Category Archives: Web Design

Simple Ways to Boost Your Conversion Rates

Increase your conversion rates by understanding your customers and enhancing their shopping experience!

If you have ever worked on a shop floor, you may have heard the phrase ‘conversion rates’ and ‘customer conversion’ from your boss way more than you’d have cared to, after all, what does it even mean? Say a customer had come into that shop, had a browse and then looked at a product they liked, surely they are going to buy it, right? Wrong. Just because you may have a handsome face and the witty charm to help sell that product, it doesn’t mean that your customers are definitely going to go for it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t depend on you as a person or the product in question. Converting your customers into ‘buyers’ rather than ‘lookers’ is dependent on a whole host of things. Even though purchasing online and/or instore has its similarities, the process of conversion varies widely in terms of process. We look at how to boost your conversion rates to get the most out of your E-Commerce business.

ECOM

The idea of increasing conversion for your online business is ultimately down to the shopping experience. For example, let’s look at our ‘real-life’ customers on the shop floor, imagine you’re walking into a store in search of a new pair of trainers and when you step into the shop it’s absolutely sweltering (the shoddy air-con has broken and it’s the middle of a blazing record summer!). Once you’ve sweated your way through the first few isles and finally reach the trainers, you find that all the sizes are completely muddled up. Eventually, you find the trainers you like, but lo and behold… they have a thick mark all along the bottom of the right trainer (you rub this mark off yourself as you realize it is the only pair in your size). You decide to go for the slightly-marked pair of trainers you’ve just about fixed up and reach the till, only to be greeted with a grumpy, snotty, unwelcoming retail assistant who refuses to release even a meek ‘hello’ as you approach. Now, if you have stuck around this far into your trainer purchasing experience, I commend your will (or question your sanity…), nonetheless, you’re are now part of the 1-2% of customer converts that exist online. All seems a little dramatic, doesn’t it? However, you get the picture. At each turn, your experience as a customer was tarnished by the environment that the shop have created. It is the experience that you create for your customer that will encourage them to stay longer and hopefully up your conversion rates.

CRO

What Women (and Men) Want

No, we’re not encouraging you to electrocute yourself in order to be able to read your customers minds (like the noughties Mel Gibson rom com) in order to up your conversion rate. We do, however, encourage you to understand the minds of your customers through smart technology. Something as simple as Google Analytics will help you to understand where your visitors are coming from, how long they visit each page, where they are clicking through from, if they are returning customers and what words they are searching in order to find your site. This will help you gage where the glitches lie and therefore how to improve them directly. You never know, but something like this could help you understand something about your website that could never have known, such as the language in which you are using to drive people to your site or through each page. Simply changing one or two words to help customers reach their destination could help increase your conversion rate massively.

What Women Want

Be Business Savvy

Once you’ve understood where, what and why your customers are clicking on to reach the end destination you can work on how to get them to take the plunge and click ‘buy’ with a few savvy tips and tricks. This is not to say that customers aren’t interested in the product, of course they are, and sometimes they just need a little nudge to get them onto that long-awaited confirmation page. Unlike the experience of a physical shop, the customer can’t touch, try-on or try-out the product in front of them. It is your job to make sure the product you are selling is as detailed as possible, whether this is putting as many images or different angles of the product as is possible, detailing the description with size, dimensions and types of textile or maybe even adding customer reviews (providing you have enough content and are confident in the quality!). If your customer feels as though they have all the necessary details in order to make an informed decision, they’ll be more likely to want to buy.

 

Straight to the Point

With online shopping giants such as Amazon making the purchasing process for customers that one step easier with features such as ‘One-Click’, we have no choice but to step-up our Shopping Cart game. Though it may not be suitable for your site to have such a thing as a ‘one-click’ button, it won’t hurt to make the whole process shorter with smarter features to help nudge the customer to the final purchasing page. There are a few simple ways you can do this;

Adjust your P&P
How many times have you looked at a product online and thought ‘what a steal!’ because of the low price of your purchase, only to find that the postage and packaging costs almost double the actual product? It therefore makes the product seem less ‘worth it’… you may as well go to the shop and get one for cheaper WITHOUT postage fees. The idea here is to adjust the price of your products slightly higher so that the postage seems as minimal as possible. People are more inclined to pay more if they feel as though the product is worth it and priced well, even it is a little higher than they’d like. Who wants to spend all their money on stamps anyway!

