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mobile conversion

It’s Website Design Update-Time for Your Business

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Is now a good time for a website design update? If you have asked yourself this question more than once, the answer is probably yes!

Take a look at the image above created by one of the world’s largest Tech Firms about 10 years ago. Looks like an antique, doesn’t it?

You may think that we are just another pushy website design company that wants everyone to get a new, website design update for their business every few months. This is simply not true. What we do want is for businesses with solid marketing goals, to consider a website design update every three years. Unless, of course, it’s an antique business that wants to intentionally appear outdated and old fashioned.

Don’t get me wrong. I love antiques. I love the whole idea of the historical conservation of beautiful objects, but even an antiques dealer needs to display their items-for-sale in a way that potential buyers can appreciate the fine details.

3 Signs of an Old Website

Does your website still display Flash®?

This Adobe product used to be hugely popular among website designers for animating the homepages of websites. but today, Flash is not supported on many mobile devices. This means that when your website is pulled up on a phone, for example, there may be a big, fat hole right in the middle of the page where the Flash document is supposed to be.

Do your visitors still have to download content?

Do visitors need to view important information about your business in a PDF rather than viewing it on a web page? This makes them go through extra steps to read what should be available at the click of a mouse. No need for a long explanation here. In this age of viruses and hacking, no one wants to download anything they shouldn’t have to.

Is your website built using tables?

We have all been on those websites that display tiny boxes filled with mice type and unreadable content… usually in neon colors with uneven borders. (see the image at the top of this page)

Tables are the once-popular, but old fashioned way, of building websites. They are inefficient, inappropriate for designing mobile-responsive websites. Today’s website platforms, like WordPress, enable designers to display content in a way that pleases the eye of the visitor on whichever device that they use. More importantly, a modern website pleases the eyes of Google, which looks at your content and decides if it’s worth ranking highly… or even to display it at all in their search engine.

So, is it time for a website design update?

While you can be a seller of old things, your website should be a new thing. It has to be mobile-friendly, load quickly, accommodate video, play nicely with social media, and generally go with the flow of today’s fast-paced, web-based world.

Call us for a website strategy session

If You’ve Got a Good Website Recipe, Don’t Go Mobile from Scratch

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“Go mobile friendly” sounds liberating. Untethered from the desk and free to roam the world, while staying connected to what matters.

To a business owner with an old website, however, “going mobile friendly” sounds more like ulcers and headaches.

Just a few short years ago you had a great website: convincing copy, killer graphics and it actually brought in new business… but now, it’s obsolete…

We feel your pain.

It’s the story of many of our new clients. They LOVE their website, and still aren’t completely sure why they need a new one, but Google has spoken. And mobile is mandatory!

You Don’t Need to Start from Scratch

Even though it’s true you need to go mobile friendly with your website, it doesn’t mean you need to start over again. If you’re happy with your current site, all you really need is a mobile website conversion.

At Chroma Sites, we help businesses go mobile friendly by providing mobile conversions that include all of the latest website features and technology, at typically less than half the cost of a redesign.

Regardless of what’s already built-in to your existing website, we will build you a mobile-ready and Google-friendly presence that includes ALL this:

  • the best content management system on earth, WordPress
  • a business blog with all the bells and whistles
  • interactive social media sharing buttons
  • a super-simple contact form tailored just for your business
  • a design that looks a lot like your old website on desktops and laptops (only better)
  • new mobile layouts, designed specifically for tablets and phones of all sizes
  • all of the same pages, posts & menus
  • and everything else that comes standard with every website we build

Don’t Start from Scratch. Go Mobile Friendly the easy way

Untie your website visitors from the desk and watch your business soar!

Talk to us about a mobile conversion of your website…

The 3 Types of Mobile Conversion. Which One’s Best?

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It’s been a month since Google’s mobile update, but the frenzy surrounding this important algorithm change is still piping hot. At this point, if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re probably convinced it should be, and soon.

Trying to figure out the best way to get your website converted into a mobile-ready platform can be very confusing. So, I have prepared a quick summary of the 3 most common options for a mobile conversion… and how to choose the one that’s right for you.

A Quick Intro on Mobile Conversions

Before we dive in, it’s important to note that there is a difference between a “mobile redesign” and a “mobile conversion”. For the purposes of this article, we will assume that you are relatively happy with the content on your website and how it’s structured. In other words, the only thing we need to tackle right now is your website’s lack of support for smartphone viewers and the chaos Google’s latest algorithm update has caused. Okay… let’s do it.

