In a world where everyone views, reads, hears and understands information differently, we must be flexible with our content. Lucky for us, new methods, technology and advancements make it easy.

This year, website content is undergoing a lot of changes. New trends are developing that increase user experience and fulfillment while on our websites. Are you taking advantage of any of these trends? If not, it’s time.

1. Voice Search Is Taking Content Off Screen

Voice search is well on its way to becoming the new norm. According to ComScore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020, just a short year and a half from now. Google alone receives 1.2 trillion searches each year, which equals more than 3.2 billion searches per day.

Content is being explored off screen through the use of smart devices such as Siri, Cortana and Alexa. Companies such as Purina are creating applications that can be added to these devices, which are chock full of information about themselves and what they offer.

What does this mean for you? Your website content must be optimized for voice search to be accessible through these devices. If not, you will need to rely on the other 50% of queries not sent through voice… for now.

2. Readers Are Looking for Authenticity & Transparency

You audience nowadays is looking for a little less brand marketing and a lot more transparency. A study completed by Nielson’s Global Trust in Advertising Survey showed that consumers are putting more trust in personal recommendations over all other marketing, including branded websites and video ads. Why? Personal recommendations are authentic and trusted.

Your website content should reflect your brand’s personality with authenticity.  Everything you create should be done with full disclosure. Your audience is looking for someone they can trust.

3. Interactive Content Is Making an Impression

Even if virtual reality is just getting started, interactive content on websites is improving the customer experience. No, we’re not talking about creating a completely immersive VR experience (although, that’s happening). Instead, we’re talking about creating content that engages.

Businesses are using online design tools for homes, gardening and more. Companies such as Orbitz are using interactive quizzes to sell and upsell their services and products. The best part? The responses and engagement you receive from this content return to you as data—pure gold, marketing data.

Perhaps start to consider whether the type of business you run could benefit from interactive content of some kind. Then begin to build your dream team around you to help make that content come to life: a developer, designer and copywriter.

Ready to Up Your Content Game? Not Sure Where to Start?

Your website content deserves to stand out from the rest. We’re here to help! From complete website design to website content tailored to you, call the Iceberg team at 612-440-8762 or reach out to us online today.

The post 3 Website Content Trends You Need to Know Now appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

On December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission repealed the Net Neutrality rules put in place by the Obama administration in 2015. After the decision was made the media quickly flooded with articles about Net Neutrality being dead and attempts at explaining what this would mean. We are not aiming to address the political angles, or any moral or immoral implications of this issue, because we believe there are more than enough sources for that information.  

However, as a website hosting provider, we have been watching this issue closely and have received questions from our customers regarding what this repeal means. We’d like to do our best to outline the basics as neatly as possible for our customers.

What is Net Neutrality?

Net Neutrality is the concept that all internet traffic has the same priority level. With Net Neutrality laws in place, nothing on the world wide web can be blocked, given priority, sped-up, slowed-down, or otherwise enhanced or inhibited.   

What this means in the real world is that Jane can do anything or go anywhere she pleases on the Internet and her speed or access will not be restricted based on the content she is viewing/using. Her Internet provider can ask her to pay for their services based on data packages or speed levels, but cannot ask her to pay for their services based on the content she will be using/viewing.  

What Does the Repeal of Net Neutrality Mean?

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will no longer be required to offer equality for all Internet content.  In theory, they will now be able to limit, restrict, throttle, or manipulate access to content at their discretion.

What this means in the real world is not so clear, as there are numerous ways in which this could proceed.

Legal Actions

It is possible that there will be legal action that reverses this decision, although this could take a while.  No lawsuit can be filed until the repeal goes into effect, and currently the new rules are waiting to be approved by The Office of Management and Budget.  The New York Times discusses details of what those legal arguments may be and how the FCC may defend themselves.

The ISPs Have All The Power

Once the repeal of Net Neutrality goes into effect, the ISPs will have the power to do whatever they would like. Potential future scenarios include:

