There are a number of do-it-yourself website design platforms available (see “Top Builders for Small Business Websites” section of this blog: https://www.creativeresourcegroup.net/post/what-is-the-cheapest-way-to-get-a-website). However, many small business owners find the task of creating a website either a) daunting or b) a distraction from their focus on their core business. That’s why we’re here! Give us a call today for a free consultation!

To be successful online, every small business website needs to have, at a minimum, the following 4 pages/sections on their website: Who You Are What You Do Why You’re the Best How to Contact you But, just as important, is a compelling story and call to action buttons. What makes you unique? Why should a customer choose you vs someone else? Let them know in the content of your website. Then make it easy for them to reach out with clickable action buttons that either bring them along the education funnel (learn more) or invite them to contact you.

As little as FREE all the way to $10,000+. If that's got you a little freaked out - no worries. It all boils down to want you want and need. Wix is the absolute best web design platform on the market, in my opinion. And yes - you can create an absolutely free website using the Wix Platform. However, if you want to appear as a professional and legitimate business, you'll want to consider upgrading to one of their Premium Plans - which allow you to remove the "wix.com" from the your URL: www.yourbusinessname.com/wix.com, as well as Wix ads from your site. The hosting plans offer several benefits including removing Wix ads, connecting a personal domain to your site (e.g. www.mystunningwebsite.com),Premium support, additional storage and bandwidth, and more. The Wix Premium Plans are divided into Website Plans and Business & eCommerce Plans. To help you navigate the choices and design a stunning website, I would recommend hiring a web designer like Creative Resource Group! Give us a shout today and let us make the process simple, affordable and hassle-free!

That's a great question and there is a lot that goes into that answer as Google changes its algorithms quite often. The quick answer is you need to make sure your website has all of its SEO (search engine optimization) components in place. Then you need to make sure you are updating content and linking out to reputable sites and having reputable sites link back to you. If you're not sure what that means you can click here to see what types of things are includes in my packages or if you need help getting it done, just click here!

Yes, you do! Why – because it validates your business and provides the basic information (at the very least) that potential customers need to have in order to reach out and do business with you!

That's easy! You are in the right place:) Simply click here and let me know what you need.

