Many marketing departments have a cookie-cutter process for sharing content on as many platforms as possible. Fortunately, there is a better way.

We all know that it’s a good idea to be active on social media as part of our marketing efforts. But too often, the way we do that is like throwing spaghetti at a wall, hoping some of it will stick. Instead, more effective use of your marketing time and money is spent on the right platform. But how do you choose the right social media platform for your business?

Why Do You Have to Choose?

It might seem like more platforms are better for your marketing, but as in most business efforts, the Pareto Principle explains why you should choose 2-3 social media platforms rather than try to use them all. You are probably familiar with the Pareto Principle, commonly referred to as the 80-20 precept. It states that 80% of your outcomes result from 20% of your efforts.

The important takeaway for this is that you become far more efficient (thus profitable) if your figure out which efforts give you the most benefit. So focus your energy on those things.

Not All Social Media Platforms are Created Equal

For example, retirees, stay-at-home parents, and 15-year-olds aren’t likely to be on LinkedIn. Likewise, Tik-Tok isn’t the ideal place to look for employees. And Pinterest is a far better place to find craft ideas than Facebook.

As a social media consumer, you likely know which platforms you enjoy and for what qualities. Yet, many marketing departments have a cookie-cutter process for sharing content on as many platforms as possible. There is a better way.

What Audience Do You Want to Reach?

It’s essential to be very clear on who you are trying to reach. So, for example, if you are a fitness company for women over 50, and your goal is to find clients who want to take classes, you wouldn’t target men in their early twenties.  And who you are targeting matters because you can then use the social media platforms where they are most active. So here are some broad statistics on this demographic:

By Gender—Women

75% use Facebook

63% use YouTube

By Age—Adults 50-64

70% use YouTube

68% use Facebook

It’s important to use platforms on which your audience will practically stumble over you each day. For example, looking at gender and age alone would indicate that Facebook and YouTube are where a fitness company for women over 50 should be spending their social media efforts. But it is more complicated than that.

What is the Tone and Personality of the Platform?

Does it match the tone and personality of your company? And what are some of your company’s broader goals? For example, if you want to find clients who want to take classes, you can go the Facebook route, maybe posting an encouraging post or a mini-lesson each day to give potential clients a taste of who you are. But what if you want to build a community? You can start a Facebook group for that community. Or you could venture into the realm of Tik-Tok, which is known for its strong communities.

Do You Have the Skills to Match the Needs of the Platform?

Depending on which platform you use, you will need to have specific technical abilities to take advantage of its benefits. For example, to have a successful account on video platforms like YouTube and Tik-Tok, you need to have a charismatic personality that comes across well on camera, decent video taking abilities and equipment (newer smart phone’s work for Tik-Tok), and the ability to edit video well. In addition, LinkedIn requires the proper use of keywords. And for any social media platform, you should understand the unique algorithm that favors one type of content over others.

Need Help with Your Marketing?

Our Digital Marketing team has you covered. Find out how we can help your audience see more of you!

Contact us today!

The post Choosing a Social Media Platform for Your Business appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

At the kickoff meeting for every website development project, we ask the business owner where their domain is registered, and their DNS lives. I usually get a lot of blank looks, but we need that information to bring their website live. So in this article, I will share what every business owner should know about their domain and DNS settings, along with a drawing to make it all easier to understand.  

Your domain is not the same thing as your website.

Your domain, also known as your website address or URL, is how people find your website (www.myawesomecompany.com), but it is not the same thing as your actual website. Your actual website is made up of many different files that live on a website server, and that website server could be anywhere.

Your DNS is not the same thing as your domain.

DNS stands for Domain Name Servers, often referred to as just Name Servers for short. Name Servers are basically giant digital directories that tell the internet where to find stuff. For every domain, there must be entries on a Name Server somewhere that says, “Hey world! The website files for myawesomecompany.com can be found on this server over here!”

Name servers have names like ns1.awesomeserver.com and ns2.awesomeserver.com. The individual entries are called DNS records, and you may have other records telling the world where other things associated with your domain live, such as your email. For example, website servers use A records, and email servers use MX records.

