So first things first, what are CTAs exactly you ask? They can be hyperlinked text, a clickable button or an image that solicits a desired action from a reader. In this blog post, I’m going to give some tips on how to create these effective CTAs that will grab attention using verbiage, color/design/scale and the location of these CTAs.

1. Keep it Clear. And compelling. You want to make sure that your readers know what it is you want them to do, without being too long but also maintaining excitement. Whether you want people to Subscribe Now!, Download Here!, Register Today!, Share This Article!, you want to deliver as much information in as few of words as possible. Make sure they know what it is they will be doing before they click.
2. Create a Sense of Urgency. People are more likely to respond if they sense immediacy in your call to action. Would you click a button that says “Click Here” or “Download Now Free”? You can also create this urgency using discounts (Save 30% Now!) or creating memberships to your site (Join Today Free) or giving consumers a trial (Start Your Free Trial Today).
3. Be Visually Compelling. You want your call to action to be the first thing people see, therefore use bold, bright colors that contrast with the rest of your design. Make sure the text of your button also stands out and is easy to read. Use graphics that will draw your visitors to act the way you’d like them to; arrows suggest forward moving.
4. Experiment! No graphic designer ever gets it right the first time. You need to play with the size of the button and the size of the font. Utilize the whitespace surrounding the CTA. (Note: whitespace does not refer to the color white, it basically means the empty space around graphics, so if your website background is black, the “whitespace” color would then be black.)
5. Take it Easy Cowboy. Don’t get overexcited on telling people what to do. Do NOT overload your email or website with buttons and flashy text. It will get confusing and then your ideal goal will not be met. Pick one or two calls to action for a page and focus on those. Make sure you prioritize the most important CTA by highlighting it with colors that are catchy. If people are over stimulated by too many things, they are not going to click what you want them to click. So pick a goal, create a button.
6. Make Sure The People See It. Placement of your calls to action is just as important as verbiage or color. If you place it below the fold, you may not have as high as a click through rate. Above “The Fold” is the area that subscribers/viewers see without scrolling down, and therefore is prime real estate. So keep your CTAs up high and visible.

In summary, there are a lot of psychological factors that play in to why people do what they do when viewing websites or reading emails, but using the above tips when creating this important piece of your marketing strategy will get you that much closer to goal conversions and a successful marketing campaign!

1. PUT YOUR MENU ONLINE! It drives me bananas if there isn’t a menu online for a restaurant I’d like to try. For a couple reasons. One, I want to make sure that they’ll have something I like, and more importantly my kids (if they are lucky enough to dine in public on any given night). If I visit a new restaurants website and they do not have an online menu, odds are I won’t go…and I’m sure I’m not the only one. Another reason, as a mom and business owner on the run most of the time, I like to know what I’m going to order ahead of time. That way if I’m on my way to a meeting or even on the way to a movie, we can save time on the ordering process. Hey, I’m paying babysitters by the hour people.
2. Give them compelling content. Not only should your menu be clear and easy to read, but it should spark interest. Give them a “taste” of what each dish has to offer. Just listing the menu item and price isn’t going to generate new clientele. Why is your chicken Parmesan better than the restaurant two miles down the street? It’s also important to notate if things are Vegan/Vegetarian or items created with allergy causing ingredients. Most importantly, do not leave out of date content on your menu. Nothing would be worse than coming in all hungry for a dish that doesn’t exist anymore. Keep it fresh.

And finally, the whole reason for writing this post, please don’t make your customers download a PDF of your menu. I’m not saying do not have a printable PDF version of you menu, but this should not be your only source. Also, do not upload a scanned image of your menu. Three reasons why:

1. Images and PDFs are not SEO Friendly. By having it as a document or image, search engines will not recognize it and you are missing out on keyword opportunities. Coding your menu into your site or using a WordPress plugin that allows you to build a menu will beef up your content. A foodie looking for some delicious treat with prosciutto will be able to find you easier. It will also help you rank higher in Google, making it easier for new customers to find you.
2. Easier to Update. If you are need of changing one item or a price, it would be much easier to log in to your CMS, change the item and hit save. Versus changing the document, saving the document, re-uploading the document. Since you want to keep your menu content up to date and fresh, you should make it easier on yourself, right?
3. NOT Mobile Friendly. Did you know that Morgan Stanley estimates that 650 million mobile units will be sold in 2013, and that this year mobile phones sales will outpace the sales of laptops and PCs- combined? People are looking up websites, your website, on their mobile device. When trying to figure out what to eat while out and about, they are going to whip out that smart phone to see what sounds good. If your menu is an image or PDF, there is a good chance that it won’t be viewable or readable, and there goes a potential diner. So many websites are designed to be responsive now-a-days (meaning they will look nice on a desktop/laptop, tablet or mobile phone), so your menu should be as well.

It is a good idea to give customers the option to print a PDF of your menu, there are still people who like that option. However, if you’re ready to be successful and get your tasty morsels into the hungry mouths of the consumer, follow the tips above!

Bon Appetit!