P&P

Upsell, upsell, upsell!
Flashbacks to those earlier staff meetings, back in the day of your shop floor retailing days, clutching a large coffee with the piercing sounds of your manager (once again) exclaiming that, today, you must ‘UPSELL!’. Easy on the shop floors, but how do you do this sat at your desk all day? Well, offering your customers the opportunity to purchase things in bundles. For example, game stores do this well. Selling consoles on their own at a high price or offering the customer to purchase the same console and for only a little extra they have the opportunity to receieve a selection of games. This type of upsell works a treat as the customer feels as though they’re getting the best deal. Offering smaller items on the way to the checkout page that could be of interest to them and the products they are currently purchasing are a good way to shift things that may not be able to sell by themselves.

A Penny for Your Thoughts
What a difference that little penny makes… Trust us when we say, making a sale at £99.99 will sell far better than the same product at £100.00. Customers want to believe that they’re not spending too much, so to take your product down to the next bracket of 10’s will most definitely contribute to your customers shopping experience.

Penny

App-ify it

If it is suitable for you and your business, moving into the world of apps or even online shopping is a sure-fire way to make this process easier for your shoppers on the go. However, make sure your viewing layout and action buttons are just as mobile friendly as they are desk top friendly. Follow the same processes as you would with your online version!

Safe, Clear and Easy

If customers are new to your sight, they may be dubious as to your credibility. Assuring your customers checking out are secure with their purchase, whether that’s giving them the option of money transfer services such as PayPal or working with secure money payment services will allow the customers to go through with that payment with their minds at ease. Finally, keeping your final stages extremely simple is crucial in reducing the dreaded ‘cart abandonment’. Clearly display actions such as ‘Go To Cart’, ‘Checkout’ and ‘Pay’ with areas marked in bold such as billing and delivery addresses. It seems obvious, but you’d be surprised in the amount of sites with uneasy and complicated paying processes and how easy it is to lose customers because of it. Going back to our beloved ‘real shop’ customer experience, if the shop is windy, muddled and complicated and every corner you turn you can’t seem to find that blasted paying desk, you’re probably more likely to dump the contents of your basket there and then and storm out (okay, maybe a little dramatic, but infuriating nonetheless…).

Secure

With this list threatening to never end, there are so many more ways in which you can increase and improve your conversion rate. As a wise Grasshopper once said ‘to understand the customer, one must check over its analytics, have smart layouts in place and BECOME the customer’. Well, maybe not all of that, but relevant all the same. If you would like more advice from some of our ‘wise grasshoppers’, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop us an email so we can help you to improve your conversion rates!

How to keep your web content fresh for 2017

The Year of the Rooster

Happy New Year to you all! It is now the turn of the Chinese New Year; the year of the Rooster. The Rooster symbolises time keeping, organisation and reliability amongst many of its qualities. With a little inspiration drawn from chaos that was 2016 (year of the Monkey – allegedly erratic and unpredictable) we thought we would smoothly draw a line under it all and start afresh. And what perfect way to begin a new chapter than to be inspired by rooster qualities? We delve into some ideas on how to keep your web content both fresh and innovative, whilst allowing you to provide your customers with efficient and reliable services.

 

Think… Clean Layout

This may seem like an obvious one, but not everyone gets this right first time. There is nothing worse than going on to a website, whether it was just a simple search into a search engine or you’ve gone straight to the site you desire and not being able to navigate it. Particularly with the fast paced and instant world we live in today, people get bored. Consumers are less likely to continue to search through your website if it feels awkward and difficult. Your site also represents your business so you want people to think that by choosing to work with you that it will be a smooth and effortless transition. It is vital that you keep website looking clean with smooth lines and simple drop down menus that allow people to get to their destination with ease.

