Until recently, Google would rate your website’s SEO based on several factors, but the goal was to stick to one relevant term when it came to keywords. Unfortunately, keyword stuffing crashed that party, and Google began to penalize sites for using the keyword too often and inappropriately. So instead, algorithms developed to take into account semantically related words that would help the reader better understand the topic. These are called LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords.

What LSI Keywords Do

LSI Keywords help the reader and Google understand what your web page or blog post is about. They aren’t synonyms, but terms that help give the reader and Google context.

Take the keyword “succulent,” for example.

Are you talking about something juicy and moist, like a perfect steak? Or are you talking about the drought-resistant plants that retain moisture in their stems and leaves? This is where LSI keywords come in.
We are talking about the plant, so there will be words on the page like:

• Ecosystem
• Soil
• desert
• roots
• photosynthesis

These words make it clear that we aren’t talking about steak.

How to Find Semantically Related Keywords

You can do a Google search and see some of the related things on the search engine results page.

• Growing Succulents
• Succulent Care
• Succulent Types
• Jade Plant
• Propagating succulents

You can also check the People Also Ask section of the SERP

• How do you water a succulent?
• How do you care for succulents indoors?
• Do succulents need full sun?
• Do succulents grow better inside or outside

Remember Context Is Key

If you do an internet search, you will find plenty of articles that try to debunk LSI Keywords. This is because LSI technology is old-It has been around since 1988! Some of these articles will say that Google doesn’t look specifically for LSI keywords when your SEO is calculated.

However, related terms have long played an important role in whether your page is considered a good example of what someone is searching for. LSI keywords add context and variety to your content in a way that keeps the text interesting and readable. It helps you create relevant content without stuffing it full of the exact keywords repeatedly.

Ensuring Your Website is Optimized

The best thing you can do to ensure your website is optimized is to have the SEO specialists at Iceberg Web Design do their magic. Whether you need your site built from scratch or you need to ensure people find your existing site, we have the knowledge and tools to get it done. Contact us today!

The post LSI Keywords and Your Site’s SEO appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

At Iceberg, we can often find affordable website-based solutions to your business problems. It can help to have a conversation with our team every couple of years so that your website can grow along with your business.

We recently looked at how to have a website built on a budget. But there are even more ways to save money while still getting a professional website.

What do you need on your website?

When building a website, it pays to sit down with a website consultant and decide what you need on the website versus what you would like to have. Get the bare bones down and the features that will benefit your business most now.

Scale Up with WordPress

One of the great things about a WordPress website is that it is so scalable. You can start with your immediate needs and then add features on later as you can afford them or need them more. You might add:

•       Newsletter Integration
•       Scheduling Integration
•       Custom Forms
•       Special Calculator
•       Online Payment Feature
•       Any other feature that would make your site more effective!

At Iceberg, we can often find affordable website-based solutions to your business problems. It can help to have a conversation with our team every couple of years so that your website can grow along with your business.

Be Responsive

The easier the developer can reach you, the faster the process will go. Good communication with your developer will aid in the project’s smooth progress, which can help you avoid hourly additions and late fees.

Plus, when you communicate well with the team working on your site, you develop a relationship with them. Often, people will go out of their way to help those they genuinely like to work with.

Invest in a Maintenance Package to Save Money

It can often be challenging to understand the benefits of a maintenance package and why they cost as much as they do. That’s because a maintenance package is a little bit like an insurance policy with added benefits. With an insurance policy, you might wonder why you are paying for it each month, but you are thankful to have it when an issue arises.

Monitoring for Downtime

There is a lot more to a maintenance package than just taking care of a downed website. However, this is an aspect of maintenance that shouldn’t be taken for granted. Several things can result in downtime for your site:

•       Problems with the Server
•       DNS Issues
•       CMS Failure
•       Cyber Attacks
•       A Lapse in Maintenance

When you have a maintenance package in place, your site will be continually monitored for downtime so that if it happens, we can get your site back up and running as quickly as possible.

Content Updates

One of the most important things you get with your maintenance plan is regular updates to your site’s content by a professional developer. These updates will help you avoid broken links, outdated information, and dead pages. The developer can also make SEO recommendations and marketing.

Updates to CMS, Theme, and Plugins

These might be monthly or quarterly updates, depending on the maintenance plan you choose. Updates to your site’s CMS, theme, and plugins will prevent many issues since outdated themes and plugins increase your site’s vulnerability to attacks. In 2019, over 56% of all CMS applications were out of date when hacks happened. (Source: Sucuri)

Do You Have a Budget and Need a Website?

