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Top 6 Elements of Great Web Design

Top 6 Elements of Great Web Design

Did you know that 94% of the first impressions of your website are design-related? 

A poorly designed website can lead to a negative user experience in which the user clicks off your page. Not only might they go to your competitors, but these potential customers now have a negative impression of your company.

So no matter how good your content is, you need to focus just as much on the elements of web design so your site is easy to use and is pleasing to the eye.

To help you, we’ve compiled the top 6 elements that every well-designed website should include. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know to create a website your customers will love.

1. Bold colors and images

Your color palette is a vital component of making sure your business materials are cohesive and on-brand.

Think about what primary and secondary colors you’d like to use on your website. Then, think about whether they represent your brand. You can use the principles of color psychology to help you. 

You can also use what’s called a hero image on your main page. A hero image is located at the top of your main page and acts as an oversized banner. 

The hero image should be high resolution, add value, and reflect your company’s unique selling point (USP). The hero image can also be a short video. 

Since all of the images of your website should reflect your brand, it’s a good idea to take your own photos instead of relying on stock images.

2. Clean and Eye-catching Typography

While you may love that new elegant, handwritten font you found, this type of font isn’t the best option for use on your entire website.

Think about the title/logo fonts of social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. Not only is their font easy to read, but you’d recognize it as their brand even without the logo.

Good web design uses fonts that are easy to read, catch your viewer’s eye, and also help establish your brand identity.

Some best practices when choosing your font are:

  • Black or gray typography
  • Text larger than 16 pixels
  • Enough space between the lines
  • Fonts that are standard for the web

If you want to add a handwritten font to add a more personalized and friendly touch to your site, use it sparingly. Make sure it fits with your brand story and use it in places like captions or when emphasizing certain words.

3. Search Bar

You might think that a search bar isn’t necessary if your menus are well-organized, but it’s a vital part of good web design.

While a potential customer may not need the search bar if they have no problems finding your contact information, they might need it when looking for a specific product, blog post, or any older information. 

You also want to reduce the number of clicks that users need to make to get the information they’re looking for. This reduces the chances that they’ll click off your website and go to a competitor’s website instead.

The best design for a search bar is that it’s easy to use and find on the page without interfering with your content. You can add a magnifying glass icon to make the search bar even easier to find.

4. Mobile-Friendly

Over 2 billion people use their smartphones to access the Internet, and this number is only expected to grow.

So if your website looks bad on mobile, is difficult to navigate, or doesn’t load at all, you can expect that your viewers will click off the page and go to your competitors instead.

Since creating a mobile-friendly website is very difficult if you’re not a web developer, you’ll want to get a web design SEO agency to help you.

Don’t forget to test site speed both on mobile and desktop, as a slow website will only make users click off the page and be unlikely to return.

5. Powerful Calls to Action

If you don’t have a call to action, you’re missing out on sales and making it difficult for website visitors to contact you.

A call to action (CTA) is text that prompts your website viewer, customer or lead to take action. A few examples of common CTAs include:

  • Buy now!
  • Subscribe to our newsletter for 15% off
  • Learn more
  • Contact us 

To create the right CTA for your website, first determine the purpose of your site. Then, create an easy-to-see action button that would make sense for your website.

For example, if you’re an e-commerce store, include a button for customers to sign up to your email list. If you’re a local mechanic, an essential CTA is a “contact me now” button.

6. Simple and Intuitive Navigation

Your website visitors shouldn’t have to click all around to find what they’re looking for, nor should they be confused when using your website.

One way to make your website navigation simple is to use minimal navigation menus. You also want to use a drop-down menu at the top of your website to reduce visual clutter.

The must-haves for navigation include:

  • Showing users where they are on your site
  • A “home” button
  • Directions or prompts, if needed

The best good website design examples are ones that let the user find what they are looking for without help.

If you’re not sure how usable your website is, think about conducting a usability test to see how users are navigating your website in real-time.

Include These Vital Elements of Web Design

Effective and clear web design not only makes it easy for users to navigate your site but builds trust by creating a positive impression of your brand.

