Oct 26 2018 A Call to Small Businesses: Hire Trans People Posted by: Sarah Giffrow Posted in: Business It’s not often that I get political in this space, but after Wednesday’s directive from the Justice Department that businesses can discriminate against workers based on their gender identity, what I’m about to write feels both right and necessary. Upswept Creative is now in its 7th year, and for the first few years, it was just me, working alone at a desk. Eventually, I was able to hire people to work with me, and start building what is now a 3-person team. I’ve always been happy to be able to offer jobs to people from underrepresented groups, but I don’t think I fully internalized how radical an act that was until Wednesday night. We want to create safe and welcoming workplaces. We hope you’ll do the same. In the time since my first employee hire, 1/3rd of the people I’ve hired have been trans or non-binary. Granted, a third of my very-small sample may not seem like much from a numbers perspective, but in terms of the effect it can have, it goes far beyond a small handful of people. A job can change a life. It can mean having food in your mouth and a roof over your head, of course. But it can also mean opportunities to learn and grow, to hone expertise. It can be a chance to build a career that feeds your soul, and brings intrinsic rewards beyond just paying bills or buying a nice car. It can be a step towards becoming your best and most fully-realized self. It’s a chance that people of all gender identities deserve to have. And, by choosing to not discriminate, we also have an opportunity to lead by example. Do we want to live in a world where everyone feels safe and welcome at work? Where women feel valued for their skills, where trans people feel at home and free to be themselves, where people of color feel respected? In our current political climate, it’s hard to know how we can begin to make this a reality. But, as small business owners, we can begin to create that world. You and I may be doing that with, say, a small staff of 5, rather than a corporation of 500, but we have the opportunity to build safe spaces from the ground up. We can show other businesses how they can create better work environments. We can demonstrate through our hiring decisions and our treatment of our team that it is possible to build businesses on a foundation of empathy and equity. As a small business owner whose work supports small businesses, I want to challenge you to take that step. Look at who you hire, consider why you’ve made those choices. Start making the changes in your business that will create safe work spaces for marginalized people. Are you interviewing a trans or non-binary person who’d be great at their job? Hire them. And, to any trans, non-binary, and genderqueer folks who may be seeing this, please know: I see you, and I support you. I will hire you for your skills and your talent, and I will show respect for your expertise and your value as a human being. And everyone at Team Upswept will be proud to work alongside you.
Oct 11 2018 Local Business Profile: Lindsay Kandra, Three Peaks Wellness Posted by: Janine Winters Posted in: Business, Friends, Locals We Love Upswept client Lindsay Kandra believes that movement and mindfulness can transform your life. She created Three Peaks Wellness in Bend, Oregon with two goals: to work as a counselor with individuals who want to explore a more holistic approach to mental wellness, and to be a consultant with with movement and wellness professionals who want to better guide their clients who deal with mental illness or trauma. Using movement to support mental health is a key part of Lindsay Kandra’s vision for Three Peaks Wellness. Lindsay was generous enough to candidly answer some questions for us, so we could share a look into her experience as a midlife career-changer and new small business owner. The exchange that follows has been edited for clarity and length. Upswept Creative: I’m curious about your process of deciding to make a career change, and then also the practical considerations to enact your decision. Lindsay Kandra: I was a practicing lawyer for thirteen years and never felt a sense of purpose and satisfaction in my career. It was something that I was good at, and it brought in a good income. But I never could shake the feeling that I was an expendable cog in a dehumanizing system. I survived breast cancer 8 years ago and believe that years of physical and emotional stress contributed to being diagnosed at such a young age (32). I knew I needed to transition to a career [where] it was important that it was me, personally and uniquely, doing the work. I was drawn to mental health because the impact that a therapist has on a client depends so much on relationship, and the connectedness of relationship depends on the unique qualities of therapist and client. In therapy, how you show up really matters. This biggest practical issues I have faced throughout this process have been developing a new relationship with money, and developing an entrepreneur’s mindset. Six years ago, my annual income was six figures. Now, I am dealing with the financial stressors of being a newcomer in a profession not known for its income potential. The growth I’ve experienced has been painful, but I do feel like I’m living a life more congruent with my values. UC: What are some challenges that have come up in creating Three Peaks Wellness? LK: Overcoming the (often paralyzing) fear of being a solo business owner. I have a vision for how I want my business to look in five years, but the steps to fulfilling that vision seem overwhelming at times. I recently wrote a Nelson Mandela quote on the whiteboard in my kitchen: “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” I want the development of my business to reflect my hopes for growth in myself and in my clients, not the fear of scarcity and struggle. “I recently wrote a Nelson Mandela quote on the whiteboard in my kitchen: ‘May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.’ I want the development of my business to reflect my hopes for growth in myself and in my clients, not the fear of scarcity and struggle.” I’m also learning to be better at asking for advice and for help. I have so much to learn about marketing and finding clients, but so many people willing to help out and make referrals–if I am willing to reach out. UC: What are some goals you have for the future of Three Peaks Wellness? LK: My ultimate goal is to have a thriving therapy business that isn’t bound by the constraints of the traditional therapeutic work environment. I work with clients on evenings and Saturdays and can do sessions through videoconferencing. I also offer sessions from 30 to 90 minutes, to fit the scheduling needs of individual clients. I am developing crisis trainings for personal trainers, yoga teachers, and studio owners, and want to work with fitness businesses to develop trauma-informed business practices. Over the next year, I will be developing a series of five-minute movement meditations that anyone can use when stress escalates, along with workbook for the client interested in learning about how to hack into their bodies natural resources for mental health. UC: What else are you doing now, something related or totally not related? LK: Totally not related: I raced cyclocross competitively for ten years prior taking a few years off to heal an injury and go back to graduate school. I am going to dip my toe back into bike racing this fall, but just for fun. I’m also looking forward to a lot of fall mountain bike riding and catching up on true crime podcasts. Related: Over the winter, I will be getting certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and attend some additional trainings on body-centered therapies. Thank you, Lindsay, for giving us more insight into Three Peaks Wellness! We enjoyed working with you to develop your logo, branding, and website, and we are excited to watch your business grow.
Oct 02 2018 Be Our Next Social Media Maven! Posted by: Sarah Giffrow Posted in: Business, Life at Upswept, Social Media, Social Networking UPDATE: this position is now closed as of Oct 26th, 2018! Thank you for your interest! We’re seeking someone who’s interested in social media management for small-to-medium-sized businesses. It’s currently a part-time, ongoing role, but it’s growing into a larger time commitment–-the more you bring to the role, the better it is for both of us! we’d be a great fit for each other if… you’re interested in creating engaging content that helps independent businesses grow and prosper you understand the importance of brand voice and feel comfortable bringing it into social media you’re comfy with analytics data and hashtag research, and use data to make smart choices for your clients’ social media feeds you know how to advise, communicate with, and collaborate with entrepreneurs who want to take an active role in their social media presence you’re laid-back and maybe even a little geeky, but always on top of important details BONUS: if you have skills and experience in graphic design or video production, that can help us open doors for you to put these skills to work for our clients! a taste of the things you’d be doing: Collaborating with clients to design and implement social media strategy that fits their business goals Create, edit, publish and share engaging content (e.g. original text, photos, videos and news) Setting clear expectations and goals, and reporting on analytics data to show progress Make sure social media accounts’ design looks top-notch (e.g. Facebook timeline cover, profile pictures and blog layout)</> Recommending and implementing new features to boost brand awareness, such as promotions, boosted posts, etc. Staying in-the-know with technologies and trends in social media, design tools and applications Contributing to our blog presence — if you have opinions about design, marketing, and creative, we’d love to have you share them! We’d like you to be able to commit approximately 20 hours per week to the position to start–hours may vary depending on client needs. You’ll need to come to the studio for client meetings, so if you have a flexible schedule, that would be ideal! Outside of face-to-face meetings, this position is flexible, and much of the work can be done from your home or your favorite coffee shop, if you like. A fast internet connection is a must, however! We believe strongly in working with local talent, and we want to grow and create opportunities in our own super-gifted Portland-y garden. With that in mind, we are only interested in candidates based in the Portland Metro area. We’re a small-but-fierce company, and we have a lot of experience producing solid work, but our process is always evolving and improving. You’ll have the support of our Creative Director and Project Manager for whatever you need–talking through ideas, scheduling meetings, onboarding clients, and so forth. But, we recognize that you’re the expert in social, and we welcome any wisdom and ideas that you can bring to the table. If you’re a good listener and communicator, and this sounds like something you could grow into, let’s talk about it! Or, if you can think of a trusted human who’d be a good fit, we’d love to hear from them, too. Rate is $18-25/hr, depending on experience. This position is now closed as of Oct 26th, 2018! Thank you for your interest!
