First, let’s talk about website hosting.
Compare website hosting to renting a house. Website hosting, in this case, would be the place where your website lives – your house. Without a place to live, your website (or house) doesn’t exist.
Now within your hosting is where all of the files and folders reside that make your website function and look pretty. This would be your furniture, carpet, walls, etc. within your house. Without these things, your website would be visually plain with nothing to look at.
So, as you can see, website hosting is essential to having a website. Without it, you have nothing.

Domain names are much like your home address.
Imagine if your house didn’t have an address. How would you tell somebody where you live?
“Yea, I’m the house next to the brown house on the left, over there.”
That’s not going to work, and nor does it work with your website.
Just like someone needing an address to find your house, you need a domain name for someone to find your website.
For example, our domain name is: www.bootheelweb.com. When you type this in to your internet browser, the internet recognizes this domain name and pulls up our website.
One thing to know, domain names must be purchased separately from your website hosting. They do not come together, unlike how a house already comes with an address.

The first and probably most important thing you can do to improve the likelihood of someone staying on your website is to ensure the valuable content they came to your website for is clear.
A lot of the time, someone has clicked a result from Google that landed them on your site. And with that, they were looking for something specific — an answer to their inquiry.
By clicking on your site, they want to know that your page is going to provide the answer.
But remember, you only have 3 seconds — so make the answer clear above the fold (before they scroll) so it captures their attention. If there’s enough to get them to stay, they’ll keep scrolling. This additional scroll is where you can continue to add more value and information they’re seeking.
But if you’re vague and only provide the “meat” of the answer at the bottom — you’ll experience very high bounce rates.

There’s no question that a wall of text is just deterring. We don’t have time or the patience to digest it.
In turn, if you add more visuals in the form of images and video, you can really enhance your content and allow the user to engage more to stay.
Nowadays, a lot of users prefer video content, so pairing a video with your copy can give that option — and the likelihood of them continuing to browse your site if they liked the result is much higher.
Additionally, adding images can contribute to the context of your site — just be sure to not utilize “decorative” images just because, and use them if they truly add value.

Another super important aspect to not only keeping users on your site longer, but also for SEO, is to add links internally.
This means linking to other pages of your website within your own website. So if you were to write a blog, add links in that blog that lead to other blogs or service pages on your site.
By adding valuable internal links, your visitor has a chance at clicking those and visiting another page to continue reading more. Just be sure that the additional links are relevant and add value!
Internal linking can take time initially, but once you get in the habit of always linking to your own content, it will continue to provide more opportunities.

With AI at an all time high, standing out as a human is more important than ever. Be sure that you talk to your reader, write like a “human” would write, and use language as if you were talking to them at your desk.
There is nothing wrong with utilizing AI to generate ideas, but I can’t tell you how much of a turn-off it is to read an article that sounds literally like a robot wrote it (and likely did).
So use your personality, your voice, and your style to make your content stand out — speak to the reader directly, and make them the focus.

Like we started out with saying in this article, you literally have 3 seconds to capture a visitor’s attention. But what if your website doesn’t even load within 3 seconds?
Well, basically, you’re screwed.
Even if you have stellar content that will engage, if the page doesn’t load fast enough, you aren’t even giving them the chance to read it.
So optimize your website as best as you can! Run it through the Page Speed Insights test, enable lazy loading for images and assets, and double check your website hosting is capable of providing speeds you’re looking for.
Once you’re able to speed up your site, you’re giving yourself a heck of a greater chance at allowing the visitor to read and stay longer.

In conclusion, the key to keeping visitors engaged on your website lies in delivering immediate value, enhancing user experience, and fostering a real human connection.
My recommendation for starters is to make sure your site loads quickly and provide valuable content that is clear and concise.
By implementing all of these strategies, though, you not only capture attention but also create an environment that encourages visitors to linger, explore, and ultimately, find value in what your website has to offer.
Remember, every second counts, so make each moment on your site count for your visitors.

