Website Design Archives - Page 6 of 8

October 11, 2021 by David Henderson

Google Lighthouse is an open-source automated tool that measures the quality of web pages. It can audit performance, search engine optimization, and accessibility, helping you get an accurate reading of your website design. With Google’s Lighthouse, you can essentially see your website through Google’s eyes which could be crucial to the success of your online business.

Keeping up with Algorithm Updates

Trying to keep up with the numerous algorithm updates from Google can be tough. Many people are unaware that their website has an unfavourable design or content flaws that may be costing them when it comes to ranking. But Google does offer a host of free tools designed to help improve websites, and one such tool is Google Lighthouse.

How Does Lighthouse Work?

Google Lighthouse provides powerful insights that can help improve your website. With Google recently increasing its emphasis on-page experience, it is more important than ever to ensure your website makes the grade. By generating a Lighthouse report, you can access any web page’s experience and get valuable tips to help improve its performance.

Since Lighthouse is a Google application, it is the perfect way to see how Google may see your website. It can offer valuable, detailed information which can help you improve performance.

With a clear grading system, Lighthouse allows you to audit pages and find areas for improvement. You can get in-depth insights and find places where you can quickly and easily improve your page so it meets more of Google’s standards.

Using Lighthouses metrics can give you an idea of how fast your page loads and how quickly the user can interact properly with it. Google has found that loading speeds make a big difference in how people interact with the website, which is why it considers it to be an important aspect of a website.

Easy to Use

Even though Google Lighthouse gives you a fairly technical analysis of your website, you do not need to be tech-savvy to run it. In fact, it simply takes two clicks of the mouse to get all the information you need. Lighthouse can be run through developer tools or a Chrome add-on.

Each Lighthouse report has five categories, including performance, best practices, accessibility, SEO, and progressive web app. As Google has recently confirmed the aspects such as load speed and mobile experience factor into its algorithm, these metrics may give your business the ability to see how it’s performing in these crucial areas.

Once you have the reports from Google’s Lighthouse and follow their helpful tips on improving performance, you’ve got exactly what you need to make technical improvements to your site and increase your ranking. Once you’ve implemented your changes, you can then check back with Lighthouse to determine if your score has been improved.

The Difference Between Page Speed Insights and Google Insights

Page speed insights is another common application that people use to get information about their website. There is one main difference between page speed insights and Google’s Lighthouse. Page speed insights only focus on page performance, whereas Google’s Lighthouse offers a complete picture of the user’s page experience by analyzing best practices, SEO, accessibility, and progressive web apps.

A Sneak Peek

Lighthouse can provide a sneak peek into how Google judges your web pages. With page experience becoming an increasingly important factor for Google, it needs to become equally important for website owners. If you would like more information about Google Lighthouse or are looking to upgrade your website design, contact Unwired Web Solutions today.

August 24, 2021 by David Henderson

An expert Canadian WordPress development company seems like a dime a dozen when you start out looking for one to hire. But, are all of these so-called “experts” the same? A WordPress developer is often thought of as a professional that develops WordPress plugins. But in reality, there’s a lot more to it than that!

Not Qualified Development Experts

WordPress is a platform that makes it easy for people to use even without being PHP experts. Since it is an open-source CMS, anyone with basic internet skills can build a website with WordPress. However, this certainly does not qualify them as WordPress development experts.

When looking for a WordPress developer, you may come across dozens of options. Just be aware that the majority may be underqualified and may have had no official training. These are often people who have built a few WordPress sites on their own, thanks to the ease of WordPress templates.

Low-quality WordPress development may work in the short term, but it may cause problems for you down the road. You could run into security issues, plugins that do not work correctly, or even problems updating your site in the future. When you reach out to your site builder, they will be unable to fix any of your issues since they are unfamiliar with the infrastructure of WordPress. Utilizing a solid development team can assist with bug fixes and regular updates, so you don’t need to worry.

A True WordPress Developer

A true WordPress developer is one who can make custom plugins and modules and are able to develop a theme around WordPress. The expert should be able to understand WordPress core functions, and they should be a PHP developer.