DNS records are often located at the same place where the domain is registered. This is why many people think of them as the same thing. But they don’t have to be at the same place, and in some cases, you won’t want them to be at the same place. In other cases, you will need to move some of these pieces to support your growing business needs.

Why should I care?

As a business owner, you can and should hire people to do things you don’t want to do or don’t have time to do. However, your domain and DNS are essential digital assets, and knowing where they live and how to access them is very important to protect the longevity of your digital footprint.

Often, business owners have tech-savvy employees or outside agencies register domains for them. Unfortunately, when you do this, you risk losing access to your domain if your relationship with them sours. 

Additionally, many DIY website platforms offer domain registration services. It’s easy to say, “Cool! I can just get my awesome domain here!” You don’t even have to hear the word DNS because when you register your domain through these platforms, they will automatically create the DNS entries that point your domain to your website files. 

That works fine until you graduate from a DIY website and want to build a new website that lives somewhere else. You must then go through the process of moving your domain and your DNS records.

So what is the best way to set all this up?

Ideally, you should register your domain under your own business name and address. However, you will want to use a separate email address that you will always have access to, regardless of what happens to your business and employment. Keep a detailed record of where this domain is registered and file it with other essential business documents. 

Suppose your domain is currently registered by someone else, such as a website platform like WIX or Squarespace, or is controlled by a website development company, freelance website designer, or ex-employee. In that case, you’ll want to transfer the domain to your own domain registrar account. 

There are many pros and cons of various domain registrars. You can certainly ask a professional in the industry for recommendations on where to register your domain or for help setting it up. Just make sure to keep a record of where the domain is registered and how to access it.

What is the domain transfer process like?

Transferring a domain is a multi-step process. 

1. First, the domain must be unlocked at the current registrar, and then an EPP transfer key is requested and sent to the email address associated with the domain owner. This is why you want to use a separate email address; if you lose access to your domain’s email address, it is difficult to get the transfer key. 
2. The new account receiving the domain enters the transfer key on their side. 
3. Then, an email is sent to both parties to approve the transfer. 
4. Once the transfer is approved, the domain is in the new account, and you can then set Name Servers or enter DNS Records. 
5. When transferring a domain, it is best to change only one variable at a time. So when the domain is transferred, you should utilize the previous Name Servers and keep all the existing DNS records in place for at least a week. 
6. After everything is humming along nicely, you can change the Name Servers.  

I know where my domain is, but not my DNS.

Often we meet with a business owner who knows where their domain is registered but doesn’t know anything about their DNS. Since all your DNS records are public (remember, they are the directory telling the internet where to find things), you can use directory tools to look up the Name Servers for a domain. 

If your domain uses the default Name Servers, moving from one website to another or one email solution to another is a relatively straightforward process. The proper DNS records just need to be updated. 

Changing Name Servers

If your domain uses Name Servers of another service that you no longer wish to keep, you will need to change Name Servers. This process is more straightforward than transferring a domain since both parties do not need to approve the transfer. The trick here, though, is to make sure that you move over all the records associated with your domain. For example, if you have MX records for your email, you’ll want to be sure to transfer those records. Some domain registrars allow you to preconfigure all the DNS records ahead of time so that all the records are already in place when you switch Name Servers. 

Is this article over yet?

If this all sounds complex and overwhelming, that’s okay. It takes years and years to fully understand DNS. You should certainly enlist a professional to make domain transfers or DNS updates on your behalf. Just make sure that they keep in mind what’s best for the longevity of your business and not what is quickest and easiest at the moment. Did I mention you should also be sure to keep accurate records of domain registration details?

Reach out to the team at Iceberg if you have any questions about the next steps for your domain or DNS during your new website development project.

The post What Business Owners Need to Know About Domains & DNS appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

What is keyword stuffing? It’s not a Thanksgiving side-dish. But it is a great way to get penalized by Google.

Keyword Stuffing Ingredients

•       Using words or phrases out of context, just to squeeze in your keywords
•       Irrelevant keywords
•       Using terms repetitively
•       Stuffing the metatags or alt tags
•       Typing keywords in text that’s the same color as the background of the page so that the bots can read them, but the user can’t
•       Listing cities and states in blocks of text to get local SEO-everywhere
•       Spamdexing-this is overfilling your content with links. Search engines interpret this as keyword spamming and may penalize you for it.
•       Inserting keywords into the page’s HTML code

At one time, the practice of overusing key terms to boost your SEO was a successful tactic. But then Google got wise and not only improved their algorithm but began issuing penalties for websites that try to game the system.

