Move Strategic Thinking to Strategic Doing

We follow Sam Geist, a top business strategist who posts great advice in his newsletter called "Quick Bites." This week's post is worth repeating! 

A couple of weeks ago, I once again facilitated a roundtable discussion on execution. I relayed to the group that studies have shown that the reason 95% of businesses are not successful is that they are 

not willing to do what the 5% who are successful are willing to do.  

We then made a list of what they felt was required to join The 5% Club.
Take a look at seven of the achievements on the list:

• Operate the business with a sense of purpose. Have a plan of where your business is going. No aimless wandering.
• Engage in open and clear communication. No big secrets. No tall silos. No excluded employees.
• Focus on accountability. Who does what by when. Delegate responsibility. Give authority. Stay in the loop.
• Encourage flexibility and adaptability. Be willing to collaborate for the well-being of the company. Be ready to "zig" when the competition "zags."
• Take a circular approach. Change is continuous. Improvement is continuous. Execution is continuous. No beginning, no end.
• Maintain "a company of leaders" perspective. Learn from everyone in the company. Teach everyone in the company-from top to bottom.
• Use all your resources-internal and external-beneficially. 

Innovation, strategies and plans cannot move forward alone. Without execution they lie dormant in a heap.  

LESSON LEARNED: 
"Execution is everything today. Get your people to execute. Take charge of execution. Move strategic thinking to strategic doing."

--Sam Geist   

Read more about Sam at http://www.samgeist.com/

Common Website Design Mistakes Companies Make

Do you run a small business?

Are you trying to get more leads online?

Is your website design doing all it could to help your business grow?

Website Design Ann Arbor 

You put a lot of effort and energy into your business. We want to make sure you know what the website design for your business may be doing that could be hurting your awareness, leads and sales!

Here are a few tips that will ensure that your website design doesn’t drive away visitors, but keeps them on your site longer:

1. Have a clear headline! Headlines and phrases in bold stand out to clearly identify your company’s message.
2. Images are important! Friendly faces and photos that represent you and your company belong on your home page. Showcase your company’s personality! 
3. Make your purpose clear! If people can’t figure out who you are and what you do, they’re not going to stay.
4. Items in the navigation bar should be helpful for your visitors, not for your company! Stay away from headlines like “why work with us”, “what we do,” etc. 
5. Too much clutter will turn away visitors. Too many links, photos and graphics can confuse people and leave them frustrated and overwhelmed.

Do any of the items on this list stand out to you? Do you think your site needs website design help?

Visit our website to sign up for a free website design evaluation! We want to help you make the changes your site needs to get your business more leads! Visit us online or call us at 877-815-6974 to get started today!

When you think "website design ann arbor" ... we hope you'll contact us!

5 Things Your Website Design is Missing

Are you running a website for your business?

Do you wish you were getting more leads online?

If your website isn’t performing as well as you’d like, there could be some key elements missing!

Website Design Ann Arbor

Website design is essential when you're trying to get more leads from your website. It can affect how long potential customers stay on your site!

Here are five things your website design might be lacking:

• Social media links: It is considered standard practice for every business to have links to social media platforms. These platforms are like extensions of your company’s personality – so display them on your home page!

• User-friendly navigation: Make sure your website is clean, organized, and won’t drive away customers!

•  Call to action: This might not seem like an element of website design, but a dedicated place on every page on your website to encourage people to call/click on something/subscribe to a newsletter is important.

•  Responsive design: A responsive design means a website design that can be viewed on any size screen – laptop, large desktop, phones and tablets - and still look good and function well.

• High quality images: Images help visitors to better understand who you are, and the kind of personality your company has. The more friendly faces on your site, the better!

Looking For More Tips?

At SEO AnnArbor, we want to help you get the website you’ve always wanted for your business, and get you more leads! Contact us today on our website for a free website design evaluation to get started!

When you think "website design ann arbor" ... we hope you'll contact us!

Five Ways Your Web Design is Driving Away Business

Are you the owner of a business?

Do you depend on your website to get you new customers, leads, and even make sales?

Are you seeing a decline in leads from the web?

You’re not alone – many business owners use their websites as not only a platform to get their name out there, but as a secondary source of profit.


Being visible on the web means more business, and hopefully more money coming to your business.

However, did you know that your web design plays a big role in how consumers use your website?