You cannot expect to publish a new website and let it go stale.
This is truly a recipe for disaster, and can lead to hurting your overall business’ credibility.
These are not major things, either — The Smallest Of Details can really affect the way a potential customer can perceive or trust you. And this can really dictate whether they become a customer or not.
Many times, there are little details that fall through the cracks, and that’s why I’m here to bring those little details to light so you can do a thorough check of your website to ensure you’re not hurting your own credibility.

A lot of clients request to have embedded social feeds on their website. I agree that it is a very easy way to add revolving, fresh content to your site with zero effort (well, other than posting on social).
However, these social feeds can break constantly. They need to be reconnected, reauthorized, and updated so it stays current with your account. Facebook and Instagram are constantly changing how these work.
As a result, that great revolving content you thought was going to be nice to have, is now just an eye-sore on your homepage because it’s not working. And having something broken on your site easily leads to mistrust and loss of credibility.
Tip for prevention: Just don’t use them — as I said, they break too often. Or, be very diligent at checking that they’re working at least once a month.

Did you start posting some blogs on a whim, because you had a “kick” for trying to help your site’s SEO and content strategy? But only made it 6 blogs in and quit?
Fast forward 2 years later, and now you’ve got a Blog page with no new posts on it for two years.
I don’t know about you, but I personally look for the most relevant information I can get — and more than likely, if something is 2 years old, there’s far more updated content I can get elsewhere.
On the contrary, if you’re consistently posting on your blog, there can be a huge boost of credibility in showing you’re relevant and active.
Tip: If you’re going to post new content, stick with it. Even if it’s only once a month — just create a schedule and be consistent.

One of the most off-putting things for me when I frequent a business’ site is when they say “Coming Soon!” for a new page/service/product and it’s been 6+ months since you first saw that message.
If you don’t intend to launch whatever it is that’s “Coming Soon” — just don’t advertise for it.
You can only string customers along for so long before they’re going to become impatient and disinterested and end up going elsewhere to get what they want sooner.
Never-ending “Coming Soon” pages are a big turn-off in credibility and loyalty.
Tip: Only use “Coming Soon” if you knowingly have a launch date within 3 months or less, and can stick by it.

Ahh, there’s nothing more wonderful than browsing a site and landing on a 404 page. Not!
Having broken links on your website can be an immediate deterrent for a website visitor, and a loss of credibility right away.
I know that 404 links happen, stuff changes on websites constantly, but there are right ways to go about it to ensure that your visitor is not put off by it.
You should treat your 404 page just like any page — make it branded and something enjoyable to look at. Nobody likes a 404 page, but put some useful links or fun messaging to help ease the abruptness.

So, the name of the game with this post is to really think long term. When working on your website, don’t post content that is going to be outdated in 6 months, and you have no intentions of revisiting.
It’s best to have more evergreen content that can live on your website and still be relevant in 1-2 years.
But at the end of the day, I recommend creating yourself a schedule of website audits throughout the year to ensure your website isn’t going stale and losing credibility.
We need our websites gaining new customers for us, not losing them.

As with many people I talk to, writing for marketing is not very fun. It’s hard to know where to start, and feel like you’re unsure if you’re writing something that’s very effective.
Does it make sense? Will my audience be drawn to these words?
Whether it’s for a Facebook ad, a new targeted landing page on your website, or a Google search ad, your content marketing needs to be precise and well-thought out in order to not waste your time (and dollars).
Let’s walk through some of the common pitfalls you should avoid when writing for marketing so you can be more successful in reaching your target audience.

So once you’ve gotten ideal client figured out, what do you want them to do? What’s the goal for your content marketing? Are you wanting them to buy a product? Capture their email address? Download an e-book?
Whatever that might be, you need to set a clear goal so that the action you set within your marketing is setup to lead them down that path.
So how do you do that? Use call-to-actions, or essentially a line or button of text that is asking the user to take action on something. Such as:
“Download Now”, “Get Access”, “Get Started Today”, “Help My Website Rank”.
These are all good calls-to-action that are directly telling the user to do something and they know what that button or text is going to do. An unclear call-to-action will cause user confusion, and therefore they’ll be hesitant to click it.
Without a goal, and a clear call-to-action, you’re basically setting yourself up to fail.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your content marketing is using too many words that your audience just won’t understand.
Sure, you as the professional know exactly what you’re talking about — but does your customer? More than likely, no.
For example, say you sell SEO services and are creating an ad with this copy:
“Get help with your website SEO: Keywords, metadata, backlinking and more!”
The average Joe is going to have no idea what “metadata” or “backlinking” or “keywords” are — let alone, what “SEO” stands for.
Instead, if you wrote something like this:
“We help get your website to appear higher on Google search results!”
This is far more clear, and the type of result that your ideal customer might be looking for.
So always remove your professional fancy jargon, think about your ideal customer, and write in more simple terms that they will understand.

