Erich Stauffer

Category: Web Design

  • Erich Stauffer Helps Local Candidates Reach the Voting Public

    Erich Stauffer Helps Local Candidates Reach the Voting Public

    Erich Stauffer, Inc. is excited to announce a web design and online promotion special to help local candidates during the 2010 campaign season.  Our experienced and local team wants to be sure that you reach the maximum number of potential voters during your political campaign.

    A professionally designed website will let your voters know about who you are, what you stand for, how you will serve them if elected, where you will be for specific events during the campaign, and even be a 24-7 secure donation gathering tool for your campaign.

    We make the process simple by having you fill out a short questionnaire on your time to get all the information we need to build your website.

    With a professionally designed website, you and your campaign team can promote your candidacy with confidence.  Let our team do all the technical work for you, so you can spend your time meeting with the people who will vote for you.  Get started on the road to victory today with your team at Erich Stauffer.  We can’t wait to serve you.

  • Best Dental Web Sites – Reviewing Dentistry Web Design

    Dentist’s web sites have become increasingly more advanced and colorful as competition increases and more dentists are fighting for the same number of patients. Indiana has one of the highest distribution of dentists in the nation and so competition for top Google rankings for the most popular search term, “Indianapolis dentist,” is an ongoing battle. Once the dentist’s website makes it to the first page of Google, then it also has to look good to attract patients. That is what we are discussing today – how spa dentistry, dental studios, and sedation dentistry are hot design and service elements used in dentistry web design.

    spadentSpa Dent plays on the dentist-office-as-spa genre and uses the white flower as an accent. It features crown molding features around the outside edges, giving it a unique web design. The frame of the site is beveled with a drop shadow. The background has a mixture of solid colors and textures. The call to action is the contact box on the middle-right, exactly where it should be.

    austindentalspaAustin Dental Spa uses long-arc graphic backgrounds and a kind of half-file folder tab, half-crown molding graphic outline to the web design. The arc is centered behind the main page and continues on out no matter how wide your monitor is. The blue and white colors remind the patient of a medical environment, but the khakis and oranges warm the site up to make it more spa-like. The bending lines in khaki are probably more intended to by file-folder tabs than crown molding once you view the featured video, which definitely features the file-folder tab top. The call to action here is the contact us area, which instead of a form like Spa Dent, requires the user to click on the nice envelope icon.

    Indianapolis DentistThis site has a textured background with a mix of solid and textured backgrounds inside the main content of the page. This Indianapolis dentist‘s web site features a flash banner, much like Spa Dent’s and Austin Dental Spa. Indianapolis Dentistry is a dental spa and dental studio which uses sedation dentistry. It encompasses all three of the major trends in dental web sites today. The call to action on this website is generally missing, so I would suggest adding a button or graphic somewhere in the middle-right asking the user to “Make an appointment by calling…” or something along those lines. I like the mix of grays, khakis, blues, and whites in this web site. It is clean and well put together.

    inspadentistryIn Spa Dentistry features a nice green background with a black text background, but the site is made to expand to fit your window, which changes the positioning of the contents of the page and generally stretches things out unless the user is still using an 800×600 resolution. I don’t particularly care for the design, but wanted to include it for comparison against the next two dental web sites which use either green or black backgrounds. Like Indianapolis Dentistry, this website has no real call to action. And like Spa Dent, this dental web site also makes use of the white flower with the yellow stamen.

    oradentistryOra Dentistry’s web site is more of what you would have found circa 2003 on the web. It’s got the video, the structure, the flash, but it’s all very old looking. It seems like it hasn’t been refreshed in a while, even though it may have been. Sometimes web designers can get stuck doing something the same way because it has worked for them in the past. This may or may not be the case, but in general the flash animation is a bit fuzzy. If Ora didn’t have all the movie stars appearing on the web site, he may not have had as much success on the design alone. There is no real call to action, but it does seem like the designer wants us to watch the movie. Perhaps the call to action lies within the video.

    studio-dentalStudio Dental is a dental studio, like Indianapolis Dentistry, and also features a flash banner as well as the white flower with the yellow stamen. It has a piano-black background on top of a gray background, which really makes the site pop. This is a really classy design which lines up the pages across the top and the services along the left side. For those who just want to know the location or the hours, that is along the top and for those who want to know what is going on in that location, that information is down along the left-side. The web site if littered with attractive women, even featuring Mrs. Globe, so like Ora Dentistry, famous people don’t seem to hurt your business much, but unlike Ora Dentistry’s web site, this one is very nicely done. The call to action is to “call to make an appointment”, but it is located in the middle-center, which is not the prime location. It should be moved to the right – in between Mrs. Globe and the video featuring his guest appearance on TV.

