Rebelling

Common mistakes you’re making on your About Us page

Posted on October 30, 2018 by ittisa-admin

“Research states that one of the most highly trafficked pages on a business website is the About Us page.”

The About Us page on a website is often overlooked, with more emphasis given to other content and product pages. However, this is the page that introduces the audience to you and your brand, helps to build rapport and initiate conversations. A lot of websites fail to construct a proper About Us page, giving room to mistakes that can prove to be costly.

Here are 5 of the most common mistakes you’re making regarding an ‘About Us’ page and the way you can fix it –

1. Not having an ‘About us’ page at all

“52% of online users wish to see an About Us page on a company’s website.”

Even though some may believe it, having an About Us page on the website is not a cliche. It is the most visited page when it comes to a business website. It serves as an opportunity for the audience to know more about a brand, the kind of work they do and the place where all the when/what/where/how questions are answered.

nirmal about us page

A very nicely designed website without an About Us page means losing out on a lot of opportunities. If you don’t have one, it’s time to get one now.

2. No social proof

In the age of digital media, social proof has a lot of importance to provide a positive impact on online conversions. It helps increase credibility, build trust with the audience and encourage brand recognition.

Include all your social media channels in your About Us page. Make sure to highlight a few well-known brands that you have partnered or work with. Also, providing links of sites where your business has featured in, testimonials of existing clients and virality on social media will also help generate positive conversations.

ittisa About Us

3. Absence of visual element

“The human brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than textual ones.”

If you want to sell your products or service, it is important that people not only know you, but also trust you. The best way of telling your audience who you are is by adding images and videos, wherever relevant.

yak cheese treats page

Give people a chance to know you and peek inside your world. Posting images and videos of yourself, the team and the workspace makes your brand more human, allowing people to connect better with what you have to offer.

4. Boring and never ending content

Stories are no doubt captivating but long and boring ones are definitely not. If you wish to provide a background story of your brand, make sure it’s creative, interesting and meaningful.

Keeping the tone stiff and business-like is another mistake that brands tend to do. Stay clear of the corporate talk and technical jargon. Bring out the human story of the owners, directors and employees in a way that would be appealing to read.

Common mistakes about us page

It is also important to remember that people have a very short attention span online, so it’s better to keep it short and sweet. Keep the content around 400-500 words. Too much text can prevent them from reading a single line in the first place.

5. Not linking the page to landing pages

Your About Us page can be the best platform to showcase your best work, most popular blogs or top selling products or services. Therefore, not directing the audience to your most popular page from there is indeed a bad decision. If you don’t do so, people who visit your About page will simply click on the back button or close the tab, and you’ll fail to educate them about your products/services.

aashirvaad atta landing page

Rectifying these mistakes can be a matter of few minutes, but the results will leave a positive impact for a long time. If done properly, it can connect more visitors and encourage additional conversions for the business. To know more about how to make your About page better, leave us a message and we’ll get back to you soon.

Posted under: Brand

6 Ways to cut Marketing Costs without losing out on Business

Posted on October 15, 2018 by ittisa-admin

An important aspect of running a successful business and acquiring new consumers is to market the brand’s product or services. However, spending a lot of money on marketing without receiving a considerable amount of sales will bring the business to a standby position.

Below are 6 ways that can help reduce marketing costs without endangering the business:

Begin with Unpaid Campaigns

It is advisable to start with projects or social media campaigns that are less expensive and may not directly generate sales. Google Analytics may help to determine the low-cost or the low-producing marketing schemes which can be used as a project to start with. The money that is saved can be used in other areas of the business.

unpaid marketing campaign

Nirmal VCO hosted a short campaign on the various unusual uses of virgin coconut oil.

Focus on Quality

A brand should utilise its budget in quality marketing efforts like digital marketing instead of investing in a number of average projects. If a brand receives more leads from online advertising then more budget should be invested in this area instead of investing in ideas that might not generate substantial leads. This will help generate more sales within a budget.

