5 Things to Consider When Beginning an eCommerce Site

With many traditional brick and mortar stores closing down, online shopping has never been so explosive. Shopping online was once a convenience, but it is now a necessity, making it a very profitable business model. If you are thinking of starting an eCommerce site, here are five things to consider before you start.

1. Choosing a Payment Gateway

When you start an online store, one of the first things you will need to do is choose the right payment gateway. Payment gateways are software that connects the shopping cart on your site to your customers’ credit card processing networks. Examples of payment gateways include PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.Net, and Square.

When choosing which one you will use, it is essential to consider transaction fees and integrations. New businesses can start with gateways that charge higher fees because they are easier to set up, and then transition to gateways that charge lower fees later. If you want to provide your customers with a smooth and seamless experience, look for payment gateway integrations that allow customers to stay on your site while entering payment information.

2. Tracking Inventory

When it comes to managing your online store, organized inventory management is a must. New online stores can use spreadsheets or pen and paper to track inventory or use their cart’s built-in inventory tracking feature. When your sales volume begins to grow, you can consider upgrading to inventory management software that streamlines the process.

3. Using Professional Product Photos

Visual content is an important factor in whether consumers make a purchasing decision. Landing pages that display large, high-resolution images from multiple angles can create an experience by bringing your product to life. By implementing big images and 360-degree product views, you can increase your chances of capturing more attention and making more sales.

4. Virtual vs. Physical Products

You can sell physical products, such as books or clothes, or virtual products, such as downloadable software, through your online store. If you’re not sure whether it is best to sell physical or digital products, there are a few considerations to keep in mind. With digital products, you won’t have to worry about tracking inventory or investing in storage costs. You also won’t have to worry about stock management or shipping calculations.

If you decide to sell physical products, it can be easier to demonstrate value or offer products that are unique. It can also make for straightforward transactions. Digital products sometimes involve a certain amount of follow-up with the customer. With that being said, physical products can be harder to scale, and you will also have to take shipping and handling fees into consideration.

5. Including a Privacy Policy

There are two reasons why your online store needs a privacy policy. Not only are they legally required if you are using cookies to collect personal information, but your customers also expect to see them, which can help establish trust. The California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 requires that commercial website owners are required to display a privacy policy regardless of where you are located in the U.S.

Likewise; the EU’s GDPR requires a privacy policy when collecting personal information from consumers located in the EU. It doesn’t matter where your business is located but it does matter where your customers are.

Payment gateways, inventory tracking, content, and technical factors such as including a privacy policy are just a few considerations to make before beginning an online store.

Other things you should take into consideration include shipping options, discounts, refund policies, SSL certificates, and more. If you are thinking of building an online storefront, contact Infinite Web Designs today to learn more about how our solutions can improve your visibility and help increase sales.

Want User-Friendly Websites? Fast Loading Speed Is Crucial

When it comes to designing a website for your business, putting page speed on the back burner can cost you big time. User-friendly websites designed with visitors in mind can help increase brand growth, visibility, and revenue maximization. Page speed plays a significant role in creating user-friendly experiences. Your website may look great, but it is crucial to make sure that it is also loading efficiently.

Why Are User-Friendly Websites Important?

Websites that provide a user-friendly experience are more likely to rank higher in search engines. If someone lands on your website and then clicks the back button a few moments later, search engines will reprimand you for having a low bounce rate, and you can drop down in the results. Plus, you won’t make sales if your visitors don’t make it past the first landing page.

Slow loading times are notorious for causing low bounce rates. If somebody clicks on your site but has to wait forever to see what’s on it, they’re probably not going to stick around. By making sure that each page on your website loads quickly, you can increase your overall site speed and enjoy more traffic. The typical loading time for each page on your website should be more than two seconds.

Common Mistakes That Cause Slows Loading Speed

If you attempt to build a website without having any prior web development experience, there is a good chance that you may make a mistake or not catch something that can subtly cause your loading times to suffer.

Wrong Sized Images

One of the most common mistakes that impacts page speed is uploading large image files. Imagine clicking on a website, but the images don’t load right away – most people will become impatient and click off your site. Compressing images before you upload them can contribute to faster load times on your pages and better user experiences.

