Denver Web Design & Denver SEO - The Katz Web Design Blog

A win-win solution: we’ll resell great hosting, you’ll pay less

Katz Web Design will resell hosting to our clients for a discounted price; $2.99 rather than $4.99, for example. The great part? Our clients will pay less for better services, and we get a monthly payment, rather than a one-time commission. Win-win.

There are many web professionals that resell hosting and charge them the “going rate.”  KWD is reselling hosting for good — not for evil! Our clients are going get a great deal on web hosting — a cheaper package with more features than any other host I would normally refer them to.

If you’re interested in cheap, high-quality hosting, call: 303-362-0451. (more…)

Katz Web Design is offering up to $300.00 in discounts on all new web design projects.  

From June 2 to August 2, we want to thank you for your feedback — save up to $300.00 on your website.  After you have your new website, just write a review of your experience with KWD, and save money!

Here’s how the web design discount works:

• $100.00 off final payment for one review on a major website (Citysearch.com, Yelp.com, Yahoo) after the web design project is complete.
• $20.00 off final payment for each additional review on another major website.
• Up to $300.00 total savings!

For full promotion details or to start a new web development project, contact Katz Web Design today: 303-362-0451.

Update: For existing clients, if you write a review of Katz Web Design, you will get a $50 credit toward your account.

Image by annaOMline

Gettin’ Me Some Domains for Search Engine Optimization

Since Katz Web Design is going to be more active in Denver search engine optimization, I finally registered some domain names that I’ve been eyeing. Since domains are important for S.E.O. and KWD doesn’t have any SEO domain names, it was a ripe time to buy.

Bought

• denverseocompany (.com and .net)
• denverseo (.info)
• seodenver (.biz and .info)

Want to sell

There are also a few domains I’d like to sell, since I didn’t end up using them; I was the president of a chapter of Colorado Business Leads for a while, and I had planned to make a member directory website as an added benefit, but (no surprise) I was too busy.

• madeindenver.net
• lakewoodbusinessleads.com
• denverbusinessleads.com
• jeffcobusinessleads.com

If anyone’s interested in these domains, make an offer.

Basic explanation of domain names, how domains work, and what web hosts do

Many people ask me questions about a website and don’t know what a domain is.  There’s a very simple analogy that I use that seems to work pretty well.

I explain domains and hosts like this:

A domain is like a radio station, and a host is like a radio tower. You own a station (the domain), then you pay a radio tower (the web host) to broadcast it to the world. Without a host, your website will not be accessible to people trying to tune in to your station’s programming (your website).

While the technical aspects of this analogy are questionable , I find that everyone I’ve explained it to understands pretty immediately.

Feel free to use it yourself!

In creating the outline for a presentation tomorrow, I realized that my business (and any business) is about caring.

I care about my clients, I care about their business, I care about their website, I care about the website’s users (their customers), and the experience they have while using my creation.

What I care about in business:

• Quality
  • Structure
  • Accessibility
  • Future-ready
• Load time
• Usability
• Appearance
• Performance / Conversion
• Search engine results
• Customer service
  • Help clients use their website
  • Answer any questions they have
  • Make changes promptly
  • Care about their business
  • Improving their business

I’m always thinking about how to improve my clients’ business, brainstorming at night.  I really want them to succeed, because every success for my clients is a shared success.

Westside Business Builders is a networking group based in Golden, Colorado. Their website provides general information about the group, and it serves as a member directory. Katz Web Design is a member of the group.

The membership committee asked Katz Web Design to prepare a proposal for the WSBB website, and this Wednesday, the group voted to have KWD redesign the website to improve appearance and functionality.

(more…)

↑ A little sneak peek of my new web design

“You need to finish your web site“

My website has been in a transitional state for almost a year. Thankfully, in spite of that, Katz Web Design has been thriving. I’ve been so busy that I’ve not had reasonable time to focus on my business’ site.

I met with a client last week who said “Zack, are you a person who takes constructive criticism well?”  I thought ‘I hope so in this business!,’ and told her that I was.  She said “I had a hard time trusting you, since your website isn’t up — even though you’re a strong referral from Dana. Now that we’ve met, I’m completely comfortable. You really need to finish your website.“ 

I’ve finally landed on the design.