Below are the Top 10 SEO trends to get ready for in 2019 to ensure your website is ranking high and getting found by your target audiences. If it's all a bit overwhelming - that's ok. Just reach out here and we'll be happy to help! 1. Mobile Optimized Sites (Mobile First Index) - loading time is key: TODO: EASY DATA ENTRY - forms - minimize the required entry fields; opinions- provide a choice of icons or emojis they can click instead of asking them to type it. SEARCH BAR for quick actions and results READABILITY - size/style of fonts and color contrast and ample spacing Fantastic IMAGES that are OPTMIZED for mobile screen sizes can boost the design and user experience significantly Include a MOBILE ACTION BAR 2. FEATURED SNIPPETS LOOK - Google uses them to answer a user’s question in the fastest way possible, sidestepping the need for a searcher to click on an additional link to get their desired information. The goal, then, is showing Google that your page is a perfect match for that coveted spot. TODO: Adjust keywords to reflect how someone would speak a question/search vs write it Find the exact question words that might introduce a search. For this, you can use a tool like Answer the Public. Use long tail keywords (highly descriptive search phrases of at least three words) Spin these long tail keywords into questions people would ask dear friends Alexa, Siri, et al. Formulate page written content to fit - 40-60 word description of answer Make each item on the list an H2 or H3 subheader. Example: Iif ‘How do I make pesto sauce?’ is the question you want to compete for, make the answer clear in that stage of the recipe by creating an H2 heading that reads: ‘How to Make Pesto Sauce in 5 Minutes.’ Then follow it with clearly outlined numbered steps below. 3. VIDEO CAROUSELS - visual material already known to be more engaging than written content TODO: Define good keywords Formulating keywords into likely questions a curious mind might pose to Google’s search box Structure your video’s title and description to reflect what you’ve found out. Hint: ‘How To’ videos have had a lot of success making it on these carousels A team or company presentation video - Also known as the “About us video” or the “Company culture video,” it portrays your loved ones (yes, your team!) in a vivid and engaging way. A product demonstration video - In essence, it’s a tutorial about your product. The video should explain what it is and what it’s worth, if you’re aiming for new clients. You can also target experimented users, and tell them about a new or specific function. In both cases, showing how efficient, clever and easy-to-use your product can only improve your conversion rates. Actually, visitors are 64% more likely to buy a product online after watching a video. But that’s not the only advantage. A product video is far less tedious to read (and to write) than a long text on the “what,” the “why” and the “how” of your offer. Facebook Live. You can go for a tour of your offices, a question/answer session, sneak peeks of your next product or even an unlikely ice-melting session VLOG- Just like a regular blog article, you’ll want to prove your knowledge in your field, analyze the trends of your market and give valuable tips to your community – while promoting your offer along the way. The amazing thing with blog videos is that you don’t have to follow a specific format. Most of the time, “vloggers” (or video bloggers) film themselves in a closed room, using their phone or computer’s camera. If you have the skills and resources, you can also do some editing and add animations, texts, music and more. But remember: the most important thing here is what you have to say, not how you present it. Need some inspiration? Look how millennials (and proud Wix users) Brit & Bren spread their tips with beautifully crafted vlogs. As for the length, the same principle applies: flexibility. A blog video shouldn’t be less than 2 minutes; if it’s above 10 minutes, you can plan for even your hardcore fans to get bored. 4. BACKLINKING (BRAND REPUTATION) - when external sites link to yours, which is like Google speak for ‘voting’ for your site. The more link votes you get, the more legit your web presence seems TODO: Maintain active Social Media presenece - Engage with clients who ask questions on your social channels, and show the world not only that you exist, but that you’re actively involved in your field. Post in facebook forums / Discussion boards Reach out to social media influencers who you think would rep your brand well Use hashtags: Content: #Affordablewebdesign, #smallbusinessmarketing #SEO, , #Photography or #SMB. Trending: #holidayfun, #funny Brand-Specific: #Creativeresourcegroup #wixwebsites 5. QUALITY CONTENT - In order to be ranking high, it’s not just about quantity anymore. Quality is the new buzzword in the content game. E-A-T STANDARDS EXPERITSE AUTHORITATIVENESS TRUSTWORTHINESS TODO: Offering web visitors fascinating blog posts, thorough knowledge bases, and engaging video materials Offer links to other pages on your websites 6. WEBSITE SECURITY - Chrome users - message or a lock icon will pop up in the left hand corner of the URL bar? And, super alarmingly, sometimes this corner starts frantically waving a red flag. “Not Secure. These messages are a result of a July 2018 Google security update, whose implementation means non-HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) sites now load with that warning, plus are seen less favorably in Google’s ranking preferences. HTTP: sites are vulnerable to attacks and breaches and can create a poor user experience on your page, thereby raising the bounce rates TODO: HTTPS ((Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) - enable HTTPS on your website GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) - aims to protect the fundamental right to privacy and the protection of personal data of European Union (EU) citizens. You must let your site visitors know how you collect, store, and use their data, in a clear and transparent way. In addition, you must comply with your site visitors' requests to receive a copy of their data that is processed on your site. Create a PRIVACY POLICY Use Wix tools to access and delete your site visitors' data In accordance with the GDPR, site visitors have the right to access their data or "be forgotten" (to be permanently deleted from your databases). Wix has developed the two main tools to assist you in becoming GDPR compliant: Right to access Click here for instructions. Right to be forgotten Click here for instructions. 7. RANKBRAIN - AI (artificial intelligence) technology that Google deploys to process and organize its multitudes of search results. The system isn’t new. Launched in 2015, it’s been around for a while. But the factors it’s understood to prioritize are dwell time and CTRs (click-through-rates) TODO: Write a superb title tag and description that makes Google’s heart sing Make sure the right keywords are there to get it found, and then that your phrasing is enticing enough to get searchers excited about selecting your page Use Google Analytics to track your numbers, and measure the impact design tweaks you make might on the average user’s browsing time. 8. LSI KEYWORDS (Latent Semantic Indexing) - contextually-related words. Together with your main keywords, they form nice little word families that give Google important context for assessing and organizing your page within its SERPs. TODO: Take your target keywords and do a simple Google search. Scan the page for any words that appear bolded in the listings or in the suggested queries under the ‘Related Searches’ box at the bottom of the page. This is Google serving you up a generous helping of LSIs. Use a free tool like LSIGraph to round out your list of context ‘cousins.’ Add LSI's to: SEO title SEO Description heading tags URL In content Remember, these don’t fully replace your main keywords. Rather, they give you alternate ways to phrase your material, giving your page a more natural feel and helping Google understand what you’re all about so they can recommend you to the most suitable searchers. 9. OPTIMIZE FOR VOICE SEARCH TODO: Organize content in ways that prove to search engines that your business is the one with the answers. One good SEO practice for voice searches is slipping those probable questions into the H1, H2 or H3 headers on a FAQ page, or forming blog post titles around them. 10. AMAZON / YOUBTUBE SEARCH TODO - AMAZON: A Kenshoo survey of consumers showed that 56% usually head straight to Amazon before looking elsewhere eCommerce owners everywhere to take note of. Having a presence on Amazon is a must for making sure your beautiful wares are found. TODO - YOUTUBE - by 2021, online video is expected to account for 80% of all online traffic. You will definitely want to get your brand in on that predicted audience growth. Writing out a question that is likely to get searched as an FAQ page or blog post header can be a great trigger for Google to produce your content as a result. Answering one of those FAQ questions on your page with a video offering a tutorial for a common question your customers have regarding your product? Or swapping out that numbered list of how to make pesto sauce with a video showing you performing all of the steps. Or both?! Whatever you would have previously written as the header text simply becomes the title of your new video, all set to be uploaded to your business YouTube channel.