Aug 20 2018 Secure Your Website with SSL Posted by: Sarah Giffrow Posted in: Business, Technology, Web Design, Websites The web is a go-to place for your audience to learn about–and buy from!–your business. As the online market grows, security is becoming more important, both for you and your customers. A secure site means that the people who visit you online feel safer, and are more likely to stick around. Website security matters even more when your customers browse through mobile. That’s why, beginning this summer, Google Chrome and other major web browsers has started labeling all websites without SSL (secure socket layer) encryption (that is, http sites) as “not secure.” You may even have heard from your web host about enhancing your security to avoid losing website visitors–but what does it mean? SSL Keeps Your Information Private You’ll often see an HTTPS when you shop online. Seeing an HTTPS in that address bar lets you know that the website you’re using has an SSL certificate, and that your information is protected. SSL is the standard in website security: it creates an encrypted link between your website and your customer’s web browser. That encryption ensures that any sensitive information that’s passed between their browser and your website stays private. But Why Does My Website Need SSL? Activities like e-commerce and online banking always use SSL, but there are also reasons why an HTTPS website with SSL-security is a good idea for the rest of us: Keeping sensitive information safe. SSL encrypts any information you send through the Internet, so the only people who can read it are the ones you want to see it. Protecting you (and your customers!) from info theft. Hackers look for weaknesses in your web presence, and encrypting details that are sent through your website (like credit card numbers!) will keep both you and your customers safe. Building trust with new customers. New people who come to your website will see that your website is secured with SSL. That helps them feel safer when contacting or buying from you, and gives your business an added boost of credibility. If you’d like to enable SSL security for your domain, we’re here to help! In most cases, it only takes an hour or two to enable SSL and replace internal HTTP links on your site to HTTPS. If you’d like to help protect your customers and add SSL encryption to your website–or even if you just have questions about it–drop us a line and we’ll fill you in on what’s needed. Contact Us »
Aug 06 2018 Communication is Collaboration Posted by: Josselyn Haldeman Posted in: Business, Life at Upswept, Pro Tips, Technology Last month one of our team members moved out of Portland, all the way to another state! Social Media Maven Josselyn Haldeman now calls Olympia, Washington home. We couldn’t be happier for her, but working remotely can present unique challenges. As a company, we value the personal connection and efficient brainstorming that can come with in-person meetings. It’s one of the reasons that we make an effort to have initial consultations with new clients before we even write their project proposals. In a typical week, though, we may not see each other’s radiant faces in person. We’re busy making marketing magic at Upswept HQ, in coffee shops and home offices, or anywhere we find ourselves with a speedy internet connection and a job to do. We felt confident we could meet these remote working challenges head-on, mostly due to our strong communication. To that end, we’re continually refining our process of internal communication. We use a handful of tools to help keep us all connected and knowledgeable about the work. TOOLS OF THE TRADE If you’re looking for a task management system, we’re big fans of Freedcamp. Slack is great for multi-channel workplace chatter. Zoom Communications allows us to make eye contact over any distance, and share the documents we’re working on as easily as passing them across a table. We’re also big fans of the Google suite of apps that allow us to collaborate directly all in the same document. With all of these tools at our disposal, long-distance collaboration becomes much easier. Not to say that there hasn’t been a learning curve. The best way for a team to use a tool or service effectively is to, well, use it! You’ll never know if the tool is right for your team if you don’t get everyone on board. On Team Upswept, we talk a lot about different protocols for setting up tasks and refining processes. This helps us all stay on the same page for how the service is meant to be used, and thus helps us use it more effectively. We know that we can continue to collaborate with Josselyn because we already have an effective system of communication in place. Across town or across state lines, not a lot has to change. We credit the success of our communication plan first to a common dedication to openly collaborating and operating as a team. This is one of our core philosophies, both in working with each other and with our clients. So if you’re looking for more than an impersonal client/firm relationship, reach out to us and let’s get collaborating!