Web design can even negatively affect sales! Here are five ways you could be unintentionally driving away business with your current web design:

1. Making information hard to find – too much text and clickable images on the page can make what consumers are actually looking for difficult to find.
2. Distracting images and graphics – too many images and graphics on one page can overwhelm and distract a visitor to your site, causing them to leave the page.
3. Broken links – take extra care to make sure every link on your site leads to the correct page, and a page that actually exists! It can be easy to delete a page and forget to change the link.
4. Text is small and hard to read – make sure your font size and style is consistent throughout your site. Use a basic font and a large size to make your information easy to read.
5. Unorganized, complex web design – this may seem like a no-brainer, but remember that a web design with a lot of pages, links and text can be confusing and hard to navigate for users. Keep your site clean and well organized to increase leads.

Looking For More?

Head over to SEO Ann Arbor’s website to see how our web design experts can help you get the most out of your business’s website! We want to help your business grow and succeed, and we offer free web evaluations! Contact us today to get started!

Web Design Ann Arbor: Three Things to Know and One Thing to Avoid

Are you trying to improve your businesses web design?

Are you unsure if you’re making the right moves to increase leads and engagement on your website?

Here at SEO Ann Arbor, we want to help you make sure that you’re getting the most out of your website, and it all starts with web design.

Three Things You Need to Know:

1. More graphics are not always better! Graphics, while eye-catching, can be distracting if they clutter the page. You want graphics that make sense and serve a purpose, rather than graphics that just take up space.
2. Clean design is the way to go. A website that’s organized; well thought out and functional will attract more leads than a complex, hard to follow design.
3. Responsive design is the way of the future. Eventually, Google will be penalizing sites that aren’t responsive, and search results will suffer. For the ease of your customers, a site that can be viewed on any size screen is not only convenient, but will get you bonus points with Google.

A responsive design that adapts to tablets and smartphones is an essential element of web design.

One Thing to Avoid:

1. Inconsistent fonts! It can be tempting to use different font styles and sizes in order to make certain information stand out, but don’t go crazy! Many consumers agree that varying font sizes and styles is not only distracting, but can actually end up being harder to read.

Need More Tips?

 

Visit SEO Ann Arbor online, and see how our design and SEO experts can help you use web design to grow your business. Contact us today for a free website evaluation!

How to Create a Professional Looking Website

Are you creating a website for your business?

Are you an entrepreneur who is trying to create a brand name?

Trying to design a completely new website that not only functions well but that also looks great can be overwhelming.

To make sure you’re getting the most out of your web design, follow these simple steps to ensure you have a great looking, professional-style website for your business!

• Get organized! Plan out ahead of time what pages you want to have on your site, and plan how you’re going to lay them out so that they’re logical, and easy to navigate.
• Keep it simple! This sounds like common sense, but the biggest problem with many websites today is that they’re too complicated for people to find information quickly and easily.  
• Stay focused! When putting together a compelling web design, it’s easy to get off track with design ideas. Keep your pages simple and easy, and don’t go crazy with design ideas that will ultimately take you off track from your end goal: to get more leads and/or sales.

Still Unsure?

SEO Ann Arbor wants to help you and your business succeed! Give us a call or visit our site today to see how our web design experts can help you!

Do’s and Don’ts of Web Design

Are you in the process of designing a new website for your business?

Are you up-to-date on the best practices of web design?

Don’t let the process of designing a website overwhelm you! Follow these simple do’s and don’ts and get the most out of your web design!

Do:

• Make sure your website is structured well. A busy website with too many graphics or text boxes can be very distracting to someone visiting your site. In the case of web design, less is more!
• Try to focus on your most relevant topics. The focus for your site should be with a specific goal in mind. Focus on what’s important, and what is going to drive in the most business.
• Make an easy navigation bar. The easier your site is to navigate, the better customers and clients are going to be able to find the information they’re looking for. They won’t get frustrated about having to sort through page after page, either.

Don’t:

• Have too many text boxes or graphics. You want your site to be eye-catching, but not at the expense of giving out information or making sales. Too many distractions on a page can drive potential customers away. 
• Have irrelevant content/images on pages. Make sure to keep everything simple and clear. Don’t confuse a visitor to your site by having information about four different topics on one page. Dedicate each page to a relevant piece of information regarding your business.
• Go overboard with images and colors. Pick a color scheme and stick to it throughout the site. Also be sure to use colors that are easy on the eyes, as opposed to neon colors, for example, which are eye-catching, but can be overwhelming and distracting.

Looking For More?

Visit SEO Ann Arbor’s website or give us a call at 877-815-6974 to see how we can help you create a great web design for your business!