• The competition between ISPs will allow for open access, higher speeds, and lower prices.  Meaning that if you live in an area that is serviced by more than one provider they will compete to have better access at a cheaper price and the customer will win. It sounds great, but in many rural areas in the U.S. there are no competing providers to allow for this type of environment. Furthermore, there is no way to ensure that the large media companies will act this way under the new rules.
• Pay to play for the customer.  Many have speculated that we will have to pay for what we are doing on the Internet.  If you like to stream video, you may be forced to pick a package for Internet access that includes streaming. Even more, if you want to be able to use social networks, you may need to pay your ISP in order to access them. This completely changes the way that “Internet access” is defined today.
• Pay to play for the provider.  This is suggested often and means that providers like Netflix may be able to pay ISPs to speed up their services and throttle their competitors’ services.  Meaning if you want to stream off of Hulu and your Internet provider is paid to speed up Netflix and slow down Hulu, you’re out of luck.  Unfortunately it won’t just be Netflix and Hulu fighting for speed.  Any start-up trying to offer services similar would have to be able to compete with Netflix and other media giants.
• Pay to play for both: the trickle-down theory. This is the idea that the large streaming media providers could pay ISPs to speed up their services and push upcoming competitors out the race. When this is done, they may also charge their customers (you) more money to use their services, in order to cover the cost of what they are paying the ISPs.
• Special speeds.  The repeal of net neutrality allows for ISPs to gain business by offering special speeds for certain high-needs industries and items. Most often given as an example are potential special speeds for hospitals and other medical or emergency services that need a dedicated lane to provide high quality care in the modern world.  This is something that was banned under the net neutrality rules and will be allowable now.

What Will The Future Hold?

At this point there is no clear answer for what the repeal of Net Neutrality will mean for the individual user, business owners, and streaming media providers.  We will be keeping a close eye on the issue and will continue to address issues that may arise for our customers.

The post Net Neutrality = More Questions Than Answers appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

You’ve written a blog post for your website.  The topic is on-point, the picture you picked is perfect, you have edited and re-edited every sentence, and you have posted it on your website.

Of course, with a post that amazing you want to share it on Facebook.  You write a great post to catch your potential readers attention and add the link to your blog. Instead of that perfect picture you picked to accompany your wonderful writing you get a box with a title and text, not the most eye-catching thing to promote your blog.

 So, where does the picture on Facebook come from?

The short answer, Facebook is pulling in the Featured Image for that page/post from your website. The technical answer is that, if your website specifies a featured image in the meta tags for the page you are sharing, Facebook will use that image. If your website does not specify a featured image, Facebook will usually grab the first available image on the page.

Did you know that you can actually tell Facebook which image to post for your article? If you have a WordPress website, it only takes a few quick steps. 

Featured Image

First things first you need to set a Featured Image for the blog you are sharing.  The Featured Image (AKA post thumbnail) is a feature that WordPress has for allowing a representative image to be set for pretty much any place on your site you may want to share on Facebook (like a new blog).

Depending on how your site was built this can move around, but it is usually in the editing mode of the post somewhere below or to the side of the text field.  On the custom websites that we have built this is always on the right-hand side of the page below the categories and tags sections.  You can select any photo from your media library or upload one special. Make sure to optimize your photos before adding to the site – we recommend 1200 by 630 pixels for best result on Facebook.

Facebook Debugging

Once you have set the Featured Image you will want to check to make sure Facebook is showing what you want it to.   Because Facebook cache’s images of website pages to make loading times quicker this is recommended anytime you change the Featured Image.

There is a special tool that lets you do this, you can find it here.

Just put the URL for the page/blog in the empty field and select the “debug” button.

If the URL has never been shared on Facebook (common with new blog posts) you will need to tell it to “Fetch new information” by clicking the button that appears.

Don’t see your new picture? 

If this is an old page/post it may show you an old picture or no picture at all.  If that is the case, you can select the “Scrape Again” button.  This will tell Facebook to go look for new information at the website instead of falling back on their cached images.

We encourage using this feature to make your post on Facebook pop and drive website visits!

What will you write your next blog post about?

The post Facebook & Featured Images appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Although it’s easy to launch a website using cookie cutter templates or pre-configured sites, it’s important to consider creating a custom designed website.  Your brand is unique to your business and you want to showcase your brand through custom design elements on your site. Additionally, you want to stand out and feature things on your website that other business may not be using. There are so many benefits your business can experience with custom website design and here are our favorites:

Shows the Professionalism of Your Business.

Once you take a look at the difference between a standard website design and a custom one, you will see that that the difference in professionalism is astounding. A custom website design will look professional to anyone who visits the website. This can lead to great conversions and leads simply because your business looks more legitimate.  The credibility of a professional site can alleviate concerns customer may have about security, in particular if you are selling products from your site.

Your Website Will Rank Better on Search Engines.

A free website may not be set up to help you maximize your SEO.  However, when you have a custom website, then those little details can be worked into the design on the back end. This means that SEO will be built into the framework and your climb in ranking will be easier to manage and accomplish over time. Custom website designs also focus on front-end SEO as each page includes keyword rich content that search engines like Google value.  These better the features and content increase the likelihood that people will link to your site , also increasing your rank.  A template site that doesn’t stand out in the sea of competitors is less likely to get this attention.

