We are very pleased with our new website. The patience and guidance of both Pauline and Meesha throughout the design of our website was invaluable. We received our first inquiry from our website soon after site launch.”

~ Lisa Sbei, D-M Products Inc. ~
www.dmproductsinc.com

By following website conventions – tried and true design strategies -  you ensure that your users find information where they expect it to be, and therefore can move through your site as easily as possible. Don’t make them think. Remember, the less effort, the better.

• Use the words “Contact Us.” It may sound unimaginative, but the phrase works. People don’t read your site — they scan — and they’ve been trained over time to instantly recognize those two words.
• Place contact info and phone number at the top, right corner of the page, where it’s expected. Don’t make your visitors click through your site looking for your contact info – they often won’t
• Make sure your phone number is in live text, not an image. That way, a mobile user can tap the phone number link and launch into a call immediately.  Mobile browsing is expected to eclipse desk top browsing within 2 years.

A visitor is already reluctant to share her personal contact information. Your job is to remove as many obstacles as possible so that she makes the leap.

• Keep contact forms simple. While it may help to ask tens of questions, it can be very intimidating for the user. Ask for as little information as possible and require only that person’s name and email address. If you seek other information, such as phone number and address, make it optional.
• Create one-column form fields for quick contact. It helps to put form labels directly above form fields. Usability studies show that users who filled out these types of forms saved time by only having to move their eyes vertically, not laterally.
• Give visitors a clear action button. Because people read from left to right and top to bottom, place the final action button in the lower-right of the form. Give the button plenty of weight with a standout color.

Trust goes a long way with online clients. People fear that their contact information will get dumped into a huge database that marketers can access at will. By making your contact form unique, fun and reassuring, your user will know there’s a human on the receiving end and, therefore, be more likely to share.

• Have some fun. Nothing eases people’s worries better than good humor. Why not spice up your contact form with some personality? Not only will it give your users a laugh, but it will also make your contact page more human. Consider a witty introduction or quirky photo.
• Make a promise. Tell your users that their information is safe, that you won’t share it with any third party. Place this promise right next to the submit button; that way they’ll experience a nice aftertaste upon opting in.

Pauline has been able to keep up with the fast-paced demands of a healthcare startup like Omnyx. I have trust in Pauline and know that I can count on her to deliver web projects on time and with excellent quality. She works with the passion and commitment of one of our own employees.”

~ Tony Melanson, VP Strategy and Marketing, Omnyx ~
omnyx.com

“People choose not on the basis of what’s most important, but on what’s easiest to evaluate.”

You would think that if you were given a list of choices, you would choose the one that is most important to you. In reality, humans usually choose the one that is easiest for them to understand and evaluate. Very often we do so because we don’t have the time to put in the research necessary to make an informed decision.

The more choices we have, the more difficult we find it to make any choice at all – and we often give up and choose nothing.

What does this mean for your website?  Keep in mind that your visitor is busy and has hundreds of  decisions to make every day.  Make the decision to learn about what you offer easy. Make your copy straight to the point. Don’t waste your time on graphics, bells or whistles or anything  that doesn’t drive your key points home.

Google is bringing the blue dot indoors. Google Maps for Android 6.0 is going to start showing interior maps of airports, select malls and retail stores in the US and Japan. In Japan, transit stations are also mapped.

At launch, Google will have several hundred million square feet coverage, but there’s a long way to go before Google delivers all the interior mapping coverage that it would like. To that end there will be a self-service floor-plan upload tool that Google hopes retailers and property owners of all types will use to deliver floor plans for inclusion.

Below is a Google-provided screenshot of the Mall of America before interior maps and after:

The column of numbers in the screen on the right represent floor levels. Google Maps will automatically detect which floor you’re on and show you the appropriate map in a multistory building or location. However you can view maps of different floor levels simply by selecting the desired floor.

Touching the “my location” indicator will find you on the map — inside the building. Users will be able to see how far they are from bathrooms, escalators, etc.

Google is essentially using the same techniques (WiFi and cell tower triangulation) to locate people indoors that it uses outside. Outside GPS is also available, but it doesn’t work inside buildings. Google has apparently made some modifications of its approach to render interior location very precisely but it’s not using sensors or any new technology.

Almost 500 changes are done on the Google Search every year and most of them are indecipherable to everyday users. 

This 6 minutes and 21 seconds-long video displays some of the major adjustments Google went through over the period of 15 years which includes Universal search, inclusion of images, news as well as videos and a few other important changes.

I have experienced many different vendors in the marketing/web area. We have very high expectations for our vendors and many don’t deliver what they claim. Pauline is one of the best I ever encountered.”

~ Patrick Molyneaux, Molyneaux Tile – Carpet – Wood ~
hgflooringpittsburgh.com

Design Trade is a “to the trade” business for interior design professionals. Our site needed to be functional but also visually appealing. Pauline created a beautiful, user-friendly site that has won praise from everyone who uses it. Kravet Fabrics, our major fabric line, was so impressed with the site they have passed on our website address to all of their agent showrooms across the United States so they could see how professionally their product is being marketed.

Pauline listened to our needs & concerns and exceeded our expectations! We are thrilled with her work and highly recommend her services.

~Cynthia Rosky & Cathy Brozack, owners Design Trade ~
www.designtrademkt.com

Pauline really “gets” the business aspects of a web design. Almost all web designers want to use their creativity, which is fine, but in the end, you have to focus on what is best for your audience. She also really listens and understands how to interpret your goals for the site.”

~ Chris Posti, Owner Posti & Associates ~
www.postiinc.com

When we had Pauline build our closet website, we literally were working under the premise that this website would literally create the business! This is the sole driving force of our business. We launched the site in February and within months; our site was one of the top five listings for “Pittsburgh Custom Closets”, “Pittsburgh Closet Organizers” and “Pittsburgh Closet Design”.

We had two inquiries the day we launched the site and we have weekly calls and inquiries that are SOLID leads that produce a steady closet income!

~ Leslie McKee, McKee Closet Organizers ~
www.pittsburghclosetorganizer.com