May 14 2018 Authenticity Online Posted by: Josselyn Haldeman Posted in: Branding, Business, Social Media Tagged rebooting social media, social media marketing Authenticity can often seem like it’s in short supply. Especially on the internet. Whether it’s a snarky meme or “fake news,” genuine voices are in high demand online. People are starved for them. Whether you’re managing the social media channels of an established business, or taking a DIY approach to building your own online marketing materials, it’s so important to keep it real. Trust is the basis of any good relationship, customer to business included. Connecting with potential customers from a place of genuineness, honesty, and passion will make them more likely to purchase your product or services. In fact, 80% of consumers polled said “authenticity of content” is the most influential factor in their decision to become a follower of a brand. Here are some ways you can find your authentic voice in your online marketing efforts: Authentic to You In order to come off as honest online, you first have to know yourself. At the very least, know your brand. Is a funny and light-hearted tone appropriate, or does your marketing require a more serious approach? What sorts of images will communicate your desired tone? Think these elements through before you start posting, or you may risk of coming off as calculated and facetious. Being true to the core of your business identity is the first step in attracting the kind of customers you want. Share Your Excitement It’s no secret that passion is appealing. You should feel passionate about the work you’re doing. If you aren’t, it becomes much harder to get people to pay attention. I believe humans have the capability to be passionate about anything, we just have to find the angle that lets us connect with it. If you’re managing social media for a client, spend the time to learn the ins-and-outs of the business. Even if it seems really boring at first, you’re likely to find something that fascinates you eventually. For example, last year I was tasked with promoting a conference by and for professionals in a particular field of social science. I don’t have a social science background, and at first glance it could seem dry and academic to the average person. But as I performed my due diligence and really dove into the deep end with what this field was all about, I discovered this conference was actually very progressive. They had booked speakers centered around social justice, provided continuing education opportunities, and kept the price of registration as low as possible in order to accommodate low-income professionals. Because I took the time to learn these things, and really get onboard personally, I was able to highlight them in an engaging way on social media. Finding your way “in” to a topic you’re tasked with promoting is one of the most important aspects of being a successful social media manager. Don’t Be Afraid To Have Fun Having fun with the topic at hand, when appropriate, is a great way to show genuine excitement and passion about the products and services you’re advertising. Don’t be afraid of it! A great example is Wendy’s twitter account. No one wants to engage with an account of a fast food giant that just posts ads all day. That’s why Wendy’s snarky, sarcastic, and meme-filled feed has found such viral success. People are both shocked and amused, and you can tell that the person (or team) behind the handle is having a blast. Getting started marketing online can be intimidating. It’s not easy to decide what to put out to a potentially massive audience, And I hope these have helped you wrap your head around the topic. If you find yourself needing some more guidance, or you’d rather hire professionals to collaborate with you on the decision making process, Upswept Creative is here for you! We can work with you to take the stress out of online marketing, and get your social media presence on a course to success. Schedule some time to sit down with us today – you won’t regret it.