Iceberg Web Design has options that can make a professional site affordable.

Contact Us

The post More Ways to Save Money on Your Website appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Your Ideal Customer Profile Could Change—Proceed with Caution!

Imagine you are a nutritional supplement company that has historically marketed to men in their 50s, and you decide to release a new line of supplements for women over 45. Not only is your customer profile going to change, but you will also need to carefully rebrand so that you don’t alienate your base while you bring on new customers. This means considering how you will keep past promises you have made as a brand while taking on a new role in the market.

How Do You Discover Your Ideal Customer’s Profile?

Base your ideal customer profile on solid, current research. For example, if you are an established company, you can look at your existing sales data.

If you are a new company or are marketing to a new type of customer, such as in our supplement company example, you will want to use market research studies and surveys. It can often be most effective to hire an outside consultant to do this research.

What Information Do You Need for Their Profile?

While you want a thorough profile of your ideal customer, don’t get bogged down in the weeds of details that don’t matter to your marketing campaign. It doesn’t matter what their kid’s names are, for example. What matters is what their needs are and how you can meet them. If you are doing the research yourself, here are some things you will want to find out.

•       Name- Give them a name to make them more human
•       Gender
•       Age
•       Job Title and Industry
•       Income Level
•       Ways they connect with businesses like yours. What social medial platforms do they use? Do they prefer mobile or computer?
•       Pain points. What matters the most to them right now? What keeps them awake at night worrying?
•       How will your product/service help solve their problems?
•       Any questions specific to your business; For example, if you are a flavored water company, you will want to ask what flavors they currently drink and what flavors they would like to try. Then give them some unconventional options that you are thinking of about trying to market. Finally, ask why they choose flavored water over other beverages. Your sales and marketing department will be able to determine any other specific question that would be helpful in their campaign.

Do the Research!

There are so many ways that you can get the information you need. Use online surveys, direct or mass email with or without an incentive to participate in the research. You can also do post-purchase surveys of your current customers.

Compile the Research

As a team, compile the data. Once you input all the responses onto a spreadsheet, you will start to see some patterns. List more open-ended questions, such as those dealing with pain points, separately to gain new ideas and insights that you may not have had before.

Now, look at the data and create 3-5 ideal customer profiles. For each profile, you will answer the questions you asked during your research as if you are the person whose profile you are creating.

Here is a super simplified, non-scientific example. Imagine you are marketing a long-term memory-care facility for people with dementia. Even though your clients will be the facility’s residents, your customer profile needs to be the primary decision-maker. Naturally, that will be the adult children or spouse of the client.

Name

You can choose to name your ideal customer anything you want, which will help them feel more like real people to you. Of course, it helps to know the genders before you choose names.

Gender

For example, if 2/3 of respondents were women. You might create one male profile and two female profiles. So, let’s call our profiles David, Andrea, and Jessica. You can give them last names, too, but it’s not necessary.

Age

The respondents’ ages were between 28 and 79. Men tended to be older than women. So

•       David is 76. His wife has severe dementia. As a result, he is no longer able to care for her himself at home.
•       Andrea is 48. Her dad has developed dementia and lives alone in another state.
•       Jessica is 31. Her mom has early-onset dementia. Jessica’s dad cared for her until he contracted Covid 19 and unexpectedly died from its complications. Now Jessica is caring for her mother.

Job title and Income Level

Of the respondents, 1/3 were business owners or professionals in high-income fields. 1/3 were professionals making $60-75,000/year. And 1/3 were retired.

•       David has an annual income of $142,000 from his retirement accounts. He was a petroleum engineer.
•       Andrea makes $65,000 a year as a public relations specialist.
•       Jessica makes $20,000 a year providing part-time daycare services out of her home. She will have access to her mother’s social security and her father’s insurance funds to care for her mother.

Pain points

The obvious pain point for all of these people is the pain of losing their loved one, if not physically, emotionally, and mentally, as their memories fade. But there are other issues, too, including:

•       Safety
•       The ability to ensure access to medical care and medications on the proper schedule
•       Ensuring no one takes advantage of their loved one
•       The guilt associated with placing a loved one in long-term care

Think about what it is that your customers worry about most.

How will your product/service help solve your customers’ problems?

Your brand needs to speak to these pain points and reassure them that you can help them with these issues.

Ways customers connect with businesses like yours

Do they use social media, email, direct mail, or do they prefer to call? Do you need to plan in-person events that you should promote on your website?