A detriment to a lot of content just being too “wordy.” With the attention span of many of us these days, nobody is going to stop and read multiple lines of copy.
Be clear, be concise, and always choose quality over quantity.
This can depend on a few things, though — if you’re writing a blog post as part of your marketing, then a longer, more thorough article might actually be the solution. This is because your customer might be looking to learn about a specific topic, and is led to this blog post through Google or some sort of search that they’re looking for.
However, if you’re putting together a Facebook or Google display ad, you want to be as concise and clear as possible. These types of ads are seen very quickly, so catching attention, and quickly stating your service/product/call-to-action is important.
Refer back to your ideal customer, what your goals are, and create some copy that will help achieve an end result that will trigger action.

I hope that these mistakes I’ve laid out above on what to avoid with your marketing helps point you down the right path to creating compelling, successful content.
Remember: think of your audience first and what they’re looking for, and what you can do to help lead them down a path that ends with YOU.
Avoiding the mistakes above, and following the tips and advice included, should help prevent the writers block you might have and draw in more customers.

So you have a website — great! But did you know how quickly your website is judged? Or how many visitors you could be losing as a result of the design?
It goes without question that an aesthetically pleasing website is more enjoyable to look at and navigate, rather than a clunky, outdated website. Right?
Personally, and I know I’m biased as a web designer, I cannot handle being on a website if it’s slow, poorly designed, or not mobile friendly.
With that said, here’s 3 statistics about your website that you may have never considered — but should.

2 SECONDS. Do you know how fast that is?!
1….2….that’s it.
That’s all the time you have to ensure 47% of your website visitors don’t lose their patience and leave. (Yes, I’m a part of this statistic — who likes waiting 5-10 seconds for a website to load?!)
Not only are you losing customers, but a slow website is not search engine friendly. Google’s algorithm is highly considering a website’s speed for how they rank your site, therefore punishing you in rankings for a slow site.
How can you change this? 
Well, there’s a lot of ways you can improve your website speed.
However, one of the BIGGEST, and probably the easiest ways to improve your website speed is to get a good website host.
No, not GoDaddy, or BlueHost, or HostGator. These are not good website hosts.

Imagine this: you’re a nonprofit organization that’s been around for 20+ years, with a ton of legitimacy, however you have neglected keeping your website up-to-date and modern as the years have gone by. Therefore, your website is stale, old, and not engaging.
The simple fact that your website design is outdated can drastically affect the credibility of your organization. And who wants to donate on a website that looks sketchy?
Your website design could quite literally be losing you donations (or sales, or new leads, etc).
I definitely would not enter my credit card information on a website that didn’t look safe or legit.
How do you fix this?
Simply put, you need a new website design. You can’t afford to continue using your horrible, outdated website, so hire Bootheel Web Designs to help you come into the 21st century and start gaining your potential customers trust again.

Can your website relate?
​ If your website falls under any one of these stats (bad mobile design, slow, or poor design), you should take the immediate steps to changing this.
There’s no business that can afford to lose a new customer (or 50%+ of new customers), and your website should consistently be working for you (not against).
BWD is glad to help you with your web design -- reach out to us to get started.

So you’ve got a shiny, new awesome website that’s launched! Now what?
Well, you certainly need to tell the world about it — right? So what’s the best ways to do just that? We’ve created a list of the top 8 ideas that are almost all free to do. So be sure to go through this list and check off as many as you can. Let’s go!

If you’re getting serious about wanting a new website for your company or business, then I’m sure you’re wondering how to choose the best website designer for you.
There are many different aspects to consider, from pricing to design aesthetic, so we’ll cover the top 3 things you’ll want to focus on when doing your research.

