Tag: best web designer nj

Have you seen a post on your social media promising you’ll receive 6+ gifts from strangers if you take part in a “fun” gift exchange this holiday season? Beware! The “Secret Sister” gift exchange is back and it’s bad news.

What is the “Secret Sister” Gift Exchange?

The “Secret Sister” gift exchange is a post that began circulating around Christmas time since 2015, and was seen mostly on Facebook. People would receive an email or a Facebook post inviting them to be part of a gift exchange -- if they provided their name, address, and personal information, sent a small gift to a stranger on the list, and then forwarded the invitation to several of their friends. They were promised that they would receive not one but several gifts in return. This is what the post looks like:

Is It Real?

The Secret Sister gift exchange is absolutely a scam. This has been confirmed by several outlets which warn of the true nature of the exchange and strongly encourage that no one participates. Not only this, but it’s a pyramid scheme, since the scam requires recruiting other people to keep the chain going. The vast majority of participants will never receive these gifts.

Is It Dangerous?

You should not be giving out your personal information online in this way -- it can be used for identity theft or another scam. Additionally, since pyramid schemes are illegal in the US and considered a form of gambling, if you take part in it, you could face penalties like jail time, fines or a lawsuit for mail fraud.

What Should You Do?

You should definitely ignore the posts or emails. Do not participate in it. You can report the posts on Facebook so they are aware of the situation. Also, share this with others who might be susceptible to the scam as well, and discourage them from sharing their information. The Secret Sister gift exchange is not the only scam or pyramid scheme of its kind, so be on the lookout for similar scams at all times! Protect yourself, your money, and your personal data.

Every business should have a website. More specifically, it should have a website that works for them: one that’s visually appealing and user-friendly, puts out the right message and content for their customers, and turns visitors into leads. If your website isn’t doing some or all of these things, chances are you should get a new website. But how do you decide if you need a completely new website, or if your website just needs a proverbial coat of paint and a maintenance check? Here are some signs you should get a new website--and signs you can just refresh the old one.busine

You Should Get a New Website If:

You’ve gone through a complete rebranding.

Don’t let your old image loiter on the internet. If your business has completely rebranded: new colors, new logo, new message, new slogan, new products, new product categories, etc.-- then your website may need the full treatment also. Often a rebrand means the entire outlook of your business has changed, and too much of the old site just won’t work. If you’re going to start over, then a new site may be just what you need.

The platform isn’t working for you.

If you find it hard or impossible to post, update, and maintain your current site, you should get a new website. If you can’t use your site easily, then it’s doing you no good, and it isn’t letting you communicate with customers and give them valuable content, deals, or updates.

Your digital strategy needs a makeover

Maybe it’s not your brand that has a new face, but your online strategy has changed. In this case, it’s possible that too many elements of your site need to be changed to give you the results and tools that you need. If your digital strategy can benefit from a new website, it may be the best thing you can do to reach your new goals.

You Just Need a Refresh IF:

The site works but the user experience could be better.

So maybe the platforms works, the site isn’t absolutely ugly, and your visitors stay on the site for a decent amount of time. That’s great! But it could offer an even better experience to your customers. Evaluate your site’s weak points and do a refresh if the user experience can be improved. This includes increased speed, better mobile-friendliness, properly placed Calls to Action, etc. Your web designer can probably offer some excellent insights here.

It has out-of-date information.

So you haven’t done an entire rebranding, but your information is just a little old. Maybe your site has an old iteration of a logo, an old phone number, or some past deals and events that could confuse customers. A simple refresh of all that information can make a huge difference to your website. And it’s not a bad idea to sharpen your content while you’re at it.   Whether you just need a refresh or a whole new site, your business’ site should always be at 100% to turn your visitors into paying customers. Evaluate your site now and keep an eye out for these signs to decide which way to go.

Let’s get to it: you need to make your website ADA compliant. Part of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has been interpreted to also include websites. A website is a “public” space under this law. So, if your website isn’t accessible to those with disabilities, it violates this law. Oh, and there are no defenses or excuses for violating it.

What is “accessible”?