There are a few things you should keep in mind when deciding what web design agency your small business should partner with. Location – If you like to talk about your ideas face-to-face with a designer that will sketch potential designs on the desk beside you, you should consider location an important factor. Especially with web design, some businesses prefer to see the design come together in front of them, rather than seeing it via email – and that’s okay! That being said, never settle on a web design agency that doesn’t have what you’re looking for just because they’re close to home. As a web designer, it’s their job to communicate effectively – which means that email and telephone communication often work just fine. Budget – As a small business, it’s no secret that you likely don’t have an expansive budget to spend on a website. However, you want to make sure that your finished product is high quality. Before researching your potential web design agencies, be sure to have a budget in place. Have a soft budget, which would be an ideal figure you’d like to stay around, and a hard budget – a number that you absolutely can’t exceed. Having this in place will allow your decision to be much easier because if the agency quotes you over your hard budget, it’s an easy “no.” Connection – Before starting a relationship with anyone, it’s important to gauge your connection – and a web design partner is no different. Whether you chat on the phone or meet in person, be sure to take mental notes about what you do and don’t like about the company. Do they make your goals their goals? Do they make you comfortable handing your website over to them? These are important questions to ask when choosing the perfect web design agency for your small business.

To upload images to your image library: Click My Uploads on the left side of the Editor. Click Images. Click Upload Images. Select your file(s) from your computer. Click Open. Select the image. Click Add to Page to add it to your site.

As a small business owner, every dollar counts. That's why it's so important to take the time to research the alternatives for creating a website - and there are many! Well actually, there's two to start: 1. Do it yourself; and 2. Hire a web designer. Actually, there might be a third: 3. Do it yourself in terms of finding the right web platform and then hire a professional to design your site and walk you through the process. A quick Google search will show that there are many Do it Yourself web building platforms available. However, in my experience and opinon, Wix is the most comprehensive and easiest platform to use. It's a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor and offers an extensive array of templates to choose from. It even offers and ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) option (the world's first technology platform that combines website design and content creation with artificial intelligence to enable complete websites to be created in a matter of minutes!) As with all projects, it really boils down to how much time and effort do you want to put into learning a new platform and then keeping up to speed on all of the latest design trends and ways to not only create a website - but to create one that's designed to engage your customers and appear where they're searching. That's where hiring a web designer to take over makes great sense. It allows you to focus on doing what you do best - managing your business and the web designer to do what they do best - bring your business to life online by creating a dynamic and effective website for you."

In a nutshell - to establish business credibility. But a website can go a long way to helping build your business, as well. It helps you connect with potential and current customers and build a strong telationship with your market. Having a web presence is an efficient way to promote your business and cross-promote your brand with your social media channels, effectively boosting your reputation as an authority in your market. Finally, a website can also be a great tool for generatiing sales leads and an ideal for showcasing your work, products and story!

Professional web designers charge either hourly, ranging from $40-$100 per hour; or by project. Depending on the scope of the website needed. Basic websites can cost as little as $500 with full-scale eCommerce online stores can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars.

First, let’s tackle what “responsive” web design means. A responsive website is one where the approach to the design of the site allows it to render correctly on any type of device and/or screen size. All websites designed by Creative Resource Group are responsive in nature enabling a beautiful display of your content no matter what device your customer is using to view it. As far as cost, check out the FAQ's above!

A responsive website is different from a mobile friendly website. Basically, a mobile friendly website will look good on mobile devices. But might have glitches and be harder to navigate when viewed on devices with a higher resolution. While a responsive website is a website design that allows your website to adapt to the size of any screen it is being viewed on. So it could be viewed on say, a desktop, phone, or a tablet etc and users won’t ‘notice any difference’ in your site’s general appearance on their screen. Need help getting making sure your website is responsive? Let me know here and I'm happy to help!

The answer to this question is as varied as the number of design companies out there! However, you will find that many website design companies provide some or all of the following services: Consultation Design & Development of your website Content Writing Graphic Design SEO (Search Engine Optimization): both on-page and off-page Social Media Marketing eMail Marketing

If you’re looking to use web designers that specialize on the Wix platform like Creative Resource Group, a new website can cost anywhere between $500 and $1200. Check out our packages here.