Whether you have a website already or are looking to build one, include these important elements of web design to create a beautiful site that users will love.

Still have questions? Harris & Ward can help. Our skilled team of digital creatives specializes in seamless web design that facilitates growth for your brand and business.

Ready to create an eye-catching and easy-to-navigate website? Contact us today to get started.

 

Reel SEO: How Custom Videography Services Help Your Site Rank

Reel SEO: How Custom Videography Services Help Your Site Rank

Do you want to rank #1 on Google? It takes a carefully curated approach to SEO, content, products, marketing, and videos. 

More than that, though, it takes a fierce sense of competition. You’ll need to understand what your competitors do, and then do it better. One way to do that is by leveraging videography services to create top-notch SEO content. 

The world of content is changing these days. Once, blogs were king. Now, everyone wants entertaining, informative video content. After all, TikTok’s success didn’t occur in a bubble.

To get the scoop on how videography services will help boost your SEO rankings, keep reading! We’ve assembled a guide to the benefits of video SEO, and how you can leverage it to outrank your competitors. 

Leverage Keywords 

People search for content using keywords. These keywords are unique to their needs, wants, desires, and communication styles. 

It’s important that you can map out the user journey, from keyword search to purchasing from your eCommerce site. This starts with keyword research. 

This research may be time-consuming, but it’s necessary for effective video SEO optimization. These keywords will dictate your video script, the closed captioning, hashtags, video descriptions, and the social media copy you use to promote the completed video.

It will also control your video file name, video tags, titles, and so much more. When you know your keywords, you can use them at each point of your video’s journey from start to finish. 

These keywords will help shove your video to the top of Google rankings. You know what your potential customers are searching for, and the keywords you use match their search terms. 

This indicates to Google that you provide value to potential customers, and is able to match the search to results accurately. Sometimes, it may feel like Google is working against you. It’s not—instead, it’s working on behalf of the customer, which is what you should be doing, too.

Include A Transcript 

What is your experience as a consumer, with closed captioning? No one speaks the English language perfectly. Everyone has nuanced speech, accents, mannerisms, and unique quirks of speech. 

This is worsened by the fact that microphones don’t always pick up speech perfectly. All of this can translate to a ridiculous closed captioning experience. 

When someone is matching the captions with the words actually said, the content could be quite different! That’s why it’s crucial for you to invest in video transcription. 

This allows HOH people and members of the Deaf community to participate in consuming your content without accessibility barriers. In fact, Google has stepped up to the plate and started prioritizing accessibility. 

Here’s how it works. When companies put in the extra effort to invest in high-quality videography services that prioritize accessibility, Google notices. Accessibility means more people can access and gain value from your content. 

More people means more traffic and more value. Google prioritizes search results that deliver more value, and this will spike your numbers. 

Accessibility is the right thing to do, in order to reduce barriers of entry for your potential customers. But when you’re looking to outrank your competitors on Google, focusing on accessibility and transcription can make all the difference.

What’s the Load Time?

For efficient video SEO, your content needs to load quickly. Here’s the thing—experts have told us that we are living in the goldfish generation. This means that people have the average attention span of a goldfish. 

The most popular content on the Internet caters to this. It’s why viral videos are short clips, why there’s a time limit on TikTok reels, and why everything moves at such a rapid, overwhelming pace. 

Attention spans are short, which means that companies need to either get to the point or get out. Research shows that if your video takes more than 3 seconds to load, a significant percentage of people will exit out and look for something else. 

You’re not the only one delivering your product or service. Plenty of other people are doing it, too. While your angle is unique enough to deserve a customer’s attention, they don’t know that yet. 

As a business, you need to leverage your video SEO to earn their trust. The best way to do that starts by respecting their time and their attention span. 

Social Media Promotion 

When engaging with top-notch video SEO services, you’ll receive a great end product. You should be proud of this representation of your brand—which means you should promote it on social media!

All of your videos should be published on your social media channels. There are two crucial reasons for this. To start with, there’s no reason to turn down publicity. 

No one is refreshing your site every five minutes to see if your brand has published a new video. But when you promote it on the company’s Twitter channel, for instance, people will get notified. 