 

Keep Updated

Without content, your website is just a few drop down menus that lead to empty pages with headings. Obviously, your website is not going to just lead into nowhere, so why would you only update or add new content to your site just once, or even twice? The rule above applies to many aspects of your business, not just the layout or design: don’t let people become bored of your site when all you need to do is keep it updated regularly. You can do this by adding new content, such as interesting blog posts, comments from customers or even keeping a dashboard to your business’ social media page so that customers, new or existing, can see what you’re up to regularly. Not to mention, keeping your content fresh will help keep your website relevant and boost your SEO.

 

Make Sure to do your FAQ’s

Many companies, especially smaller ones, may not see the need for an FAQ page. This page is such a vital, yet fairly easy page to create. You may not be able to always reply to potential customers questions so it is important that any questions they may have are easy to reach. This may be a question about shipping and delivery, or warranties or how to reach a certain member of your team. It helps potentially frustrated customers feel accounted for and inadvertently looked after.

 

50 Shades of Grey (or blue, or purple or green)

Now this may not work for everyone, however, a sometimes effective way to freshen up your website if you are wanting a full overhaul or whether you are thinking about your first site. Colour schemes help to set the tone of your site and give it a clean-cut finish. Unless you already have a colour scheme or design layout set in stone, a really simple and effective way to look more professional is to pick one colour, maybe that of your company logo, and using variations of that colour throughout your site. However, if you do use this technique, make sure that your using one shade of that colour and altering it from light to dark so not to clash and cause your customers to have sore eyes after looking at your site.

 

Stay Balanced

Keeping the balance between professionalism but making sure to be friendly and talk to your customers on a friendly level is important when doing business and you should keep this in mind when going through your website. Look through your site; does it look informative but not condescending? Does it read well and easy to understand? Making sure to keep the levels of jargon down (unless your business requires it) will help people not to feel alienated when understanding what they will get from you and your business.

 

Add Some Pizazz

Finally, although you want your website to be clean, easy to navigate and free of jargon, you also want it to have the type of flair that represents you and your business. This can be something as simple adding images or embedded videos to certain pages to add a bit of visual excitement. Even adding a link to a page that directs you to a ‘Meet the Team’ page with a picture of each member of staff and a fact about each one could be an icebreaker for your customers. Think of something that sets you and/or your team/business apart from everyone else within your field of competition and add it in! People love to feel like they’re unique, so if they’re using a company that has a quirk about them it will be more likely that they will remember you and attract them to your business.

 

We hope that your business prospers through 2017! If you would like any information or advice on keeping your website fresh or any of our other services, please contact our team today.

How To Really Rock Your Website Landing Page

anatomy-perfect-landing-page

The website landing page. Its one aim in life is to attract new visitors and to convert them quickly into lovely paying customers. Now, we’ve seen some stunning landing pages in our time and also some truly terrible ones!  It’s the good ones we’re going to be focusing on and how to make your landing page irresistible to your visitors.

If You Build It, They WIll Come

The first mistake many people make with their landing page or home page is to assume that just because it is there people will find it, and if they do find it they will like what they see and become a customer. Unfortunately, there is more to a website landing page than simply making it happen.  You need to hire an SEO expert to drive people to your site from the search engines, you need a great landing page layout to make your sales message clear and you need a hook that your competitors don’t have.

One Chance Of Hitting The Big Time

Your website landing page may be the first impression potential customers have of your company so make that impression count. Make sure the content on your page reflects the keywords you are targeting with the search engines – we can help you with this!  If your page is not relevant to those viewing it, they will simply flit off in seconds to find a page that is.  Don’t give your competitors the upper hand. Grab the attention of your target audience and keep them engaged.

Here’s how:

Make your page visually striking and easy to navigate.

Keep your content brief and to the point. Make it clear what you want your audience to do. This might to to take up your free trial, buy a product or service or sign up to your newsletter. Have clear direction and avoid going into too much detail.