Apr 26 2018 Letting Go: 3 Things Holding You Back From an Awesome Brand Redesign Posted by: Sarah Giffrow Posted in: Branding, Business, Design, Pro Tips Do you get an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when you look at your logo? Do you feel sheepish when you hand out your business card? You may be thinking about a brand redesign, or even know deep down that you need to refresh your brand… and yet, it feels like an awful lot of work that you don’t feel prepared for. I’m not going to tell you that rebranding isn’t a lot of work, because it does take time and energy! That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, however. In fact, if you’re overwhelmed in your work, a rebrand may be exactly what you need. Even if you think you have to stay the course, here are some thoughts that shouldn’t hold you back from a brand redesign: “I don’t want to lose the brand recognition I already have. ” Businesses both big and small can stay strong, even through multiple rebrands. (IBM logo evolution via Hongkiat) You’ve worked hard to build your customer base, so it’s totally normal to feel hesitation about turning people away. However, we’ve seen a variety of businesses update their visual identity, and still keep going strong–the trust they’ve already built keeps their loyal fans coming back, while updated branding attracts new eyes. As long as you make the right adjustments to your branding, you can keep your audience and keep evolving your business. Your creative team will often guide you through how to debut and start using your new brand assets, so your customers know what’s happening. It will take your audience a little while to adjust, but new branding will help you make sure the customers you love will stick around. “My current logo is already on all of my tags, t-shirts, signage, etc.” It may seem like a lot of trouble to incorporate a new logo and brand messaging. And yet, isn’t it a bigger problem to have a brand you aren’t proud of stamped all over your marketing? Sticking with your current branding means everyone who engages with you will see an ill-fitting brand that makes the wrong impression. And, that outdated brand will continue to draw in all the same people–including the “wrong fit” clients that you don’t want to keep attracting. It’s true that printing new business cards, having new signs made, or replacing other brand assets will take some time and resources. But, investing that time and effort now will help you connect with more of the people who are right for you, and that will make your life much easier in the long-term. “I don’t have time to deal with that right now.” Time is precious in any business! But, if you don’t have time right now, when will you? Free time rarely appears on its own–you ultimately have to make the time for things that are important to the growth of your business. And, consider this: how much time could you save if your marketing was refined for who your business is now? If you can attract more of the right customers, and fewer customers that don’t fit, you could save a lot of time in your day-to-day. You could deal with fewer questions or less back-and-forth on pricing, you could focus on your best and most beloved products, rather than maintaining a huge product line. The possibilities are plentiful! Rebranding is daunting–I get it! It’s a big task full of tough decisions. But, thinking critically about your brand is how you not only survive, but thrive in an ever-evolving business landscape. Facing your fears, acknowledging where your brand can do better, and making those tough choices will leave you feeling refreshed and reinvigorated about your business. Remember, you don’t have to do this alone! Upswept Creative offers all the resources you need to have a successful brand evolution: web design, logo and graphic design, and social media management to get the (new) word out. Contact us right now to start feeling good about your brand again.
