(616) 356-2545 15 Ionia Ave. SW, Suite 220 - Grand Rapids, MI 49503

What Makes a Great Site?

June 22nd, 2018 by Ima Admin

In 2016 mobile internet use had surpassed desktop use. Sometime in 2019, people that forecast this stuff expect that time spent on mobile will exceed time spent on TV (which is today just under 4hrs/day).

With that in mind, several designers/marketers were asked to comment on a question in Alignable, “What makes a great website for today’s time (ie what are the top 5 things for a great design)?”

It’s a good question, and there were a number of varied answers, with many suggesting mobile-responsiveness and fast loading as two of the five criteria. The most liked answer was ‘animated dancing penguins’.

However, the question is too ambiguous to answer. Here’s why…
Read the rest of this entry »


Designer SPAMspotting – A Rant

June 19th, 2018 by Ima Admin

I’m sure you, like many of your clients, get one of these spam/scam emails periodically. A few are legit, but most are not. Some of them, like this one (after the break) are subtle and claim to have looked or analyzed your site. Others proclaim blatantly that there is something egregiously wrong with your site and ‘they’ have a fix. Almost ALL of them are unsolicited and annoying, as in this case, where I’ve received no less than 5 duplicates of this particular email in less than 20 days AND apparently I must take time out of my day and away from my clients to actively respond to stop them.

So, let’s look at Peter and his email(s) to us…
Read the rest of this entry »


Going Mobile

April 19th, 2018 by Ima Admin

Driving down the road, I passed a sign that asked simply, ” Who was the first person with a tablet to download data from the cloud?” The sign was in front of a church and the answer was, of course, Moses.

Fast forwarding about 3500 years, its no real surprise that Google gathers a lot of data… A LOT. Google has been gathering data about how quickly user behavior is shifting on mobile. Not only are more users on mobile devices when using Google search, but how they browse mobile results is changing too.
Read the rest of this entry »


Data Breach, the GDPR and You

April 4th, 2018 by Ima Admin

DATA BREACH!!

These are two words we’re hearing more and more that are as scary as hearing “GUN!” or “FIRE!”

Perhaps not as an immediate threat as the latter two, but something that could affect our lives long, long after the actual breach.

No April Fool’s joke, on April 1st, news releases announced that hackers allegedly staged an attack on Saks 5th Ave. and Lord & Taylor to steal information from more than 5 million debit & credit cards.

The following day, potentially worse AND closer to home, according to researchers, the Panera Bread’s website was found to be leaking data potentially exposing millions of customer records – something Panera allegedly knew about in August 2017.
Read the rest of this entry »


Is Your Website Making Cold Calls?

March 21st, 2018 by Ima Admin

While most of us hate making COLD CALLS ourselves, we allow our websites to do it with abandon.

We know that if our prospecting strategy is to simply log in to the customer relationship (CRM) database and start randomly ‘smiling and dialing’, our sales will be low and frustrations will be high.

Many of the best companies will provide their sales team the proper tools they need and their successful top sales pros will have multiple “opening value statements” crafted, practiced and memorized for different types of sales calls to different types of customers and the varied potential objections they might have.
Read the rest of this entry »


How Different Are You?

March 14th, 2018 by Ima Admin

So… How DIFFERENT are you? Not how ODD or STRANGE are you, but how DO YOU DIFFER from your competitors?

Note, that I’m also NOT asking how you COMPARE to your competition. When you COMPARE its often going to be a price comparison. Price comparisons don’t build long-term relationships with customers. When you DIFFERENTIATE its usually about the value you provide.
Read the rest of this entry »


Visibility Credibility Profitability

March 7th, 2018 by Ima Admin

I might be biased, but it’s hard to imagine a reason for any company of any size not to have a website.

As a multi-year member of BNI (Business Network International), when you think about BNI’s VCP (Visibility/Credibility/Profitability) process, having a website is a no-brainer. If you are unfamiliar, the key concept in BNI’s referral marketing is relationships. Referral marketing works because these relationships work both ways: They benefit both parties.
Read the rest of this entry »


Four Seconds

February 21st, 2018 by Ima Admin

QUICK, I NEED YOUR ATTENTION FOR THE NEXT 4 SECONDS.

tick
tick
tick
tick

Did you know that once your web page is up you have ONLY 4 seconds to capture the attention of your visitor.

But is YOUR site still loading?

That’s unfortunate.
Read the rest of this entry »


Neuroscience and Storytelling

January 25th, 2018 by Ima Admin

What’s Neuroscience and Storytelling Got to Do With My Website?

Let’s take a quick look at a few recent studies.

A Harvard University study determined that 95% of decision-making is subconscious and usually not logical. Neuroscientists know that certain chemicals (neurotransmitters) in our brains are responsible for those reward-motivation / fight-or-flight decisions.

A Content Marketing Institute survey revealed that almost 82% of marketers believe that “engaging and compelling storytelling” is by far the most important element to ensure effective content.

The London School of Business and Management found that customer retention for a properly-told story is 1400% higher as compared to just delivering facts and figures.
Read the rest of this entry »


Sounds good! Let's talk.

Talk to Us
  • GR office link to google maps
  • PageRank