This is probably one of the biggest, if not the biggest, factors to consider when choosing a website designer.
Our advice: don’t look for the cheapest website designer you can find. You’ll get what you pay for, and quite honestly, you may not receive the same results if you pay $99 versus $895.
Sure, having a budget is incredibly important, especially to a small business who doesn’t have the capital to invest all that much. However, weigh out your options and go into it with real expectations. 

Build your budget around the proper expectations and level of website designer, and you can still have great success.

While doing your website research, you should keep in mind the style of design you’re looking to replicate.
You’ll first want to know your business — meaning, Who are you? What are you offering? How do you want to be represented? All of these questions are important in deciding on a designer.
If you’re wanting a website that’s super stylized, with a never-before-seen layout and graphics, you’ll want to make sure the website designer you choose has a portfolio showing they are capable of this.
Same goes with wanting a simple, modern website — no matter what it is, always look at the different portfolios to determine the style that fits you and your business.

Our last tip…
​Don’t decide on a website designer for personal reasons, always keep your business at the forefront of your mind. Don’t let your love of pink and glitter sway your decision. After all, the website is going to be the face of your business, so let it reflect that.

You want to create a new website, but aren’t sure what you should have on it? Let us help!
Here’s a list of the 5 most important elements we recommend for a successful website.

I’m sure you’ve visited a website, looked at the homepage, and it said something like,”Sign up for our newsletter for exclusive deals!” followed by a “Subscribe” button or a box to enter your email.
This is a call to action. It’s a way to attract the user to what you want them to see or do.
Many websites use a large image slider on their homepage to draw users into specific content. Basically any buttons that say, “Click here” or “View more” are ways to keep the user’s attention.
This is an excellent way to engage with your users and direct them to the most important information on your website.

One of my pet peeves is getting to a website, looking for a Customer Service link, and not finding it. Isn’t that frustrating?
You should always make your contact information easily accessible. You don’t even have to create a ‘Contact Us’ page, at least an email in the footer will do.
What if someone came to your site and wanted to hire you for your services? They need to know how they can contact you within 1 click at most.

​I know this sounds cliché, but great design goes a long way.
As a designer, I feel that a more updated and modern website is more trustworthy than one that is not. In fact, if a website is designed so well, someone (like myself) may be even more enticed to do business with you.
Keeping it simple, with no long drawn out paragraphs or ugly color combinations, will make the overall user experience even better.

This I cannot express enough.
So many people will point out websites that they feel look great, and in the end it’s mostly because of the amazing quality of the photos.
You can have the most simple, non-fancy looking website, but throw in some high-res aerial shots of a big city, and suddenly your site becomes awesome.
There are plenty of great resources for public domain photography (in high-res, too). So when choosing the photos for your new website, pick them with this in mind.
Hope this list helps you in deciding what you need for your new website. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re ready for the next step!

Mistakes. Everyone makes them — some willing to admit more than others, but there’s no doubt we have all been there.
When it comes to starting and running your own business, mistakes are a part of the journey. If any business owner told you they knew what they were doing from day one, they’re lying to you. There are always bumps in the road which allow you to grow and learn, and everything you learn makes your business what it is today.
With that said, I’d like to point out 3 mistakes that you (probably) have or are currently making in your business today. Additionally, I’ll give you some tips on how to change that moving forward.

The worst thing you’ll want to do is undervalue yourself for too long. Starting out you really don’t know what that number is, so starting lower is completely reasonable — however don’t sit at that number for too long. You could essentially be leaving money on the table that’s deservedly yours.
Solution #1: Raise your prices every 6 months to start out, and then eventually once a year. When you have reached a point with your pricing where 1) you’re comfortable with it, 2) you’re profitable, and 3) you’re competitive, you are probably at a good number.
I’ve always been told that if nobody questions your pricing, then raise it — however, if you’ve gotten pushback more than a few times, then you might be too high. Not sure how to tell your clients you’re raising your rates?

