6 foolproof ways that a professional website will grow your business
6 foolproof ways that a professional website will grow your business

Serious question : if you don’t have a website, do you even exist?

You might think I’m being a little dramatic here but trust me, you NEED to have a website if you have a business that you want to grow. And not just any old website either. You need a professional website!

It’s not enough to have an online presence on social media either because as we’ve seen in the past, platforms go in and out of popularity all the time (MySpace, Vine and Snapchat, I’m looking at you). You might build up an audience on one platform only to have all those people jump ship and leave you without a way to stay in touch with them.

That’s why it’s SO important to have a website. It’s your “home” on the internet that you own and it can’t be taken away from you. Websites are a way to share information with your audience, capture their contact info so that you can stay in touch with them (hello, email lists!), sell products or service, and generally build up your brand visibility.

All of this is well and good, and once you have a website up and running, it’s time to make sure that it’s working FOR you - not against you! 

This is where the professional website comes into play. We aren’t talking about casual, personal blogs here. Those hold a special place on the internet but they aren’t the focus of this post. Instead, our attention is on professional websites that support a business, no matter the industry.

In my experience as web designer/developer who works with small, professional business, I’ve noticed that there are 6 foolproof ways that a professional website will grow a business, and I’m going to share those with you today. I’ve seen my clients grow their businesses many times over after they’ve redesigned or launched a new website, and almost all of them agree that there’s enormous ROI on our projects.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at how a professional website will grow your business!

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Web Design/DevelopmentCharlotte O'Haraweb design, grow website, professional website, testimonial, social proof, email list, seoComment
Here are 5 things I do to stay inspired
Here are 5 things I do to stay inspired

Inspiration.

That's a funny and loaded word, eh? It's a muscle we are always trying to flex and something we are constantly searching for.

There are times when we feel overwhelmingly inspired in many areas of our lives, whether it's on the professional or personal front. Ideas flow and we have thoughts buzzing in our brains faster than we can act on them all. It's an exciting time when anything seems possible! These are the periods when all I want to do is create, create, create because I feel like I have so much to put out in the world - critics and haters be damned! 

But for every high there's a low and like most creatives, I've fallen into inspiration droughts that leave me feeling grumpy and exhausted. Creativity is a constant ebb and flow and as the saying goes, "use it or lose it". It's rare that you will always be brimming with great ideas but if you can manage to stay creative and inspired, these gems will be easier to hold onto.

The question I often ask myself is how can I get and (most importantly) stay inspired? How can I create on a regular basis?

Let's take a look at what works best for me.

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BusinessCharlotte O'Harait's personal, life, inspirationComment
Why I made the switch to Mailerlite
Why I made the switch to Mailerlite

Why I made the switch to Mailerlite

Alright alright alright, today we are going to take a look at one of the most important aspects of running a successful website and that’s your email list! I’ve written before about why every website needs an email list and how important they are if you want to grow your website so if you haven’t checked out that post already, hop on over and catch up with us again in a minute. Email lists are a must have for any business and website, and I totally geek out over them!

Knowing how important it is to have an email list is one thing but getting started with it is the next step. I’m here to tell you that despite your best efforts and hours of research, you might not choose the right platform and email service provider on the first round. Whomp whompppp.

I’ve played around with MailChimp and ConvertKit and now I’ve moved my email list over to Mailerlite. Let me tell you why :

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BusinessCharlotte O'Haramailerlite, email marketing, email list, newsletter Comments
Website Reveal for Current Talent
Website Reveal for Current Talent

Recently I had the pleasure of completing a brand new website project for Current Talent, a career coaching and talent management consulting firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia. This project was a real joy to work on because our process was full of collaboration and the founder, Marketta Jokinen, was very receptive and open to my ideas on design, layout and digital marketing features. I loved being able to launch a website from idea to completion, and showcase the exciting business in a new digital platform!

In this blog post I’m going to walk you through the website design and development process from start to finish, tell you about our goals for the project, and also explain the different design features and decisions we made - and why. 

Let’s take a look!

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Web Design/DevelopmentCharlotte O'Haraclient work, client project, portfolio, Current Talent, website revealComment