Why Having an eCommerce Website Is So Important

Does your business involve selling products? If so, have you thought about upgrading your website to an eCommerce design from an NYC eCommerce website designer? In a recent article about eCommerce websites, it said: 

The preference for online shopping is the result of convenience, which is more important than ever in today's busy world. And the shift from brick and mortar to click and buy means there is no scarcity of ecommerce platforms or sites that utilize such software.

There are many different eCommerce software packages out there, and some offer more than others. It's up to you to figure out which one is right for your business, and an eCommerce website designer can help you determine that.

Read the entire article: "Why Having an eCommerce Website Is So Important."

Summer is a Great Time for Mobile Websites

It used to be difficult to find a restaurant or service provider while you were on vacation. You would have to ask around or find a copy of the Yellow Pages.

Then came the smartphone. Android phones, iPhones and all the rest brought in a new wave of communication and eCommerce. Your products now had another market they could tap into.

Mobile websites are becoming increasingly popular as more consumers gravitate toward smartphone browsing. They offer convenience on the go. Who wants to tirelessly search around to get information when there’s the ability to get what you need in a couple of clicks?

At 21thirteen design, more of our Boston, NYC, Philadelphia and Northern NJ clients are going getting mobile website design, and we understand why. Traditional desktops and laptops are at home, while their clients are at the beach. Here are some other benefits to mobile websites: 

• Vast connectivity
  Nearly half the world is connected to the Internet through a mobile device. This is a huge market you cannot miss.
• Usability
  Desktops and laptops don’t offer the instant ability to click a phone number and call it from the same device. That phone call could be to you.
• Instant Internet marketing
  Your competition most likely has joined the mobile web. If you haven’t, your marketing efforts might be for naught, as you are missing an easy way to market to a sizable demographic.
• Precise information
  There isn’t a lot of space for us to utilize, so it becomes more important that what is utilized is precise, to ensure the visitor navigates to your website.

Have more questions about mobile websites? Visit www.2113web.com.

What Is SEO and Why Does It Matter?

In today's world of running a business, there is much to be considered. There are not only the considerations like, "What type(s) of product or services is the public looking for?" but "What is the best way to market the product?" Then, once the product is determined, one must ask, "How can one have a successful online business?" and "How can our business-either the brick and mortar location or the website be found?"

Ironically, these latter questions have the same answer-the use of SEO. SEO or search engine optimization is best defined as, "The process of making one's website more accessible and visible to search engines via natural or unpaid (aka- organic or algorithmic) search results rather than through SEM (search engine marketing) which is paid inclusion". Or, simply put, designing your website to be search engine friendly so that your site will be at the top of the list when someone does a web search for your particular service, product or company. This is done by employing methods such as:

1. Deciding on a list of keywords that represent your site or product. Consider synonyms, phrases, and even mis-spellings that apply to your product or service.
2. Use the Google Adwords Tool to help you determine what words rank the highest.
3. Create the content for your site using the word list you have developed. However, be sure that while you include the words as part of the text that they don't overshadow your content. A good ratio is that keywords should make up no more than 5-8% of the overall content.
4. Once you have developed your site's content, take some time to test the effectiveness of your SEO work by checking with tools such as Google Website Optimizer.

When SEO is done properly, the number of visitors to your website will grow and your sales will increase exponentially. The use of SEO is not something to be afraid of, and with a bit of practice nearly anyone can do it, although to have an effective search engine optimized website it is best to read a few books on the topic, talk to someone with a lot of experience or contact a business that specializes in designing SEO friendly websites.

Despite the fact that SEO is one of the most vital aspects of having an effective business website, there are still people who insist on creating websites that have no value to an online search. However, this mindset is much like deciding to bake a cake but refusing to turn on the oven. If you want to have an effective online business then making use of the tools proven to work is a must! Do it yourself or hire someone to do it for you. Either way, taking the time to grow your business through the use of search engine optimization is one the best things you can do if you want to see your customer base increase and your sales reach new heights.

21thirteen Design offers website design and SEO and SEM services. Contact us today at www.21Thirteen.com. 

Article independently authored by Janet M. Slagell. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of 21thirteen Design. Click for search engine optimization and search engine marketing or visit WebDrafter.com's Blog.

The 21thirteen FAST FLOW System

One of the benefits of utilizing 21thirteen design for your website design and website development solutions is we implement our 2113 FASTFLOW system, a website presentation system designed to appeal to every type of website viewer.

With the 2113 FASTFLOW system, we can convey everything you want known about yourself or your business. Here’s how we do it:

1. There are three types of website users. Waders want information short and sweet; swimmers seek more clarification, but don’t want too much detail; and Deep-Sea Divers are serious consumers who will scrutinize every word.
2. We appeal to every type of viewer with three levels of engagement. With Waders, we present to them the most important information up front, enough to get them to pick up the phone or make an online purchase.
   Swimmers will see what Waders do, but will likely click on links. We use high-impact visual marketing techniques to evoke desire in the Swimmers to make contact with you or your business.
   For the Divers, we give it all, presenting in-depth knowledge for evaluation and judgment.
   All this, on the same website.
3. The 2113 FASTFLOW system will create attention, desire, interest and action in virtually anyone who is viewing or visiting your website.

