more modest approach by placing the sign up form on the sidebar, as a floating footer bar, or using a less-invasive slide-in or slide-up form at the bottom right corner of the screen.   While any of these will work to some degree, a traditional pop-up displayed at just the right time, can increase signups a hundred times over - and then some. What's the key? The timing. Pop-ups that are coded with exit-intent technology track mouse movements and display just as the user is making a move to close the window. Combined with a valuable incentive, the easy and timely opt-in process becomes virtually irresistible to your site visitors.   An Email Marketing Company Can Increase Your Newsletter Opt-Ins   Whether your business needs a brand new email marketing strategy, or you're just looking to streamline your existing strategy, Chicago email marketing company, Design & Promote can help. Give us a call at 630.995.7109 so we can learn more about your business's email goals and get started on a strategy to build your email lists, fast!

The subsequent blog post Use These 4 Simple Tips For More Newsletter Opt-Ins was available on Design and Promote

6-Step System For Writing Blog Titles That Drive Traffic

Your blog titles are like news headlines. That’s important to understand because research shows that six in 10 people move on after reading headlines; they ignore the stories attached to them.
You’re facing the same challenge with your blog. How can you ensure your audience clicks your blog titles when they see them on Google, Facebook, and in your emails? How can you motivate them to investigate further?
I’m going to outline a 6-step system below. The following should be part of your SEO content writing efforts to bring more traffic to your website.

Step 1: Use Your Target Keywords

Each blog post you write should be optimized for a specific keyword. Include the keyword in the title.
Doing so helps Google to determine what your blog posts are about. It will rank your pages higher in its index for searches on the corresponding phrases.
It’s also worth noting that keywords in your titles appear in bold when people search for them on Google. That draws the eyes.
Your audience will also be drawn to titles that contain words that reflect their interests. Even if the words aren’t in bold – for example, when your posts are shared on social media – they’ll still capture your audience’s attention.

Step 2: Reveal What Your Audience Wants To Read

Including your keywords is one thing. Writing blogs on topics your audience wants to read about is another thing entirely.
But it’s a crucial step to getting them to click on your titles and visit your site.
First, ask yourself what your readers are interested in learning about. Second, boil that down to a promise. Third, put the promise in your title.
Take a look at the title for this blog post: 6-Step System For Writing Blog Titles That Drive Traffic. The title makes a promise that addresses a topic you’re interested in.

Step 3: Include Numbers In Your Blog Titles

Numbers draw our attention. We’re hardwired that way.
There are a couple of simple ways to include numbers in your titles. The first way is to write your blog post as a list. Here are a few examples:

• 4 Signs Your Stress Levels Are Too High
• 10 Things Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You
• 15 Ways To Grow Your Retirement Account

A second method is to use data. Examples follow:

• Study Shows Ginger Tea Reduces Stress By 46%
• How To Boost The Value Of Your Stock Portfolio By 77%
• 1 In 3 Americans Has No Retirement Savings*

* The last entry is an actual headline for an article on Time.com.
The point is that we’re naturally drawn to headlines and titles that contain numbers. Use that to your advantage and you’ll drive more traffic to your site.

Step 4: Study Successful Blog Posts Of The Past

Look through your analytics. Find the blog posts with the highest click through rates from Google. Chances are excellent those posts have strong titles.
Try to fathom the reasons the titles struck a chord with your audience. What made people click on them? Use that insight to incorporate the same types of triggers in your future titles. 

Step 5: Address Your Audience’s Emotions

We’re emotional creatures. We’re drawn to content that makes us happy, angry, and sad. We crave material that will astonish us, make us feel empowered, or validate our predispositions.
Tap into this emotional vein when creating titles for your blog posts.
Following are a few examples, along with the emotions they’re designed to trigger:

• Have You Saved Enough Money To Enjoy Your Retirement? (fear)
• 10 Secrets To Raising A Happy Child (parental pride)
• How To Give A Show-Stopping Presentation (desire for respect)

Your audience is already experiencing a raft of emotions that reflect their concerns and aspirations. Tap into them. Create titles that appeal to these emotions and you’ll pull more people in.

