Getting Ready for the WebsiteLaunch

1. Test and Retest functionality and visuals – This is all about making sure you get a quality website. 
2. Browser Testing – Website should be looking good and working great on all important browsers – mobile included.
3. Proofread – Our proofreader checks all the text on the website that has not already been proofread.
4. Non-developer Review – Our tester who is not a web developer reviews the website with fresh eyes to spot remaining issues.
5. 301 Redirects in place – Redirects are important in helping Google find the new versions of your old pages if the URLs changed.
6. 404 Page Ready – When people do enter the wrong URL, the 404 page is there to help them find what they are looking for.
7. Tracking Code Installed – If we’re using Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, or other tracking codes, we install it before the site is live.
8. Remove all Test Content – The site is cleared of any temporary content so it’s ready to go live.
9. Update Contact Form Settings – The website will start using your real email addresses for the contact forms. We’ll test the forms and ask you to confirm that they are working correctly for you.

Final Steps Before Launch

1. Security Enhancements – We make sure the site is loading under HTTPS and test any secured pages that were created.
2. Search Engine Optimization – SEO Titles and meta descriptions are written, and keywords inserted to help your site rank higher and encourage clicks to your website.
3. Printer-Friendliness – We check that your printer-friendly pages work correctly. 
4. Website Handbook – We give you the Website Handbook. It includes how-to videos, step by step tutorials and other important information. This will help you run your website after the launch.
5. Confirm Deliverables Have Been Met – Review the proposal WITH the developer to verify that everything is covered. Review the entire website and test functionality.
6. Launch Steps Defined – Before we launch, we get the necessary DNS information and schedule the launch.
7. Schedule Post-Launch Followup Meeting
8. Backup the Current Website – We download a complete backup of the currently live website.

After Website Launch

1. You are In-the-Know – We will keep you informed during the launch with expected time frames, any important happenings and we’ll confirm once the launch is totally complete.
2. Verify Secure Areas – Check that password-protected areas are actually asking for passwords.
3. Verify that Google Can Still Read Your Website – We make sure that the robots.txt file is allowing Google to index the website.
4. Speed Optimization – Besides the website being built with speed in mind, we can configure speed tools for caching and cutting load time further so that you meet the 5-second page loading speed recommendations put forth by Google.
5. Check for Broken Links – When a site goes live, it’s URL changes. We check for broken links and correct any we find.
6. Download Backup – We store a full backup of the website and confirm that the automatic backup begins to handle future backups.
7. Test Auto-Publishing to Social Media – If your website should auto-post updates to Facebook and Twitter, we verify it’s working by making your first new post after launch.
8. Check Google Webmaster – We’ll check for 404 errors in Google Webmaster tools. If we find some, we’ll put redirects in place for any important pages that don’t redirect properly. We’ll also verify that Google Analytics is tracking visitors properly.
9. Post-Launch Followup Meeting – We’ll meet to confirm all tasks are complete, make sure everything is working properly and answer all questions.

To ensure that your website launch goes smoothly, work with a web agency that knows what they’re doing. Effect Web Agency has partnered with businesses across the United States for over 15 years. We don’t just build beautiful websites that are mobile-friendly. We offer ongoing support in the form of digital marketing, metrics, and business coaching. Call today and find out how you can have a more strategic web design.

The post 26 Point Checklist for Your Website Launch appeared first on Effect Web Agency.

What is the Client Lifecycle?

As the owner of Effect, I want to make sure we have clear communication between our company and yours. Our goal is to build a long-term relationship, so we take steps to ensure that your web design delivers the maximum return on your investment.

Identify the Right Results

We illustrate our client lifecycle with a tree. The “roots” are the discovery questions that pinpoint how the website will contribute to your organization.  We ask questions such as, “What is the desired outcome? Who is the target audience? What is the end goal?” Before our tree can begin growing, we must pinpoint our objective and develop our strategy for reaching that objective. This extends beyond the website and tells us how we’re going to measure improvement.

