Quick W.I.T.S.

In today's installment of Design in Detail, we're discussing what makes a good Product page for your website. This article will be a little bit different than the previous ones; every company is unique, and the products and services they offer vary greatly. So instead of listing out specific features you should include on your page, I thought it would be more helpful to review the overall design and layout of the Product page, and offer advice on how to catch your visitors' attention and turn them into customers. With that in mind, here are 5 tips to improve your website's Product page: 1. Avoid Clutter A lot of product pages are overwhelming, with tons of detail, lots of information, and options all over the page. This can make it hard to read (especially on mobile), and is generally frustrating to customers. The best thing you can do is to keep your page as simple as possible. Don't have a lot of fancy graphics taking up screen space, don't put too much...

It may sound like a no-brainer, but you'd be amazed how quickly client interactions can go poorly just because you're not speaking the same language they are. Your customers are telling you what they want and need all the time... you just have to learn how to hear what they're saying. There's more to it than just listening - anyone can listen. It takes more effort to actually hear them. In my years as a project manager, I developed an ideology for how to work with people to achieve the results that both you and they want. I called it the "L.E.S.S. is More" strategy, which stood for Listen, Empathize, Secure, and Satisfy. I know, it sounds like one of those cheesy business self help books, but it really works. Ultimately, all L.E.S.S. does is help you and your customer get on the same page, to ensure you're not working at cross purposes, and that nothing important is left out. Let's run it down: 1. Listen Again, it may seem silly to list this ...

The About Us page is the heart and soul of your website. It's probably the most important page on your site, it's usually the most visited page, and it is absolutely the hardest page to get just right. In today's installment of Design in Detail, we're looking at key features you should include in your About Us page, and how to make the most of this critical part of your website. To help us decide what to put on the About Us page, we really need to understand why customers look for this page in the first place. The primary reason is that they want to learn something about you and your business; not just who you are and what you do, but also things like what makes you special, what's important to you, or even why they should trust you versus your competition. With that in mind, here are 5 important features that I think every About Us page should include, in one form or another: 1. Tell Your Story Most of the time, the About Us page will end up having more t...

I've never understood why marketers and advertisers, who are already fighting an uphill battle for your attention, would choose to do something that is actively annoying. This style of web design is aggressive, selfish, and can really turn people off, whatever it is you're trying to do. Usually, when I see a site that uses these tactics, I won't even bother trying to fight my way through to read what I came to look for - I just move on to somewhere less predatory. Here are three modern web design trends that I really hate: 1. Popups Popup ads aren't exactly new; they're nearly as old as the internet itself. But in the last couple of years, thanks to combining them with scripting languages such as Java, they've gotten really nasty. Some sites pop up huge messages when you try to change pages, close the site, or don't click on whatever the designer wants you to click on. They try to grab your attention and force you to engage with the site, but all the...

People ask me all the time what content their website needs to be successful as a marketing tool. Whether you're building a website yourself or having one professionally built by a web designer, there are a few key features or aspects your site should always include to maximize its effectiveness. Today, I'm starting a new series of in-depth articles called "Design in Detail" discussing the pages that websites usually contain, and the features that you should be including to make the most of each page. Every Thursday for the next several weeks, I'll post a new article in the series, covering a new page. The goal of these articles is to help you make your website the best it can be, and to ensure you aren't overlooking any mistakes that could cost you customers. Be sure to check back each week so you don't miss out! Five Features Your Home Page Should Include Your home page is usually the first thing a visitor sees when they find your website. A...

There are plenty of reasons a business might decide to design their own website, especially if they are a new or small business, and budget is a concern. There are any number of companies that say you can have a business website up and running for cheap, in just a couple of hours. One of these cheap, generic websites is definitely better than having nothing at all... at least to start with. However, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking one of these low cost, cookie cutter, no frills sites is all your business will ever need. Here are 5 of the worst mistakes you can make for your business when building a DIY website: 1. Not User Friendly Business owners who are not web designers don't have a lot of experience with how people browse websites. As a result, a self-made website often ends up with a poor user interface that is clunky, difficult to navigate, and not intuitive. If your website is not easy to understand, or it's not easy to find what someone...

As I sit here writing this, it's nearly 10am on the first day of school. My wife is at the office of her new job. The kids are all packed off with their school supplies, all the last minute crises have been handled (missing money for the yearly agenda book, wet socks from an unexpectedly deep puddle), and the house is empty and silent. Over the last 2 months of summer break, I often thought about how hard it was to get work done with the house so full and the constant noise of life in progress. Now, in the silence and the stillness of a house with no one in it, all I can think about is how much I wish there was someone here to fill the silence. It's a necessary evil of running your own business that you are always busy, even when you're home. There is no such thing as "off duty," no matter how hard you try - paying work is far too important to pass up when you're still new and growing. Last week, if you would have asked me, I would have told you I could...

You don't hear these kinds of stories about big businesses often enough. When you do, they tend to stand out as a result. Check out this comment a customer of WestJet recently posted on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westjet/posts/10155727144278552 I'll include the text as well, just in case the post disappears: " My WestJet story… This past Sunday my 16 year old daughter was flying home on her own from a week in BC visiting family. On her flight to Calgary she started to experience some pains and was not feeling well. When she landed she called me and was not doing very well, anxiety had kicked in and she wasn’t sure what to do. We had her find a WestJet agent to ask for help. She found someone who took her to a WestJet counter and Agent Mike got on the phone with me. Mike said that they were escorting her to get some medical assistance and that she would not be left alone. After a quick check over with and a phone call with the paramedic it was recommended...