Are there other service providers that you could connect with to market cooperatively? For example, as a long-term-care provider, would a local medical equipment supply store be willing to display your brochure in exchange for a link on your website. Think creatively!

Now, Use It!

Use the information you’ve gathered and compiled, or it will have been a waste of time and resources for you and your company. Once you have your ideal customer profiles created, you know who you are speaking to every time you write a piece of marketing copy, a web page, or anything else that you hope will reach them.

Do you need a website makeover?

Partner with the best! At Iceberg Web Design, we’re experts at helping businesses connect with their ideal customers. We have a website-based business solution for you! First, read Our 5 Star Reviews!  Then, Contact us today.

The post Creating Your Ideal Customer Profile appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

To find out whether Google sees your site as mobile-friendly, you can check your site with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. How did your site fare? If it did well, you are good to go! If it could use some improvements, read on!

Responsive and Adaptive Design

A mobile-friendly website starts with a responsive or adaptive WordPress theme. Responsive design means that as the screen narrows, so do the elements within the screen. This is ideal for smaller screen sizes such as smartphones.

Adaptive design is similar except that when the screen narrows to a specific predefined breakpoint, the elements will adapt. This works well for larger screen sizes. You can even see this at work on your desktop computer. Go to Iceberg Web Design’s home page and then slowly make the browser window smaller. As you do, you will see some changes take place. The menu changes, text, and images get smaller.

If your site is not responsive or adaptive, it was likely built before the responsive code frameworks came out. In that case, it will be easier to rebuild your site with the current code.  

Create a Mobile-Friendly Site from the Beginning.

It starts with the design of your site. It helps to keep in mind that your site will have to look good on a small screen. It isn’t just a shrunken version of the way your site looks on PC. Using a grid helps a lot with this. They make your design more balanced and appealing. They offer the ideal adaptable structure that works well for both a full-sized desktop and mobile design.

Make your content Mobile Friendly

Remove distractions on the page. This is clutter on the page that slows load time and makes it harder for users to get to the information they want to find. You can help users find what they need most by showing your most important information at the top of the page. Then, offer additional information when people ask for it.

Use large, standard fonts to make copy easy to read and buttons that are large and ideally at the bottom of the screen and opposite of the thumb.

Don’t just shrink the screen. Stack it.

When adapting a page for mobile, you may come across columns that become too narrow to be of any practical use. You should stack one on top of the other to create a more visually appealing, mobile-friendly page.

Adapt your images for Mobile

As your screen-size gets smaller, you will want to reduce the size of icons, images, and other visual elements. Play around with it a bit because you don’t want these design elements to become so small that they are useless.

Pay Attention to Your Navigation Menu

A full menu isn’t going to span your smartphone’s screen the way it does your desktop screen. It would be much too small to read. At Iceberg, we use something known as a “hamburger menu.” It’s different from the one at your favorite drive-thru. The hamburger menu compresses your menu into a vertical, tappable, drop-down menu.

Keep the Mobile User in Mind.

Desktop users are sitting at home or in their office. Mobile users are usually on the go. It’s essential to keep this in mind when designing your site. On desktop computers, it’s common to see a call to action asking the user to download something free such as an article (usually in exchange for their email address). On a mobile phone, that’s not practical. Sometimes changes must be made right down to the content. In this case, when the screen is a mobile configuration, the call-to-action can change to request “Get the Free Article.” You still request their email address, and the article gets sent to them so they can download or print it later at their convenience.

The post Ways to Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Happy Holidays from Iceberg Web Design

Everyone knows 2020 has been challenging. This year, more than any, it is so important that we hold tight to the little things that bring us moments of joy. Here at Iceberg, we decided to share some of the holiday traditions that we are keeping alive for ourselves and our families on our company slack. We hope everyone is finding ways to celebrate as we close out the year!