Clarify and Articulate Your Unique Value Proposition

Before you can begin marketing to customers, you must determine what makes you unique. We are moving beyond the initial discovery questions, so this is the trunk in our diagram. We help you ask questions such as, “Why should a customer choose me over another company? What sets me apart?” This provides the ability to articulate clearly and effectively to a customer why you are the best fit for them.

Design and Build

Now that we have our roots and our trunk, our branches are free to grow. This is where we begin designing and building your website. We ask more questions: “What does the customer want to know? What is most important to them? In what order do we present material?” We build content and information into your site based on the needs of your customer. This aids us in the final step.

Convert and Attract

Customer attraction is the leaves of our tree. This is the key point of the client lifecycle where, now that we have our marketing plan and content, we get it out to people. After all, if you have a beautiful website, perfectly tailored to your clients, yet no one ever sees it, what is the point? The role of Effect is to develop the reach of your website. We make it Google-friendly, monitor customer traffic, and pinpoint areas that might be causing a holdup in traffic.

As a tree grows, so does your web marketing plan. Carefully tended, you should see strong growth and lots of fruit.

We summarize our niche with these words: “Strategic websites and web marketing for the right results.” Our goal at Effect Web Agency is to empower others to succeed. Take a look at our Website Toolkit for further information on how you can build a profitable site.

The post What Is the Client Lifecycle for a Website Redesign? appeared first on Effect Web Agency.

According to the Google announcement:

“Page load speed has been used in ranking for some time but that was largely for desktop searches. Starting in July 2018, page speed will be a ranking factor for mobile searches on Google as well.”

And guess what? They have also started moving websites over to their Mobile Index. You may have already seen the notification that your site is now being ranked based on your mobile site, instead of the desktop version (regardless of what the user is using to search for results).

Whew! That is BIG!

• You MUST have a responsive, well-built mobile site with search engine optimization.
• You MUST make it fast.

Eliminate the Friction

It’s not likely that your visitors are going to go, “Wow, this site is fast. Let me buy their stuff.” However, it is likely that they will get frustrated and leave if the browsing experience isn’t smooth, seamless, and instantaneous.

You may not be too surprised by this, but one of the largest factors keeping visitors on your site is how quickly the pages load:

• According to a 2009 Akamai study, 47% of visitors expect a page to load in under 2 seconds, and 57% of visitors will abandon a page that takes more than 3 seconds to load.

So how does your site measure up? You can test the speed of your website by using the Website Speed Test Tool.

What did that tell you? Does your site load in under 5 seconds? That seems to be the cut-off for “Top Performing Sites” according to Google.

Top 5 Impactful Ways to Speed Up Your Website

There are many “nerdy” things you can do to speed up a site, but let’s first focus on the top 5 speed hacks that create the biggest impact on your site’s speed.

1. Not all Web Hosts are the same!

Your web host can make a huge difference. In most cases, speed issues are caused by a bottleneck on your web hosts server.

If you have a WordPress site, we fully recommend WPEngine. We host on WPEngine and have seen sluggish sites’ load times cut by 50% to 70%.

(Effect can host your site through our account at a reduced price. Call us for details).

If you don’t have a WordPress site, we recommend finding a web host that uses SSDs – solid state hard drives, because they are much faster than conventional drives. Also, ask your new host to enable the “Keep-Alive” setting. This allows visitors to download many files at one time rather than making a new request for each file.

2.  Leverage Your Browser Cache

This definition found on WordPress explains what we mean by leveraging your browser cache pretty clearly.

“Leverage Browser Caching means storing static files of a website in visitor browser. And then retrieving them from the browser quickly rather than retrieving them again from the server. It speeds up each page of a website.”

If you have a WordPress website, then you can use the WP Total Cache plug-in to do this for you.  If you host with WPEngine, you will not need to use this plug-in because they have a built-in cache.

For those without a WordPress website, you should find a quality web host that has a caching feature built into their service.

3. Activate a CDN (Content Delivery Network)

Basically, with a CDN, copies of your website content sits on servers all over the world.  When someone tries to load your website it pulls that content from the server nearest to them, thus cutting down the time it takes to load the site.