With any luck, they’ll click on it, take a look, and engage with it. That’s the type of publicity that no brand will turn down. 

It’s also important for backlinking purposes. As Google crawls through content and indexes it, it’s looking for backlinks. 

When you publish a new video on your brand website, that’s where the video lives. That’s where the link is located. But when Google notices that Facebook and Twitter backlinked to it, the algorithm perks up and takes a closer look. 

After all, backlinking indicates greater value. Greater value means content deserves a higher Google ranking, which can help you sail to the #1 spot.

Engaging with Videography Services 

Whether you’re trying to boost your YouTube video SEO or looking for top-notch website brand videos, our videography services have you covered. Our knowledge and expertise can help your brand rise through Google’s rankings and attract attention. 

If you need top-notch creative digital marketing services, we’ve got you covered. Contact us today to see how we can help!

 

How to Create the Perfect Dentistry Website

How to Create the Perfect Dentistry Website

Over 38% of people judge a business based on how their website looks at first glance. Another 38% stop interacting with poorly designed websites. If your dentistry website doesn’t wow potential patients, they might leave.

As people continue leaving your website, your search engine rankings will drop. You might struggle to reach patients in the future as a result.

Don’t let it come to that! Instead, read on to discover the nine essentials you need to consider for your new dental website. After reading this guide, you can create the perfect dental site with your target audience in mind.

Then, you can generate more dental leads, book more appointments, and boost business.

Set your dental practice up for success. Improve your website with these nine tips today.

1. Establish Your Goals

Before you start designing and developing your dental website, take a moment to consider your short- and long-term goals. Otherwise, your dental site won’t align with your business and marketing objectives.

For example, maybe you want to:

  • Establish your credibility in the industry
  • Post more articles and unique content
  • Share before and after photos
  • Educate people about your services
  • Share patient reviews
  • Generate brand awareness
  • Improve search engine rankings
  • Book more appointments online

Establishing your goals will determine what elements you need to include on your website.

For example, let’s say you want to book more appointments through your dental site. Consider adding more than one conversion opportunity. You can add an online booking system, too.

If you want to establish your credibility, use blog posts and patient reviews.

Once you establish your goals, you can start creating your dental website.

2. Maintain Brand Consistency

As you start working on your dentistry website, make sure to consider your brand.

A distinct brand will help you stand out from other dentists in the area. Patients will start to recognize your brand on sight. You can generate brand awareness and recognition on different marketing channels.

Without brand consistency, however, you could confuse patients. They might confuse you with another dentist. Meanwhile, they won’t connect your marketing materials on different channels.

You could struggle to create an omnichannel marketing strategy if that’s the case.

You can maintain brand consistency by creating and following brand guidelines. These guidelines should include your:

  • Logo
  • Imagery styles
  • Vision statement
  • Mission statement
  • Brand voice and tone
  • Brand personality
  • Color palette
  • Font styles

Once you establish your brand guidelines, make sure your branding is consistent across every page of your site. Otherwise, someone might click from one page to the next and think they’re on a different dental site. 

3. Improve the User Experience

As you begin working on your dentist site, make sure to keep the user experience (UX) in mind.

A positive user experience will encourage visitors to explore your content. They’ll click around, increasing your dwell times and clickthrough rate. Your search engine rankings could rise as a result.

Higher search engine rankings will help you generate more brand awareness. Your dental site will appear before others in a search, too. You could boost your brand credibility as a result.

You can improve the UX on your site by:

  • Using short sentences and paragraphs
  • Organizing content in headings and subheadings
  • Improving page load times
  • Getting mobile optimized
  • Adding an SSL certificate for security

Run your website through Google’s PageSpeed Insights and Mobile-Friendly Test. Make sure your site is fast and easy to use on smaller screens.

4. Start Blogging

Remember, adding a blog to your website can boost your credibility. You can demonstrate your experience and expertise to boost brand trust. Blogging could improve your search engine rankings, too.

Add a blog to your dental website and start creating fresh content on a schedule.