You Will Stand Out from Your Competition.

When you use a template for your website, then your website is likely to look like many other businesses that are using the same template, including your competitors. If you are looking for a way to really stand out, then a custom website design is one of the best ways to go. You can get the upper hand by catering more towards your audience and demographic. Additionally, you have influence over the website functionality and features so you can more easily make tweaks to improve user engagement and conversions.

Flexibility To Make Changes & Stay Current.

You do not plan on your business staying the same or failing to grow over time so why would you expect the same with your website? When you use a free template, that is exactly what you will be doing.  You are limited to the features and functionality supported by that template. However, if you have a custom website built, you have the flexibility to customize the functionality and make changes to the sites as your business deems necessary.  Although all websites need to be updated over time having a custom designed website ensures that a professional developer who knows current trends and advancements is building your site.  This knowledge can ensure your site stays current longer and that it will be more likely to grow/change without a major overall.  This consistency will feed back into your brands credibility and ranking.

While using a standard template may be easier and faster, in the long run, it may hinder your business instead of helping it in.  We believe that a custom website design is important for showcasing the uniqueness of your business and brand.   If you are interested in learning more about our web design services in Minneapolis, Toronto and Chicago, contact us today.  You will be amazed by the difference a custom website makes for your business.

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

Everyone is always talking about blogging, this article is a blog, blogging, blog, blog…You get the point, it’s a big deal.

Did you know that a blog on your e-commerce website can increase brand exposure while showcasing your products, customer support, knowledge, and expertise.

Increase Exposure

Companies that blog have 97% more inbound links. Source: Hubspot

It is easy to understand why linking a NEW blog post on your social media site is going to be more exciting than sharing a link to your newest products page.  But the goal isn’t just to make an exciting post, you want your customer to engage in your brand and share that post with their social circle.  The more content you have available to the public the more likely it will be that you connect to and expose potential customer. Not to mention having shareable content that is readily available is automatically going to increase the amount your brand is shared on traditional and nontraditional platforms.  If you don’t have a blog, you most defiantly are not getting any of that exposure.  According to Hubspot, “Companies that published 16+ blog posts per month got almost 3.5X more traffic than companies that published between 0 – 4 monthly posts.”

Showcase your products and customer service

81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs. Source: BlogHer

Your blog can be used to showcase your product specifically or focus in a customer review of the product, or even a frequently asked question about the product.  These types of blogs are going to build trust and be more interesting to share on a social networking pages than a traditional product page with a price tag.  Not to mention by linking blogs like this in your products pages you can allow your customer more exposure to your brand. Because millennials in particular are 44% more likely to trust experts over traditional advertising (Hubspot) your blog can connect this customer base to your brand.

Not only can Iceberg Web Design help you with all your tricky E-commerce website issues; we can also help you with your exposure through proven local search engine results, reputation management, and lead generation.  

The post Why Every E-Commerce Web Site Should Have A Blog appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

• 92% of consumers read reviews online.
• A growing number of consumers form their opinion of a company after reading just 1-3 reviews (40% in 2016 up from 29% in 2014).

Unfortunately, even if you do everything to prevent a bad review one may still come along.  Don’t worry, bad reviews allow you an opportunity show your amazing customer service skills.  Some issues may be better solved off-line but for those that can be solved online here are some basic do’s and don’ts.

What Not To Do

Don’t ignore it.  Most customers will leave a bad review based on how they were made to feel, not the actual product or service they bought.  Ignoring them will only allow those feelings to grow.

Don’t get defensive. This could cause a battle to ensue or worse the customer may stop engaging in conversation at all, leaving you with nothing but that bad review and a nasty reply for all your potential customers to see.

What To Do

Do try to show your company in a positive light.  This may be something as simple as saying, “I wanted to reach out to you when I saw your review because it is not a typical experience our customers have with (insert issue).  I want to make sure this is not something that is happening to any of our other customers.  Can you tell me a little more about your experience?”

Do listen to what they are saying, and take the time to let them vent.  You will be able to get all the details while they do this which will allow you more possibilities for correcting the issue.

Do apologize for the incident/issue.  Swallow your pride and apologize for the issue in the most genuine manner.

Do thank them. Thank them for bringing the problem to your attention so that you could fix it.

If all goes well the negative review may become a showcase of your great customer service.

BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2016

https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/

The post How Bad Reviews Can Help Your Business appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.