Multiple Redirects

If you move a page on your website from one subfolder to another, you have to set up a 301 redirect that takes people who click on the original link to the page’s new location. If you have too many redirects, this can have a severe impact on how long it takes for your entire website to load.

Unnecessary Code

Having unnecessary code on the back end of your websites, such as JavaScript or CSS, can make your website take forever to load. Drag and drop website builders often add excessive, uneditable coding to your website, making it difficult to load within two seconds or less.

How to Make Sure Your Website Always Loads Quickly

If you lack web design experience, you may find it challenging to make your web pages faster. The best way to ensure you are providing visitors with a fast and smooth is to optimize your site, contact Infinite Web Designs, LLC today to receive a free report of your current site speed grade and how we can improve it!

5 Tips for Finding the Best Website Designer

When you are ready to build a website for your business, hiring an experienced website designer is a wise investment. Although there are many “drag and drop” programs available that make it easy for anyone to build a webpage, you will quickly discover that there is more to building a profitable website than just aesthetics.

1. Does Your Website Designer Have Marketing Experience?

An ideal website designer will have a strong background in digital marketing. Look for someone who demonstrates a succinct knowledge of branding, as that is one of the main purposes of having a website.

Branding isn’t just including your name and logo on the homepage – it also involves making sure that color schemes, trademarks, logos, and local citations are consistent across your entire web presence. Inconsistent branding can lead to confusing and losing customers, as many consider it very unprofessional.

2. Review Portfolio

When looking to hire someone to design your website, it is important to review his or her portfolio. Evaluate previous websites this person has designed and decide whether it is easy to navigate that particular website.

Web design is more than visual appeal – it also takes into consideration structure, which can impact your search engine optimization score in Google. Your prospect should have a presentable portfolio that reflects years of experience.

3. Look for Mobile-Friendly Programming Experience

We live in a digital age where most people are glued to their phones, so you’ll want whoever you chose to design your website to make it mobile-friendly. Web page speed can vary from desktop to mobile. Hiring a person who knows the inner workings of programming can ensure that compatibility and page speed does not penalize your site and lower its search engine ranking.

4. Ask About SEO Knowledge

If your website isn’t built to standards for both users and search engine bots (which crawl your pages and index your site on Google), this can lead to a handful of headaches. In fact, your site may not appear on Google at all! An experienced designer can leverage your keyword strategy by optimizing the title and Meta tags of every page on your website, making it more visible on all search engines.

5. Look for Content Creation Experience?

A website without content is nothing more than an empty shell. If you can find a designer who also has content creation experience, he or she is your best bet. Even if you do not hire that person to provide content to fill your site with, you can rest assured that when you do add content, it will complete your website. The goal is to take every visitor from the top of the funnel to the bottom, which translates to more sales.

Designing a website can be costly but it is an expense that is certain to get you a massive return on investment. When outsourcing this task, remember to look for a web designer with solid experience in digital marketing, programming, SEO, and one that has a live portfolio. If you require expert web design services that are functional, eye-catching, and professional, contact Infinite Web Designs LLC today to discuss our powerful end-to-end marketing services! We are one of the top Connecticut web design agencies!

Website Design Essentials: 6 Key Things to Consider When Designing a Website

In this digital age, having a website for your business is essential to your survival. Websites can increase your visibility and awareness of your brand. It can also help you gain access to potential customers looking up businesses through search engines. Good website design has some important elements to consider.

6 Key Things to Consider When Designing a Website

1. Branding

Branding is more than just your name and logo. It is your look, your voice, and the message your company sends the world. Designing a website is just another way to communicate your brand to people.

Your website should capture all of this while staying consistent with other branding you have on different platforms. You should aim to use a brand guideline to keep your visual styles, themes, and fonts consistent and pleasing to the eye.

2. Ease of Use

If a website isn’t user-friendly, you will lose many potential customers. No matter how good your social media is, how great your marketing campaign is, or how strong your brand is, leads will walk away in frustration over a confusing website.