Do not follow-up with uninterested Leads

Contacting leads again and again who have fewer chances of converting into customers is a waste of time and resources. It is wiser to target potential customers who suit the ‘ideal buyer persona’ since there are maximum chances of them getting converted into customers.

uninterested Leads

https://wordflirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Stranger-to-Customer-Chart.png

Utilise free Social Media Tools and Features

Posting or scheduling posts on Social Media is free and a simple yet effective way to market business if done thoughtfully and strategically. A brand can share its business updates on Social Media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or Instagram, free of cost without any paid advertising. Plenty of hashtags can be used along with the posts for increased reach, free of any kind of charges!

If a brand wishes, they can also consider sponsoring a limited number of posts in a limited budget or can also cut down on the frequency of updating sponsored posts on social media sites for social media marketing. This will help target potential customers yet keep the investment level within budget.

social media marketing tools

Opt for Free Publicity

A brand may choose to hire local journalists, small PR agencies or free press release websites to cover their stories, promote their products or submit press releases for SEO and to increase website traffic. Usually, if a news source has information that a brand is organising a charitable event or releasing a new product they will cover it without having the brand spend a penny.

Upload Blogs on a Regular basis

B2B marketers who blog generate 67% more leads. Blogging and sharing blogs on social media platforms like Facebook can increase traffic on a daily basis and provide readers or the audience with insights about a brand’s product or its industry. This helps a brand with marketing as well as provides free and useful information to consumers. If this is done consistently, then a brand may also create guest posts for other related blogs which in turn will provide helpful information to an extended audience and help get backlinks to the brand’s website.

marketing blogs

Cutting down on budgets is not easy for businesses or brands. The requirements of a brand keep changing and fluctuating over time. The initial marketing budget need not be the permanent one. The budget cuts that have to be made while investing in a brand’s marketing should be wise and prove to be beneficial for the brand.

For more ideas on how to cut down your marketing costs, leave us a message in the comments section and we will get back to you!

Posted under: Digital Marketing

6 Tips To Make Your Website Easier To Navigate

Posted on October 12, 2018 by ittisa-admin

“Websites promote you 24/7, no employee will do that.”

In today’s time, a brand without a website means only one thing – losing out on great opportunities in business. However, just having a website does not mean the job is done. In a survey by HubSpot, 76% of the respondents indicated the most important element for them while visiting a website is when “the website makes it easy for me to find what I want.”

Establishing easy-to-follow directions through planned website navigation will help your customers explore your site effortlessly. Here are 6 tips to make your website easier to navigate –

1. Ensure you have your headings right

“On average, 8 out of 10 people will read the headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”

The first thing that a user will notice when he/she visits your page is the heading, so you cannot afford to go wrong there. Make sure that all your headings and subheads are clear and straightforward. It is also aesthetically better to keep all headings in the same length and parallel structure. Proper headings and sub heads are also important for SEO services.

Website navigation ideas

When the headings and sub heads are clear and directly address the questions that the audience come looking for in your website, it makes your site easier and more comfortable for navigation.

2. Add relevant and original images

“It has been estimated that 84% of communications will be visual by the end of 2018.”

Images are a great way to make your website look more appealing, but only when chosen carefully. A big mistake in this regard is to use stock photos for your website. Though it is easy and a cheaper option to use stock photos and may also look professional, it is often perceived to be impersonal, uninteresting and unrelatable by the audience.

The human brain is known to identify images in almost 100 milliseconds. Therefore, selecting images that are an ideal reflection of your brand’s product or services can be a great opportunity to attract the audience even if they do not read a single word on the website.

website navigation bar

3. Pay attention to your content format

If the content on your website looks dull or monotonous, people are more likely to skip the page without reading anything. Just like the style and tone is important in writing, so is the formatting and visual appeal.

Instead of publishing your content in long paragraphs, break it up into sub heads, shorter paragraphs and bullet points.

nirmal website navigation structure

“70% of people look at lists with bullet points while 55% look at lists without bullet points.”

Different content formats, even on the same webpage enhance the visual texture and will help grab the attention of the audience.

4. Make your website interactive

An interactive site is most likely to make users browse your website for a longer time and encourage them to keep coming back. There are different ways to do that – one can be to make the text and images interactive when an user hovers the mouse over it or maybe detailed text information over a certain product or service.

Other creative options for an interactive website include embedding polls and quizzes on the website.

interactive website

Source: Woobox

5. Your site should be mobile optimized

“67% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a website that is compatible with mobile devices.”