  • Indianapolis Web Design and SEO Consulting

    Erich Stauffer is primarily an online marketing firm that uses two primary tools to promote your business or brand on the Internet. The first tool is your web page, which tells users about your business, allows them to interact with your business, or is setup to sell things for your business. The second tool SEO, or search engine optimization, which helps drive traffic to that website. The two tools are not mutually exclusive, however. The best SEO techniques involve improving the wording or layout of the web site and as well as promoting the site from outside using link-backs.

    Although relatively new techniques come out all the time to adapt to the methods search engines like Google use, content is still king. The easiest sites to market are those with lots of text about the company and the products or services they offer. Many times, businesses choose to hire copywriters for the sole purpose of helping to write articles for the website. These articles are either about the company or about a product. Another reason for using a copywriter may be to write objective press releases. Press releases are usually one of the best methods to get the word out about a new product or promotion and are a key to any SEO plan.

    If you would like more information about Erich Stauffer, about web design and seo in general, or about web design and seo in the Indianapolis area, please visit erichstauffer.com.

  • Erich Stauffer Reviews “6 Website Fixes to Make Now”

    This is a review of an article originally published on Entrepreneur.com on April 28, 2009 entitled, “6 Website Fixes to Make Now,” by Mike Werling. This article is for small business owners and entrepreneurs who may or may not have a webmaster or web designer and it assumes that everyone is on the same page that every business needs a website.  Werling’s thesis is that, “Relatively minor issues can drag down your site’s effectiveness,” and that these issues could be costing your business money.  We couldn’t agree more, but lets go down the list.

    Website fix #1 is, “Increase the speed.” It’s not about streamlining your site for dial-up users anymore.  Even broadband users can enjoy a fast-loading site while other are increasingly browsing the Internet using their cell phones or PDAs, which also can have slower connections.  Werling writes that technology for tech’s sake is no longer in fashion, which is also Website Fix #3.  Even Flash, which is on 99% of all computers is not as sought after as it once was even, “just a few years ago.”  Werling quotes Ben Rushlo,  director of Keynote Consulting for Phoenix-based Keynote Systems, a service provider that improves online business performance, “People now view [Flash] as annoying. They’d rather read information.” Rushlo recommends using the smallest file sizes for images as well as putting any, “non-essential” pictures towards the bottom of the page to, “help the important information pop up quickly.”

    Website fix #2 is, “Write better product descriptions. ” This has mostly to do with e-commerce solutions and shopping cart design, but we can apply some of these suggestions to anything message you are trying to get across online, whether it be selling a product, service, or an idea.  Werling says all descriptions should be, “Succinct and filler-free.”  One of our web designers tells the story of a supervisor at a previous job declaring a, “No Fluff Zone,” for all client-facing material.  Werling agrees, but says it, “Can be difficult because, as Amy Schade says, you need to, ‘Convince [users] the product meets their needs,” but the verbiage. ‘Has to be short and descriptive.’”  Werling goes on to say that, “There’s no salesperson available on a website, so [users],  “Should be able to see a product and know what it does,’ says Schade.” A director at the Nielsen Norman Group in New York City, Schade is also co-author of the second edition of the “E-Commerce User Experience” report.

    Website Fix #3 is, “Delete tech used for the sake of tech.” This fix is sort of a combination of fixes 1 and 2.  In order to speed up a website, you get rid of slow-loading flash (Fix #1) and any fluff (Fix #2) that doesn’t really propel your website’s goal forward.  Rushlo says, “[Site owners] need to evaluate if things like music, video and 360-degree views are necessary.”  Werling writes that Schade subscribes to Rushlo’s view, “[Schade] says to beware the trendy and new. Anything business owners jump on because it is the latest and greatest has the potential to backfire, especially if entrepreneurs don’t have the resources to keep up with all of the moving parts of their sites. Things like Facebook pages and video are fun; and social networking is quickly becoming an integral part of many businesses’ marketing platforms, but business owners need to weigh a technology’s popularity against their ability to utilize it fully.”

    Website Fix #4 is, “Improve shopping cart and payment options,” but we are going to call this, “Improving the functional design of your website.” Users can be irrational.  The smallest hangup or hint of mistrust can make them change their mind on whether or not they are going to use your product or service.  Yes, shopping carts should have the same look and feel of the rest of the site, but they shouldn’t require setting up an account, for example and of course the site should be trusted and secure.  If you cannot afford a secure certificate for your website or do not want or need to setup that type of environment, Paypal is a perfectly acceptable solution that users trust.  The checkout process or any other primary aim of your website should instill confidence, not regret.  Be as transparent as you can.  Let users know how the information will be used and kept.  This is sometimes called a privacy statement.  Transparency is also a top business trend for 2009.