This especially includes being mobile-friendly. Keeping your website simple with a clear structure and site map will help. You can also hire an expert such as Infinite Web Designs, LLC to make sure your site is the best it can be.

3. Aesthetics

Aesthetics are the visual elements of your website from colors to themes to typography. While the visual elements of a website should be consistent with your branding, they should also catch the eye and draw the viewer in.

For any images or graphics, choose only high-quality, high-resolution to show on your site. Pick colors that match and blend well together.

4. Speed

One issue new websites can run into is trying to do so much with aesthetics that you actually overwhelm your website. When this happens, it takes much longer for things to load. Studies show users abandon pages that take more than three to five seconds to load, so there’s always a balance between aesthetics and speed.

Of course, you can always buy more speed, but that’s a choice you should make in discussion with professionals who can help you get the look you really want and the performance you need.

5. Content

Website content is especially important in designing a website. Your content should be on brand, valuable to the consumer, and search engine optimized. Your content should also show you know your target audience and are trying to connect with them.

6. Budget

When designing a website, you should know your budget. How much are you willing to spend for a hosting service? A website theme? A web building expert? There are many different costs of designing a website that most people don’t think about. Know what kind of website you want and how much you are willing to spend to get it. Read more about the true cost of website design.

Designing a website should be a well-researched, thorough endeavor that can require patience, time, and a decent amount of skill. While many hosting services offer user-friendly building platforms, it severely limits the amount of customization you can do with your site. Contact us to learn how we can make a customized, eye-catching, mobile-responsive website for you.

4 Reasons Customization Is the Key to Web Design in 2020

Your business’ website is much like a storefront in a crowded mall. Potential customers flood the walkways with loads of cash at their disposal, waiting to be drawn in by the visuals your store has to offer (and a sale or two, of course). Would you try to entice them by matching the store designs around you, or would you customize every aspect of your business to target your customers’ desires, such as with custom web designs?

Here’s four reasons customization is key for your business website design in 2020:

1. Customization

Perhaps the most obvious advantage of seeking professional help is your ability to personalize your website. Choosing to add your own features to your website would allow you to focus more on the brand you are trying to promote and the way you want to promote it. You would be in a better position to consider your business’ needs over your website’s demands. Most importantly, you could tailor your webpage for your consumers so that your target audience has an easier time navigating it.

2. Limitless

Along with the ability to modify your website to your liking, custom designs are also essentially limitless in their modeling. You as the client would be free to tweak even the smallest of features on your site to meet your standards, and you would be allowed to get as creative as you want. DIY template features, however, are often bound as they are and cannot be changed.

3. Visibility

Searching through DIY websites on the internet is like looking for hay in a haystack–they’re everywhere and all look the same, and that means they’re lower on any given search engine’s list. Being able to stand out in the crowd not only places your webpage higher than others in search, but it also supports your page’s credibility. Moreover, doing a custom design guarantees that your website will be properly displayed across multiple browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Safari, and it assures the CSS and HTML code will be correct.

4. Renovations

Whether your webpage dives into the wonders of our solar system or sells various lines of vegan skincare products, revisions will always be a part of your page’s routine maintenance. Templates make it extremely difficult to update your page after you have already created it, whereas professional customization applies to those later modifications just as much as it does to the initial launch of your page.

In the end, customizing the aesthetics, functionality, and overall visibility of your website leaves you with a much higher return on your investment than what you would see with a template. DIY templates are certainly less costly in the moment (click here to read the real cost of using a template for your website), but the eventual benefits would pale in comparison to the benefits you would get from customizing your site. For all your virtual designing and marketing needs, reach out to InfiniteWebDesigns, LLC: a great resource to get all eyes on your online business.

3 Key Digital Marketing Trends for 2020 and Beyond

These days, online marketing is the dominant form of advertising. However, many small and medium-sized businesses still hesitate to get on board. Instead, they opt for a few standard advertising techniques to slowly yet steadily bring in customers over time. These techniques simply don’t work in an age where most people use the internet to search for products and services.