21thirteen design has offices in NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and Northern NJ. Contact us at 646.808.0391 or visit www.21thirteen.com for a FREE QUOTE!

How to Have a Website You Can Be Proud Of

For many years the public has been inundated with advertising in a wide variety of forms. From radio ads to television commercials, placards and billboards, and poster boards to newspaper spots, we are all familiar with advertising. And no matter what type of advertising is used, each method shares some common goals:

• To let others know where a business is
• To let people know what the business offers or can do
• To increase sales

Today's technology has added a new level of advertising potential. Now businesses, whether from New York City's Wall Street, Boston's downtown business district or start up businesses in New Jersey, can choose to have their presence known on the Web. After all, this is the age of technology. Where business owners where once limited to reaching customers via print or the airwaves, today you can utilize tools like social media and a website to increase your customer base exponentially. So, if you are considering a website for your business, or perhaps want the upgrade your existing one, here are 6 things you want your website to have:

1. Ease of use. Don't be so caught up in having a flashy design that you make purchasing your product difficult. Be sure to include features like and "About us" page, a "search" bar, and a simple to use "check out" or "contact us" page.
2. Don't blind your site guest. Having a webpage that uses every color in the spectrum is not only too busy, but it can also send the signal that you don't really know who or what your business is about. Keep the color scheme to 2-4 colors or consider a monochromatic theme. Along with this, be sure to pick a font and font size that is easy to read-"Curlz" or "French Script" might be great for party invitations but can be difficult to read for a website. A few basic font choices are Calibri, Ariel, Helvetica, New Times Roman and Georgia.
3. Don't use the phrase "click here" without giving an explanation of where the link will take them. With all of the Internet viruses people have become very wary of just clicking random links.
4. Don't have so many extra features that your site is slow to load up. Keep programming styles simple by using basic XHTML code, CSS style sheets, server side caching or external javascripts. Remember, the longer it takes for your site to load up, the more likely it is that potential customers will go somewhere else.
5. Have something unique to your website. Whether it is a special tool, an informative post page, contest, etc...having something unlike everyone else is a great way to keep others coming back.
6. Be sure that your site is rich in SEO and SEM writing and features. After all, without the effective use of key words, it is virtually impossible to get ranked in the top spots of a search engine pages.

For website design and development solutions visit 21 Thirteen Design. Article independently authored by Janet Slagell. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of 21 Thirteen Design. Click for search engine optimization and search engine marketing or visit WebDrafter.com's Blog.

A Website With the Proper Marketing & Search Engine Optimization Can Greatly Increase Revenue

Business competition can be fierce with such congested areas as New York City and Boston. New York City is the largest city in the U.S. Much of this population spills over into New Jersey. The population of New York City alone greatly surpasses 7 million people. The state of New Jersey in its entirety comes close in populace to New York City. Surprisingly, it is estimated that Boston does not even break the one million mark.
Despite Boston being dwarfed in size by NYC, both cities are major commercial and retail business hubs. As every business' financial situation has been constricted in the rent years, it is now more important than ever to maximize the effectiveness of the advertising and marketing dollars. Relying on the phonebook and news print advertising has become exceptionally expensive with the financial returns dwindling.
Websites, website marketing and website search engine optimization (SEO) is now the wisest advertising method in the present and will continue into the future. As of 2004 approximately 75 percent of the U.S. population had internet access according to Nielsen, which equates to at least 204 million people. Internet access and usage statistics have only increased since then. The rate of internet access jumps up when one examines urban centers.
With the proliferation of internet capable phones and virtually every person having available access to the internet, it only makes sense to focus a company's advertising dollars on website marketing. It is important for the business manager or owner to note the key difference between website marketing and website search engine optimization.
An analogy explaining marketing, although over simplified, is that marketing is essentially producing ads or information for the public to see. While this may seem effective the business manager needs to realize that while manufacturing advertisements, it does not serve any purpose if the ads are on billboards facing away from view. What this means is simply having a website does not mean that revenue will maintain its level or even increase.
A website properly developed and optimized for search engines means that search engines will be able to find a website more effectively and yield more pertinent results when words related to the business services or products are entered into an internet search field. Search engine optimization essentially steers the internet user to the business website.
Like all advertising, however, search engine optimization is not a one time deal. SEO is an ongoing process due to the rules, guidelines and restrictions which the search engine companies set forth. As a website developer regularly amends the website's behind-the-scenes information, traffic to the business website should increase as the target audience is more effectively reached. By reaching more and more people, assuming the website is a quality site, marketing should yield greater revenue.

For a free website marketing and search engine optimization quote visit 21 Thirteen Design. Article independently authored by Daniel Elliott. The content herein may or may not reflect the views and opinions of 21 Thirteen Design. Click for search engine optimization and search engine marketing or visit WebDrafter.com's Blog.