Our Holiday Traditions :

hattie  

Hey Iceberg Penguins,  I would like to finish the month with a small discussion. What holiday traditions are you keeping alive even through the struggles of 2020?

jessi   

I’ve been keeping the magic of the season alive for the kids – though the lack of snow does make that a bit more difficult this year. A new tradition, which I expect to carry on each year now, is hanging cheerful lights outside on the house. Also, at my house in December, elves visit in the night and leave trinkets in little bags for the kids. It’s usually a small ornament, a gadget, or a treat. And while I haven’t talked with him personally, I’m sure that Santa will be making an appearance on Christmas morning.

heather   

We have certain cookies that we make every single year. Today we are going to try to get them done. One is called come drop peppernuts. It’s a German recipe for teeny tiny little cookies. The other is for the most wonderful cookie in the world. It doesn’t really have a name, I like to call it peanut butter patties. You just take two Ritz crackers and smear some peanut butter between them. Then, you dip the little peanut butter sandwich into chocolate or chocolate almond bark. Then you set the coated cookie on wax paper until it hardens. Finally, you try not to eat all of them at once.

mariann 

Day drinking?
Seriously though, when we chatted about Christmas and what our traditions are, neither of us had anything big we could think of.  Although both of our families are big on mimosas on holidays and I did plan to buy some stuff for that.

hattie  

I have to admit that this year, it was a little harder to put up the Christmas decorations and want to do some of the normal holiday traditions, it just didn’t feel like the holidays. I’m glad that I did, and we did take time to wrap gifts and have them sent to our families. We have also frosted cookies and we are going to try a new activity and tye die some onesies for our baby and a couple of shirts for us on Christmas. Here is a picture of some of the cookies we decorated:

jessie   

Even though I struggled with putting up my indoor decorations ( just kind of seemed like there was no point in it, although, I did manage to do it) I always, always decorate outside! Even this year, I did not hesitate even a little bit! I love to send joy to passersby, by decorating the house and yard.

shane 

Last-minute Christmas shopping, we put up a real tree and are having Christmas on Christmas Eve with one side of the family and Christmas Day with the other side although mostly virtual this year.

kari   

Usually, we light advent candles starting on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and adding one candle each week. We also have a song we sing and we add on one verse to it each week. It is my favorite family tradition. I measure how many family dinners we have in the month by how small the candles get. This year we have been in a time warp. Every day is the same and time is moving in super speed so it is very hard to figure out what day or month it is. With everything going on we didn’t get the Christmas decorations out until the fourth Sunday had actually passed, but I’ve decided that since this is a favorite tradition we are going to have one nice meal where we do a speeded-up version of the candle lighting and song. It seems fitting for this crazy year.

heather

That was a great idea! And it was so fun to hear everyone’s traditions. I might have to join Mariann’s family for Christmas. Day drinking lol! Seriously, all of them were so heartwarming.

mariann 

LOL yeah Alex’s god mom makes the best mimosas with Tequila and Champagne!

hattie  

great holiday traditions all around!

Let’s talk in 2021

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The post Keeping Holiday Traditions in 2020 | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Most people would agree that 2020 has been a year, unlike any other. There have been a lot of ups and downs. The good news is that means there have been some ups. Those ups are the focus of today’s post as we look at what us here at Iceberg are thankful for.

We are sharing a conversation from our Company Slack about what we are each thankful for.

heather   

This is a little last minute, but is there ever a deadline on thankfulness? In this year of ups and downs, I would like to write a short post about what we are thankful for here at Iceberg. Could everyone share a few things? Thank you!

jessie   

I am thankful we are in an industry that we are able to work from home. 

heather    

Me too! What else? Ted’s got to be on that list. 

jessie 

I am VERY thankful for Ted, and that he is feeling better, I am thankful for my family and my home and for Charlie! I am thankful my mom is feeling better.

hattie  

It’s been a weird year to move to a new state, but I think it’s all worked out for the best. I couldn’t be happier with a new job here and my new community. Also, thankful for my growing family  Mike Gimli and new baby on the way! 

shane 

I’m thankful we are all safe and able to work effectively from home.   I’m Thankful that Lenny gets so much time with us since we are home.

jessi   

I am SUPER thankful for all of you, sticking with it and adapting to this new crazy work/life combination schedule. And for being patient with each other, as we all deal with our individual struggles during the pandemic.  And thankful that our customers have been supportive and understanding. And very thankful that people still need help with their websites.

kyle  

Company-wise, I am really thankful to work with such a cool team. I always learn a lot from you all, and you all even let me break things and learn, which is pretty fun. Also, really grateful we started EOS before the pandemic. I feel like it has really helped us be able to deal with all the changes and issues that have come up.

kari   

I am really thankful we have all stayed healthy through this! And I am very thankful for all of your grace and patience, and understanding as I work with the kid’s home distance learning.

mariann 

I’m thankful we all have been able to keep our jobs and this company running during this pandemic.
I’m thankful all of us are fortunate enough to be worrying about groceries or ordering food from restaurants this thanksgiving instead of waiting in food lines with the 50+ million Americans. I’m thankful that everyone I know who has had COVID has survived.  I’m thankful that MN is leading in vaccination planning, and our nursing home staff and residents will receive the first doses of the vaccine within 48 hours of FDA approval.

heather

I’m thankful that my family has stayed healthy so far. And I am especially grateful to work with such a fantastic team, doing what I love. There is always something to be thankful for, no matter what time of year it is or what pandemic we are living through. At Iceberg Web Design, we are especially thankful for our clients. We wish everyone a happy, healthy Thanksgiving, even if it doesn’t look like those we have celebrated in the past.