The Importance of Digital Marketing

When people are interested in your company, the first thing they’re going to do is find everything they can through online research. They especially look for reviews to find out what people are saying about your company and whether it’s a good place for them to do business.

Online marketing can help you create a positive social media presence that will reach an enormous amount of people, locally and around the world. Additional benefits of online marketing are:

Lets you interact with potential customers and understand precisely what they want
Allows customers to learn more about you and your business to help build brand loyalty
Improves your company’s online presence
Allows you to measure and track your marketing results (customer responses, sales, etc.)

On-SERP SEO

One current marketing trend right now is On-SERP SEO. This is a strategy that utilizes zero-click results to answer questions. For instance, if you typed “Where can I find affordable online marketing solutions?” into Google’s search bar, it will autogenerate answers–in the form of snippets–at the top of the page.

The right online marketing technique will get you on the zero-click results list in no time on multiple search engines, leading to higher quality leads and immediate, measurable results.

Advertising on Smart Speakers

Another trend is the rise of advertisements on smart speakers like Alexa, Siri, and Google Home. These devices have grown in popularity over the last three years, mostly due to the voice assistant feature.

You simply ask a question like, “Hey Siri, which companies sell affordable online marketing solutions?” and a recorded voice will offer choices. This allows your company to create ads and input company information that customers can access quickly and easily as they use these devices.

Data Visualization

The proliferation of smart speakers has lead to the third trend: data visualization. Visuals are essential to digital advertising. You need to create visuals that catch the eye of a potential customer right away. Visual content is extremely popular right now, and when businesses combine visual search technology–like data visualizations, infographics, images, and videos–with minimal text, it makes ads more attractive to customers and easier to remember.

There are several digital marketing trends your business can use to improve your online presence and build a loyal customer base. If you own a small or medium business and want to make a bigger impact online, contact IWD today and ask about our marketing solutions. We have everything you need to make your business succeed in the digital age.

Four Ways a Digital Marketing Manager Can Jump-Start Your Online Profile

Whether you run a small local shop or big company, your business needs a digital, presence. In order to build your digital presence, you know you need to be online and visible. But how long will you have to wait around for Google (and your customers) to find it? While every situation is different, it could be months before you see a change, and that’s assuming you did everything right! You need a way to jump-start your online profile, and that’s what a digital marketing manager can do for you.

1. By Helping You Nail Good SEO

Everything begins with Search Engine Optimization. The first step to building a visible profile is optimizing your website for search by jumping through the hoops to tell Google you’re legitimate and trustworthy, link building, and ensuring a smooth experience for mobile users.

There’s a lot to it, and while the basics are easy to understand, it’s also easy for business owners to get lost in the weeds when it comes to the details. Are all your images and videos optimized? Are you using header tags well? What’s the state of your meta-data? When all the elements of good SEO–from the obvious like keywords to the more obscure like meta-data descriptions–are perfect, your business profile will take a huge leap forward.

But that’s not all there is to it. A digital marketing manager does more.

2. By Creating Great Social Media Marketing

Most of us have a hard enough time keeping up with our own social media accounts, let alone managing one (or several) for a business. Yet this is crucial to your profile. You’re as likely to be seen here as at your website, and you’re even more likely to be judged.

How do you decide which platforms to be on and which to skip? How do you decide what to publish, when, and where? What style or voice will you have when interacting with people online, and how will you respond to criticism and praise? These are hard decisions, but when you make the right choices, your visibility will skyrocket.

3. By Creating Excellent Content

What topics will you cover, how long will each piece of content be, and what titles will best draw readers or viewers? How often will you post content on your website and on each individual social media profile?

When you get all this right, your profile will soar; but your marketing manager isn’t done yet.

4. By Designing a Coherent Strategy

Great digital marketing is more than just the sum of its parts, but it can actually end up being less than the sum of the parts when there’s no careful strategy behind it all. You can’t treat each aspect of digital marketing separately–there has to be someone behind it all coordinating each aspect.

A good digital marketing manager is designing the strategy, communicating it to you and all other interested parties, monitoring each element, adjusting on the fly, and constantly optimizing to make things even better.

Need a Jump Start?

