By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

For many people who are just starting an online business, blog, or other type of website, they use Do-It-Yourself web design in order to save money.  While this often works for blogs, which often come with free themes, e-commerce sites are far more complex and require an intimate knowledge of computer languages.

However, if you need to be your own web designer, this post is aimed at helping you proofread your website or blog to make it the as easy-to-use and successful as possible.

DIY web design and proofreading is a lot like self-editing your own writing: it’s hard to see the mistakes when you are so invested in the work!  Therefore, I suggest that you enlist the help of a friend, coworker, family member, the stranger sitting at the library computer next to you… anyone will do.

1)  Do a quick look-around: Ask your help-mate to look around your home page.  See if they can easily navigate through your pages, categories, archives, etc.  Ask them to find the “Contact Us” page, or to sign up for your email newsletter.  This will help you understand if your site layout and navigation is successful!

2)  Check the text: Ask your helper to read some of the main text content on your home page: is it easy to read?  Are the fonts and colors easy to see?  Are there any spelling errors that jump out at you?  This will tell you whether or not your content will translate to your visitors or if you should make some changes.

3)  What annoys them most? Nobody likes an annoying site design, like pop-up ads, flashing banners, etc.  Ask your helper what part of your website they would change if they could.  This will help you avoid a high “bounce rate” of visitors leaving your site.

These steps are designed to help you proofread your own web design.  Of course, there are thousands upon thousands of companies who provide services like this, but if you use DIY-web design, you will probably use DIY-proofreading as well.  Good luck!

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

What does your blog design tell your readers?

If you still have that generic blue and white WordPress theme that is standard on all newly created blogs, you probably won’t get the chance to say much.  An unchanged, sterile design not only gives off an air of neglect, nonchalance and antiquity, but it also gives your readers no reason to stay!  This is mainly because so many spam blogs out today keep generic themes like this.  If your reader’s first perception of your blog is that you look like a spammer, how likely is it that they will read on to discover that are not one?  However, a lack of focus in the design of your blog may also force readers to think that you are an amateur blogger and your content will be as uninteresting and unprofessional as your theme.

In short, web design for blogs should be just as much a priority as the content it offers!  Why would a visitor take the time to read your blog posts when it is physically straining on their eyes, due to bright colors, lack of color, inconsistent formatting or poor layout?  Poor design forces the visitor to seek more interesting content elsewhere.

It is so easy to fix this problem!  There are hundreds of sites out there offering a wide variety of free WordPress themes to plug-in to your blog.

One of the best free blog theme sites I’ve come across recently is ThemeFury.  ThemeFury just launched dozens of high-style WordPress themes that fit every blogging niche.  All in all, it’s just a simple blog-theme site.  However, that simplicity is what draws me to it, for unlike most sites boasting “free” items, ThemeFury does not attack their visitors with banner ads, pop-up ads, or other annoying marketing campaigns.

Here at Submit Solution, we love to stay up-to-date on the latest news in online marketing, social media and technology.  Stay tuned for more posts highlighting recent sites, products or trends that we’ve discovered!  We love to share our passion for the industry.  Thanks for reading!

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

We’ve all experienced this before.  I’m typing in “iPod Touch” in a search engine, but accidentally spell out “iPod Tuch.”  I immediately realize my mistake as I see the popular question, “Did you mean: iPod Touch?”, encouraging me to search for the correct terms.  However, many of the listings that pull up are relevant, so I don’t redo the search with the correct spelling.  Then I see the paid search ad on the side with the incorrect search query inserted in.  I can’t help feeling annoyed

PPC ads like I just described implement what’s called a DKI or Dynamic Keyword Insertion technique.  These ads automatically insert search keywords into a paid ad.  This form is popular because, if used correctly, it can produce very specific results that will generate quality traffic.

However, the use of DKI in PPC ads can result in annoyance, as in my situation, mistrust or even generic and weak ad content.  I am going to outline some of the pros and cons of using dynamic keyword insertion in your paid search ads.  Then you can see for yourself if this method is right for you!

PRO:  Customized Ads

Sometimes, DKI can greatly increase your traffic.  For example, when searching for foreclosed homes in Provo, UT, I came across this specified landing page.  It seems like this page would be exactly what someone would be looking for with their search.

CON:  Incoherence

However, with the same site, I found I could type in anything for the name of a city in Utah where I would like to find foreclosures.  The result?  You get the picture.  Obviously, there is no place called Crappy, UT.  With DKI, by allowing any search term at all to be included in your ad or landing page, you run the risk of becoming incoherent and purposefully spam-like to the public eye.

CON:  Generic and Misspelled Ads
When you create a PPC ad using DKI, your wording will need to be deliberately vague, so that multiple terms can be inserted without changing the meaning of the ad.  The problem with this is that the ad will be weak.  Even if the ad does include the specific word that was searched for, there is little likelihood that it will be strong enough content wise to draw a quality click.