After months of playing with white-on-black designs that were more in line with what I think is cool, rather than what my audience wants to see. I’ve scrapped tons of designs, and finally realized that simplicity and light design is key.

I’ve started working on creating the site, and it’s moving along quickly.  I’ve landed on a June 6 launch date. Until then, I updated the KWD site with testimonials and recent projects.

Sometimes my thoughts have a yiddish accent…

And sometimes, I do something about my thoughts — like go on vacation until May 5th.

So, the Webs, I’ll be not online.  Hope the Internet’s there when I get back

Today at the Westside Business Builders meeting, Todd Colchin of Colchin Automotive & Diesel gave Katz Web Design a testimonial:

Our website is just barely up — and we’ve not done anything with it yet — and yesterday, we got two new customers who came into our shop who found us by our website! They were both 18-25 years old.

Having a website is vital, especially if you want to appeal to younger customer base.

It was my first career day at a high school (since being in high school), and it was fine.  I remembered that high schoolers are just kids and nowhere near adults yet.

There were some kids that had already started designing their own websites, one knew Ruby on Rails, one was very interested in design.

I’m glad I represented KWD there; it’s important that high schoolers know that you can make it in web design — or any business — if you work hard enough. 

You’ve heard a lot about social networking, bookmarking, and media. Facebook is the biggest social networking site out there.  Katz Web Design now has a page on Facebook.

My clients have been interested in how to use Facebook and other social sites (like MySpace) to promote their business. I will write articles shortly about advertising on Facebook and building your network.

Check out KWD on Facebook, and add yourself as a fan!

The current KWD website was never a permanent solution, but it was the direction I had been going. That has changed. I am proud to officially announce a rebranding of Katz Web Design, and give a preview of what’s to come.

The new logo (draft)

The future website (draft)

Click on image for a higher-resolution screenshot.

What do you think?

Post a comment below.

I like to brag every now and then.

When we set out to design a landing page for my Denver client, we had our eyes set on a minimum 2% conversion rate for their pay-per-click campaign. Currently, we’re achieving a 15.94% overall conversion rate. I made some tweaks to the form design last week, and for the past 6 days, the landing page is getting a 30% conversion rate (that’s pretty good :-))

Focusing on the front door.

The reason we’ve been able to get such good results is because we’re focusing on one thing: having people sign up for a form. No longer is the internet about websites. The internet is now about front doors. Showing people exactly what they want to see — and sometimes only what they want to see — is how to improve your conversion rate.

Don’t lock users in and throw away the key.

Amazon cages me in. If you go to Amazon, place something in your cart, then begin the checkout process, they make it impossible (without clicking the Back button a lot) to return to their store. They throw away any chance of revising your order, adding a product, or just browsing around — they sacrifice user experience for the sake of conversion rates.

Guide users through a funnel, don’t force them

Amazon.com no longer shows you how much shipping will be until you’re at the final checkout page. They used to show you right up front, but now you have to get to the final checkout page to find out shipping costs. Very annoying. Always give users the information they want, even if it means some will choose an option you don’t want them to. Give users a way out.

Katz Web Design has just completed a landing page for Dish Network (a Fortune 300 company) to help them streamline their hiring process.

(By the way, if you’re looking for a sales job near Denver, Colorado [in Littleton], check out Dish. They’ve got great packages for sales representatives.)

The purpose of a landing page (or “Squeeze page,” “Funnel page”, or “Lead capture page&rdquo is to keep the user focused on only what you want them to do. In this case, Dish wanted users to:

1. Fill out a form to start their job application process
2. Become informed of the job benefits
3. Get directions to the application location

The landing page design is done in PHP, allowing for future expandability. This allows the text and images to be swapped out dynamically. The one landing page design can be used for many different job positions and locations, even different languages.

I will be writing articles based on the research and results from the landing page design in the near future, including A/B testing, dynamic content with PHP, Google Analytics & Adwords tracking, and more.

What would you like to know about landing page web design?