If you are hosting with WPEngine, then you can simply activate the CDN from your Control Panel.

Otherwise, if you want a free CDN service, you may want to check out CloudFlare.

4. Optimize images for Increased Page Load Speed

Unoptimized images can be 10X – 100X bigger than they need to be, and take that much longer to download, using up a large amount of bandwidth on your site.

You can manually optimize images to the correct size, or if you have a WordPress site, you can install the WP Smush.it plugin to automatically compress images as they are uploaded.  The quality of the image remains the same, and the plugin can compress images already in your media library.

5. Use a standardized URL for everything

Pick a URL format and stick with it. For example, if you are using https://www.domain as the preferred version then by all means, put that “www” in front of all your image URLs.

Extra redirects between WWW and non-WWW URLs add load time.

Advanced Speed Optimization

These 5 Tips for speeding up your website are just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve put together a checklist of items that our developers can use to improve your page loading speeds even more.

Remember, Google has made speed a priority. The websites that address the issue now won’t have to worry about possibly losing rank or traffic later. Also, website visitors expect you website to perform well. If you want qualified leads, you need to keep people onsite long enough to convert.

If you have any questions about how this new Google speed update pertains to you, contact Effect Web Agency. We continue to serve web clients in Goshen, Indianapolis, and across the United States. Our goal is to help you grow your business.

The post Top 5 Impactful Ways to Increase Page Load Speed appeared first on Effect Web Agency.

That was the challenge we faced when the Cameo Collection requested that Effect update their website to a more “modern” look, yet keep the old-time feel that was part of their brand identity.

What Is Brand Identity?

In a nutshell, branding is the look, purpose, and personality of your business. It’s your story.

You communicate your brand’s message through five key elements.

#1 – Visual Elements

For the Cameo Collection, the image of the lady in the header was one of the visual elements tying the old site to the new. An updated, color version of the old-time photograph gave the website a brighter feel. However, the classic look was maintained.

Beautiful images of their hand-carved cameos further attracted the eye and showcased the possibilities for visitors.

#2 -Style Elements

Another important part of website branding is your choice of styling. For the Cameo Collection site, colors were very important. Also, the fonts we used needed to match the tone of the site. Everything needed to be classy and Victorian. Therefore, script letters were a must and muted burgundies and ivories gave the site the rich tone the client wanted.

#3- Content

A very important part of your brand identity is the story you tell.

First impressions are important. Grab their attention with the first words they see.

You never really own a cameo, but simply take care of it for the next generation.

Think heirloom, timeless, precious… these words immediately created the impression that their cameos were special.

At The Cameo Collection, we specialize in the beautiful, the unusual and the unique.

By importing our cameos from the hands of master carver Gennaro Borriello of Torre del Greco, Italy,
we guarantee the quality and craftsmanship of each piece we sell.

The message should always define what sets you apart from others.

Remember that every word on your site influences how a visitor thinks of your brand. How do they feel after engaging with you? Were they intrigued?

#4 – Messaging and Tone

This element is more subtle. It ties into the overall impression you want to give users. For the Cameo Collection, they wanted people to know that they sell heirloom-quality pieces.

Cutesy, or flippant verbiage or images would have just confused their visitors. Every word, image, and thought needed to scream CLASSY.

#5 – An Identifier

Almost every well-known brand has an identifier. Think of the Golden Arches, the Nike Swoosh, or MailChimp’s monkey.

The image of the lady that we carried from the old site to the new is this companies identifier. She embodied the look and feel of their business and provides a visual identity for their brand.

Many times, these identifiers are more recognizable than the company logo.

If you are interested in finding out how to update the look of your website, contact Effect Web Agency. We build and market websites for all industries.

The post Preserving Brand Identity During a Website Redesign appeared first on Effect Web Agency.

In today’s digital age, your website isn’t just an online brochure—it’s the face of your business and one of your most important sales tools. But not every website is effective at turning visitors into leads or customers. So, how do you build a website that truly works for your business?

The key to a high-performing website lies in three crucial components: Building a solid foundation, Attracting the right audience, and Converting those visitors into customers. Let’s dive into each of these areas to ensure your website becomes your most valuable asset.

