Happy Thanksgiving - Coastal web services

Happy Thanksgiving from the web design and sales team at Coastal Web Services! We don’t know about you, but everyone around here is excited to spend time with family, eat too much, and watch some football!

Our office will be closed from Thursday, November 27 through Friday, November 28. We will be back in the office Monday, December 1. If you have an urgent support issue, just email us or use the contact form. We will be checking email in case of support issues.

Contact us 

Coastal Web Services
323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014. 
Phone MD: 410.420.9390
Phone CA: 949.682.6346

How Page Loading Time Affects Your Bottom Line - Coastal web services

Page loading time is obviously an important part of a website user’s experience. But many times businesses let it slide to accommodate better aesthetic design, new functionality or to add more content to web pages. Unfortunately, most website visitors care more about speed than all the bells and whistles we want to add to our websites. Additionally, page loading time is becoming a more important factor when it comes to search engine rankings.

 

Facts & Stats

• 73% of mobile internet users say that they’ve encountered a website that was too slow to load.
• 51% of mobile internet users say that they’ve encountered a website that crashed, froze, or received an error. 
• 38% of mobile internet users say that they’ve encountered a website that wasn’t available. 
• 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. 
• 40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
• A 1 second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. 
• If an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year. 

Source: Akamai.com

Our next blog addresses how to check your web site’s load time, and fixes for a slow website.

Contact Us:

323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

Marketing to Moms – Coastal web services

Marketing to Moms – Coastal web services

Did you know that busy moms make 90% of their purchases online? MediaPost recently published a roundup of marketing research as it relates to moms.

 

• 48% have used their smartphone to research products in the last week. Can they find your site?
• 10% more moms are using tablets; 13% more moms use smartphones – This is more proof that it’s essential that your business website is mobile friendly.
• 60% of moms check Facebook multiple times a day (up from 47% of last year) – Facebook ISN’T dead, at least among moms. Consider using Facebook ads to get in front of moms where they spend major time
• 68% are following at least one brand on Facebook. Shouldn’t it be yours?
• 65% have made a purchase due to a recommendation they saw online – check your testimonials and reviews online to make sure they’re positive. Respond to any negative reviews.

79% of mobile moms use phones in-store [Fierce Retail]

• 79% of moms use their phones specifically for in-store shopping
• 73% use it to comparison shop in a mass retailer
• 35% in a grocery store
• 22% in a discount store
• Moms engage with mobile ads more if a coupon is attached – Enough said

Contact Us :

323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

Resolve to Update Your Website

 

Hope you had a Happy New Year! As a smart business owner, you probably resolved to do everything in your power to increase business this year. One way you can do that is by taking a good, hard look at your business website and asking yourself: Is it time for a makeover?

Enlist some outside help—your friends, family, or even customers or members of your target market that you recruit and pay for their time—to click through your website and give you their feedback. Ask them (and yourself) these questions, and be prepared for honest answers:

Does the website look old-fashioned? You know what I mean. Do you ever go to a business website that still greets you with some message like “Waiting for Flash animation to load” or “10% complete”? It probably makes you think the site hasn’t been updated since the Internet first began.

Does the website have broken links, misspellings or coupons/promotions from three years ago? If so, you’re just being lazy and not checking your website often enough. Update it with the correct information, fix the links and get a proofreader to go over your site.

Does the site take forever to load? Using Flash is one culprit here, but images that are too big can also slow your site down. Consumers are more impatient than ever, and if your site takes more than a few seconds to load they might not stick around.

Is the site easy to navigate? Don’t try to reinvent the wheel when it comes to navigation. Your site should be clear, concise and easy to use, so potential customers can quickly find their way around. Today’s sites are more streamlined than they were just a few years ago, so if your site has too many options, users may get confused. Make it easy for first-time visitors to perform various tasks, such as browsing products, checking out or finding directions to your business.

Does the site have plenty of calls to action? Too many business websites fail to ask users to take action. “Shop Now,” “Check Out,” “Call Now,” “Contact Us,” “Sign Up”—the actions you want people to take may vary depending on what products or service you sell, but at least one such clearly marked button urging action should be on every page of your website. Adding a call to action in the text is also a good idea.

Are the graphics current? Outdated stock photos featuring yesterday’s styles, or fonts or colors that smack of yesterday’s design trends are warning signs that put customers on alert that your business is behind the times. Think white background with red and blue font.