    Website Fix #5 is, “Use unique page titles on every page.” This is more of a SEO tip than anything, but nevertheless true.  SEO stands for search engine optimization.  It’s what you do on your site to make it more appealing to search engines like Google or Yahoo.  Page titles, what is displayed at the top of your browser window, are important and they should be different for every page.  Each page should have a different description, keywords, and H1 tag, just as a baseline.  There are many other things you can do to improve SEO, but changing the titles on your page is one of the most important.  If you use H1 tags, make sure they are only used once per page.  Use H2 or font tags for other titles on your page.  Use a Strong tag around items that are especially important.  Some CMS programs like WordPress default to using Strong instead of Bold tags.

    Website Fix #6 is, “Shorten forms.” This dovetails into Website Fix #2 and 4.  Basically,  Werling recommends removing what isn’t necessary. If you don’t need the user’s physical address, for example, don’t ask for it.  Werling writes, “Only ask for the information you really need. ” In summary, business websites should be fast-loading and fluff-free.  Give the user just enough to make a desicion. Remove anything that isn’t necessary in order to not annoy the user and improve speed.  We think this is great advice.  If you would like help making any of the above changes to your company’s website, please contact us.  Erich Stauffer is  an Indianapolis web design firm serving the entire Midwest region and beyond.  We offer web design and development services for all types and sizes of businesses.

  • Oh the Irony at SBA.GOV

    Dear Mr. Stauffer,
    Thank you for contacting the SBA Answer Desk.
    We assume that this misspelling is from the goodle webmasters, so we cannot change that, but we do appreciate the information.
    Respectfully,
    SBA Answer Desk

    From: Erich Stauffer
    Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 7:53 AM
    To: SBA Answer Desk
    Subject: sba.gov web page header description misspelling of “e-newsletters”

    In searching Google for “small business”, sba.gov is the number one hit, but the description contains a misspelling.  It reads “e-newaletters”. Notice the ‘a’ instead of the ‘s’?

    This can be found and changed in the header of the web site’s code under the META tag, DESCRIPTION.  The description is what shows up under Google search results.

    Erich

    newaletter

  • Does Your Local Business Need a Website?

    If you want to attract new customers, the answer is easy.

    Websites may be the most overlooked vehicle of advertising for local, small office, home office businesses. We believe every business, no matter how big or small needs a website. Every dentist, lawyer, accountant, and church needs one. Every café, restaurant, coffee shop and nightclub needs one. Every wholesale supply or landscaping company needs one.

    We’re not suggesting that all businesses need to transact business online, we’re only saying that everyone listed in yesterday’s yellow pages needs to also be available on the Internet today. Why? Because your customers expect it. That’s where they are looking first and foremost.

    If you’re thinking you might not be able to afford putting up a website, think again. Roy H. Williams of Entrepreneur Magazine said that, “For a simple website, a budget of $2,000 to $5,000 for construction and $100 to $400 for monthly maintenance and updates should cover it. Robust sites with streaming video, opt-in subscriber functions and other, more complicated features can run between $12,000 and $20,000 for construction and $500 to $2,000 for monthly maintenance and updates.”

    A properly constructed website allows your prospects to gather the information they need from the privacy of their Internet connection. Ask yourself what questions your sales team gets every day? Then ask yourself how would your best sales team member phrase their responses on his or her best day? This is the type of information that needs to be available 24/7 on your website.

    Think of your website as a relationship strengthener, a kind of halfway point between your regular advertising and your front office. Do you think it’s easier to convince customers to visit your website or to convince them to get in their vehicle, drive to your establishment, park, get out, and walk in your door?

    The Internet has allowed the introverted half of our population to explore in ways they never would have otherwise. Introverts strongly prefer to gather information anonymously and are unlikely to dial your phone number, except as a last resort. Even more unlikely is that they’ll choose to walk into your store and engage a salesperson. Introverts aren’t necessarily shy–they simply like to gather all the facts before they put themselves in a position where they’ll likely be asked to answer questions. Half of all your customers strongly prefer to know what they’re coming in to buy before they walk in your door. And even the other half of your target market, the extroverts, will appreciate an informative website that functions as an expert salesperson during all those hours you’re not open for business.