Building the Foundation of an Effective Website

Before you start designing, you need to think strategically. A successful website begins with clearly defined goals and a deep understanding of your target audience. Ask yourself:

• What do I want visitors to do on my site? (e.g., fill out a form, make a purchase, contact us)
• Who are my ideal customers, and what are their pain points?
• How can my website address their needs?

Once these questions are answered, focus on creating a website that offers a seamless user experience. Your site should load quickly, be mobile-friendly, and feature easy navigation. The design should reflect your brand’s identity while ensuring visitors can find what they’re looking for in just a few clicks.

Pro Tip:

Make sure your site’s structure is optimized for SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Use clear heading tags (H1, H2, H3), descriptive meta descriptions, and keyword-rich content to help your site rank higher on search engines like Google.

Attracting the Right Traffic

Building a great website is only the first step. If your target audience isn’t finding you, your site won’t generate the leads or sales you need. That’s where SEO comes into play.

To attract the right visitors to your site, focus on creating high-quality, informative content that speaks to the specific needs of your audience. Start by identifying the keywords your potential customers are searching for and incorporate them naturally throughout your site’s content, including blogs, service pages, and FAQs.

SEO Best Practices for Attracting Traffic:

• Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions with primary keywords.
• Create content that solves your audience’s problems—Google rewards helpful, engaging material.
• Leverage local SEO if your business serves specific geographical areas (e.g., “Best SEO Services in [City Name]”).
• Build backlinks from reputable sources to improve your site’s authority.

Don’t Forget Social Media

Your website isn’t the only place your business lives online. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are great ways to drive traffic back to your website. Share your blog posts, services, and promotions on social media to engage with a wider audience.

Converting Visitors into Leads or Customers

Once visitors land on your website, the next goal is to convert them. Conversion is all about encouraging users to take the desired action, whether that’s filling out a contact form, subscribing to a newsletter, or making a purchase.

Key conversion elements include:

• Clear Calls to Action (CTAs): Every page on your site should have a clear, compelling CTA that guides visitors toward the next step in their journey.
• Compelling Offers: Whether it’s a discount, a free consultation, or access to exclusive content, offer something that entices visitors to take action.
• Trust Signals: Build trust with your audience by showcasing customer testimonials, case studies, or certifications that validate your expertise.

Analytics & Testing:

To maximize conversions, continually monitor your website’s performance. Tools like Google Analytics help you track how users interact with your site, while A/B testing allows you to experiment with different headlines, designs, or CTAs to see what drives the best results.

---

Ready to Build a High-Converting Website?

Now that you understand the building blocks of an effective website, it’s time to take action. We’ve developed a comprehensive toolkit that will guide you step-by-step through the process of building a website that works for your business. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to improve your current site, our toolkit will help you Build, Attract, and Convert.

What makes for an effective website? Some websites are slick with the latest graphics innovations, and others look they were created in 1997, but an effective website goes to WORK for your business.  We have created a toolkit that shows you just how to Build, Attract, and Convert through your website to bring your ideal customer directly to you.

When it is built strategically, your website will attract the right customers, and convince them you are the right fit to meet their needs so they TAKE ACTION.

Building an effective site means you have defined your goals, created a site your audience will love (in appearance, function and communication), and you share well-targeted, quality content on a regular basis.

An attractive website is not just about looks—it’s about visibility. To attract the right visitors, your site needs to be optimized for search engines and designed to engage your audience with content that speaks directly to their needs and interests.

Converting leads is all about enticing your target audience with what is most interesting and helpful to them.  So make your landing pages sing, your offers tantalizing and let your analytics make sure you notice each person who comes in your door.  It’s so important to test and reflect on which strategies are working for you – if you aren’t listening, how can your customers be heard?

Download the Effective Website Toolkit

With attention to these three areas, you are armed to create an effective website. We have created a toolkit that takes you step by step through this process to do just that — Build, Attract, Convert. Get Your Toolkit Now >

The post How to Build a Website That Works for Your Business appeared first on Effect Web Agency.