Is the site mobile-friendly? Mobile Internet usage is becoming more popular among customers of all ages, and this trend will only grow as smartphones and tablets become more prevalent. Make sure your website loads quickly and is easy to use on all types of mobile devices, or you might be driving customers away. This is called responsive design.

When it’s time for a website update, Coastal Web Services can help. Contact us at 410-420-9390.

Contact Us:
323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

We are a Website Builder and Web Design Company

Coastal Web Services is focused on providing website services coast-to-coast. Our expertise in computer technology, web site development, computer programming, and search engine marketing are focused towards helping our clients develop an ongoing, professional online presence. With over 15 years of experience as a website builder and over thirty years of computer experience, our company can improve your business’s bottom line. Our web company also offers computer training classes to local businesses who want to improve their office’s productivity.

Our web team includes a varying degree of skill sets and age ranges. The team at Coastal Web Services includes a little bit of everything, from the old computer geek to the college-aged techie who lives and breathes the latest technological wonders.
We can help improve your bottom line so call us today to get your business growing!

what your customer wants - coastalwebservices

Is your small business website and online presence giving customers what they want? According to the 2014 Web.com Consumer and Small Business Perception Survey, the answer may be no. The survey uncovered a widening gap between how well small business owners think they are doing with their business website and how well their customers think the businesses’ use of technology serves their needs.

According to the survey, overall, small business owners realize it’s crucial to have a business website to make their businesses appear more professional and to enhance their personal relationships with customers.  But only half of respondents say their business has a website. While that number is up 8% from last year, it’s still a shockingly low number in this day and age.
What’s holding entrepreneurs back from starting websites? Of those without a business website, 59% say cost is the reason; however, 30% simply don’t believe it’s necessary for their businesses. But in reality, the survey found that whether you have a business website is one of the biggest influencers in whether consumers decide to buy from you or not. Smart small business owners are focusing not on the cost of developing a business website, but on the ROI they can get from it.
What do consumers expect from small businesses? According to the survey, the top 5 are:

• -       56 percent:   Special offers, promotions, discounts
• -       54 percent:   Basic information (e.g. company information, product information, business hours, contacts, etc.)
• -       47 percent:   Their own website
• -       42 percent:    Customer reviews, ratings, recommendations
• -       34 percent:    Incentivizing, rewarding loyal, frequent customers

If you don’t already have a small business website, consider hiring a web design company like Coastal Web Services to help you. Working with a web services company is a smart decision, because working with an expert gives you more time to do what you’re an expert at—run your business.

Contact Us :
323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

10 Ways Your Website is Driving Customers Away

You want your website to draw customers in and get them to purchase your goods or services. But if you’re not careful, your website could be doing just the opposite.

1. Looks old and outdated. Take a hard look at your website. Does the website design look old and outdated compared to other websites in your area of business? Get opinions from a younger relative or customer. It may be time for a website redesign or web updates.
2. Stale information. No edits since you launched your site. If your website mentions a coupon that expired last year, that’s a turnoff to a prospective customer – they probably won’t come back.
3. Pictures are too small. Nobody likes to squint, or resize the screen to see the photos. Consider updating your photos.
4. Text is too difficult to read. If you chose a hard to read font, have colored text on a colored background, or your text is too small, you may be driving people to your competitor. Consider updating your web content at the same time you change to a more user-friendly font.
5. Logo looks like an amateur designed it. Your website design should incorporate your logo, but if it looks unprofessional, that says a lot about your business. Consider a logo redesign.
6. No social media links. Customers love social, and not just your younger customers. A lot of people check out social media to check for reviews of your business, how many followers you have, and more. Take advantage of social media linking.
7. Slow loading web pages. This is one of the most aggravating things for someone who uses the internet to research a product or service before buying. If your web pages are slow to load, most prospective buyers will click back to their search results and move on to the next web site. There are a number of things your web designer can do to clean up your web pages and optimize them for speed.
8. Hard to find information. If a prospective customer can’t easily find what he/she is looking for when they visit your website, unless they REALLY want to do business with you and only you, they will generally leave your site for another more user friendly site. Make sure your web pages say what you do and what you offer in an easily understood manner. Make navigation user friendly, with clear, concise page names and navigation bars and tabs.
9. Obnoxious sound when you open a website. Most people don’t want to hear music or a video the second they get to your site. Some will immediately leave your site and move on to your competitor.
10. Can’t turn off sound when something automatically plays. This is related to #9. If you have sound or videos on your site, make it easy for the user to silence the audio, or let them click on the video to play, rather than having it start automatically.