Keyword Density

To find out what your keyword density is, you can use a basic formula. First, divide the number of words in your copy by the number of times the keyword appears in the copy. This will give you the percentage of your copy that your keywords are using. The ideal density is around 2-4%.

Another easy way to keep track of your keyword density is to use the Yoast plugin. It’s free and is a great way to learn how to put together a web page or an optimized-not overdone blog post.

What’s the Problem with Overusing Keywords?

It’s usually awful to read content that has been stuffed with keywords. You won’t keep your readers on the page very long. And because it does nothing to enhance the user experience, your site could incur a penalty from Google or be removed from the search engine results pages altogether.

A Better User Experience= Better SEO

Rather than over-optimizing your page for Google’s algorithms, the goal is to give your website visitors a better user experience. You can do this by using synonyms (different words that mean the same thing). Not only does it read more naturally, but it also helps Google to sort through potential homonyms (words that look and sound the same but mean something different).

Write More, High-Quality Content

Writing longer pieces of content, including relevant images, will give your readers the valuable information they are looking for, keeping them on your page longer. This will make Google happy. It’s a win-win without the black-hat SEO tactics of bygone days.

Use Long-Tail Keywords

Long-tail keywords are more specific because they consist of 3-5+ words. So, while the search volume is lower, they will also pull in the readers looking for that exact information, lowering your bounce rate and raising your conversion rate.

At Iceberg Web Design, we know how to improve your SEO the right way. We have SEO content writers who can ensure your content is on brand and targeted to your audience.

Do you want to raise your online visibility?

Contact us today!

The post Keyword Stuffing—Stop It Ya Turkey! appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

At Iceberg Web Design, we have an entire team of penguins dedicated to helping you solve your business dilemmas with web-based solutions. Our newest developer is Josh Smith. Today in our Penguin Profile, we will be talking to Josh to learn more about him and what he does at Iceberg.

Josh | Senior Developer Penguin

How long have you been working for Iceberg? 

I started working at Iceberg in February, 2021.

Have your duties changed since you first started working here? 

Even though I haven’t been at Iceberg all that long, I’ve worked on some really exciting projects. I really enjoy the mix of working on new projects and providing support to existing customers.

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers? 

I help our customers create or enhance their online presence in a way that reflects their business values and goals. Using the latest web technologies, I make sure that our solutions work well and follow the highest standards for functionality, accessibility, and design.

What’s your favorite part of your job? 

I really enjoy working with customers and coming up with innovative solutions. I also like constantly learning the latest in digital technology and marketing. 

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer? 

My #1 goal is to understand the customer, what their business objectives are, and how we can bring all of their vision to their website.

In what other industries have you worked? 

I’ve worked in IT, product development, ecommerce, digital marketing and web development.

Tell us a bit about your family (including pets): 

My wife and I have 2 kids, a dog and a couple fish.

Do you have any hobbies/special interests? 

I enjoy playing guitar, discovering new music, reading great books, and mountain biking with the family.

What is something about you that might surprise your customers and co-workers? 

My wife and I have taken on many DIY home & garden projects over the years. Our kids are now reaching the age where it’s fun to teach them some of the skills we’ve learned.

Describe your perfect day: 

Wake up early enough to watch the sunrise with a good cup of coffee. Then a day filled with some work, reading, listening to music and a bike or motorcycle ride. And a perfect day would always include trying out a new recipe and having time to cook a great meal.

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why? 

I really like both, but as a sociology major, I’ve probably studied a lot more history and do find it fascinating how much history repeats itself.

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask? 

What is the secret to eternal happiness?

What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything. 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Connect with Josh and the Iceberg Team

Thank you, Josh, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to build our customer’s website projects in a way that will meet their business objectives even better than they imagined possible. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile: Josh Smith, Developer | Iceberg Web Design 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.