Step 6: Offer A Solution

Millions of people search Google every day to learn how to do things and overcome specific challenges. Your audience is among them. Produce blog titles that promise solutions to the challenges faced by your prospective readers.
For example, suppose you’re an attorney who specializes in estate planning. Here are some of the challenges your prospective clients face:

• whether or not to establish a revocable trust
• how much life insurance to buy
• the best way to divvy up their assets to heirs

Create titles that promise answers to these issues. For example:

• 8 Situations That Warrant Establishing A Revocable Trust
• A Simple Formula For Calculating Your Life Insurance Needs
• How To Divvy Up Your Estate To Keep Everyone Happy

Actionable solutions to specific problems attract attention. They always have. They always will.
Creating blog titles that drive traffic to your website isn’t difficult. Nor is it complicated. It’s a matter of recognizing what people are naturally drawn to. Use the 6-step system I’ve outlined above to produce irresistible titles that complement your search engine optimization and generate more clicks and traffic.

 Original Post: http://www.designandpromote.com/6-step-system-for-writing-blog-titles-that-drive-traffic/

Local Chicago Clients, Stay In Lisle, Partners With Design & Promote For An Improved Website Design

Long-time local Chicago clients, Stay in Lisle, recently approached us for a full WordPress redesign. Since the lifespan of most websites is 2-3 years, it wasn’t surprising that the company wanted an improved website design with enhanced looks and functionality. The new site showcases more visuals and imagery that expresses the beauty of Lisle, and provides a better user experience that allows users to navigate the site easily and more quickly. Finally, the new site is fully optimized, and features a responsive design that allows it to be viewed on any device.
Here’s what we did for them.

The Discovery Phase

Stay in Lisle knew precisely what they wanted to change about their website when we met with them, and we brainstormed creative solutions to their concerns:
• The older site lacked visual imagery. The new site will feature high resolution photos of beautiful parks and recreation areas all over Lisle and its surrounding areas.
• Too much green. Design & Promote completely reimagined the new site and updated the color scheme to include richer colors for a visual boost.
• Inner-pages lacked functionality. We added functionality like tabs and other toggles to help people find information easily. Because people like to skim pages while reading, making information easy to find and digest is a great user experience (UX) design.

Additional WordPress Customization

So many of our clients prefer WordPress sites because of the vast amount of ways they can be customized. While you may initially select a “theme” to get started with, by adding plugins and utilizing the customization options within WordPress, there really is little limit to what you create. The end result can be a visually stunning and highly-functional site and looks nothing like a “template.”
Stay in Lisle wanted some specific pages customized to improve user experience and make utilizing the site faster and more convenient. Namely:
• Calendar/Events page – Instead of a singular page users have to navigate to, the new calendar is now a feed that scrolls across every page. While visitors can still go to the calendar page to look for future events, the quick scroll on each page shows what events are coming up at a glance, and will ideally result in higher interest and turnout for events.
• Special Offers page – The old website’s offer page had coupons aplenty, but the new site’s offer page is color-coded and organized by category, making it fast and easy for visitors to find coupons and deals for the service they’re interested in.
• About Us/Meet the Team page – The smiling faces haven’t changed on this page, but the functionality has. Now, the staff photos and titles are front and center, instead of being reduced in order to fit additional information like duties and contact information. The new site features flip card images, so that when you mouse-over an image, it flips to reveal additional information and contact buttons.

Are You Ready For An Improved Website Design?

If you feel like your users could benefit from improved website design and functionality, it might be time for an improved website redesign. Design & Promote has been here for local Chicago clients, like Stay in Lisle, to not only build their initial website, but to help them imagine a redesign that will poise them to take their business to the next level.
To learn more about website design services from Design & Promote, contact us today!

This post was originally published on Design & Promote's Website.

Better Mobile Optimization In Chicago Achieved With Faster Mobile Pages With AMP From Google

Earlier this year, Google launched its new AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) project. By now, mobile users should be starting to see the green “AMP” symbol with lightning bolt starting to appear on certain pages in mobile search results. These pages are specifically programmed to load lightning-fast – in fact, as much as 15-85% faster than other mobile pages, according to Google. And that’s the goal: a faster, more user-friendly mobile web experience for users on smartphones and tablets.
For marketers, this news means refreshing your mobile optimization strategy – if you choose to. Here’s what you need to know about Google AMP and the benefits to both marketers and consumers, so that you can decide if it’s right for you.