All-in-all, pay-per-click ads using DKI appear desperate and can even resemble spam.  If you choose to use this technique in your paid ad, do so carefully and choose only key words that both fit your ad and are relevant to the service or product you are advertising.  Stay tuned for more posts on social media, SEO, web design and PPC!

by Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Pay-Per-Click ads can be a great marketing tool, there’s little doubt about that.  However, this form of advertising is more difficult than it looks.  Sure, anyone can come up with a slogan, title or headline that they think properly describes their product or service.  But is that really a good and effective ad?  In this post, we will outline the six major reasons why people click on ads and how you can apply this to your own online marketing strategy.

Let’s start out with a small introduction:

So, What is a Pay-Per-Click ad, really?

Well, it’s an ad sponsored by an independent person, such as yourself, that appears on the sidebar or at the top of the results page within relevant search engine results.  The ad will appear when keywords or phrases, that you’ve previously specified, are searched for.  This is a very keyword-targeted form of marketing and is much more aggressive that classic SEO practices.

Okay, that’s the boring, technical version of what a PPC ad is.  But what is it really?

A PPC ad is your chance to catch targeted visitors based on the content you choose to publish.  Unlike SEO, which automatically pulls up relevant links and content according to the search engine “crawlers”, a PPC ad is written and planned by you alone.  This means that the content and keywords chosen for a PPC ad will be the lifeblood of your traffic.

If you want to create a successful PPC ad, it is important to understand why people click on them!  This will help you get in the correct mindset for writing a great ad that will matter to people.  Online marketing specialists have long since studied consumers and how advertising affects them, in order to better market to their needs and wants.

Here are the 6 reasons why people click on online advertisements:

Benefits: Readers feel like they will benefit in some way by clicking on the ad.  Examples include, learning something, gaining something materially, etc.

Brand: Readers recognize the brand.

Differentiation: The ad is different from the others around it and somehow attracts readers’ attention.

Curiosity: Readers want to know more about what the ad implies, claims or asks.

Legibility: The ad makes logical sense to readers.

Call to Action: Readers feel inclined to click on an ad that calls them to action.

Now that you understand the basic motivations behind the clicks you’re paying for, you can begin to discover which motives above would work the best for your ads.  For example, would your particular marketing need benefit from an ad that focuses on curiosity or legibility?  Playing around with these different concepts can not only increase the traffic generated from your PPC ads, but from your other content as well.  These genres of motivation can also apply to your blog posts and titles, greatly increasing your organic ranking through SEO and your Social Media presence as well.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

September 8th, 2009

Did you know that eight seconds is all that stands between a potential customer and another lost client? Statistics say that this short amount of time is all it takes for a visitor on your site to decide whether they’re going to read on or push the “back” button in their browser. Can you guess what the most important factor is in this quick decision? Web design. If your site is clear, updated and easy to use, you will retain more of your visitors, which will help you more readily convert them into paying customers.

You only have eight seconds to convince your visitors to stay, so don’t scare them away with these utah web design faux-pas:

1. Clutter

Information overload. Nobody likes it! Don’t crowd your landing pages with too much information, too many photos or cheesy advertising. Make your home page welcoming and simple. Here is a simple design tip to improve your website’s clarity: manipulate the white or blank space around certain links, pages or content that you deem most important for your customers to notice. This highlights importance without overwhelming the eyes!

2. Hidden Links

This is a general formatting rule that is often ignored: make your links look like links and your text look like text. One of the biggest deterrents to visitors in web design is the unexpected pop-up of another page when one makes a random click on a site. Make sure that all linked words or phrases on your page follow the same format (underline, color, bold, etc) so that information is clearly available to your readers.

3. Lack of Navigation

In the eight seconds your visitors are deliberating, they should be able to quickly access and navigate your site according to their needs. Simple sidebar design with a select number of options will prove successful, as it is informational without being complicated. Keep it simple!

4. Harsh Colors

The onslaught of harsh color schemes is one of the quickest ways to ensure that your visitors will soon leave your page. Not only are bright, neon color schemes difficult to read and hard on the eyes, they also exude a sort of amateurism that does not bode well for your company.

5. Lack of Purpose

Your visitors should not have to look very far to find out who you are and what you do when they’re on your site. A small header on each page is a great way to let any reader know where the information they’re currently reading is coming from. A small slogan is also a great way to show your visitors that they are accessing information from an expert source in their field.

Although it may sound overwhelming that customers will ditch your site after less than ten seconds of being on it, all hope is not lost! Most of these mistakes can be easily corrected. They are mostly formatting errors and simple design choices. By avoiding the simple utah web design mistakes listed above, you can guarantee great success in converting visitors to quality leads or customers.