Feb 20 2018 Social Media Trends 2018 Posted by: Josselyn Haldeman Posted in: Business, Pro Tips, Social Media, Technology Tagged 2018, new year, social media marketing, Social Media Presence, trends One of the biggest challenges of social media is that it’s always changing. Old platforms switch up their interface, lose users, or disappear entirely. New, confusing platforms pop up to fill the gap. Even the old stalwarts go through massive changes over the course of a year (installed the new Snapchat update yet?). Social media is an ever-evolving landscape, and 2018 will be no exception. As a social media marketer, it’s my job to research, anticipate, and prepare for possible trends on the horizon. Here are the trends I see having an impact on social media marketing in the coming year. New Tech = New Trends Technology evolves rapidly, and the tech companies that run social media platforms need to implement and cater to them in order to stay relevant. Digital hangout platforms like Houseparty became hugely popular with young people in 2017. This is a good indicator that larger social media platforms will eventually incorporate some of the key functions of hangout apps into their own platform. Facebook tends to do this by purchasing an up-and-coming app, and folding that app’s functionality into their own system updates. While new functionality can be intimidating, I think of instances like this as an opportunity. Many brands will be experimenting with new ideas. Nothing is set in stone. Explore the new technologies as they appear, and take the chance to do some experimenting yourself. You may end up setting the standard for how brands use that function to market! Rearranging Chairs in the Twitterverse Believe it or not, Twitter is starting to show signs of decline. For the first time, Twitter failed to increase it’s active users for the entire second half of 2017. The first sign of a dying platform is seeing a halt in active user growth. While it won’t happen as fast or be as dramatic as the sinking of the Titanic, this slowdown is worth keeping an eye on in 2018. We can expect Twitter to throw some curveballs this year, similar to their decision to increase the character count of tweets near the end of last year. They might even try some outlandish things to stay afloat, which will affect existing marketing strategies. Keep an eye out for changes so you, too, can adapt and keep your market efforts effective. The (Facebook) Sky is Falling! Facebook Live is an example of a feature from another app folded into the system. Photo by Sticker Mule on Unsplash One of the most dramatic changes in the social media marketing landscape happened at the end of 2017: Facebook changed the algorithm that determines how a user’s feed is populated. The changes are intended to prioritize posts from family and friends, and reduce “spam” from business pages. While this change has been live since November 2017, social media marketers are still adjusting. So far, we’ve learned that the new algorithm punishes pages that use “baiting” strategies to boost engagement. This blog post goes into detail on what the algorithm will flag as bait, and how using those strategies will actually hurt the reach and engagement for future posts. As we approach the end of Q1 with these changes, updated strategies that take the new algorithm into account will solidify. Experiment yourself, and pay attention to what other brands in your field are doing differently. Change is Scary, but We Got This! The ever-changing landscape of social media makes marketing in these spaces a unique challenge. But if you stay engaged and up-to-date, you will be better prepared to make the necessary adjustments, and keep your online marketing relevant, engaging, and successful. Of course, your real challenge may simply be that you don’t have enough time to stay on the cutting edge of social media marketing. That’s where we come in. Upswept Creative offers social media management packages designed specifically for each client. We will meet you where you’re at in terms of expertise, budget, and brand voice. Reach out to our Social Media Maven today to schedule your free consultation.
Jan 19 2018 How Much Will Your Website Really Cost? Posted by: Sarah Giffrow Posted in: Branding, Business, Design, Pro Tips, Web Design, Websites When we talk website design with potential clients, one thing we hear pretty regularly is, “I have no idea what this kind of thing costs.” It’s not just about shopping around between different providers, either–there are a lot of factors that can affect your total investment. If you want to get a better sense of what you can expect to spend, here are a few questions you can ask yourself: Good, Fast, Cheap: what are your real priorities? image courtesy Berkonomics There’s a saying in the creative world that Good, Fast, and Cheap doesn’t exist: you can only pick two. What does that mean? Well, if you need your new website “ASAP,” and you want it to be both beautiful and effective, then it’s not going to come Cheap. Conversely, if you’re looking to save money, you’ll end up “paying” for the project in other ways–you’ll either be waiting a long time to finally get your new Good website, or you’ll get a website that was created Fast, but is low-quality. If you want to pursue a new website, make sure you know your priorities. I suspect you won’t want to sacrifice Good on your web project, so be prepared to either pay more, or wait longer for its completion. What resources do you have? Once you know what your priorities are, it’s time to look at where you’re starting from. There are a lot of moving parts to a website. A good website professional will be there to take on the design, coding, and strategy for you, but there are other important pieces to building a website that