The algorithm update by Google in 2018 focuses on mobile-first index. This means that the search engine will primarily look at mobile content for search engine ranking. Hence, if you want your business to stay on top of the search results and people to keep coming back to your page, your website should be easily viewable and readable on all compatible mobile devices.

mobile optimized website

Source: Zomato

A mobile-friendly website also has other advantages like improved user experience, search visibility, brand identity and even lead generation.

6. Make your 404s interesting

A 404 error can have a negative effect on your website, driving users away. However, there will be times when this issue can crop up, so the best thing you can do is be prepared for it.

Keep checking your page from time to time so that you find the errors before your users find it. Apart from that, instead of keeping your error pages general, customize them to make it friendly and attractive (and humorous, if you wish). Another great way to keep your page audience entertained instead of being annoyed is by integrating some kind of games in the 404 error pages.

website broken page

Source: creativebloq.com

Remember that a good website design and experience is not only about having useful and genuine information, but also presenting it in an organized and appealing way. It is important to keep a tab on your website and make improvements from time to time for better user experience. To know more about how to make navigation easy on your website, leave us a message and we’ll get back to you soon!

Posted under: Design

6 Best Practices for Ecommerce Checkout

Posted on October 10, 2018 by ittisa-admin

“58.6% online shoppers abandon a cart during checkout because of a long and complicated checkout process.”

A majority of ecommerce businesses take special care to optimize the homepage and front end of their website, with beautiful designs and interactive user experiences. However, they often overlook the importance of optimizing the checkout page. For an online store, the checkout surpasses every other page of the website in terms of importance and to increase ecommerce sales.

Studies say that 7 out of 10 shopping carts are abandoned. However, there are multiple ways to improve the checkout experience of your customers and reduce cart abandonment –

1. Provide the option of guest checkout

“25.6% of online consumers will abandon your cart if you force them to register first.”

When a customer wants to purchase a product from your ecommerce store, after making the selection, they would always want the process to be simple, secure and fast. In such a situation, forcing the customer to register by making a new account can prove to be a hindrance. In fact, studies have proved that this is one of the primary reasons of cart abandonment.

website guest checkout

Source: neilpatel.com

As a business owner, you would definitely want to get customer information for further notifications and offers, but the best practice would be not to force them into it. Keep both the options of registering and guest checkout for customers. You can keep the option of saving the details and creating an account after the checkout process. As an incentive, you can provide a special offer for registering to encourage customers to create an account.

2. Keep a minimalistic checkout page

As your customer reaches the checkout page, it is important to keep them there to complete the whole process. Any unnecessary information on this page can distract customers from doing what they intended to. Avoid keeping social media icons, testimonials and promotional offers on that page.

website checkout page

The steps should be few and the process should be fast so that customers reach the order confirmation page as quickly as possible. Also, single checkout pages work better compared to multiple ones.

3. Design well for easy form filling

If the web form looks boring and difficult, it can discourage the customers from completing the entire process. Mark cleanly and clearly every required field with asterisks and pay attention to the field size and alignment. Using drop down menus is also a smarter and more user-friendly option.

virgin america website easy form filling process

Clicking, instead of typing has always been preferable in the checkout process. This is specially feasible when a customer is making the purchase from a mobile device. It makes the work much lesser, easier and more engaging.

4. All costs should be made clear beforehand

Not all surprises are pleasant. A customer would not like to go through an entire checkout process and then find some added delivery or shipping charges added to their bill. A lot of users can also leave the page without completing the process and keeping the purchase incomplete – and forming a negative opinion about your site.

Inform your customers as soon as you can about all the charges that are applicable, including shipping costs, delivery charges and taxes. You can keep the option of keeping the pincode right at the beginning so that the delivery charges can be calculated beforehand.

5. Assure customers of a secured payment system

Show all security credentials to customers when asking for their card details to assure them that it is safe to make the purchase. Use padlocks and https wherever applicable and provide security information and encryption about the databases where you are storing their information. It will reassure customers to go ahead with the purchase without any security concerns.  SSL certificates can authenticate the security of data during checkout.

website secured payment system

Ensure that there is multi-layered security on your e-commerce platform. Monitor every transaction and keep a lookout for any suspicious activity.

