Read our blogs on our website! Transferring a brick and mortar business online isn\'t always easy. It can be confusing and difficult if you don\'t know your way around. Your website is your digital calling card or a portfolio; because of this, your website needs to be able to reach people and convert them into customers. We want to show you how to evaluate the effectiveness of your website to help benefit your business. 1. Have you tried searching for your website? Google yourself using multiple keywords to find your website and see where it ranks on the page. If you\'re having trouble locating your page, then you need to work on your SEO. An easy fix to this problem is to optimize your search engine rankings by using relative keywords. Doing this will help your page and boost your business online and in the rankings when people search for you. Want to find out what keywords you should use? Check it out HERE. Now that you have your keywords ready, utilize those keywords by adding it in the content of your website. Improve your ranking with keywords by adding a blog entry. A blog is a tool to convert visitors into potential customers for your business. These tools give your audience an idea of WHO you are as a company and business. You don’t just want them to be customers, they need to be your advocates too. You can also try using Google Analytics to see how to improve your pages. 2. Is your page easy to navigate? If you\'ve had a website for several years now, you might need to check if it is in need of an upgrade. The DIY websites of earlier years don\'t have the same appeal as one done by developers today. Yes, it most likely means a lot to you and you put a lot of work into it. But has it gotten you the ranking and reach that you\'ve been needing? Common issues to check: Loading speed - use this tool made by google to get a quick overview how fast (or slow) your website responds https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ Images are outdated Broken or misallocated links needs to be updated Your pages don’t get the 404 Page not found error You can fix these by hiring a professional team to look over and update your page, content, and visibility. People have short attention spans and won\'t stick around if a page takes a long time to load. The same goes for font, how can you expect people to read what you have to say if they\'re struggling with the font. A professional team can also make your website, mobile-friendly. Everyone is on their phones, tablets, and laptops so your page should be easily readable on those platforms. So make sure that your website looks as good in mobile as it does from your computer. 3. Is your message clear? Can people easily understand the kind of website you have and the message or product that your business is trying to sell? Your page has to be upfront about what it offers and who you\'re targeting, this way you get the visitor you\'re targeting. Design and website professionals can help you strategize your website to have your visitors respond to how you\'d like them to. For example, if your website is a charity and you\'re looking for people to contribute to your cause. The visitor should be able to understand the nature of your website the moment they land on it and where to donate to your charity. Like feedthechildren.com, we like how their website is straight to the point and you can easily find what their message is and how they\'d like your help. Take a look at fiftythree.com, this award-winning website uses their page to advertise a new way of working creatively. We noticed how they set aside two of their main features and took time to explain each through text and video. If you\'re looking for something fun but still has impact then drop by wealthsimple.com. They know how to make what sounds like boring financial investment fun, through the use of gifs and humanizing their company. An example of a website that utilizes video is the ESPN media page. Their high energy landing page immediately shows you what they\'re about and what high-quality video can look like on a website. Their site is easy to navigate if you\'re looking for a particular sport and their \'content calendar\' is filled out in a moveable schedule. One other example would be brightsanddesigns.com where we implement who we are as a company and on the top right side, placed a call to action for a quick call should you be inclined towards our services. The main takeaway here is that all the sites have a clear claim with what their purpose is and make it easy for you, as a visitor to take action like call, sign up or donate. When you come across a good website with great design and clear messaging, you\'d want to stick around to see what they have to say. 4. Is your content easy to access? Besides design and accessibility, your website content is one of the most important factors to keep people on your page. If people are coming in from a quick search, their reason for finding and clicking on you should be one of the first things they see. You want your key information readily available and easy to find as soon as possible. One way to fix this is to look over your page and see if there\'s any unnecessary content cluttering up the page. Make sure that your headlines or keywords are not on .jpeg or image format and is actually written on your website. Of course, don’t leave out important keywords to use on your website’s content so you get a better ranking and searchability in the web. One way of knowing this is to try and highlight texts. If you cannot highlight them or they look more pixelized than the rest of your content, it’s time to update it. 5. Have your marketing campaigns been working? Do you have an e-mail list? A blog? Social media linking back to your page? If not, then it\'s time to review and see where on those areas you might be lacking. It\'s hard to run a full-time business no matter how small or big it may be. Dedicating time to marketing and seeing if it\'s useful can be time-consuming and at times, confusing. Zappos, a leader in online shoe commerce, sets the gold standard for online customer care. Of course, Zappos does still invest heavily in online marketing, and its social media campaigns shouldn’t be missed! Notice how they focus on what the customer wants and needs, not on what they want the customer to want or need. This is a key part to any effective digital strategy. Listen to your audience and plan accordingly. Another stand-out is Dollar Shave Club. Shaving is literally a very boring routine, right? If you answered “of course,” then you should check out Dollar Shave Club’s now legendary launch video. Today, this company has over a million subscribers, its promotional video has been viewed over 24 million times, and it was recently acquired for $1 billion by Unilever. During their hyper growth, Dollar Shave Club continued to share cheeky content such as “Is It Bad to Pluck Nose Hairs with My Fingers?” and “Do I Really Need to Wash My Hands After I Pee?” These guys know how to let loose and get attention. Everything from its marketing to its onboarding, from its packaging to its social engagement is lighthearted, silly, and tongue-in-cheek. And its customers love them for it. They’ve made something as tedious as buying razors and shaving hilarious and entertaining, and that’s what stands out in people’s minds. That said, your business and brand can benefit from the help of a professional digital marketing team. You can focus on your business and vision while the experts take over the reins in the digital realm to make sure that your website is seen and ranked first on search engines. Not only that, a team of creatives can make your brand more in-tune with your audience. The idea here is to stay in-touch not lose it. Optimized design of your website is one thing, but tell me, is it something worth browsing? You\'ll know you\'re getting it right when you\'re getting more engagements, follows, shares, and direct messages. BRIGHTSAND Designs has catered to the needs of businesses to enhance their presence and reach in various digital channels. We care about making sure that the digital shift leaves no one behind and wants to help you elevate your business to its fullest potential. Ask us what big IDEA we can do for you today. Read our blogs on our website! About the author:

Christina is a reader, art enthusiast, and dedicated to bringing ideas to life with heart and ingenuity through words. Thanks to more than one coffee, she can pluck words out of thin air and sew them into a magical content carpet.