Accessibility on a website encompasses a lot of elements, but it basically means that anyone with a disability can use your website fully: navigate it, access content such as images and videos, click on everything, open everything, etc. Accessibility includes:

• Hearing impairments
• Visual impairments
• Cognitive disabilities
• Motor disabilities

Because of these different categories of disabilities, accessibility includes everything from color, text size, and transcripts for videos, to keyboard navigation and elements that may cause seizures. However, there are no clear definitions of web accessibility. The list of website accessibility standards (WAS) can be accessed online.

Who does it apply to?

Most courts have decided that ADA compliance applies to commercial websites, since these are required to make it just as easy for one customer to use their site as another. Some courts have decided that if the website belongs to a business with a physical location, they must be compliant (e.g. Target, versus Facebook which has no physical “store”). Ultimately, it’s a good idea to make your website ADA compliant, not only to avoid a lawsuit, but to ensure the 20% of the American population that is disabled has full access to your products and services.

How to make your website ADA compliant

Making your website ADA accessible is a project you can begin right away.  While there is no plugin or widget that you can install to instantly make your website ADA compliant, a knowledgeable web developer will be able to begin implementing these standards. You can begin to check your website’s accessibility with tools like WAVE or WebAccesibility.com, but a manual review of your website’s code will be more accurate. Two simple and easy but significant steps towards compliance are alt text for all images and closed captioning of all videos. Many other web development agencies will offer solutions that really only give you an audit. Make sure you get not just an analysis of your site’s gaps in accessibility, but actual steps towards a full solution. It’s important to remember that once you’ve made your site compliant, your work isn’t necessarily done. All new content you put on your site should also be compliant!

Social media for your small business is a must. Every business should be on social media. In 2019, that’s just a fact. Many sometimes believe they don’t need to engage their customers online, but in order to grow, you have to find current (and new) customers where they live, and remind them about your brand. But don’t just jump online without a plan. Before you start running social media for your small business, here are five things you absolutely need to do first.

Do Your Research

Before you start social media for your small business, you have to do some research. What are your competitors doing online? And more importantly, what are they doing right? We’re not asking you to copy them exactly, but knowing the methods that are working for businesses like yours is an excellent place to start. Which channels have the largest following and the most engagement? What kinds of posts work best for them? Make note and decide which elements you can learn from for your own efforts.

Choose Your Channels

Not every social media channel is right for every industry or business. Many businesses get on Facebook and call it a day, but depending on your audience, you may need to focus on a different platform. If your demographic is millennials, Instagram is a clear choice. Younger customers are favoring Snapchat. And nearly any business can benefit from being on LinkedIn. You will definitely need to be on more than one platform. Be smart and figure out which channels are right for your business.

Get The Right Tools

Before any posting happens, you should get the right set of tools to help you schedule and track your social media efforts. Popular scheduling apps include Hootsuite, Zoho, Hubspot, and SproutSocial. Look into several and find the one that suits your needs. Since your business is small, and more than likely so is your budget, a paid app may not be the right choice yet. Also, make sure you have a way to track your progress and engagement.

Make A Plan

Nobody should start randomly posting topical memes, photos of their products, and links to industry blog posts without giving their strategy a little (a lot of) thought. You’ve got the management and analytics tools to start running social media for your small business (see #3), so now you need to make a plan:

1. Create a content “bucket” of types of posts: blogs, product photos, client reviews, company culture highlights, informational graphics or videos, etc. This will help when you're stuck on what to post.
2. Make sure your content is high quality and BRANDED.
3. Decide how many times a week to post to which channels based on your research, post types, and available time.
4. Decide what content goes on which channel, because no, not everything goes on every channel.
5. You can even create a few weeks’ worth of posts before you start, just to make things easier for you.

Have Something Good To Link To

Your social media should link back to a beautiful and functional website that finishes the job and turns visitors into customers. If your social media is amazing, but your website is outdated and difficult to navigate, all your efforts may have been for nothing. If your site doesn’t fit that description, optimize or redesign your site before you start social media for your small business.

Conclusion

One of the best ways to succeed online as a business is to create a plan and stick to it. Follow these five steps and you’ll be well on your way to bringing more customers to you.Once you’ve started on social media, you aren’t done, so remember to constantly look for ways to improve your social media presence and engagement methods.

Confused about the low number of people who are coming to your site, and staying there? You’re probably not doing one or all of these seven things that drive traffic to your site.

You don’t blog.