If your online profile isn’t where you need it to be, reach out to us today and let us help. We can help you dominate your local market.

10 actions to consider when working ON your business!

Stay At Home guidelines due to the Covid-19 have given us the gift of time to think about our best practices and how we approach our work. Like most small businesses, we have a list of things we’ve been wanting to tackle, but are challenged finding the time to do them.

The current business slow-down presents an opportunity to check some things off our list, and we believe the same applies to other small businesses.

Our CEO, Amy DeLardi, has compiled this list of things to explore so you are ready for the new economy.

Focus your time on specific growth-minded tasks that will move your business forward. Here is my Weekly Habit Tracker that has helped me focus on specific growth-minded tasks that help move my business forward.

Daily/Weekly Habit Tracker for any business owner

Download Habit Tracker

Website updates you’ve been meaning to get to. Update content, add that new service offering you’ve been meaning to introduce, work on your SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Add an eCommerce shopping component to your WordPress website. If you have a product/service that you can sell online now is the time to get it listed and start generating some revenue. This could be the thing that evolves your business when you least expect it.
If you want to launch a new website featuring eCommerce, we offer a free 30 day trial of WordPress platform.

Give It A Try

10 actions to consider when working ON your business!

Create a free helpful download to offer as a list building strategy. This lead magnet will allow you to build your email list and nurture strong relationships with future customers.

Tackle social media. Consider adding another social platform to your marketing strategy. Not on social media? Now is the time to develop a strategy and increase your visibility.

We are offering a free 30 day trial of our social management software that will help you easily schedule and manage posts to multiple platforms from one easy dashboard. The dashboard also allows you to run analytics to measure the effectiveness of your efforts, and post directly to your platforms so no need to log into each account individually. Learn more here
If your business is on social media, stay ahead of the game and use this down time to create a content calendar for the coming months.
Keep a running list of ideas and ways you can work ON your business. This will be especially handy during slow work periods.
Offer your services virtually. Tools like Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts allow you to easily connect with your clients from anywhere.
Spend time reading professional newsletters and other educational resources you often don’t have time to read. If you haven’t already, how about signing up for the IWD monthly newsletter! Join Us

We hope you found this list helpful, and we’d love to hear any ideas you’d like to share.

Keep in mind, we are offering a free 30 day trial of a marketing toolkit for small and medium size businesses. Check it out.

IWD is a resource for FREE Marketing Tools

Since the launch of IWD in 2001, participating in networking groups, both at the local and national levels, has allowed me to position myself as a resource for other small businesses. In turn, I have a network of resources to tap when looking for solutions to improve my business and better serve my clients. Now, more than ever, these connections are allowing me to stay on top of marketing trends, and put in place evolving strategies and workflows that reflect the times.

Speaking of small businesses, now is a great time to encourage everyone to support small businesses both in their community and on the web. Whether you are ordering take out food from a locally owned business, or shopping for items you need for your home, consider making a conscious decision to shop local. It may sometimes cost a few dollars more, but the value you are creating for your neighbors and community will make a difference.

To show our support for other small businesses we are excited to share a number of free marketing tools that have a proven track record.

We have compiled an IWD Digital Starter Package, a set of marketing tools designed for small businesses. Typically, we offer this package as a 30 day free trial, but to help businesses struggling during the COVID-19 crisis, we are extending the trial period to 90 days (offer expires on June 30, 2020). Learn more about these marketing products that are available to you.
Run our complimentary Infinite Report Card that offers helpful insights into a business’ online marketing performance, and highlights gaps or areas that require attention. The report will evaluate your business in the following areas:
- Directory Listings
- Reviews
- Social Media
- Website
- Advertising
- SEO
Check your website load speed. Site speed plays a crucial role in the success of your website and search engine rankings. A slow load has a direct effect on your SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which impacts your site traffic, which in turn drives your revenue. Don’t lose potential clients because your website loads slowly. Check site speed here.
Claim as many business listings as possible for your business. Take advantage of free resources and platforms as you participate in conversations, and spread awareness of your business. NextDoor.com is a great starting point, especially if you are a hyper local business and want to generate interest within your community. It’s a great platform for many industries including restaurants, salons, and home service contractors just to name a few. Contact us for access to your complimentary listing scan by simply emailing us at: info@infinitewebdesigns.com and use the following in the subject line: “I am interested in a free business listings scan”. Please include the following business information in your email: Business name, full address (city, state, zip, country), phone, email, website.