5. Get Mobile-Optimized

Mobile optimization will ensure you don’t neglect part of your target audience.

In fact, mobile devices account for nearly 70% of all internet traffic. About 90% of people use multiple screens sequentially, too. Nearly 70% of companies that develop a mobile-first website see a rise in sales.

If your website isn’t optimized for smaller devices, people might leave.

6. Use SEO

Once you start blogging, optimize your website for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO can boost your search engine rankings. You can appear in front of more people who are looking for a local dentist.

Your search engine rankings can improve as you start blogging.

Consider working with an experienced digital marketing agency that offers SEO services. They can help you boost your rankings and generate more traffic. 

7. Add Conversion Opportunities

Make sure to add more than one conversion opportunity on your website. For example, you can use a form, allowing visitors to ask questions.

You can also use a chatbot and appointment scheduler.

Adding more than one conversion opportunity could improve the UX. Visitors will have an easier time contacting you online. Otherwise, you might miss a chance to generate leads from your dental website. 

8. Post Reviews

Consider adding reviews to your dentistry website as well. Happy patient reviews can boost your credibility. On-the-fence patients will see your current patients already love and trust your practice.

You can feed your Google My Business reviews to your website using a plugin. Don’t forget to encourage people to post reviews throughout the year!

9. Work With a Pro

If you’re feeling stuck while working on your dental website, don’t feel stressed out. Instead, consider hiring a professional team.

A professional web design and development agency can improve your dental site with your goals in mind. You can improve the front and backend of your site. Your dental website will look and function as intended.

Then, you can generate more dental leads and set your practice up for long-term success.

Toothy Leads: 9 Tips for Creating the Perfect Dentistry Website

Improving your dentistry website will help you generate fresh leads throughout the year. You can book more appointments and help more patients. As your search engine rankings improve, you can boost brand awareness, too. 

Set your practice up for growth and success with these dental site tips today.

Need help developing your digital marketing strategy? We’re here for you.

Contact us today to get started.

Website Design and Development: The Key Strategies to Know

Website Design and Development: The Key Strategies to Know

Are you a small business wondering how to go about designing a website?

You might be relying on your Facebook page as a substitute, or even wondering if you need a website in the first place. Have you considered the price you’d pay for not having one?

Website design and development involves a large devotion of time and energy, but the rewards are huge. Shockingly, almost half of entrepreneurs still don’t have a small business website. Furthermore, only a third of those who do, use their website to communicate news to customers and leads.

If you don’t want to see your small business screaming into the void, it’s time to consider a website. If you don’t have one, how will you win customers from the half of your rivals that do?

We’ll explain how to know your audience, develop a strategy, hone your content, and track the results. Read on!

Know Your Audience

When you’re designing a website, the first thing to keep in mind is your target audience. If you have anything less than a crystal-clear image of your buyer persona, then you need to first invest time in researching the profile of your typical customers.

Once you have established a firm understanding of who you are aiming your website towards, you are better able to be in-sync with them. Successful website design and development will require accurate information to feed every stage of the process.

When you’ve internalized a personification of your average buyer, creative decisions, like tone, color, and imagery, flow with relative ease. If your small business has never conducted audience research, then the results will uncover a wealth of knowledge to define or evolve your brand identity.

It’s important to note that after defining and establishing the tone of your business, you should be consistent throughout the website. Staying “on brand” ensures that your message resonates with clarity and cohesion. Website visitors are all too easily distracted and don’t need much of an excuse to get confused and leave.

Research the websites of your successful competitors, who will have invested resources in honing their messaging already. Identify what is working for them, but also uncover gaps in their strategy. You can incorporate these findings to meet and exceed the competition.

Mood boards are useful to visualize creative approaches and see how well ideas communicate.

Develop a Strategy

Website design strategies that work focus on one primary goal and secondary goals that reinforce the main-agenda.

The primary goal of a small business website might be to turn leads into customers. A secondary goal could include turning existing customers into repeat business. The third goal of your website may center on engagement – encouraging your visitors to share your content on social media, for instance.

