We live in a global context. So when you’re creating a marketing campaign, you need to think about its implications across many cultures, especially in Canada, whose culture was famously described as a mosaic, not a melting-pot. And things can change as a result of world affairs. In this post, I will explore some recent examples, which are funny, but they demonstrate the need for cultural competence. This means including people with different cultural backgrounds in your marketing team.
(more…)Tag: user experience
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Descriptive links
When you’re linking to another website or creating a call to action, it is always a good idea to make the label for the link or button describe what will happen when a visitor clicks on it.
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Mobile-first design
Have you checked what your website looks like on a smart phone? Or a tablet?
More than 60% of visitors to your website will be viewing it on a mobile phone, so it is important to make sure that it looks great on a mobile device.
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How to spot AI-generated content
Once you’ve read about a dozen AI-generated articles, you start to recognize ChatGPT’s style. Today I saw two articles on Facebook, one that seemed to be pure glurge (emotion-provoking content that was probably not true, or a distortion of the truth), and another that was true but exaggerated (for the sake of engagement, I assume).
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WordPress vs Google Sites
When building a website, or commissioning us to build you a website, you might be wondering which is the best tool for the job.
WordPress and Google Sites are very different tools, and each has advantages and disadvantages.
WordPress
Advantages
- Has many free plugins, including third-party tools.
- WordPress blocks are easy to use and customize.
- You do not need to learn coding.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- You can create reusable patterns for your templates (like blocks but more complex).
- You can edit the underlying code (HTML and CSS).
- The Site SEO plugin walks you through the SEO settings.
- You can customize the page templates, including the blog layout.
- You can add JavaScript and HTML widgets.
- A lot of developers and service providers use WordPress.
- If you use WebHosting Canada, the website is hosted in Canada.
Disadvantages
- You need to pay to remove ads and get access to fully customizable templates.
Google Sites
Advantages
- This is a free tool with a lot of features.
- Google Sites offers customizable templates, and you can set up your own colour scheme and fonts.
- You can easily embed other Google products in your website, such as Forms, Maps, Docs, Slides, Sheets, etc.
- If you already use Google Drive products, the user interface will be familiar.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- You do not need to learn coding.
- You can add JavaScript and HTML widgets.
- The free package appears to include lazy loading.
Disadvantages
- There are no settings for search engine optimization.
- You cannot edit the underlying code.
- The website is not hosted in Canada.
Let us build it for you
We can create a new website for you, spruce up your existing one, or improve its performance, accessibility, and search engine rankings.
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5 ways I can enhance your website
There are many things to consider when you’re building a website. As a small to medium-sized business with many claims on your time, do you have time to think about all of these? If you are building a website using an automated tool, it does not usually provide all these settings – you need to add them manually.
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Alternative Text for Images
One of the key components of accessibility is providing alt text for images, especially if the images contain text.
This is because, when people with visual impairments use your website, they rely on a screen-reader to read the text out to them. This only works with images if they are described using alternative text (usually referred to as “alt text”).
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Introducing Expert Guides
We are delighted to present our freshly updated and redesigned expert guides, which are free to download from our expert guides page.
If you find them useful, you might want to consider booking our training courses, which explore the material in more depth.
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Favicons and Logos
Your logo tells a story about your business in a single graphic. The colours, fonts, and symbols that you choose express your values in a concise way.
If your logo is truly distinctive and your brand is very well-known, it may be recognizable on its own without your company name.
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WordPress vs SquareSpace
When building a website, or commissioning us to build you a website, you might be wondering which is the best tool for the job.
WordPress and SquareSpace are very different tools, and each has advantages and disadvantages.
WordPress
Advantages
- Has many free plugins, including third-party tools.
- WordPress blocks are easy to use and customize.
- You do not need to learn coding.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- You can create reusable patterns for your templates (like blocks but more complex).
- You can edit the underlying code (HTML and CSS).
- The Site SEO plugin walks you through the SEO settings.
- You can customize the page templates, including the blog layout.
- A lot of developers and service providers use WordPress.
- If you use WebHosting Canada, the website is hosted in Canada.
Disadvantages
- It is harder to animate the transitions in your website.
- There are less templates available.
- You need to pay to remove ads and get access to fully customizable templates.
SquareSpace
Advantages
- SquareSpace offers many templates and content patterns.
- You can build a website with AI.
- The editor is very stable and behaves consistently.
- SquareSpace provides a large number of useful layouts.
- You do not need to learn coding.
- All packages come with lazy loading and animations by default.
Disadvantages
- After you have generated your website with AI or with the template provided, you still need to remove all the content it has added and create your own.
- The editor is a bit fiddly to use – you have to edit the settings for each element in a popup (instead of in the side panel that WordPress gives you).
- You cannot edit the underlying code on the Basic package.
- You need to pay to publish your website. SquareSpace’s cheapest package is $21 per month (if you pay annually).
Let us build it for you
We can create a new website for you, spruce up your existing one, or improve its performance, accessibility, and search engine rankings.
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Understanding Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Many people are now searching the web using AI. The measurement of how your website will be ranked in AI search results is called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), or AI Engine Optimization (AEO).
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Website Performance
Website performance involves making web pages load quickly, or failing that, making slow processes appear to be fast. This is important because, if your page is slow to load, people will give up waiting for it to load and go somewhere else.
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About that “free” website…
There’s no such thing as a free lunch… and there’s no such thing as a free website either.
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