The Mobile Plugin

The mobile plugin is the quick ‘n dirty way to get your website mobile-ready in a hurry. If configured properly, it should help you pass Google’s inspection… but that’s about all it’s good for.

The big problem with mobile conversion plugins is that they provide a hideous, non-customizable and irrelevant website to your visitors. So, while they may be able to find your website on their phone, they’re also likely to leave very quickly if they can’t find what they’re looking for.

Plugins offer no branding, no page layouts, boring navigation… and some will even hide your pictures.

If you just want the cheapest option, this is the one… but remember you get what you pay for.

The Mobile Redirect

A mobile redirect is really just a fancy way of saying “a separate mobile website”. For many big companies, and especially companies that specifically target mobile users, this is an ideal solution.

In short, a separate mobile website allows you to tailor your browsing experience specifically for mobile visitors. They are often designed to load as fast as possible, which means eliminating extraneous information, graphics, and even pages that might slow things down. Some mobile sites go so far as to ditch all but the essentials, leaving only directions and a phone number. Not a happy sight for the millions of Americans who ONLY browser the web from their phone.

This type of mobile conversion isn’t for everyone. In addition to rethinking your entire website just for mobile visitors, you’re left with a-whole-nother website to maintain and keep current.

If you have a good amount of money to spend, and can spare the time to make sure it’s done right, this might be the option for you. If not, move on.

The Mobile Responsive Design

If you’ve been looking into mobile lately, you’ve definitely heard the term “responsive”. Greatly simplified, a responsive website is one that automatically adjusts to the type of screen it’s being viewed on.

Ever evolving technology and 2015 software allows us to hide and rearrange elements on a website to fit on any size mobile device, beautifully and naturally. From the smallest Blackberry, to the biggest phablet, to the newest iPhone… sections of your website gracefully re-stack themselves to fit the page!

A responsive mobile conversion has a few major advantages over the other two.

1. You only need one website.

The site that visitors see on their phone, is the exact same website they see on their computer. It may look a bit different (as various elements are are sized specifically for smartphones), but any changes you make will appear on both mobile and desktop versions. Your website is always up-to-date, with the latest blogs, prices, events, news… and everything else.

2. Mobile visitors have access to everything.

As I mentioned before, many mobile websites only include the bare essentials. Responsive websites give mobile access to everything on your entire website. And, as more and more people are browsing the web exclusively from their phones, it’s crucial that you keep those visitors in mind.

3. Custom mobile designs actually look like your desktop website.

Branding is a tremendously important aspect of an online web presence, and few things exemplify your online brand like your web design. Responsive websites are designed to use the same designs, colors, elements, fonts and styles on both the mobile and PC versions. What that means is that your website actually looks like it was built for your business…

The vast majority of mobile plugin and mobile redirect sites are built from plain looking, boring templates, that makes your mobile website seem like an afterthought.

We can show the world your website as it was meant to be seen. And, you can have a quote in less than a minute.

 

Convert, Then Conquer: Start with a Mobile Conversion

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Rarely is it more apparent that your website needs a redesign than when Google releases one of their “massive updates”. It happened again two weeks ago and businesses around the country are paying the price. Any website that is not considered “mobile-friendly” by Google, is now being punished by the search engine.

I can’t be completely furious with them… whenever Google does something like this (i.e. change their algorithm), we get super busy. People from all over pour in, desperate to redo their website.

I’m not gonna lie, it’s great for business… but really tough on our schedule.

But all of those redesign requests got us thinking…

People are coming in, not only to get themselves off of Google’s blacklist, but to reorganize and re-strategize their entire web presence.

Normally, we wouldn’t think twice about doing an entire redesign all at once. But, with so many people coming in to get themselves new websites, we just can’t take them all on right now.

So, like I said, it got us thinking… What if we didn’t have to do an entire redesign right now, but could get old websites mobilized before it’s too late?

It seems like a no brainer. We can get the new websites up quickly, with the same content and a similar look. But, it will be mobile responsive, which means it looks good on everyone’s phone and, more importantly, it will pass Google’s mobile-friendly test!

So, we started offering mobile conversions.

Later, after the dust settles, we’ll help you think about any new ideas you might have for your website and how to approach a full redesign.

But right now, you need to go mobile… Convert the website now, conquer the redesign later.

I guess that’s it… If you’re interested in a mobile conversion, give us a shout.

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