A simple layout wins in nearly all cases at capturing the limited attention of your target audience. It’s important to have a responsive website design. This entails having your website optimized to resize and restructure for various browsers and platforms.

Desktop users were once the majority of website visitors, but now, the lion’s share of site viewers will use various mobile devices. Tablets and phones of all shapes and sizes mean that a flexible and adaptable design is essential.

Map out the buyer journey when conceiving the structure of your website. Create a flowchart to prototype your site so that important pages are easy to navigate. Later, a more detailed sitemap can come together as the structure becomes more fully formed.

Attention, Interest, Decision, and Acquisition (AIDA) is a principle that can help shape the buyer funnel. 

Focus on Content

There’s another variant of the AIDA principle: Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. This can work within the website pages themselves to ensure that all selling pages are effective at driving action.

A website built in a content management system (CMS) like WordPress will make it easier to create, delete, and maintain content.

Choose appropriate keywords that are popular in your industry, and build your website contents around them. Use them in the title, meta descriptions, and headings, but don’t over-insert them awkwardly. Your copy must have a human linguistic flow so that search engines can easily read and index your pages.

Create regular content with a focus on your keywords to increase your organic search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. Your goal should be visibility high in the results on the first page of Google, for your industry and in your area. Regular articles, written in a blog format, are very effective at accomplishing this. 

When developing a website, make sure that the information on each page is presented in an easy-to-read fashion. Good use of white space is important, so as not to overload the eyes.

Break up the copy so that it is most effective in a hierarchical sense. Frequent one-line spaces between paragraphs make the copy easy to scan. Keep paragraphs 2-3 sentences long for the same reason, and make good use of headings, subheadings, etc.

Track Results

Winning website development strategies often treat all pages as if they were landing pages. Sometimes, unexpected pages may rank very well, causing high numbers of visitors to land on them.

By tracking your results using Google Analytics, you can optimize these pages further still. Website speed is important so as not to lose visitors who might get frustrated by the loading time. Website analytics are useful at monitoring performance and engagement.

It’s a good idea to have a call-to-action (CTA) at the top of pages, perhaps in the menu. This CTA is intended for buyers who are further along in the decision-making process. A second and more prominent CTA would be well-placed near the end of the page contents, with the rest of the page built around it.

A/B testing involves serving up two slightly different pages to a split audience. The page style with the best results wins.

Remember, the goal of any website geared around selling is to win out over the competition. Competitive analysis tools are useful in website design and development to serve this objective. 

Finally, you must always evolve and tweak your website because a successful website is never a finished, static entity.

Website Design and Development

We’ve shown that website design and development requires careful planning if you want to hit your goals. Don’t be overwhelmed by the hard work that’s necessary to beat your competitors.

If you’re a small business owner developing a website, we can help you. We specialize in website design and provide creative marketing services to small businesses across the nation. Our core services are web development and hosting, but we also offer custom photography, videography, and search engine optimization (SEO).

Contact us today, and we’ll connect you with your audience.

These Are the Different Types of SEO You Need to Know

These Are the Different Types of SEO You Need to Know

Did you know that 71-92% of search engine users don’t click past the first page after making a query?

The statistic surprised us, too, but it’s undeniably true. If you want your business to be successful online, it’s essential that your page is on the first page of Google rankings.

But how can you make this happen? The answer lies in search engine optimization (SEO). Read on to learn the main types of SEO and how you can begin executing a comprehensive and effective optimization strategy!

On-Site SEO

Generally, there are two categories that an SEO strategy can fall under: on-site and off-site. On-page SEO is a term used to refer to manipulations that a site builder makes within their own website to make it more appealing to both consumers and crawlers. It’s the most direct way to get your page to rank and there’s no need to rely on external pages and off-site factors.

Conducting keyword research and finding high-volume keywords to put onto your site is arguably one of the most important aspects of on-site SEO. These keywords stand out to Google crawlers when they are inserted into descriptions, page information, and blog posts. Crawlers then believe that your page is relevant to the keywords that get the most searches in relation to your page and place you at the top of the search results for these terms.