Consider video marketing. A website landing page is the perfect candidate for slick video production. Make things easy for your audience. A 60 second video can convert more visitors instantly than you thought possible and we can show you a few statistics to back up that statement.  Take a look at our extensive video production portfolio to see some of our videos in action.

Let Stormnet Media Take Care Of Business

Defining a killer landing page can be a daunting and confusing process so why not let us take the reins? We have over 25 years of experience when it comes to website and video marketing and would be delighted to learn more about your business, your goals and sales targets and your target audience.

If you are trading online, your website landing page and website are your most valuable commodities. Make them work for you by using striking graphics and video, a compelling sales message and a strong call to action.  We can explain these essential components in more detail ad help you to turn that trickle of visitors into a flood!

Speak to the Stormnet Media team now on 01527 910050 or use our contact form to get in touch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Your Web Video Needs to be Mobile Ready

Mobile ready web video to drive sales…

Web video production is a vital part of many companies’ marketing strategies. Web videos can convey vital product information easily and entertainingly. Videos are also much more likely to be shared by viewers than text pieces are by readers, meaning that companies with video demonstrations are more easily able to take advantage of network effects.

When creating a video, however, it’s important to take not only those viewers watching on their home internet connections but also those watching on mobile devices into account. More and more people watch online videos on their smartphones or tablets, and producing a video in a format these users can’t watch means leaving them out of the audience.

Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in mobile web video watching in the UK, as more and more consumers have access to mobile devices and fast mobile internet. According to a recent survey, 63% of mobile device users in the vital 18-44 demographic watched videos on their smartphones or tablets. A survey in early 2013 saw a 14% increase in the number of online videos viewed from the previous year with the number of mobile video users more than tripling.

With this striking increase in mobile video viewing, web video production needs to take the needs of mobile users into consideration. This means thinking about connection speeds, file formats and screen size.

Some video hosting services already take mobile viewers into account. For instance, videos hosted on YouTube can be quickly mobilised by selecting an option in the Syndication menu. For companies handling web video production in-house, making a mobile-friendly video means choosing the right file format. The most common mobile video formats are MPEG-4 – also a common format for web video – 3GP, and Flash Lite. These fomats encourage small file sizes that download quickly to mobile phones.

Video production needs to take more than just file format into account when creating a video for mobile users. Some elements that will work well on a laptop screen won’t be as helpful for mobile users. Text may be too small to easily read, for instance, and mobile sound performance can lack the clarity of desktop speakers. Testing a new video on mobile devices as well as personal computers is a vital part of the production process.

For advice an help on any aspect of web video production then talk to our friendly team on 01527 910050 or use our contact form.

How to Produce a Website Video on a Budget

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Website video production for small business

Online video has never been more important as part of a company’s marketing strategy. As more and more people have access to high-speed internet and video-capable mobile devices, website videos gain a larger and larger potential audience. If you’ve never created a video before, however, it can be a daunting prospect. You may be wondering if it’s something you can afford. In fact, however, you probably have most of what you need already. You’ll be surprised to find how inexpensively website videos can be created.

High-quality digital video cameras can be expensive, but the cameras contained in many mobile phones or tablets are good enough for explainer videos or other simple website videos. Inexpensive flip cameras provide a slightly wider range of options without breaking the bank. If you’re demonstrating a piece of software or a website, you may not need to use a camera at all.

Script and presentation are the most important parts of a video, and these needn’t cost anything if you’re going to do them yourself. The success of a low-budget video depends on being able to clearly communicate your passion for the product to the viewer, so make sure that your script is direct, to the point and short. If you have a lot of material to cover, you may find it easier to present it in several small videos rather than one long one.

Although it doesn’t seem like much, research has shown that the videos that hold an audience’s attention tend to be in the 30-60 second range. Naturally, a more complicated subject requires more detailed coverage, but try to make sure that your video isn’t any longer than it needs to be.

