5 Ways to Improve Your Online Presence Now
written by Monica and Alpha Romeo Blackburn of Distill Design
Do you ever wonder what you could be doing better to make your online presence improve? We are always being asked for advice on how to do exactly this. There’s so many questions and answers we can discuss here, but we’ve distilled it down to the top 5 we think can help you right now.
#1. Q: What can I do to make my website look better?
A: The age-old question. Well, there are many things to keep in mind here. But the fastest way to make your site look better is to remember: Simple is always better! It’s important to have sharp images, and properly positioned copy. People don’t like to read large bodies of text. ‘Read More’ buttons are highly encouraged. Shorter sentences, smaller paragraphs, increased spacing – this all makes it easier to read on screen.
#2. Q: What type and quality of imagery should I use on my site?
A: Images that are relevant to your product and/or service. You want to make sure the proper resolution (quality) is applied to those images. Let’s get specific here. Your images should be at a resolution of 72dpi, in jpg, png or gif format, and the pixel dimension should not be stretched out of it’s original size. Phew! Now that we got that techie stuff out of the way… Good pictures are everything. Pictures grab attention faster than words.
#3. Q: Do I have to have my picture online?
A: Yes. If you are the face of your brand, then you do need to have your picture on your website and even on social media. People like to see who they are doing business with. Making sure your picture looks like you, is absolutely KEY. So many times, we see a photo of someone on their website, and then see them speaking at an event or meeting, and you have to wonder, ‘do they actually think they still look like that??’. Don’t misrepresent yourself. Use a current photo.
With this being said, if you’ve only got an online store, and never meeting with customers, a photo is not required.
#4. Q: How do I make my social media look good?
A: All your social media accounts should be consistent in look. Meaning, your logo should always be there, and similar colours and themes should be used. Quality images (not pixilated). Photo editing programs can be very helpful to design your own social media pages, banners and backgrounds. Social media platforms all have guidelines for proper sizes and file formats. Following those guidelines will help ensure good-looking results.
Below is an example of what social media pages can look like when designed well.
#5. Q: Can I have music on my website?
A: Yes. However, we encourage people to stay away from this whenever possible. It can be annoying to others. Having streaming music can eat up your viewer’s bandwidth if they’re using a mobile device and conscious of their data plan. If you’re going to have music anyway, then make sure it short and sweet, for only few seconds or so, or make sure to have the ‘stop’ button very clearly displayed.
It’s not always easy to know if your brand needs online and offline marketing though. Can we give our 2 cents? We’ve got a free guide that we’d like to share with you. It’s called ‘Dirty Rotten Potato – 5 Things That Could Be Tanking Your Brand Right Now’ and you can get it here: www.tinyurl.com/dirtyrottenpotato. This may help!
Dream Big. Do Big.
Alpha Romeo Blackburn & Monica Blackburn
www.distilldesign.ca
905.502.8649