Red Kite Creative

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Weekly Links Roundup – Site Speed, Product Pages, Contact Pages, WordPress Security Myths

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The top website and online marketing links of the week.

You know your website is slow. It’s always been like that. But do you really understand what that slow site could be costing you in terms of customers and conversions? A recent report shows that 70% of buyers are influence by a site’s page loading time. The average site loads in about 15 seconds – but a number of studies show that the majority of online shoppers will leave a site if they have to wait more than 3 seconds. If you need help making your site faster, check out our Performance Optimization service or get in touch with questions.

Learn how to take your product pages to the next level with this great post on design elements to make product pages soar. Start with inviting, high-quality photography – this is really critical – and then polish your text descriptions to make your product seem irresistable. Be sure to have a clear call-to-action (Add to Cart) and don’t pack the page with too much information. Never get in the customer’s way!

Here are tips for making an effective contact page – including having a contact form (form submissions are something you can measure in Analytics). But don’t make your form too long – studies show that the more questions you ask, the less likely people will fill it out (that’s really true for general contact forms, and doesn’t necessarily apply to all types of forms).

Finally… it’s always fun to debunk WordPress security risks, and here are the top 5 for this week. WordPress is no more or less secure than other online platforms. The biggest security problem for a WordPress site is the negligent site owner who fails to keep plugins, themes and WordPress updated, making their site a prime target for hackers. Don’t be that person! Be better and keep your site safe.

Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.

Weekly Links Roundup – Product Photos, Current Content, Google My Business, Blogging Lessons

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The top website and online marketing links of the week.

Sometimes, convincing clients (especially new ecommerce site owners) that they need to invest in high-quality photography for their site falls on deaf ears. And that’s a shame, because great photos are critical for ecommerce sites; the quality of your images reflects the quality of your products. And displaying poor-quality images speaks volumes about your business; if you don’t care about the photos, do you actually care about the products themselves? Learn more about why it’s so important to have high-quality imagery.

New research on customer satisfaction with websites shows that 39% of users will think twice about using an outdated website. Do you update your site content on a regular basis? Does your site look fresh and provide the latest info about your business? If not, you may want to take a look at this.

If you don’t have a brick-and-mortar store but instead run a service-area business (like a web design studio!) this is just for you: Google My Business is rolling out a new setup process that’s more friendly to us service-area companies.

If you’re a veteran blogger, trying to be a better blogger, or even just getting started in blogging, this post might be helpful. It’s the result of a survey of 1,000 other bloggers and might teach you some new tricks to make your own efforts more effective and efficient. Check out 5 lessons you can learn from 1,000 bloggers.

Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.