Editing and production require video editing and formatting software; a number of useful applications are available either free or at low prices. Editing and video production software like ScreenFlow, Camtasia and iMovie all off the ability to record and edit videos; Camtasia and iMovie both also allow you to screencast, recording what appears on your computer screen. If you only want to screencast, try Jing, a screencast app with a useful free version.

If you’d like help with producing a website video then we’d love to talk. We produce website and explainer videos that help companies achieve the online success they deserve. We’re based near Birmingham in the West Midlands and work for delighted customers all over the UK. Contact your friendly experts today.. we’d be happy to talk to you.

How to Increase Sales Through Online Video Production

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Guide to boosting your revenue with online video production

Whilst a great online or web video can massively boost your sales revenue, a poor video can put off your prospects. Here, we’ll show you how to increase your revenue with great video marketing and how to avoid the most common pitfalls.

In this guide:

Learn how to win new business with web video

How to create a web video strategy that works for your business
Turn your customers into advocates for your brand

How to drive marketing with good quality web videos

Video marketing is one of the most powerful ways to boost your business. Studies have shown that website videos, such as explainer videos, can make a big difference to your sales conversion rate. If you combine this with the relatively low cost of production and the fact that Google favours video in the search results then you’ve got very compelling reasons to use online video production.

The great news is that you don’t have to be a budding Steve Spielberg to make a successful marketing video. You can, of course, hire a professional video production company but you may also want to consider having a go at producing your own video first.

If you are a small business owner considering producing your own online video then here are a few insider tricks that you can use to help make your video a success. This includes info on how to make your video stand out and how to ensure you get your message across.

Planning your video

The most important part of any video production process is in the planning stage. This will help you stay true to your goals, make the filming more efficient and result in a video that works.

The planning of a video production can take a number of forms. For the most part this involves mapping out what you want to achieve from the video (e.g. get more sales, explain what you do etc.), producing a script and designing a storyboard.

The storyboard and script will help you understand your story better and will allow everyone involved to share in the message. It also helps in planning the filming to make it as efficient as possible as well as the edit.

If you’re producing something like an explainer video then keep in mind that audiences are very fickle. The sweet spot in terms of duration is around 60 to 90s so be brutal in getting rid of stuff you don’t need.

Many explainer and online videos follow a standard format. This is to present a problem, provide a solution, explain how it works and then give a call to action.

Production kit you’ll need

Video production equipment is now more affordable than ever. But before you rush out and buy a shed load of professional kit then you may want to consider that you may already own equipment that is good enough for the job. For example, a lot of DSLR cameras and camcorders deliver superb quality for web video production. These are leaps and bounds from the old ‘tape’ based video camcorders and can deliver HD video quality.

In addition there are some absolutely essential extras that can make the difference between a professional looking video and an amateur movie. One of these is the tripod. This will make your shots steady and remove the hand-held shots that lots of amateur video makers use. There are also other great bits of kit, such as dollies that help you create dynamic tracking shots – these can make your video look like a piece of work by a pro.

Pay attention to the editing

The editing of your video is one of the most important parts of the video production process. You also should try and be a merciless as possible in the process and cut out anything that does not enhance your story. Think about what your viewers want to know and don’t assume that they understand your business.

There are lots of great video editing packages available for free or just a few pounds. Many operating systems ship with some form of editing software, one of the best on the market is Apple’s iMovie. This delivers professional video production editing tools and an easy to use interface.

With digital video editing software you’ll be able to quickly create a logical and coherent story. Before you start filming and editing you may want to consider creating a storyboard and script. This will help you organise your production and stay on message.

When editing, don’t be tempted to fill your video with flashy transitions and effects. This can distract from your message and screams ‘amateur video’ to the audience. Instead concentrate of the key messages.

If you’d like to discuss any aspect of professional video production or would like additional help or advice then we’d love to help. We’re based near Birmingham in the West Midlands and have video studios in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. We work with clients just like you across the UK and help them achieve online success and sell more stuff!

Contact your friendly experts today on 01527 910050.