Blogs are an excellent way to build original, authoritative content for your website, especially if you don’t have the resources or skills to create webinars, videos, or infographics. Blogs drive traffic to your site by offering valuable information to your potential clients. If your website doesn’t have any content to offer, why would anybody visit? If you commit to blogging consistently and promote your blog posts, you will start to see how your traffic increases.

You’re not on Google My Business.

A Google My Business listing adds your business information to Google Maps, Search, and other Google properties. It’s a great way to get eyes on your site through a verified and trustworthy source. Have you claimed your listing on Google My Business? Maybe that’s why people aren’t reaching your site when they search for you.

You’re not posting on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is an excellent platform to post when it comes to social media, because it isn’t just a social platform--it’s designed for professionals. Posting your original content (see #1) on LinkedIn, where your followers are in the business mindset and want to learn, is going to drive traffic to your site. It’s so easy to do, and it’ll bring you many new and engaged visitors.

Your site is not responsive.

More and more people are using smartphones to search instead of computers. If your site was never designed with mobile in mind, it probably isn’t very fun to visit it on your phone. Double check how your site looks and works on your phone, ask others, and if it isn’t great, definitely make getting a responsive site the next thing on your to do list.

Your site is slow.

If your site doesn’t load in less than two seconds, most people will just give up and click away. Sure, it sounds harsh, but there’s a large possibility that you’ve done the same thing. All of us on the internet have gotten used to getting things quickly, almost immediately, and studies confirm that visitors won’t wait for slow loading content. If you want to drive traffic to your site, optimize your site for faster loading times.

Your content is expired.

Unfortunately, information changes at a rapid-fire pace these days. Although you do want content on your site, you don’t need old and outdated content. Hubspot recently deleted 3,000 pages of old content from their blog, and it did wonders for their SEO. If your site is very old, you can not just prune your content, but prune your entire site and do a redesign to organize your information better. Better content, organized more invitingly, will make potential customers more willing to visit (and stay on) your site.

You’re not optimizing for SEO.

Maybe the sound of “SEO” scares you, because you don’t have much knowledge of what it means and you’re nervous to dive in, but you keep hearing about how important it is to drive traffic to your site. Maybe you’ve never heard of search engine optimization at all. If you haven’t explored SEO for your site, whether doing it yourself or getting someone else to do it, that may be why your site is getting low traffic. Do your business a favor and get to it.   Getting more site visitors doesn't have to be hard. Make these seven things a priority and see how the number of visitors to your site increases--and from there, how your business grows.

What's the main color on your website? And, what other colors are on your site? If you’re in the process of building your business’ website, or have ever been through it, there’s a lot you’ve had to consider: the structure, the images, the copy. On that long list of important elements, where did the colors of your site fall? Possibly low on the list.

The Effects of Color

Whether you’re aware of it or not, the colors of the websites you visit every day affect your experience: both how you navigate the site, what you think about that brand or company, and even whether you purchase their products. The effect of color on humans is very natural, and “color theory” has existed for years. So how do we use the effects of color on our consumers to our advantage? We can use the colors of our brand and our sites to make people buy, to make our business memorable, and to attract the right kind of customer. It’s likely you already have brand and logo colors. If you’re looking to rebrand, then definitely take these tips into account. If not, you can still use colors outside of your brand to your advantage by incorporating them into your website.

