A New Website—or Maybe Just a Makeover

Are you tired of your dated website but not up to creating a new one? 

There may be a workaround

If your site was built in WordPress, in many cases we can apply a new design theme to achieve a complete transformation. I’m working on one of these projects now, and it’s a remarkably easy solution that dramatically extends a website’s shelf life. Rather than a new website, maybe just a makeover would be the right solution for you. 

My client is a small CPA firm with some specialties—that are not getting promoted

Their site is nearly eight years old. While the new theme is a significant improvement, there remains the matter of new content, images and improved navigation. In the last few years, new partners with unique specialties have joined the firm and it’s time to promote their expertise.

• Besides being a CPA, “John” has a real estate background, does appraisals and works with industry clients to put financial systems into place. Having been a real estate agent, he knows that financials can be somewhat chaotic for real estate industry professionals. 
• “Sarah” is doing some work as an outsourced CFO. She’s working with several of her clients to take a more strategic role. She works closely with the firms’ bookkeepers for day-to-day accounting, which frees her up to take on a more strategic role. Sarah is doing forecasting, putting financial systems in place, analyzing cash flow and taxes. It’s a win-win for clients and Sarah—tax season is relatively stress-free.
• One of the partners has a Ph.D. in taxation and years of experience. He also teaches a class at UCBerkeley. Time to promote this guy! 

Their old site was not showcasing their skills or expertise

My clients launched their site without a thought to SEO or attracting new clients. Like many of us, they were delighted to have it finished! But they know they’ve been missing opportunities. We: 

• Identified lively new images that are representative of their typical clients, and we updated the homepage slider, adding visual appeal and energy to their site.
• Rewrote their bios to showcase their wide range of experience. One partner works with international clients to keep them in compliance with US tax laws. 
• Developed case studies that showcase how they work with their clients. Working with a CPA can be intimidating. People want to know about timing, the process, what they need to bring to their first meeting. They want to know about confidentiality. 
• Updated the testimonial page so endorsements are fully fleshed out.
• Turned the business name into a logo and tagline with use of a more stylish font. It has more marketing presence now.
• Fleshed out the Yoast plugin on the backend to improve SEO.
• Added calls to action, making it easy for a user to contact them for more information.

A series of incremental changes contributed to an important website makeover

If your site is dated and not generating leads, rather than starting from scratch with a whole new site, think of a makeover. This might be a solution for you. 

Contact us at Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and internet marketing experts. 

Thinking about a new website? Design Trends 2019

I’m working with a client whose website is 15 years old. Unlike us, websites don’t improve with age. The biggest problem, of course, is that a 15-year old site isn’t mobile friendly in our mobile-mad world. 

My client is well aware of this, of course. But a new website is always a major initiative, and there are often bigger priorities. The fact remains that a website is where people go to learn more about you, and it’s hard to overestimate the power of a website as the cornerstone of your marketing strategy. 

If a new website or a site refresh is part of your 2019 marketing plan, here are some design trends:

1. Speed. Users now expect a site to load in two seconds or fewer; they will abandon a site if it takes three seconds or more. 

2. Flat design.Look for clean, minimalist flat design. Flat design helps a site fulfill speed requirements that search engines love. It helps hold high SEO value and gets rid of clutter. Think bright colors, clean and crisp edges, lots of open space, simple imagery and sans-serif fonts. 

3. Mobile first search. In 2015, the number of mobile searches overtook those from desktop computers. The result? Mobile has had a huge influence on website design. Meeting the demands of mobile users will likely continue for the foreseeable future. 

4. Broken-grid layout. Grids have been used for decades on webpages, newspapers and ads for content alignment and consistency. You may not see grid lines, but someone used a grid to develop the layout. Now asymmetry and broken grids are gaining popularity. Look for unusual placements, layering with different colors and textures, repeating irregular patterns, use of white space and creative typography.

5. Shapes. People associate thoughts and emotions with shapes. Rectangles represent stability, circles are unity and triangles are dynamic. Creative use of particular shapes or combinations of shapes can be used to influence user emotions or feelings. Shapes help draw attention to those parts of a page that you want your visitors to notice. 

6. Single-page design. These websites are one page rather than multiple landing pages arranged in a navigational hierarchy. The downside: In terms of SEO, it’s harder to rank for particular keywords and other advanced SEO techniques. The benefits: Pageless design scores big when it comes to load time. They also look great on every browsing device, are scalable, easily managed and have high conversion rates. They’re great for pop-up businesses and those with limited budgets. 

7. Micro-animations. Micro-animations direct us through tasks as we interact with digital products. Examples? We fill out a form and we’ll be presented with a little animated checkmark to reward us for successfully completing it. We see and use these every day on both desktop and mobile. In many situations, they’re replacing those annoying captcha screens. 

Is a new website in your 2019 marketing plan? 

Questions about about platforms, content and making the most of your marketing budget! Give Top of Mind Marketing a call!