Unfortunately, not everyone that labels themselves a WordPress developer deserves the title. In general, software development requires specific disciplines and skills often lacking in many people hired to fix or create a WordPress site. Vast amounts of knowledge and a good amount of PHP skills are needed to create cutting-edge WordPress plugins or themes and making them properly work in all environments. An experienced development team should be knowledgeable about practices that are considered best in the industry. Your business will rely on your developer knowing how to enhance the functionalities that are latent in WordPress.

Our Team of WordPress Experts

Getting the most out of WordPress involves using a solid development team that can assist with bug fixes and regular updates. Our team at Unwired Web Solutions is a group of highly experienced and skilled PHP developers. We have many years of working with WordPress and can understand what it takes to build a professional, secure website and properly represent your brand online. Our WordPress development company Canada experts can improve upon an existing WordPress site or build a new one from the ground up. We pride ourselves on knowing the needs of our customers, analyzing the market, staying up-to-date on trends, and delivering projects, start to finish.

Unwired Web Solutions is an expert team that brings you all the experience you need and more. Contact us today to learn more about our WordPress services.

July 26, 2021 by David Henderson

COVID-19 has drastically changed the way we live our lives, including how we shop. More people are turning to eCommerce instead of going to brick-and-mortar locations. This has sparked a new growing trend of direct to consumer (DTC) commerce. This type of commerce involves the process of the manufacturer selling directly to the end consumer.

To understand just how much this trend is growing, eCommerce is expected to account for 6.6% of all consumer packaged goods sales, and the DTC movement accounts for 40% of the sales growth in this sector. This means the DTC industry is not going to die down anytime soon. Customers increasingly want brand loyalty and accessibility, and DTC provides both of these.

Why Would a Brand Choose the DTC model?

There are many reasons why brands would want to adopt the DTC model. With COVID-19 wreaking havoc on supply chains, companies realize that by taking a DTC approach, there is less of a supply chain that can be exposed to problems.

While retailers in the past have been part of brand awareness and acquisition strategy, many businesses found the effort it takes to manage these different distribution channels outweighed the benefits. These stores are in complete control over where products are placed in their location. While this may sound like a small difference, it could have a huge impact on sales when continuously placed on a shelf that is not at eye level.

Customers no longer want to rely solely on the stores to put the products out in the right places for the right people or for the local sales reps to be educated about it. They want the convenience of going directly to the brand to purchase the product.

Taking Ownership of Customers

One of the most important upsides of going direct to consumer is taking ownership of the most important asset: the customers. By going DTC, companies can now manage how they interact with their customers. They can reach out to them directly about promotions or new products, unlike if the consumer had bought the item through a retailer. Selling DTC gives a business control over the entire customer journey. This starts from the moment someone lands on a website until the product is delivered.

Another reason for going DTC is that a customer is able to connect with more products, whereas some retailers may not always have every item in stock. The customer is able to communicate with a brand whenever they want, throughout their day, and on their terms. Brands can then proactively connect with their customers through push notifications, email, and so on.

This will ultimately help to build brand loyalty. Consumers now show that they want to get to know the brands they buy from and feel as though they are appreciated as a customer. By connecting directly with consumers, a brand can build a relationship that they would otherwise not have the opportunity to do so through a retailer.

Now Is the Time

There has never been a better time to sell your products direct to consumer and reach a whole new target market. The challenge is, many large corporations don’t know what to do or how even to start. If you are a business thinking of going direct to consumer, contact us today to learn how we can help integrate DTC with your B2B website. When selling direct to consumer you want to keep your message consistent while staying on brand.

We are here to help! Contact us today to learn how we can help take your business direct to consumer.

June 16, 2021 by David Henderson

Chances are, at some point in time, you have purchased an item online because the product description convinced you to click the “buy” button. Companies that know how to write product descriptions that convert deserve a round of applause. This is a skill that most people are not capable of achieving.

Our website design company Waterloo specialists, know how to write descriptions that can get your customers clicking. Offering some suggestions, they advise starting with making sure you have great photos before beginning with the description. Once you have a good image of your product or service, you can start working on your SEO-rich product descriptions.

The Basics

Let’s start with the basics. A product description is a summary that gives customers the info they need to know about a particular product. This may include details like product features, benefits, and common uses. A good description will consist of the what, who, and how all in at least 300 words.

