5 Ways To Make Your Website More Magical

Source: Kimberly Kling

Exciting news! Kimberly Kling, artist, blogger and designer extraordinaire from JoyfulRoots.com, has joined Better Business Better Life team as our awesome sauce web designer. That’s right, BBBL is now offering web design as well as copywriting, search engine optimisation and social strategy.

I invited Kim to write a post introducing herself to you and to share a tiny introduction to the mammoth of expertise she has (Kim could fill six books). You’ll love Kim and the brilliant tips she gives.

This year is all about making magic happen! Can you feel it? With the newness of 2013 fading away with January, we still have another 11 months ahead of us to achieve our goals and “blast our way to success,” as Caylie would say. I’m still amped about the possibilities this prophetic year can hold for each and every one of us, so with that said, I’d like to offer a few tips for bringing more magic to your business by way of your website.

Whether you like things colorful or subtle, minimalist or full of flair, don’t forget to give everyone’s eyes a chance to rest. White space is your friend and when used properly, it will make your website more appealing, elegant and professional.

What is white space? It’s the negative space on the page, or the space that is left untouched without any content. It doesn’t actually have to be white, it could be a color, but it should be a space free of text and images.

Take Better Business, Better Life’s website for example:

Notice how there is ample space above the logo and tagline, leaving the focus on the branding? Then, above the post title, there is a space for your eyes to rest and soak in only the words you should be focusing on. That white space gives the title more emphasis. Each line of text has ample “breathing room” so that you don’t have to strain your eyes, and the sidebar is nice and orderly, with plenty of negative space.

Here are a couple more examples of great use of white space.

Nudge (http://studionudge.com)

Scoutie Girl (http://www.scoutiegirl.com/)

Mint (http://www.mintdesignblog.com/)

Nobody wants to have to search and search for what they are looking for, and you don’t want your readers to get frustrated and leave. So, make navigating your site easy peasy!

One way to make it easy, is to provide clear and straightforward navigation. For instance, if you have a page with user resources, call it something recognizable, like “Resources” not something like “Awesome Sauce.” Your resources probably are awesome and maybe even saucy, but you’ll probably end up frustrating and confusing the people who want to find your resources. Be creative with the rest of your copy, but when it comes to navigation, a little bit of old-school goes a long way.

Another way to make it easy is to put everything that you really want your visitors to see on the front page in a way that makes them think the least. For example, if having people connect with you outside of your site is important, social media icons should be visible above the fold of the page – meaning the area that is seen before you scroll down.

If you have an offer that you want people to buy into, place that above the fold as well, and provide them an easy way to either give their information (name/email fields) or make a purchase (buy me button).

Once you have gotten people to visit your site, you want to keep them there, right? A great way to do that is to provide links to other areas of your site. If you have a blog, a great method of doing this is to install a plug-in like “Link Within” which will create thumbnails with links to related posts that the reader can further indulge in.

You can also provide a tag cloud or category list on your sidebar that offers links to more content. Do you see the categories section on Caylie’s sidebar?

Linking to other areas of your site or to other blog posts from your current blog post is also a great way to keep people engaged. Think of your website like a really cool city full of interesting streets that transport your customers to new and exciting places. Make sure those streets connect so they don’t end up in a dead end!

If we are going to hire you or become a loyal follower, we want to get to know you and your personality. If we are hiring you for your services, we want to know that it’s a good fit and that you aren’t just a little robot hiding behind some text.

Are you passionate about what you do? Are you serene and steadfast, or quirky and upbeat? Let YOU shine through and you’ll make a better connection with your visitors.

A great way to do that is to have an About page that really reflects your personality. Include credentials, your story, what makes you unique, and possibly a little humor. Also, people love looking at people, so give us a nice picture of you! Providing a picture of you increases your credibility, transparency, and connection with your potential clients.

I’ve heard it too many times, “My website crashed and everything is lost.” Don’t let that happen to you. Back Up, Back Up, Back Up. Do it frequently enough that there would not be a catastrophic loss if your site went down.

If you have a WordPress site, there are several plug-ins that will automatically back your site up for you and either store that back up somewhere or e-mail it to you. Just make sure the place you are storing the back up is a different place than where your website is stored (i.e. your web host server versus your home computer).

One free solution is “Online Backup For WordPress” by Backup Technology. Whatever back-up method you use, make sure that it is backing up your whole site AND the database.

I hope that these tips will help move you toward making this year grand for both you and your business. Now go forth and make magic happen!