    Don’t think for a moment that your customers aren’t already on the Internet looking around at your competition. When several hundred people were recently asked, “How many of you have used a search engine within the past seven days to research a product or service that you were considering purchasing?”, 85 to 90 percent of the crowd raised their hand, according to Williams. He goes on to tell the story that occured during a trade show in Las Vegas, he was the keynote speaker for a trade
    organization whose 1,600 delegates had been gathered from around the world. He was there to deliver a speech on the keys to more effective advertising. The trade organization published a full-color magazine for their members, and prior to this conference, the executive council had been complaining to him privately about the high cost of publishing and shipping that magazine. He was waiting offstage and while the emcee was introducing him, the chairman leaned over and whispered to him, “Almost all our membership is over 55 years of age, so you probably don’t want to mention the Internet.” Once again, Roy asked this roomful of oldsters, “How many of you have used a search engine within the past seven days to research a product or service that you were considering purchasing?”. The answer? Roughly 95 percent.

    Does your local business need a website?

  • Congratulations Vermillion Christian Church!

    Vermillion Christian Church of Alexandria, Indiana has decided to update their website in order to serve their community better. We wish Vermillion Christian Church the best as they move forward with this project. Vermillion Christian Church believes, “Where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is silent, we are silent.”

  • Business Success

    At Erich Stauffer, we are concerned about one thing…making sure that your business is and remains successful. We believe that our success will ultimately be defined by our ability to lift others up and help them succeed. At Erich Stauffer, our way of lifting others up is to design premier websites, provide reliable hosting services, and engage in beneficial promotion activities to help market your website and your business.

    The success of your business could be defined by a number of different metrics; increased sales/profit, increased customers, increased products/services per customer, increased locations, etc. To achieve your metrics for success, there are a few basic necessities to consider in today’s environment.Subscribe to Erich Stauffer's RSS Feed.

    • Visibility
    • Good Communication
    • Providing Value For Your Customer
    • Education About Your Products/Services
    • Education About Your Business’s Message, Mission or Vision

    In today’s economic environment, consumers are doing more research than they have ever done before. They research what products and services are available to fit their needs, and a big part of that research is about the company or business that is selling those products or services.

    So how does that effect you, and how can we help?

    Having an attractive website to gain visitors, and having an informative website that is easy to navigate will help the consumer (and hopefully your future customer) feel comfortable and confidant in your products/services and your business. Promotion activities will increase the visibility of your website to get consumers to come to your site, and our web design services will ensure a pleasant experience when they get there.

    Get a free quote today!

  • Is a “Green” Website Possible?

    What makes a website “green”? Green can be defined as using less energy because the less energy used, the less needs produced. Fossil fuels are a large part of energy production, but they also create gasses that harm our environment. There are things we can do in the real world to be more green. A home, for example, is much easier to make green by adding insulation or turning down the thermostat. Buying a vehicle that uses less energy is also considered green, but how can a website be green? Lets take a look at how a website works from a physical standpoint and then from a virtual one to determine if a website can indeed become green.

    A website is hosted on a computer running somewhere on this planet Earth. That computer is most likely a server running in a data center, which may or may not be eco-friendly. It is probably greener than it was a couple of years ago due to computer chip manufacturing companies like Intel and AMD who have been producing chips that use less and less energy. This helps cut electricity to run the servers and in air conditioning to cool them down.

    When a website is requested from anywhere in the world, the requesting computer is also using electricity as well as the all the networking equipment along the path to get from the data center to the computer. Initially you might think that adding up the servers at the data center, the hubs, switches, and routers along the way, and your computer might add up to a lot of energy and that websites might not have a chance to be green. And you would be right, but consider that these things are already on anyway and it doesn’t take any more power to run them whether you access a website or not and you might be feeling a little bit better about surfing.

    From a web designer’s standpoint, there are some things we can do. We can make black backgrounds which reduce the amount of energy cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors need to display the website, but everyday more people are switching to using liquid crystal displays (LCD) instead, which use the same amount of energy regardless of the color. Not every design can be done in black and so there are other things we can do, as web designers. We can encourage users not to print forms and create PDF versions or custom web forms to cut down on paper. Sometimes being green is more than just saving energy and reducing greenhouse gases. Sometimes its about saving trees which also help reduce greenhouse gases.

    So can a website be green? Absolutely. If all things remain the same and the only change we make as web designers is to keep the environment in our design process, then the website can be green. It is up to us, up to all of us, to do our due diligence to preserve our environment and continue to innovate in ways that help us all. If you need help innovating your website, consider the Indianapolis web design company, Erich Stauffer.