Video Production, Animation and Web Design that Gets Results

Call stormnet media on 01527 910050

More than your run-of-the-mill video production company

With an extensive collection of happy clients under our belt, including some well-known brand names, we like to think we’re a little bit more than just a top-notch video production company.

The great news is that we don’t work only with big brands. Our clients include many small-to-medium-sized businesses as well.

We’re awfully proud our reputation for broadcast-quality video and film, not to mention exceptional value for money. But did you know we also offer a comprehensive range of digital media services?

Once you work with Stormnet, you’ll understand what makes us different. We don’t just produce films, animations, websites and such; we create results. And more often than not, exceed expectations.

Experts in all areas of video production

And by all areas, we mean everything! From animation, special effects, graphics through to corporate, promotional, health and safety, explainer and website videos, we always produce broadcast-quality videos that consistently wow our clients – and their audiences.

Here are a few of the videos that we produce:

Promo videos
Training videos
Corporate videos
Explainer and website videos
Health & Safety videos
Marketing videos

and much more…

With a stable of thoroughbred design and production talent in our studio, we’re always pushing the boundaries of creativity, quality, value and service. We understand that you’re not just hiring us to make an awesome video, stunning animation or high traffic website – you’re looking for a media partner to help you boost sales and increase productivity – day in, day out.

As a Stormnet customer, expect to enjoy all of these benefits and more besides:

Clear commercial focus – when it comes to fulfilling your business goals, we never take our eye off the ball

Clear, regular communication – geek-speak is banished to the editing room floor. When we’re talking to you it’s plain English all the way

The best value we can offer – whatever your budget, we always offer the same focus and commitment, to give you unbeatable value for money

A range of highly-recommended digital services

In addition to high-performance video productions, many of our clients benefit from our expertise right across their digital operations.

Here’s an overview of our other services, designed to help you achieve your business goals:

Animation
Website design
Mobile app development
SEO, social media and conversion rate optimisation

We’re conveniently based near Birmingham in the West Midlands and have video production and digital media facilities in Warwickshire and Worcestershire. We work for clients all over the UK and Europe.

For a friendly, no-obligation chat, call Stormnet Media today on 01527 280 100 or use our contact form – we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

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How to optimise your website video for search rankings

4 Ways to get your website video to the top of the search rankings – FREE guide

OK, so you’ve got some awesome website videos and now you want to drive loads of lovely traffic to your website. You know that videos are indexed well by Google but how do you actually go about getting your video in the rankings.

Here’s our quick guide to how to do it.

1. Use YouTube

It sounds obvious but it’s amazing how many people forget to use this free platform. Basically Google gets information from thousands of different places on the Internet. These are compiled into the results that you see when you do a search. The great news is that YouTube and Google seem (albeit denied) to have a special relationship with each other in terms of favouritism. This means that videos on YouTube are 85% more likely to show up in the rankings than other platforms.

So definitely use YouTube but also don’t exclude the other channels such as Vimeo and Google Video.

2. Optimise your video

Again, this seems obvious but many people simply upload their videos but don’t bother optimising them. It’s vital that you optimise your video titles, description and tags. And you don’t forget to optimise the actual title and file name as YouTube look at all these factors. It’s always a good idea to do some keyword research so that you use tags that are relevant and not too competitive. Long tail keywords work well, especially ones that are geographically based (such as a town / county).

3. Video sitemap

If you have a video hosted on your own website then you’ll need to create a video sitemap. While videos are indexed by the search engines on the platforms such as YouTube automatically they’re not on a ‘normal’ website. This means you’ll need to create and upload a site map with meta data about the video title, content and running time.

4. Compelling thumbnails

When you upload your website videos make sure that you pick a thumbnail that’s going to make the viewer hit the play button. Think about what will draw the user to the video and select the thumbnail accordingly.

If you’re considering website video production then talk to us first. We help loads of businesses like you achieve huge online success and improved conversion rates with stunning explainer videos and website videos. We back this up with making sure all the techie stuff (as above) is done to ensure maximum exposure.

Give you friendly video production company a call today on 01527 910050.