works well: Your brand voice. Do you know who your business is? Do you know who you’re trying to reach? Your website team needs to know those things to create a website strategy that works for you. Written content. Do you have descriptions of your services or products? Do you know what to put on your homepage? Your website pro can guide you, but someone needs to create the words that help your website sell. Photography. Do you have professional-quality photos that represent what you do? Do you have a clear photo of yourself for your About page? Good design can get you part of the way there, but photos are what will put a face on your brand, and help tell your brand story. These are just a few major project pieces that your web design professional will need to make your website work well for your business. If you’re missing any of these pieces, you’ll need to either need to create them yourself, or pay someone else to do it for you. How much time do you have available? Now that you’ve figured out what pieces you have, and what pieces you’re missing, take a look at your work week How much time do you have available? Realistically? It’s easy to get excited about the idea of a new website, and say “yes, of course I can get you that content,” but creating good content takes time. Even if you have the best intentions, if you’re already too busy to answer your emails or post on your Instagram, then you probably won’t have time to create a customer persona or craft a brand statement. If you do have some time to spare, there may be ways you can use your own knowledge and skills to help the process along. Just remember: nobody gets good at something new overnight, and it could take you hours upon hours of work to get it right. And, even if you *can* handle content yourself, there may just be better ways for you to use your precious time to keep your business running! A professional creative has years of expertise that helps them get the job done faster and better than the average person. If your time is valuable to you, then keep it for yourself, and pay for a professional assist. What are you willing to do? What do you NOT want to do? You’ve gotten this far. You know what you need, you have the time to make it happen. Now it’s time to be honest with yourself: what are you actually willing to do to keep that website working well? If you love blogging and want to regularly update a blog on your website, then hey, that’s great! If you used to work as a copywriter and want to craft your own website copy, then that could be helpful. But, if the idea of writing your own bio makes you break out in hives, then maybe you should ask your website team for a copywriting quote. If HTML terrifies you, then ask your website professional about a maintenance package, so you don’t have to update the site yourself. Whatever you choose, be honest with yourself about what you can do, what you should do, and what is better left to the experts.
Oct 13 2017 SEO Made Easy: Keywords and Permalinks Posted by: Josselyn Haldeman Posted in: Business, SEO, Web Design Tagged SEO, web design, website SEO work can help you make your website more findable. Making your website findable is one of the most difficult tasks in creative branding online. To be findable, your website needs to be search engine friendly. This is accomplished with a number of techniques under the banner of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. If you’re not familiar yet, take a look at my previous post on SEO Basics. One simple technique is to create user-friendly URLs that permanently link to the different pages of your website. These URLs are ideally custom, short, easy to read, and use keywords that people are likely to search for when searching for your business. They should also be accurate to the information that’s on the page. Sound like a lot of work? It’s really not with WordPress. We do love building websites on WordPress, and one of the reasons is how easy it is for users to work with. Changing the URL naming conventions of your website is very straightforward, and making a custom URL for any given page is a breeze. This lets you name important pages of your website based on keywords people might naturally associate with your business. A page’s current permalink is located below the page title on the “Edit Post” page. Changing the naming conventions of every page automatically is found in Settings > Permalink Settings. The WordPress permalinks setting page. I recommend making your permalinks naming convention after the page title. Upswept Creative is a Portland based web design and creative branding company. Someone in need of web design services may use the search terms “website,” “professional,” and “Portland.” So, I commonly include these terms in custom URLs for different pages on our website – blog posts, service descriptions, even the main landing page. The more pages that have these keywords, the higher the search engine ranking will be for those specific terms. If you need more guidance on where to start, Yoast is a tool that helps make sense of all this keywords business. It’s a WordPress plugin that outlines common SEO techniques for each of your WordPress pages, and empowers you to take control and make adjustments to your site for better SEO. It allows you to define many different aspects of a page that directly affect how a search engine interacts with your website, like keywords, URL, and meta-description. Identifying and defining aspects like keywords and meta-descriptions is closely tied to the core of your brand. Finding your brand center is what Upswept Creative specializes in, as well at the practical, nitty-gritty aspects of web design. If you need some help with your website and SEO, we can help! Schedule your free consultation with us today.