When we consult with a new client, we talk about the content for their site. How will the content on your website be organized? We begin by planning out a site map that will help us plan the menu and be a roadmap for the developers as they assemble the various parts of the website. In WordPress, your content is either put on a page or a post.

What is a Page?

Pages are static, permanent parts of your website. They aren’t affected by the date, and while they can be edited, their overall structure doesn’t change. Pages are listed in your site’s menu and include your home page, about page, and contact page, among others.

What is a Post?

Posts are more like newspaper articles. You frequently update them with new content to keep your readers coming back. They can be displayed in chronological order or reverse chronological order. You can also customize the way they are displayed. For example, some people like to keep one post pinned to the front of their blogs. This is called a sticky post.

When people think of posts, they usually think of blog posts. But there are other kinds of posts. For example, many businesses share press releases on their website using a custom post type.

On e-commerce sites, products’ sales pages (which are actually a custom post type) are organized into categories, just like they would be in a brick-and-mortar store.

Organizing Your Posts

Recently we met with a client who is a prolific writer—and a good one! He has been adding content to his blog for years and now has hundreds of posts. In planning his new website, we discussed ways to make it easier for readers to access the specific content they search for on his site. We came up with several solutions that would create an appealing, well-organized website. But the first job was to put the content into categories.

Organize Your Website With Categories

If you put the posts from your website into a book, you would want to do it in a way that makes sense. You would organize it in whatever way works for your business, and the names of those categories would be the table of contents, showing readers the main topics you would be covering. If they prefer to get right to the matter, they are interested in, and they can bypass the chapters that don’t pertain to them and read the one that does. That’s what categories do.

Don’t Let Your Website Be “Uncategorized.”

All WordPress posts must be categorized. If you don’t organize your posts, WordPress will do it for you, placing them under the heading “uncategorized.” By the way, it is a good idea to change that to something else like “other.” “Uncategorized” looks like you didn’t finish the details of the post.

If you have a health and nutrition site, your categories might be:

•       News
•       Nutrition
•       Mindfulness

These are Pretty Broad Topics 

That’s why you can also use subcategories to organize your website posts.

 News

COVID-19

Nutrition

Vegan

Keto

Gluten-Free

 Diabetic

Weight Loss

Mindfulness

Mindfulness Apps

Mindfulness Techniques

Even the subcategories are broad, but at least they will get your readers pointed in the right direction (of course, you don’t have to use subcategories).

Limit Your Categories

Try to limit your posts to one category (occasionally two). At the same time, limit the overall number of categories to no more than ten. Keep the number of subcategories to a minimum, as well. This is better for SEO and the overall organization of your website.

There are, of course, exceptions. For example, large e-commerce sites often have many more categories.

Leave it to the Experts

At Iceberg Web Design, we create unique custom websites. We also offer hosting and maintenance packages that will give you security and peace of mind. Contact us today!

The post Use Categories to Organize Your Website appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

When you intern with Iceberg Web Design, you work with an entire team of web marketing professionals to learn and grow. We have been spending time getting to know some of our full-time employees pictured above, but today we will get to know our intern, Cece Talbot. We are helping our business, and our community grow by giving opportunities to new people to the website industry, and we can’t wait to see all that Cece will acomplish.

Cece | Design Intern Penguin

If you could describe Iceberg in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Caring, and innovative 

What have you enjoyed so far about working for Iceberg?

The Creative freedom, ability to learn so many things in different areas, and I enjoy coming into the office to be with great people.

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers?

Help design mock-ups, websites, and fill in the content.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

Building mock-ups; It’s fun to watch how much it changes as you create, change layouts, colors, features, and build out new ways to navigate. Creating Style tiles is fun. Taking words and matching them with images, fonts, colors to make the company’s message come to life. 

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer?

Creating something they love and something that not only can help their business grow but something that can grow with the business.

In what other industries have you worked?

I worked in the Dance industry my whole life. From working in LA, Atlanta, Chicago in front of the camera to working behind the stage and in the studio. Creating is what I love to do, whether it’s on a computer screen or on the stage. Dance also led me to start my own Dance equipment business. I have also worked in the restaurant industry. 

Non-Work Related Stuff

Tell us a bit about your family.