What Exactly Is AMP?

In a nutshell, AMP pages are mobile pages that are written in AMP HTML code. They have been stripped of many of the characteristics that can cause them to load slow such as JavaScript, CSS, and flash animation, to name a few. The user still gets the same content, images and ability to navigate and engage with your site as before, but the presentation is simpler.

AMP Benefits To Marketers

If you already have a fast, robust, high-functioning mobile site, you may be wondering if you really need AMP. Most marketers are finding that the answer is yes, for a few reasons:

• Boost in site speed. The result is that pages load much quicker, reducing the number of users abandoning your site and increasing the number of page views in a session.
• Better ad control. Not only is Google giving marketers more control over ad choice, format and placement, but there are already more than 20 ad tech vendors working with AMP to create faster-rendering ads.
• It’s backed by Google. While Google has not explicitly said that AMP pages will rank better, we know from the Mobilegeddon update of 2015 that the more user-friendly a mobile site is, the more favorable its rankings.

AMP Benefits To Consumers

The obvious benefit to consumers is site speed. We know that today’s generation of mobile users want the information they’re looking for delivered instantaneously, regardless of device. This means:

• Less frustration. You’ve likely heard the Kissmetrics stat that 40% of users abandon a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. This isn’t just bad news for your bottom line; it’s also incredibly frustrating to the consumer. Pages that load fast make users happy, and happy users stay on your site longer and are more likely to convert to happy customers.
• Ability to select AMP content. As the word gets out about the meaning of that little green lightning bolt symbol, consumers will begin to choose AMP pages over non-AMP pages. Most users don’t care whether the menu on a page is simple links or fancy buttons; they want fast, easily digestible content and are going to be willing to forgo all the bells and whistles in favor of a better user experience.

Whether Google is ready to admit it or not, the last point in each section above makes it clear that AMP pages will become ranking factors for mobile search eventually. If AMP sites pass Google’s mobile-friendly test, and users are consistently casting their votes by choosing AMP over non-AMP pages, it seems to be only a matter of time before we begin seeing a change in the SERPs.
Let Design & Promote AMP Up Your Site With Mobile Optimization In Chicago  
If you’re ready to improve site speed, traffic, and user experience on your mobile site, contact Design & Promote to learn more about our services for mobile optimization in Chicago.


Originally published on Design & Promote's Blog

How to Pick the Right WordPress Plugin like a Developer

WordPress plugins add extra functionality that is otherwise missing from the WordPress core software. If you want to add sliders, ecommerce solutions and other interactive content, chances are you'll need to use plugins to make the site more user-friendly. Plugins are a great way to tailor the site to your needs. But like any good thing, it's easy to get carried away. So how many is too many?

There is no cut and dry answer to this question. So much depends on the specific web design. What works for one business won't work for another. But if you do want to use plugins on your site, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Problems With Plugins

For the most part, we like plugins. They improve the functionality of a site, improve user experience, and can speed up the time to develop a site. They make sites more dynamic and can help you build a lead generation tool. That said, you can have too many. When that happens the site slows down and we all know that slow sites lead to lost conversions.

The best web sites will only use these tools to support the design. Your web design agency shouldn't load up the site with plugins "just in case" they are ever needed.  Social media plugins are a good example of this. Social media is huge game changer when it comes to building a website. However, small functionality things like adding simple social media icons do not require a plugin. A better option would be to have links to those sites or have them coded into the template.  This way, you’ll be able to control the style of the icons rather than using a default icon set from a plugin.

Items that improve the functionality of the web site, on the other hand, should have their own plugin. Those that support things like galleries, forms, ecommerce functions, and sliders are absolutely okay to have on your site and you should use them if you need them.