If you’d like to continue learning more about how IWD can help grow your small to medium sized business, sign up for our Newsletter.

Our goal is to be your go-to resource for valuable tools and information as we all get through the COVID-19 crisis together. Join Us

If you would like to discuss your evolving short-term and long term business strategies, schedule a 30-minute complimentary call with me. Now is the time to prepare for a fast start when we’re ready, as a community, to re-engage and move forward.

Stay well & be kind!
Amy DeLardi
CEO

8 Work at Home Tips from a Seasoned Small Business Owner

I’m hoping everyone reading this post is both feeling and doing well during this public health crisis. It’s a challenging environment for everyone, both personally and professionally, but I take comfort in knowing the shared experience may help bring us all closer together once the worst has passed.

As a small to medium business marketing company operating out of Fairfield County, Connecticut, like most other communities, we don’t know when the fallout from COVID-19 will allow us to get back into the community and a sense of normalcy.

Back in 2001, IWD launched as a website design firm for small, primarily local businesses in Fairfield County, CT. We’ve come a long way since then and now in addition to website design for companies outside our region, we offer a whole suite of other services such as reputation management, digital marketing strategies, and social media management to name a few. This growth has come while I have worked from home.

In 2001, working from home was a relatively new thing, and there was a BIG learning curve for both me and my family.

Over the years, I have worked to keep a wall between my work and home life, but these are trying times, so I am breaking down my wall to share with you My 8 Work At Home Tips for those of you new to this way of working or those of you who may have been struggling with productivity even before COVID-19.

While some of these may not be your cup of herbal tea 😊, I hope everyone can find something that registers with them. Of course, I’d also love to hear your work at home tips in the comments below. Remember, we are all in this together.

Keep a tight calendar. Schedule important events on your calendar such as personal development, exercise, lunch breaks, and water breaks. Most importantly, put an end time to your day.
*This is number 1 for a reason. It took me years to master my schedule before incorporating these things into my daily schedule; I became exhausted and developed health issues.
Develop a breakdown of how your workday is going to be segmented. Ex: 60% sales, 30% research/education, 10% email processing. This will ensure the time you spend on tasks each day is closely aligned with your goals.
Change up your environment. Take a conference call from a different room, maybe even take it outside on your deck/patio. A new environment might also help kick-start some creative thinking.
Keep a clean and decluttered work environment. Create a space you want to spend time in, and which makes you feel good when you settle into work each day. It will help you be more focused and productive.
- I like to run my diffuser with essential oils that make me feel good and put me in a happy mood. A little aromatherapy never hurt anyone!
Hang your company goals on a whiteboard displayed in your office, visible from your desk. Seeing your goals every day will keep you focused, and help you make business decisions that will allow you and your team to achieve your targets.
Put a filter on your inbox to help declutter and make it less overwhelming. Let’s face it, we all get hundreds of emails a day. You may want to consider scheduling email processing time on your calendar, and only check email during those times to avoid getting distracted.
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT keep any social media tabs open on your computer. Social media is a time suck and leads to a loss of valuable work time. If social media is part of your work plan for the day, open what you need, when you need it, then shut it back down.
Make time for learning and continued education related to your industry. Find a webinar, or connect with like-minded industry warriors like yourself and schedule a weekly or monthly Zoom call to stay connected. Being in contact with my professional networking groups allows me to not only get great information, but it is also an opportunity for me to offer information and ideas and have a sense of connection and community. Reach out beyond your usual circle of resources and see what you can learn and share with others. That is a particularly valuable thing as we remain socially distanced from one another.

I’d love to hear your ideas, and I am happy to answer questions you may have on my list of best work from home practices. I’ve been doing it a while so a lot of it is automatic for me, but if I realize I missed any, I will be sure to share them.

Stay well.