The post Thanksgiving at Iceberg 2020 appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

There are beautiful websites splashed with color and images that catch the eye. These colors, images, and typography work together to convey the message that the site is trying to send. Sometimes, less is more. That’s today’s focus as we look at minimalism in website design and how it can offer more concise communication of their message. Let’s examine three different sites and see how they are making most of less.

Minimalism reduces cognitive load

If you have too many programs running on your computer at the same time, it can’t handle the load and will slow down or even crash. Our brains are like computers; We have limited processing powers, so multitasking or just looking at something complicated can be frustrating. It slows us down. Unfortunately, we can’t upgrade our brains to the latest model, so when we get frustrated, we often just quit.

Web designers can solve this problem by prioritizing content and features and eliminating anything that interferes with the user’s attention to them. Websites with a sleek design, fewer choices, and more concise content are so pleasant to use. They are cognitively soothing.

Strip away the unnecessary.

Minimalism focuses attention on the content. Because the site will have fewer objects, it will usually load faster. It will also be more compatible with all screen sizes. These things add to the user experience and will often enhance your search engine optimization. While you strip away the unnecessary, that which is necessary must remain. Use care not to oversimplify to the point that the site becomes unusable. That defeats the point of minimalism.

Keep these things in mind:

• Because visitors will choose to leave or stay on your page based on the first content that they see, place the most relevant content should at the top of a page.
• When selecting imagery for your design, always look for photos or illustrations that follow the principles of minimalism. There are no stock photos or unnecessary details.
• Imagery should have a purpose and act as a focal point, creating balance.
• Use videos only when they have a real purpose and help the user understand the site, the product, or the company. Never auto-play videos.
• Minimalist sites use white space wisely. It can draw the user’s attention to the object that is surrounded by this negative space.
• Choose colors should carefully. Use colors with enough contrast that they are legible.
• Typography should be simple, clear, and readable. Sans Serif fonts are best. Select only one or two fonts. When you think you need more than two fonts, play with the font size and weight of the existing two fonts.
• Keep the site usable. Don’t make it so simple that it gets complicated (such as hidden navigation).
• Even the words are combed through and culled.

Color Theory and Minimalist Design

Don’t be afraid of color when creating a minimalist website. While many designers stick to a monochromatic color palette, it’s fine to use two contrasting colors or even three colors that follow the principles of color theory. Color theory is heavily based on Isaac Newton’s color wheel. The color wheel shows three categories of colors:

• Primary colors (red, blue, yellow),
• Secondary colors which are created by mixing the primary colors (for example, yellow and blue make green)
• Tertiary ones (created by combining primary and secondary colors)

Examples of minimalist websites

Website: https://www.feedtheorca.com

Orca’s website is beautiful and innovative, reflecting the product itself. It is also simple. The soothing video of the moving water acts as a moving picture. It doesn’t require anything from the user. Instead, it shows you what orca is all about. The site very read and draws you beneath the fold to learn more. Orca’s website is easy to navigate and uses color sparingly but skillfully.

Website: https://www.themaulerinstitute.com

The Mauler Institute has a beautiful website with lots of white space, creating a clean, professional look. Contrary to some misconceptions about minimalism, the image is the highlight of this site. Oliver, the dog, complete in his bowtie, makes the page memorable. His gaze draws the users’ eyes to the menu. The call to action “Become a candidate today à” is a clickable link that brings you to the Amazon page where the user can purchase the Mauler Institute’s system. Below the fold is an explanation of what the institute can do for students planning to enter a competitive university. The colors are simple but pleasing to the eye—blue and yellow, two of the three primary colors. This site is an example of minimalism done right. It’s incredible how much you can accomplish with such simplicity.

Minimal website design can be hard to implement

Even though minimalist sites appear simple, they can be tricky to do right. Iceberg Web Design has experts that can create minimalist websites that are better at converting users to customers. Contact us today to learn how we can help you!

The post Minimalism: Web Design Trends for 2020 appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.