6. Provide phone/chat support

“44% of online customers say that having their questions answered by a live person during an online purchase is one of the most important features of an ecommerce website.”

In case there is a problem during the checkout process, it needs to be addressed immediately, or else you may lose a customer. In this situation, sending an automated mail saying that it will be looked into in the next 48 hours may not help, especially if your competitors provide real time support.

website chat support

Source: Web Spiders

The checkout page is indeed the most important page of your ecommerce store. A very minor error or distraction can impact your business in a great way. That is why it is all the more important to identify every problem and keep your page optimized. To know more about how to improve user experience on your page, leave us a message and we’ll get back to you.

Posted under: E-Commerce

7 Actionable Content Marketing Tips For 2018

Posted on October 3, 2018 by ittisa-admin

“Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads.”

Behind the success of every great brand, lies valuable and relevant content that could successfully connect with the audience. Content is an important pillar that supports every other aspect of a brand’s digital marketing strategy.

“78% customers prefer knowing a brand via articles instead of ads.” This explains the importance of creating good content. However, producing quality content is not enough, it needs to be marketed well for greater reach. Here are 7 actionable content marketing tips for 2018 –

1. Focus more on content remarketing

“Almost 96% of people leave a website without completing the action the marketer would have liked them to take.”

Content remarketing is like a second chance to get what you wanted from website visitors.

content remarketing

Source: seethroughweb.com

Producing good quality content is great, but without content remarketing, there is a possibility that you’ll not be able to reach the goal you’ve set. Tag the regular visitors to your site whenever new content is published, which will increase readability and shareability – and the bonus point is you can grab the attention of your existing users.

2. Emphasis on keywords is necessary

“61% marketers prioritize improving their SEO and growing their organic presence.”

There has always been mixed opinions regarding SEO, with many experts advising on not to focus on keywords and only concentrate on high quality content. However, keywords are imperative to remain on top of search results and increase visibility.

Finding relevant keywords first and using them in your content will help you rank as well as market your content well.

relevant keywords for content

Source: Unamo

3. Include data for authenticity

Relevant data, when used properly can add great value to a brand. It also establishes authority – and chances are the online audience will approach your content for getting all the data they need.

Your brand can also earn media mentions and your data can be used on other pages too. Backing up your content with data means more credibility and encouraging people to read your content more.

4. Keep your content original

Copying content from other popular blogs can lead to loss of brand value and affect your website ranking on search engine results. Moreover, with Google’s recent algorithm update, duplicate content will greatly suffer and lose visibility.

Original content is of prime importance in order to do content marketing effectively. Even if you are using someone else’s content, make sure to give credits.

5. Content should speak in your brand voice

The object of content marketing is to publicize your brand and take it to the next level. Therefore, it is very important to speak to your audience in the brand voice. An inconsistent brand voice will only create confusion among the existing audience, and also be a hindrance from getting new ones.

Ensure that everything that you conceptualize, plan, create or publish is aligned with the overall branding and strategy of the brand. A brand to look out in this regard would be Zomato.

branded content

Source: Facebook

6. Publish the best without overdoing it

Large volumes of content get posted on the Internet every single day and that may encourage you to post more. However, it can have a detrimental effect. Posting too much or irregularly can affect the engagement rate. The best option in this regard is to post only the best content, even if it is just once or twice a week. Avoid posting unnecessary content that won’t serve any purpose.

Tip: Keep your status updates on social media platforms short and simple to grab attention.

“Facebook posts between 100-250 characters get about 60% more likes, comments and shares.”

7. Check how your content is performing

Writing good quality content and publishing does not mean the job is done. It is equally important to evaluate how the content is performing and whether the audience is actually reading and liking it. There are numerous tools available like Google Analytics that can evaluate the performance of the content that you put up on your website.

content performance

The number of likes, mentions, comments share and re-publication indicate the kind of content liked by your social media audience, the visibility of your content, how engaging it is and if it is valued by other bloggers or experts in the same field.

Content marketing does not happen in a day, it requires patience and perseverance. However, the right approach, strategy and evaluation can yield great results. To know more about how content marketing can benefit your business, leave us a message and we’ll get back to you!

Posted under: Content Marketing