A Web Design Agency Can Help You Choose Plugins

Like any software, you will have choices to make as to which plugins to use on your site. Choose those that enhance your site and have a good reputation for reliability and function. You can research this in WordPress. You'll find feedback from developers who have used the plugin and can use this to gauge its' effectiveness, reliability, and suitability for your site. Definitely look for ones that are frequently updated to ensure they will be compatible with your site and that bugs are fixed. You certainly do not want to install an outdated plugin or one that crashes all the time. To find the right plugin, search for "WordPress Plugin" and the keywords for the type of function you need. You'll get a list of suitable options and can pick from there.

If you are still unsure about how plugins work or which ones to choose, work with a web design agency. They can evaluate your site for functionality and make recommendations that will improve both the user experience and ease your behind-the-scenes workload.

About The Author 

Design & Promote is a Chicago Web Design Agency that offers a variety of Internet marketing services including: SEO, web design and development, branding, content writing, graphic design and photography, website maintenance, and social media management.

Better SEO Through Analytics-Focused Content Marketing

Better SEO Through Analytics-Focused Content Marketing

There's gold in your analytics.

If you know how to sift through the data, you can glean valuable insight that informs your content marketing campaigns. With a few tricks, you can use those data to target keywords that will give you better visibility on Google. Better visibility means more traffic, more leads and assuming your copy is solid, more sales.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Below, we'll take a close look at proven strategies for digging through your site's analytics to uncover content-related search opportunities. Realize upfront there's a fair amount of investigative work involved. But if you're willing to put in the time, you can give your site a healthy boost in Google's organic rankings.

It starts with your keywords...

Look For Keywords Providing Search Visibility

Your site is hopefully appearing in the search results when people type in keywords relevant to your site's content. Your analytics package will tell you which phrases you're ranking for. If you're using Google's Search Console, you'll also see the click-through rates (CTRs) on those phrases.

The CTRs demonstrate that people are interested in material related to the keywords. High CTRs indicate topics that generate a lot of interest.

That's good information. It suggests you can grab more traffic by creating blogs, articles, white papers and other material that address those topics.

Shore Up Your On-Page SEO Elements

What if your site is appearing for your target keywords, but people are not clicking on your listing?  That suggests your copy is weak.

There are two main elements that affect your click-through rate on Google:

1. Your title
2. Your description

You control both.

It's important that your title displays the keyword searched for by the user. The phrase will appear in bold within your listing, which will draw the user's attention and compel him or her to click.

Your description should go one step further. Not only should it include the keyword, but it should also be written in a way that entices the user to investigate. Dangle the promise of useful content on your site and the user will be inclined to click through to read or watch it.

It's worth noting that low CTRs might suggest heavy competition. If your space is filled with authoritative sites, those listings may receive the lion's share of attention. It may behoove your SEO campaign to focus on developing material around less-competitive phrases.

Build On Past Content Marketing Successes

Let's suppose your site is ranking well for a number of important keywords and you're enjoying high CTRs on those listings. That indicates the articles and blogs on your site matched to those phrases have struck a chord with your audience.

How can you leverage that information?

One strategy is to create more content around those phrases and not just any content, but comprehensive, cornerstone content.

For example, let's say your site sells golf equipment and you've created a page offering tips on how visitors can improve their golf swing. The page is ranking well on Google and enjoying a high CTR. You could leverage your success by creating a silo for your site offering “deep dive” articles on the following:

• How to fix your slice
• How to generate more power behind your drive
• How to chip like a pro
• How to improve your drive accuracy
• How to master your short game

Examine your analytics and look for phrases for which your site has visibility and you're enjoying high CTRs. Build on that success by creating additional content around them.

Final Thought On Using SEO Analytics For Content Marketing

It's helpful to establish rules to guide your content marketing efforts. For example, you might focus on keyword-targeted listings ranked in the top five on Google and receiving a CTR of 25% or higher. You can also incorporate search volume – e.g. any keyword delivering at least 500 impressions per month.

The details are up to you. The important thing is that you set rules that will help you to wring maximum value from your time, effort and data.

About The Author 

Design & Promote is a full-service marketing firm that specializes in creative web design solutions that help companies reach and engage their target audiences. Its team of experienced marketers excels in search engine optimization, landing page construction, graphic design and corporate branding. This award-winning SEO Chicago agency is dedicated to helping its clients meet their digital marketing goals.