Setting goals in your business is vital to your success. Without business goals, you are essentially just aimlessly doing business with no real purpose.
We all have bills to pay, some of us employees, and even families to feed and support. Because of this, it’s important to set goals for your income at the end of the day. Setting goals for your income can keep you in check with where you’re at and where you need to be.
Not only are goals meant for income, but you could also set goals for certain business tasks you’ve been wanting to execute. For example, you could say by December I want to run 5 ad campaigns on Facebook. Or, within 30 days I want to gain 3 more ongoing clients.
Creating theses goals keeps you on track with always improving yourself and your business overall.
Solution #2: Don’t get too optimistic with your goals — make them achievable, so that you know they’re within reach. Mixing in goals of both short- (30 days or less) and long- (3-12 months) term lengths is important because I’m a strong believer that when you reach a goal, your drive and determination grows. So hitting those short-term goals along the way can keep you focused for the bigger goal down the road.

Often times you could find yourself going through the motions on a daily basis. Nothing is changing, you take on the same work that comes with each day, and call it good.
If this describes your routine — you need to change it. By just playing it safe and not striving for more, your limiting your business, and by limiting your business you’re doing the same to your income.
You know you have more to give, so don’t stop short and settle into your comfort zone. Shoot higher than the average Joe, and give your business the attention it deserves. You didn’t work so hard to get here to only plateau at a certain point.
Solution #3: Create a new routine for yourself so you can get out of the rut you’re in. Set aside time each week to dedicate to working on your business. Try something new each month — like going to a networking lunch. Try stepping outside your box and do something different.
Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” So don’t expect your business to grow by going through the motions.

If you’re looking to improve your online presence then you’re in the right place.
We love helping small businesses like yours launch newly designed websites so they can gain more credibility and, in return, more customers.
However, before you jump right in and expect everything to all fall in place for you, here are some of the most costly mistakes you can make when getting a new website.
If you’re not careful, these mistakes could make your entire investment (time and money) for a total waste.

How you can fix this issue
In order to get the traction of new visitors to your website, you must promote it! This is commonly called marketing. 
Yes, many of us are just business owners and don’t really know much about marketing, however, with some drive and determination, anyone can do some basic marketing techniques, and in order to really get your website seen, you’ve got to do what it takes!
There are several ways you can do this, many of them free, including: post on social media, send an e-newsletter announcement, or be a guest on a podcast. Check out more ways you can promote your new website here.
2. Not tracking visitors to your siteLaunching a website, with proper goals in place, and not knowing if you are meeting these goals is planning for failure.
Who is coming to your website?
What pages are they viewing the most?
What seems to be most important?
How long are they checking out your Services page?
Where are they from?
This is all incredibly valuable information you can gain, and without it, you are just playing in the dark.
How you can protect yourself 
First and foremost, you’ve got to ensure that you have some way to track visitors to your site — like Google Analytics — in place. In Google Analytics, you can gain all of this critical tracking info, even down to what kind of device they are using.
Setup a Google Analytics account, install your tracking code, and start watching the statistics!
3. Not keeping your website freshSo you’ve got your visitors flowing in, you’re tracking their behavior — great! But are you rotating new and relevant content regularly?
To launch your website and leave it to be stale and static for months on end is yet another recipe for disaster.
Doing this is basically leaving your visitors to jump to your competitors’ websites that are far more relevant and up-to-date.
A static website, in my opinion, leaves me to think….are they still in business? Did they shut down? Why has nothing changed for so long?
Understanding how detrimental this can be for your business is important. Leaving a website to look exactly the same for 6+ months might make your customers think twice about doing business with you.
How you can protect yourself 
Always mix up your content. Take new images, write new blog posts, update your About page. There’s a good chance that your business is evolving and your website should reflect this.
One of the most important aspects of your website to take note of is the home page. This is the first page everyone comes to first — keeping this updated and fresh will show your visitors that you’re still functioning and active.
What now?There you go. Now you understand some of the biggest mistakes when getting a new website.
Avoid these mistakes to ensure that your new website continues to represent you well and bring new customers in regularly.
And remember, your website is your online sales tool, working for you around the clock — so don’t neglect it!
If you would like AWD to help you get a new website that will continue to reach your goals (and new customers) then contact us here.