Writing these descriptions may take a bit of time, but think of it as a smart content marketing investment. Each description, if done correctly, can drive traffic to your store. It can also improve SEO and eventually increase sales. If your product descriptions are written poorly, they can turn potential customers off and leave them frustrated. Chances are they will leave your site and purchase from a competitor.

What to Include

When starting out, think about your audience. This will help to tailor your tone and language so they can connect with the words. How do they speak? Is it formal or informal? Are they using technical terms or slang? Some of the best ways to gather information about the tone of your copy are by turning to social media groups forums or comments to see what your target audience is talking about.

Remember to always stay true to your brand. If you stay on brand, your voice and tone will already match your demographic.

One of the most important things to remember when writing product descriptions is to make the text as easy to read as possible. Everybody is in a rush all the time, which means most people who click on your product want to be able to quickly and easily read your description. Many people will only skim through your product descriptions so make sure the most important information is at the beginning. You will want to use short words and give as much information in as much detail as possible in as few words as possible. Bullet points and highlighted text can also be utilized to get your most important points across.

There is no one size fits all template for product descriptions, so you need to be creative. If this is not your strong suit, think about hiring a writer that can help.

Let Your Personality Shine Through

By adding in additional information, including real reviews, comments or messages about how your product benefited other customers, you can add value to your description. Don’t get too caught up in sounding too polished. Writing your own product descriptions can be a great way to give your brand personality.

Our website design company Waterloo specialists, can assist you from the very beginning when setting up your business. Whether you need web design or content creation and management, our experts can help. Contact us today and get your product descriptions to start converting “window shoppers” into buyers!

May 26, 2021 by David Henderson

In this world of social media, one question that often comes up is, “Do I still need a website if I have social media?” The answer is simple. Yes. Our web design Kitchener experts explain why you still need a website, even if you have a business profile on all social media platforms.

While social media is a great way to reach out to potential customers, a website is where you can educate people about your business. There is a long list of advantages to having your own website, even if you have a solid social media presence.

Think of it this way; having your business on social media is like couch surfing. No matter how welcome you feel, you are always still in someone else’s home. With your website, you have your own home.

Creative Freedom

When you have your own website, you get to choose the information that visitors see. You also get to decide how to present it in a way that reflects your brand. People will often remember your business based on the design of your website. With more creative freedom, you can present your information the way you desire. Twitter only has a 280 character limit, and Instagram stories max out at 15 seconds. On a website of your own, you can control how much you want to say or how long of a video you want your potential customers to see.

Inspire More Trust

Having a website for your business and credibility among your customers go hand-in-hand. A 2017 Local Search Association survey found that search engines have a high level of trust with consumers. In fact, they recorded that when it comes time to make a purchase, the only source shoppers trust more than search engines is company websites. This compares to the steep decline found in the public’s trust of social media. Fake news scandals and data breaches are to thank for the lack of confidence in these platforms.

When people search for a business, they commonly ask their phone or Alexa to look it up. They will very rarely look it up across social media. In fact, over 80 percent of the population relies on search to find what they are looking for. Without a website, your business or page is a lot less visible to people outside of social media networks.

A website also gives you the freedom to influence how your business will appear in search results. By incorporating SEO practices, you can get your website to rank higher for the keywords that your audience uses. By using a Google Business Profile listing, you can also get better visibility to local customers.

The Disappearance of Social Media Pages

If your only point of contact with your customers is through social media, the information is available at the discretion of the social network. If, for any reason, your account becomes suspended, your information disappears from public view until things get sorted out. If the network decides to ban your account altogether or close it down, your information is lost for good.

Of course, losing your social media account is rare. However, it does happen. It is not just the fringe figures who get banned for extreme speech. There have been many cases of business profiles being shut down for mistaken identity or because spam got into their account.

Beautiful, Strategic Websites

Bottom line, you need a website. There are so many options available to create beautiful, strategic websites it has never been easier to have an online presence. Here at Unwired Web Solutions, we provide web design Kitchener businesses can trust. We know the local market and have experience in building a reach in the local community.

If you are looking for a reliable SEO company that you can count on, reach out to us today!