However, this is not the only important aspect of on-page SEO. The relevance, semantics, and engagingness of the content that you include on your page are also critical. If site visitors aren’t engaged by your content, they’re likely to click away within 15 seconds of coming to your page. This looks fishy to search engine crawlers who then believe your page to be irrelevant and unreputable.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to certain on-page SEO strategies that are concerned with making your page run more efficiently. Improving the technical aspects of your website is an important way to make it more appealing to search engine spiders. This includes things like improving site speed, making the page easier to crawl, and updating system content regularly.

One of the most important parts of technical SEO is manipulating the HTML of your website. Include keywords and short, searchable phrases in the descriptions, headers, and alt/meta tags on your page. Additionally, make sure your blog posts have clickable titles that will keep people on your page.

Using SE indexing and appropriate URLs is also important. Sites that have been appropriately indexed are easier for Google crawlers to understand and index within the wider internet. As a result, they will believe your site to be credible and well-maintained, which makes it rise in the rankings.

Off-Site SEO

Off-page SEO refers to manipulations that you do on parts of the internet that aren’t your website to drive traffic to your page. You don’t change anything on your webpage, but instead are trying to get people on other parts of the net to visit it. The main goal of this is to build your credibility with consumers and make crawlers also view your site as reliable.

Most people associate off-site SEO with link building, and with good reason- establishing appropriate backlinks is one of the most important ways to optimize your webpage. A backlink is a link that you incorporate within a blog post that takes the reader to another relevant, reputable website that they may be interested in. These links are related to the content and have an anchor text of between 2-5 words.

When search engine crawlers see backlinks on your site, they immediately associate you with the page that your content links to. If you pay for quality link-building services, you’ll only be associated with pages that have been proven reputable. This will lead to you being indexed higher on Google because you’ll be viewed as on par with these already high-ranking pages.

Comprehensive Off-Page Strategies

However, executing a comprehensive off-page SEO strategy requires much more than simple backlinks. You also need to have inbound links to your website on other areas of the internet. This will drive traffic to your site and get you higher traffic. It also will make your page appear reputable since it has been found relevant and cited more often than your competitors.

There are a few ways that you can get inbound links, the first one being guest posting. You can purchase guest post packages from SEO experts, which essentially is you paying for another reliable site to use you as a backlink.

However, this isn’t always necessary. You can also link to your own website on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. This is also a great way to make your social media pages more interesting to those who follow you. You can show relevant blog posts and services to people who are already interested in your business and they’ll follow the link to your page. It’s a win-win situation!

Building trust in your consumers is also a good off-page strategy. Positive reviews that mention you are categorized as good citations by crawlers, as are indirect mentions on other websites (including social media platforms). The more often your website name is shared, the more reputable you look.

Which SEO Marketing Techniques Are Right for You?

So, should you use on-site SEO for your business? Or would off-site SEO be better?

The answer to this is that you need both on-page and off-page SEO if you want to rank. Your competitors are using comprehensive strategies, and if you neglect one type of SEO, you’re sure to fall behind those who are investing in more well-rounded solutions. However, it’s also important that you ensure that you’re investing in white hat SEO rather than black hat alternatives.

White hat SEO refers to getting SEO content that has respect for your competitors and your industry as well as your client’s time. This means having relevant and engaging fresh content, natural keyword density, and links to and from relevant sources in your industry. This is in contrast to black hat SEO, which creates duplicate content, has keyword stuffing, and cloaks text and links that have been farmed from other sources.

Using black hat SEO could get you thrown to the bottom of Google rankings if you’re caught. Plus, duplicate content that’s been overstuffed to the brim with keywords just isn’t quality content.

So, to recap: you want white-hat SEO services that perform both on-site and off-site SEO.!

Get Started With Different Types of SEO

Now that you know the main types of SEO, it’s time to begin optimizing your website to its fullest potential.

Contact us with any lingering questions that you may have about SEO and how it can benefit your webpage. Our experts are happy to chat and come up with a comprehensive strategy to optimize your webpage, so we look forward to hearing from you soon!

