What suggestions can you offer about creating a new website?
Cinammon
All websites should be designed with a mobile 1st mentality, meaning they are optimized for mobile devices. Consider the ultimate actions you want your future customers to take when they visit your website. ALWAYS keep customer experience at the forefront when you are dreamscaping what your new website should be for your users.
Here are some top tips to consider:
The Rule of 5: Have no more than 5 main menu headings on your navigation bar. You can nest subheadings under your main headings. The goal is to keep your interface clear and easy to navigate for your customers.
ASK Your Customers to Take an Action: You would be amazed how many websites prattle on for paragraphs or pages deep without ever using a call to action. If you don’t ask – you don’t get! Use calls to action throughout your content as appropriate.
Speak to All Types: Ensure your content has high level bullet points for skimmers as well as detailed paragraphs for people who crave more content to make a decision to do business with you.
Explore other Websites: Take notes of what you like and what deeply annoys you. Do not repeat those mistakes.
Install Google Analytics: As Wes McQuillen mentioned in our last column, you owe it to yourself to understand how visitors use your pages and information to make decisions in their purchasing process, and Google Analytics is a great – and free – tool for doing this.
Cinammon Davies is a Regional Account Executive for LOCALiQ (www.LOCALiQ.com) and NCET’s VP of Social Media, Newsletters, Secretary, & Treasurer. She specializes in Digital Marketing Services including Social Media, Website Design, SEM, & SEO.
How can I improve my company’s culture?
Lindsay Bradley
Lindsay Bradley
While there is no “easy button” for culture change, there are some key elements that can help elevate your employer brand and improve the overall culture. I like to think of it as giving your culture a HIGH FIVE. Let’s explore the acronym:
High trust: Create an environment where people feel safe to ask for what they want and need without fear of being judged.
Innovation: All great ideas do not need to come from the top. Empower your team and ask for their input!
Growth & Development: Encourage your team to sharpen the saw! People thrive when they are learning and rising to meet new business challenges. Invest in them and they will invest in you.
Have courage: We avoid things that make us uncomfortable, but you must choose to be clear with your words and intentions. You can do hard things!
Feedback Rich: Feedback is often construed as criticism and creates defensiveness. Learning to provide/accept feedback through the lens of curiosity and growth will yield positive results.
Incorporate Shared Language: By using specific terms/phrases to express thoughts/feelings, employees are more likely to be vulnerable and authentic with one another and supports the ability to resolve conflicts.
Values: Values are the underpinning of any culture. They must be clearly articulated and role modeled-especially by leadership.
Emotional Intelligence: An EQ rich culture raises self-awareness and guides the behavior to establish a culture of understanding and cooperation.
Implementing new norms and behaviors into your culture takes time. Try choosing one or two areas to start with and build from there. Remember, it is natural from some employees to be skeptical, but it doesn’t mean they are not willing to learn. It just means they need more time to understand the value and see the results from engaging in a new way. Practice and perseverance will be key. Lastly, leverage your leadership team to create a consistent message by demonstrating the behaviors that exemplify the cultural shift. If they aren’t willing to walk the talk, you shouldn’t expect your employees to.
Lindsay Bradley is Chief Operating Office at Gratis Payments (www.gratispayments.com) & Gratis Gives (www.gratisgives.com). She is passionate about elevating the community, organizations, cultures, and leadership through a conscious lens. Lindsay currently serves on the NCET Board of Directors as VP of Email Services for Biz Bite and Biz Café.
NCET is Northern Nevada’s largest member-supported non-profit that produces educational and networking events to help people explore businesses and technology. (www.NCET.org)