picking the color on your website: A Few Examples

So how do you go about choosing color on your website? You have to understand the effects of each color, not just emotionally, but physically, on a person. Is it difficult to read a site with that color? Is it evoking the wrong feeling? Let’s look at a few examples.   Blue Blue is very popular in technology, science, and finance industries. It promotes calmness (think oceans and skies), trust, and reliability. Speakers at TED Talks and the like are often told to wear blue on stage for the same reason: it causes listeners to relax and trust you, and it doesn’t distract from what you’re saying. Blue can be an excellent choice if you need your customers to trust you. If your business is something that requires a lot of trust (like a bank), then making your customers feel safe the moment they reach your site can have a massive positive effect. What Not To Wear: If you work in the food industry, you probably shouldn’t use blue as a main color on your website. It’s considered the “least appetizing” color. It’s also very corporate, so if you’re a young, fun brand looking to build an attractive site, skip blue or go for a more vibrant blue with fun accent colors. Example: Check out Facebook’s particular shade of blue.   Red Red is both a great color and a dangerous color. It’s so powerful and vibrant that it can spur a customer into action very easily, but can also be seen as domineering, or too aggressive. Red is excellent for restaurants since, unlike blue, red is very appetizing: think the bright red of Coca-Cola or Red Lobster. (Or as an extreme example, Red Bull.) For more upscale restaurants, a darker red can give the site a classy and warm feeling, evoking a rich red wine. Brighter red is also used by many car companies in their logos, promoting speed and action.  Not My Brand: Red may not be in your brand colors, and maybe you don’t want it to be your central color, but it has a lot of potential for your website anyway. Red is excellent for call-to-action buttons: it pops out from its surroundings and encourages the visitor to click. Example: Toyota’s use of red in their home page’s CTA buttons.   Green Green is the color of nature, so it’s a popular choice for food industries, especially those with an organic or healthy spin. Outdoor activities, eco-resorts and hotels, and similar businesses may want a website that evokes the feeling of being outside. Like blue, it’s calming, but not as corporate. It feels fresh and clean and positive, giving energy to a site without the dangers of red.  Dark green can also have a similar effect as blue, giving a sense of trust and calm. Even if you’re not Whole Foods, you may want to emphasize some sustainability or “go green” efforts you’re making as a company. This is an excellent place to use green on your site, contrasting with your other colors and bringing attention to a campaign or commitment. What Not To Wear: Be careful about using a bright green and a white as the main colors on your website. This can be overwhelming to the eyes. Example: Evernote’s bright green website.   Black Black is a bold choice, and can be overwhelming if used too much, but when used correctly, it can lend a sophisticated air to your site. Black is difficult to design around, and is overpowering. The heaviness of a black background can be contrasted with minimal content and larger text, which creates a sleek and classy look. A black menu bar or section can add a strong accent to a site, and mixing black, white, and a third accent color can be very modern and minimalistic. If you go for black, make sure you have a designer that knows what they’re doing. Example: The MAC Cosmetics black, white, and red site.   In the end, color on your website will have a significant and likely unconscious effect on your potential customers. If you want to make sure that effect is the right one, do your research, be conscientious, and get an experienced designer to create your site. Your site is one of the most important places that a customer interacts with your business--so get that first impression right.

You know that hosting a highly functional website ensures that your customers have a place to browse, consider, and order your products or services – but what about the navigation and user journey they’ll undertake on your site? According to the Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA), 77% of agencies consider poor website user experience (UX) to be a pain point for their online customers. That means online businesses face a lot of pressure to install a user-friendly design and get it right, or else risk pushing potential customers away. Thankfully, there’s no reason any startup or small business needs to take on this challenge alone. At S-FX.com Small Business Solutions, LLC, we specialize in web design and other digital service consultation for smaller firms and nonprofits. We pride ourselves in our ability to be flexible in accommodating a multitude of requests for our clients. We offer an array of technology consulting solutions – from website design to SEO, marketing, branding, and process re-engineering. Our customers have been pleased with the attention and care we’ve given to their website needs, which is why they’ve left us such positive feedback on Clutch, a verified B2B ratings and reviews platform. We’ve received an average rating of 4.8 stars! According to Clutch rankings, we’re one of the top web designers in New Jersey. We recently redesigned a website and performed SEO for Miniature Folding Inc., a packaging company. We also built a resource management system to assist their internal communication needs. Our work helped Miniature Folding, Inc. to increase its production and sales numbers. They were pleased with our work, and they offered a special commendation for our ability to tailor our offerings to the needs of their small business. “S-FX knows exactly what a small business owner might be looking for and tailors their offerings to my needs. You can buy big box management programs right off the shelf, but these typically include features that, frankly, aren’t necessary for our small business model. I appreciate the fact that Shane understands our specific needs and delivers products that are scalable and easy to use.” – Joseph Taliercio, Director of Facilities & HR, Miniature Folding Inc. We also did design, integrations, and WordPress site integrations for CMT Association, a nonprofit. We met all the expectations this client laid out for their web partnership. They were pleased with the quality of our work and our creativity. Our clients give us the opportunity to learn about entirely new industries, and share in the joys of their success! Interested customers should review our ranking on The Manifest, which highlights our work. According to The Manifest, we’re one of the top 100 design agencies in the world! Our projects are also showcased on Visual Objects, a graphical company resource. Want to learn more? Contact us today!