ImageWorksBlog

 Whether you're a new marketer or a veteran, you know that it's important to attract visitors to your site. However, sometimes it's easier said than done. You're worried about a myriad of other things like getting bottom-line results or keeping up with the latest marketing trends, so it's easy to forget about that first step. The key to making it a priority in your marketing strategy is to believe that generating traffic is possible. Increasing website traffic and visitors doesn't have to be a gamble-- there are a few secure ways people do it. To make sure you are aware of these tips, we have broken down some of the most effective ways you can generate traffic to your website

Each month when we bring in new clients, there are a few who are bound to have been mistreated by a web designer in the past.

Cleaning up or fixing another developer's mistakes is one of the least exciting parts of the job; however, we relish the opportunity to dispel any notions of distrust and prove our worth to new clients.

Check out a few telltale signs that will help you to spot a bad web design company before you end up under contract with a website you hate.

 Online videos have experienced explosive growth in recent years, due in part to the fact that Google's algorithm for search rankings evaluates the amount of time visitors stay on your websites.

Explainer videos are an affordable and effective method for improving conversion rates,  clarifying your product or service, and boosting your sales. 

Continue reading to learn how an explainer video can improve conversion rates for your website.

Ecommerce claims a larger slice of the global retail pie with each passing year, and experts project that it will account for more than 17% of all retail sales by 2022. The growing prominence of ecommerce comes as no surprise in a digitalized world, but this upward trend in online shopping does introduce unique challenges to retailers worldwide. As the ecommerce landscape becomes increasingly competitive, online retailers need to innovate the shopping experience they offer in order to keep up.

Because having a stellar product is not enough to stand out in such a highly saturated market, great design is the key for ecommerce businesses looking to make a memorable impact on their customers. Ecommerce design in 2018 is truly revolutionizing the way we shop by combining the ease and lightness of online shopping with the experiential and discovery-elements of offline shopping.

Some of the ecommerce design trends of 2018 are so ingeniously subtle we may not notice them until met with a poorly designed site with which to compare them. Trends like scrolling product photos and seamless product landing pages eliminate much of the needless navigation work that can sabotage conversions, creating a light yet informative online shopping experience.

But other trends are made to stand out: big, bold, out-of-the-box photography and integrated video are meant to capture your attention. These trends make it possible to showcase the product through its characteristics that simply don’t come through in standard photo dimensions, characteristics like movement, texture, or consistency.

And if you have ever walked into a store and later walked out having purchased something you never set out to buy, ecommerce design trends in 2018 are moving to encourage more of this kind of browsing. By designing unique, attractive, and interactive category pages, many ecommerce sites are moving to reintroduce an element of discovery to your online shopping experience.

Check out examples of these ecommerce design trends and more in the following infographic from What’s the Host:

ImageWorks,LLC | CT Web Design

 Are you looking to improve your rankings in Google? Of course you are— it’s an important item featured on the To-do lists of digital marketers across the country. Most marketers understand and appreciate that an effective SEO strategy is a critical component of any online marketing strategy.
Despite the growth of social media platforms, there’s no denying that people still rely heavily on search engines for relevant information, including researching companies and their products and services.
So naturally, if you want your business to be found and stand out from the masses, you need to show up near the top of these searches.
You may already have an active SEO strategy in place for you website, but are you seeing the results you want, or are you stuck, middling on page 5 of Google search? This post discusses several SEO mistakes that indicate it may be time for a full site SEO audit.

While many website design trends are temporary affairs of the heart, a select few are natural evolutions  of the industry. As more web-accessible devices are introduced to the market, designers must continue to adapt their workflow to meet the dynamic changes that are occuring in web design.Over the past few years, the general appearance of websites has changed quite a bit for developers and designers.It's hard to determine which trends are rooted in serious potential for helping your business convert site users into leads. Fortunately, we have help.

Luckily for  brands and people like ourselves, the team over at Coastal Creative did some excellent research into the emerging trends for 2018 and provided an easy-to-digest infographic breakdown.

Legions of people from all walks of life are spending more time on social media, as the line between the news feed and daily life becomes increasingly blurred. This is good news for businesses with hopes of improving engagement with potential customers. After all, increasing social media engagement directly improves the chances of your content showing up in people’s news feeds. So, how exactly does one work to increase Facebook engagement without sounding like a desperate car salesman trying to meet quota? Let’s start by ensuring that you’re not doing anything the could jeopardize your engagement; unfortunately, there are many mistakes that could do just that.

This post provides a brief overview of five common but damaging social media mistakes that inevitably hurt engagement.

Is your eCommerce website ready for the influx of holiday shoppers? According to the National Retail Federation, retail eCommerce holiday sales increased nearly 4% in 2015 (Source). Online shoppers are scouring the Internet for holiday dealsearlier each year, so it's important to work on your website as early as possible so you can get the most out of your store.

Plus, it's likely you will be barraged with customer questions and support request, not to mention selling and shipping your products-- working on your website ahead of time will certainly save you a few headaches.