My mom is my best friend and someone I’ll take on every trip with me. I got my love for fast cars from my dad, who used to drag race and had a mud truck my whole life. The best memories with my dad are going to his races and mudding! I also have an older brother who I can always count on. I can never forget about my dog Ziggy!

Do you have any hobbies/special interests?

DANCE and Fast cars. Although I love dance and fashion with two walk-closets full of sneakers and clothes, I am not your typical girly girl. I will get my hands dirty and change a front rotor, or go wheels deep in a mud pit!

Describe your perfect day

Sunny blue skies hanging with my dog and family, definitely staying busy with activities if it’s the farmers market, swimming, or trail riding.

Now for Some Deep Stuff

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why?

BOTH. I am a big history snob and know a lot of weird random facts about history and science, especially astronomy. 

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

Is there a way I can live forever?

One last question: What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything.

“It’s all good.” 

Connect With  the Iceberg Team

 Thank you, Cece, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to keep our customer’s design projects running smoothly. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile: Cece Talbot | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

We have two main products that result in beautiful websites: our turn-key websites and our custom websites. The process to get there is quite different, however. Let’s look at some additional factors and how they could affect which option you choose.

Size

If your site is five to seven pages, both turn-key and custom development will work well. But once you get beyond seven pages, you would be better served by a custom site.

Time

Semi-custom websites can be launched as quickly as six weeks from kick-off. This timeline includes content, design, and buildout. We do most of the work for you on turn-key sites, so if you are busy, all you will be expected to do is a content interview, review content drafts, and provide assets and access to your site.

Custom sites take much longer than turn-key sites. How much longer depends on the site’s features, the number of pages, and numerous other factors. You will receive a timeline once we schedule the content interview or content planning session. For customers who wish to be more involved in the process, the custom is the way to go.

Features

Our semi-custom sites are perfect for businesses that want to develop an online presence with a professional website. You can add features, but keep in mind that any additional features will also add to your site’s price and timeline. You may be better off going with a custom site if you want more than one or two features.

If you would like online business tools integrated with your website, complex forms, advanced search and filtering, multiple galleries, a blog, dynamic team section, events calendar, custom animation, video background support, e-commerce, and other features, a custom site is a perfect option for you. 

Design and Development

The design and development time for a turn-key site is much faster and does not include a mock-up. It will match your branding, resulting in a professional, attractive website.

Custom websites will have a mock-up phase and will be completely customized. This is one of the reasons they take much longer than our semi-custom turn-key sites.

Price, Maintenance, and Access

There are no upfront costs for a turn-key site other than for content writing. After that, you pay a monthly payment. You do not have access to make changes to your site, but you will have 15 minutes of updates each month and quarterly plugin updates.

Custom sites cost more, and you pay for them upfront. Included in this are the more extended design and development time, hosting and full access to your site.  Depending on your monthly hosting plan you may also have 15-60 minutes of free support each month and either monthly or quarterly plugin updates.

The Choice is Yours

Both turn-key and custom sites have many advantages. The best for your business will depend on which of those advantages are most important to you. Either way, you will be pleased with the results. Contact us today to get your project started.

The post Turn-Key or Custom Website: Which is Right for Your Business? appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

The Benefits of a Multilingual Website

Your Content Will Reach a Wider Audience Worldwide

Worldwide, only 25.9% of internet users are native English speakers.[1] The next three are:

•         Chinese 19.4%
•         Spanish 7.9%
•         Arabic   5.2%

If you have a business that could benefit from a worldwide audience, you must serve a worldwide audience by adding another language to your website.

Your Content Will Reach a Wider Audience in the United States

Even though most people within the United States speak English, many don’t or prefer to use websites in their own language, especially when making purchasing decisions for products or services online. 

According to the American Community Survey in 2017, in the U.S., these are the ten most common languages spoken at home by people five years of age or older[2]:

•         English only – 239 million
•         Spanish – 41 million
•         Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien) – 3.5 million
•         Tagalog (including Filipino) – 1.7 million
•         Vietnamese – 1.5 million
•         Arabic – 1.2 million
•         French – 1.2 million
•         Korean – 1.1 million
•         Russian – 0.94 million
•         German – 0.92 million

Do you live in a Multilingual Region?