Just like email, people are used to getting spammed in their mailboxes left and right. They sort through their mail at rapid speeds only keeping things that are necessary, like bills, letters/cards from family or direct mail pieces that give them an offer they can use! If it doesn’t grab their attention it will surely be filed in the circular filing cabinet.

So here are some tips to help keep your postcards from being recycled into tomorrow’s paper plates:

1. Keep it Brief: Don’t clutter up your postcard with a ton of verbiage people are not going to read. Keep your message short and simple.
2. Choose a Feature: Well designed postcards will contain either an eye catching headline or photo, but not typically both.
3. Give them an Offer: Include a special offer that makes people need to do business with you right now. Everyone is always looking for a discount, so if you give them an offer that is only available with your postcard, then that makes it valuable.
4. Include a Call to Action: Make it obvious what you want your viewers to do. If it’s call, include your phone number in a prominent place. If you want them to go to your website, include a landing page. Whatever it is, it should be clear and your contact information should be readily available
5. Create a Sense of Urgency: By including an expiration date or limited time offer, you will ensure that your customer will call you now instead of putting your postcard aside for later, and chance  forgetting about it.

So what postcards aren’t new and high tech, they still can generate business if they are done correctly. Make them look good and you’ll be sure to look desirable too!

I recently had the opportunity to work with a fun bride to be on her Save the Dates. She wanted a country theme, without being too hick or honky tonk. So we went with rustic. After giving her some advice on photo poses to take to her photographer, we worked on the save the dates and came up with this:

Cute Save the Date cards for a cute couple! I’m so excited for them! And they picked a great day to get married, hey it worked for my husband and I 10 years ago

Stay tuned for a blog post with their wedding invitations and thank you cards!

There, now that I’ve given away the secret, let me tell you why it’s a good idea to switch your Content Management System (CMS) over to a WordPress Platform. I’ve got 5 reasons you should do it today!

1. Save Money! Like I just said up above, you don’t need to pay a monthly premium to keep a designer on hand to make basic changes. With WordPress, you can take small changes into your own hands. With simple to use dashboards, it’s easy to update text, add pictures/videos, change prices, and add new pages. With the proper training, you can do this all on your own. So when selecting a Web Developer to build your site, make sure they offer training or documents teaching you how to make this changes on your own.
2. Social Media Rich. In case you haven’t noticed, but Social Media plays a huge role into today’s marketing. WordPress makes it so easy for fans and visitors to share information on Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, or whatever they choose. Using “Plugins”, you can have social share buttons added to any page or post you desire. Hiring someone who knows how to place them strategically is helpful.
3. SEO Friendly. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which basically means “making your site easy to find when customers are looking up specific keywords in your industry.” With a clean interface and not a lot of HTML code cluttering up your website, keywords and meta information placed in your site will be prominent in online searches. Plus it’s easy to optimize and set up all pages in WordPress to be easily found in search engines.
4. Easily Customized. With thousands of templates out there, it can be easy to fall into a templated look with WordPress. However, these templates are so easily customized, you can take a layout you like and have a designer brand it so it stands out above your competition. Also, with the onslaught of  mobile devices (tablets and mobile phones) you need to use templates that are mobile friendly. That way no matter how your customers find you, they find a clean, beautiful website. Also, its easy to refresh your look every year or six months or however frequently you desire. A fresh website makes Google happy and it helps you keep up with trends.
5. Features, features, features. This sort of goes a long with customization. WordPress has so many plugins and options you can easily add to make your site your own. Need an e-commerce site? Done. Need an online portfolio? Done. Want a rotating image carousel on the home page? Done. Not to mention all the safety features that come along with WordPress. You can set up a backup to be sent to your email whenever you please. This ensures that you don’t lose data and there really is no such thing as a crashed website anymore. Just make sure your web developer sets all these up for you and explains what all of the plugins mean.

So if you’ve been putting off updating your website because it seems costly or daunting, don’t. Because it’s not! I’d be glad to help you understand WordPress or set up your new site.

So after you get your WordPress website designed and developed, what’s next? There are a number of things to consider adding to your site in order to get the most out of your WordPress platform. Not all websites are the same, so customization is key, but her are 5 things everyone should do after they build their site:

1. Edit Permalinks – A good WordPress Developer will do this for you at the end of a build out, but it’s a good idea to go over t together. Or if you are doing this yourself, make  a note to look through your permalinks. What the heck are permalinks? By default your article’s URLs will look something like “www.heatherlongdesigns.com/?p=345″. This format is bad for SEO and bad for usability (i.e. using the links on print pieces  or link building on other platforms).  It makes sense to change it something like “www.heatherlongdesigns.com/web-design/wordpress-website-checklist/”. So how do I do this? In your wordpress dashboard, click on Settings. Go to Permalinks and then select your favorite set up or customize your own.
2. Activate Akismet - Akismet is a plugin that helps filter and block spam from your comments. You should have your comments set up to be approved first regardless, but this plugin will make it easier to sort through the good comments and the bad, saving you loads of time. This can be added by going to your plugins page and searching for Akismet. You will need to register your site with WordPress.com to receive an API key, but then you will be all set.
3. Set up Google Analytics – Why bother setting up a website if you’re not going to track what it is doing for you. Google Analytics is a free  and a comprehensive view of who is viewing your site, from where, how long, how they got to your site, what are they looking at and a lot more. My best advice is to use the “All in  One SEO Pack” to easily insert meta tags, your Google UA code and a whole other laundry list of items that are good for your SEO. Most importantly it always for Google to track your site, and that is valuable information that you need.
4. Set up WordPress Backup – It’s pretty hard to mess up a wordpress website and lose information, but there is always that chance you can lose everything. Download the  WordPress Database Backup plugin on to your site and set it up to back up once a week, once a month or whatever you feel is best. It depends on how often you update your website. If you change prices, blogs and information daily, it might be a good thing to back up  at the end of each day.
5. Create an XML Sitemap - Yes, there is a plugin for that. You want to create an XML Sitemap and have it submitted to search engines, you want to be found right? This allows Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.. to crawl your site more efficiently. It also notifies saerch engines of new content on your site so that it can be re-indexed.

I’m sure there are plenty more items we can do for your site, but every site is different and you may not need the same plugins that your competition uses. Sit down with your WordPress Developer and be thorough about what you want your site to do for you and your business. And remember, websites are always evolving. What you use now may not be what you need in 6 months. Always re-evaluate your needs and you will always be successful in the online world!

But before you make the switch, you should know that the change affects almost all aspects of how your branded page works. You may even need to reconfigure your strategy, but that’s a whole other blog post. I’m just gonna fill you in on design.

Many business pages had just changed up their design last year to utilize the larger avatar space. No more. Your avatar is limited to a square now. Preferably 180×180 pixels. I recommend just using your logo for the avatar. You may need to rework it a little so that it fits and looks nicely.

Next up is the cover photo. That is lovely image stretching across the top of your page now, gleaming with possibility. I digress. The dimensions for that photo is 851 x 315 pixels, and Facebook recommends something at least 399 pixels wide. Be careful though, Facebook will stretch your image to fit, so it is better to crop your image to the right size or design something custom, like I did.

Also keep in mind that there are guidelines for your cover photo design put forth by Facebook. Cover images may not contain:

• Price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it at our website”
• Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page’s About section
• References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features
• Calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends”

Make sure you are careful to follow these rules before creating your image, but have fun with it! Might as well go all out and make this cover photo your own. It’s the first impression people get when coming to your page, might as well make it a good one. Especially since landing pages for Facebook no longer exist.

Speaking of which, I would like to note that landing pages are now a thing of the past. You can no longer create a coded iFrame for your fans to land on by default when the visit your page. Everyone defaults to your wall/timeline now. This is okay since you have the cover photo to entice them to follow your feed, however don’t throw out the iFrames completely yet. Just re purpose them into your strategy. Use them for promotions, videos, newsletter signups, be creative! Create a Facebook strategy and figure out what it is you want your fans to get out of your page.

So there you go! Make your business page beautiful or let me help you out! Feel free to contact me if you need assistance in branding your Facebook page to the new timeline.

In parting, here are some great branded timelines for your viewing pleasure.

Well, I came across this super easy and cheap idea on my addiction Pinterest.com.

S’more Teacher Appreciation Gift, thanks to Crystal & Co.’s blog!

I thought they were so so cute, but I wanted to Christmas them up a bit, so I created my own labels and printed:

What else is needed?

• Graham Crackers (most people probably have on hand)
• Marshmallows (I prefer the larger ones for melting purposes)
• Mini Hersey Bars
• Clear Cellophane Treat Bags
• Stapler

This was said to me in a meeting the other day. A meeting with someone who came to me for advice on her brand and marketing campaign. This killlllsssssss me as a designer and marketer. Kind of like Stacy and Clinton hate when people say “I wear it because it’s comfortable.”

I understand in light of the economy, everyone is looking to save buck…but at what cost are you saving that dollar? Do you really think that people will take you seriously if you hand them a brochure made in word or publisher with the ever fancy 3D word art and clipart? How many people are you going to get to buy your product or services with shoddy design and branding? So maybe you saved a ton of money on your design, but how many sales did you lose because of that?

I cannot express enough the importance of creating a strong brand backed with professional design that has been thought out and cohesive. Would you take a financial planner seriously if he/she showed up in a Yugo and wearing ripped jeans and a dirty t-shirt? Of course not! Invest in your business. Put together a plan of what marketing pieces will have the biggest effect on your business and then pay a professional designer to create them. Put some Money into building your website…do NOT just have your friend’s 18 year old nephew who took Year Book in high school throw a site up for you because it is what you should do. That’s what it will look like…throw up.

When people are checking out your business, they will make judgement calls. They are going to pick you either because they know you, or because your marketing pieces/website look nicer than your competitors. So unless you want to keep business within your circle of friends and not expand….yeah.

To answer the above question of “Why?”, because the difference in appearance could mean the close of a sale, or not.