3 Benefits of Working with a Certified SEO Agency

3 Benefits of Working with a Certified SEO Agency

Google Analytics Explained [Plus, 3 Benefits of Working with a Certified SEO Agency]

Written by Lesley Goodaker, Digital Marketing Manager

The importance of Google’s marketing tools has grown tremendously over the last decade. Today, any business that wishes to grow its search engine rankings must make use of these tools — and for good reason.

Google Analytics is one of the many tools that Google provides to help business owners understand what visitors are doing on their website. Like, Google Ads, Analytics is an essential component of any business’s marketing toolkit.

What is Google Analytics?

Google has one of the most well-known analytics reporting platform for tracking web performance. Serving as a host for data collection, the platform can gather a wide range of data about your site and the visitors who use it. The best part — Google Analytics data is not presented as raw data but in the form of custom reports.

Using a tracking code, Google Analytics reports back to a central dashboard which provides a visual representation of site data in real-time (or by a specific date range). These are designed to make it easy to identify patterns and gain insights about your performance.

Why is it Important?

The insights you gain from Analytics reports can be a valuable tool for improving your site performance. Rather than operating on guesswork, you can set up goals with concrete objectives, including:

  • Identifying the pages that convert bestThis can be particularly beneficial to business owners looking for enhanced eCommerce, improvements on a contact form, or to improve bounce rate.
  • Understanding the origins of your site’s referral traffic. Referral traffic is Google’s method of reporting visits that come to your site from sources outside of its own network. This can be helpful in learning about your audience and their interests. 
  • Tracking the location of your site visitors. Using your users’ IP addresses, Analytics can help you identify where your traffic is coming from (geographically speaking). This can be a great asset for determining lead potential.
  • Determining how many new (and returning) users visit your site. Tracking your ratio of new to returning visitors can help you better understand the function of your site for customers. Are new users using your site to gather information about your services? Are returning customers using your site to contact you?

But, that’s just the start. To the untrained eye, the admin menu and functions can be overwhelming, As a result, many business owners simply choose to not set up Google Analytics. That’s exactly what you don’t want to do!

What if I Don’t Have the Time to Get Certified?

As a small business owner, it’s very likely you already have too many hats to wear. The last thing you want to do is invest your time (and money) in learning the ins and outs of a platform as cumbersome as Analytics.

So, how can a time-starved business owner still benefit from Google Analytics? Simple — enlist the support of an agency (like Harris & Ward) that is trained in the management of Google platforms. 

We are proud to offer search engine optimization services for small businesses that are backed by team members who are Google Analytics certified. Using the expertise of trained digital marketing experts, we take your site’s data and turn it into real results.

After all, the greatest value of Analytics is not in the data itself but in the actionable takeaways for your business. 

Benefits of Google Analytics Certification

While virtually every self-proclaimed marketer on the planet is using some form of Google Ads or Analytics, few of them are actually certified.

Google certification programs have long been an industry standard for gauging a marketer’s competence in different areas of digital marketing. However, with the wealth of information already available online, many people fail to see the point in certification.

Though analytics is easy enough to use for beginners, with proper attention, it stands to be a very powerful tool in the hands of knowledgeable users. That’s why we’ve compiled the 3 most compelling benefits of Google Analytics certification.

  1. Better business practices. During training, students learn the nuances of Analytics and how to best manage Google Analytics custom features and tools. While any marketer or business can access Analytics, SEO professionals that are certified by Google are held to a higher standard than others in the industry and operate according to Google’s best practices for account management.
  2. Ongoing education. To maintain status, individuals (or agencies) must retake their certification annually to ensure they are well-versed in the latest and greatest technology. As a result, certified marketers are being encouraged to practice continuing education in order to maintain their status. This ultimately ensures you are benefitting from the most contemporary SEO tools and services. 
  3. Improved strategy. Certified professionals must be well-versed in all features of Analytics including keyword research, competitor research, site performance, and much more. When you’ve learned how to properly set up and navigate an Analytics’ property, you’ll be well on your way to making better recommendations and business decisions on strategy implementation.

So, why wait? Contact us today to discuss how Google Analytics can benefit your business today!