If you have a product or a service that anyone can use and are only marketing to people in English, you could miss out on much potential business! This is especially the case in some regional regions where languages other than English are spoken in more significant numbers. For example, if you live in California or Texas, it would be worth considering adding Spanish to your site. If your business is in San Francisco, Chinese would be an excellent language to consider adding. You know your business and the area it serves. Do some research and decide for yourself.

A Multilingual Site Will Also Improve Communication with Customers

It is important to be able to serve your customers beyond the website, as well. You wouldn’t want to have your photography site translated into Russian and have no one at your business who can speak Russian when the customer comes in to get portraits taken. You would need to figure out how you will serve that customer.

One example is Bienvenidos Law. They are specialists in immigration law in Anoka, Minnesota. Clients can read their site in English or Spanish by choosing the language in the menu. When you go to their law office, the people who work their also speak Spanish, so it is a seamless system that serves both English and Spanish speakers well.

https://www.bienvenidoslaw.com/en/opening-doors-united-states/

This is also an obvious example of a business that should have a multilingual site since their client base is usually not native English speaking.

Businesses that Should Consider Adding Languages to their Site

Aside from businesses serving non-English speaking clients, other types of industries that should have a bilingual or multilingual site are:

•         International Ecommerce
•         Travel and Tourism Companies
•         Hotels and other accommodations
•         Sightseeing and cultural centers
•         Transportation
•         Event Organizers
•         Companies in countries with more than one language

Another business that has a multilingual site is La Perla Tortillas. Because they sell their products in restaurants and grocery stores, English and Spanish speakers alike will be purchasing their products. Customers can choose in which language they would like to read the website’s content. All they need to do is click on the flag of their choice on the upper right-hand side of the page. Go ahead. Open the site and try it for yourself!

Reaching Your Audience

If you need help reaching your audience, contact the experts at Iceberg Web Design. We look forward to talking to you. 

[1] Johnson, Joseph. “Internet: Most Common Languages Online 2020.” Statista, 27 Jan. 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/262946/share-of-the-most-common-languages-on-the-internet/.

[2]American FactFinder, Census Bureau, 2020

The post The Benefits of a Multilingual Website appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

When you work with Iceberg Web Design, you work with an entire team of web marketing professionals. But just who are these people who are hard at work helping you connect with your customers? For the next couple of months, we will be profiling our team of penguins. Today we are talking with our Project Penguin: Mariann Martin. Mariann is our Project Manager, so every website client we take on will work with her throughout the website creation process.

Mariann | Project Penguin

As Iceberg’s Project Manager, Mariann keeps everything running smoothly and on track. She is adept at identifying potential problems and prevents issues from arising with her proactive approach.

How long have you worked for Iceberg?

Since April 17th, 2017

Have your duties changed since you first started working here?

Yes, I started as the CSR (Customer Service Representative), Project Manager, accounts receivable person.  Then I added content writing to that role.  After that, I dropped the CSR role.  And then added the VP of Finance role and dropped the content writing. Now I’m the Project Manager and VP of Finance

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers?

I am the main point of contact for customers when they have an open, active project.  I plan and organize their project within their scope of work and schedule our product calendar. I also handle all client billing.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

I like learning about the different businesses we serve.

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer?

To deliver on time and in scope.  Preferably early and over-deliver.

In what other industries have you worked?

Radio, Retail, and Automotive

Tell us a bit about your family (including pets):

I have a husband named Alexander (whom I call Alex). We got married in 2019.

Do you have any hobbies/special interests?

We keep plants, a lot of them, and hope to have someday a conservatory or year-round greenhouse full of them.

Although I have not done this much in recent years due to lack of space, I also sew. I hope to be able to do it more when I have a dedicated space for it soon. In addition, I love to make clothes from my designs.

Describe your perfect day:

To be at home with my husband and later have friends and family over for brunch and games.

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why?

Definitely history. It’s fascinating.  The history you learn in school is so limited, so there is always more out there to learn.

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

What are the meanings of life, the universe, and everything?

What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything.

Drink more water.

Connect With Mariann or the Iceberg Team

There you have it. Thank you, Mariann, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to keep our customer’s website projects running smoothly. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile:Mariann Martin | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.