As we near the end of the year, it’s a good time to take stock of your website, and make some resolutions for the New Year. Contact Coastal Web Services to improve your web site in the New Year.
Contact Us :
323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Small Business Owners

The holidays are almost over, and New Year’s Eve is right around the corner. We all know what that means…it’s about time to start making resolutions for 2015. Here are some top New Year’s resolution ideas for small business owners looking to step up internet game in 2015:

1. Make sure your website content is the best it can be. Your company’s website is your digital storefront, and you should treat it with as much care and respect as you would a brick and mortar store location. You wouldn’t settle for errors in your store signage, so why tolerate them in your web content writing? Take an objective look at your existing website — are there calls to action included in the copy? Are relevant SEO keywords integrated when possible, so search engines can find you? If your web site and web content haven’t changed in several years, it may be time for a new web design and updated web content writing.
2. Jump on the social media marketing bandwagon. Simply put, social media marketing isn’t going anywhere. In fact, companies are allocating more and more funds for marketing with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If you’re not active in the space, you’re missing out on opportunities your competition is probably taking advantage of. At Coastal Web Services, we offer training for all social media use for businesses. This includes account setup with basic information, and training on where everything is located and how to use it. Contact us now at 800-566-1468 or email us to get started!
3. Concentrate on getting backlinks. One of the easiest ways to increase your search engine ranking is to have other websites link to yours, creating backlinks that tells Google your content is relevant enough for people to want to share. Coastal Web Services includes listing your site in directories and local search as part of our SEO Marketing.
4. Start your own blog (and update it frequently). Every business with a website should have a blog. It’s the easiest way to put new and updated content on the site, and it provides a steady stream of new information to promote with social media marketing. Plus, you can incorporate SEO keywords into the web content writing, which will make you more search engine friendly over time. Find someone in your office who is knowledgeable and friendly. Your blog should answer some of your customer’s most frequently asked questions. You don’t have to be a writer to write a blog. Just type out exactly how you would explain something to a customer. Then spell-check and you’re ready to post.

Contact Us :

323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.

Baltimore County Website Design Company - coastalwebservices.com

Baltimore County Custom Website Design Company

Custom Website Design

Website Design:

A custom website design from the web design team at Coastal Web Services will distinguish you from your competition. We are a local web development company with a reputation for developing professional and effective custom website designs. We start by visiting our clients, and potential clients, to brainstorm with them on their specific web design needs. To develop a custom website design tailored to your organization, we also discuss and write down specific goals for the upcoming year and map out a plan to accomplish your specific goals. The more information our website builders have, the better we can serve you.

Coastal Web Services provides businesses with professional high quality custom website design services. Whether you want to start with a basic web design or are in need of an advanced custom website design with all the “bells and whistles,” Our web development company can deliver your online presence on time and functioning as requested. We offer a free website analysis and then if you are ready to move forward with our web design services, we will quote you a fair market price for a high quality custom website design. No high-pressure sales- just honest, competent work to enhance your branded image and increase your bottom line.

Coastal Web Services provides custom website designs that meet the needs of our customers. Our website designers take pride in their ability to make sure our customers are not just happy with their site; we want our customers excited about their new custom website design. The happier our customers are, the more referrals we receive. It’s a win-win for all of us!

Our web designers been providing web page design since 1997 and have completed hundreds of business websites. Not only can our web development company help you build an attractive website, but we make it a functional website as well. Here are a few guarantees we can offer your business website:

• Attractive Design
• Functional Easy-to-Use Layout
• Pleasant Color Combinations
• Easy to Update/Expand
• Quick Turn-Around
• Professional Guidance
• Website Marketing to Increase Business
• Programming Features
• Audio/Video (Flash) Presentations

Website Design Samples

Listed below are some of the web design samples / projects we have completed. The web site designs listed are our custom websites. Our focus is on small businesses in the Baltimore area and surrounding counties in Maryland, as well as Delaware, Pennsylvania, Washington DC and Northern Virginia.

Feel free to contact us or call our office for your web site design project or if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions about our custom designed web sites.



Contact Coastal Web Services for a quote on your next web design project!

323 Williams Street Suite C,
Bel Air, Maryland 21014.