Friday 21 November 2014

Navigation and mobile devices


The navigation menu is one of the most important design elements on any website. Users appreciate a sense of orientation and need a guide to take them beyond the homepage before the inclination to leave arises.
As the use of internet on mobile devices has grown at a phenomenal rate, the question has arisen as to how to design a the optimum navigation system for your mobile website. 
A good place to start is to examine the well accepted principles for a good desktop navigation system.
That is, use simple, precise language so that it’s obvious what paths users need to follow to access the information they’re looking for and don’t overwhelm them with extensively long menu lists – four to seven menu items is the widely accepted ideal.
When considering navigation on mobile devices we have to consider the limitations that mobile pose. Despite an ongoing trend towards larger screen resolution, mobile screens are still much smaller than screen real estate allocated to traditional desktops.
Also, mobile users’ needs are different. They’re often on the move, not grazing information but rather seeking something specific – whether that be the location of a venue or business, looking for account information or pages that they need to access before they walk head on into a telegraph pole with their eyes glued firmly to the screen. The key takeaway here is that mobile users needs are usually immediate and their attention span not entirely focussed on the task of negotiating a complex navigation system.
mobile users needs are usually immediate and their attention span not entirely focussed on the task of negotiating a complex navigation system
So what can you do to your mobile navigation to meet the unique needs of mobile users?
  • Start by reducing your menu buttons to a minimum. You may have to use an abbreviated version of your full desktop navigation but the idea is to limit the number of clicks a user has to make to get to access information they they’ll need when using a mobile.
  • Provide an easy to see and use search feature. It’s a great way to shortcut the navigation process and acts as a backup for even the most frustrated and impatient user.
  • Consider that mobile internet is largely used in portrait. When you design your navigation, design it for vertically vs horizontal alignment by using stackable buttons.
  • When faced with the limitation of space on a mobile screen perhaps icons are a better solution instead of lengthy words that may increase the size of the menu.
  • Rather than show the whole navigation all the time, use a clearly marked menu button that drops out nested navigation items when clicked. The navigation may overlay the site or perhaps push it to the side and then slide back once a menu item has been selected.
  • Instead of using words to denote the menu selection, use a nav burger. These three stacked lines are growing in popularity across many mobile sites and users are becoming more and more familiar with this icon and its meaning.
  • Lastly, make sure your menu options are big enough for even the fattest thumbs to clumsily click on. No one users a stylus anymore – design the size of your clickable areas accordingly.
Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219
Blog - http://blog.3kits.com 

3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Five Great Reasons You Should Use YouTube On Your Website


You might associate YouTube with blatant advertising (obviously we do!) or with crazy cats jumping spread-eagled from the top of a bookcase that's toppling over.

But you could be using YouTube to build client trust, to showcase your product or to establish your expertise, all of which can help turn your leads into sales and visitors into customers, followers or even advocates.

1. People Press Play
Have you got something you want your website visitors to hear or see? Want people to stop and look or listen? Clicking 'play' on a video is your customer saying "OK Tell me Something".

Billions (around 6 billion) of YouTube hours are watched each month - which according to YouTube equates to around an hour for every person on earth. Getting people to listen to your  message is the first part of the battle. A YouTube video on your website can provide the means to to demonstrate many things - but most importantly it can make the website visitor prepare to spend a moment to see  / hear / experience your message.

Moreover, every time a visitor interacts with your website - like clicks on a video or link -  that brings them closer to clicking on your call to action. Every click on your website - is your visitor saying "0k", "Yes", "Tell me more", "Show me".

2. To See You is to Know You
One of the chief differences with Internet business is simply that it's on the Internet. Your visitors are wondering - are you real? Are you who you say you are? Are you where you say you are?

This lack of audio or visual meeting can inhibit the process of visitor becoming customer or follower. You can use a video to simply say hi and show your visitor who you are. This brings you quite a few steps closing to reaching a conversion. As you know - you need to get known, get familiar, get trusted and get wanted.

Ideas for helping your website visitor get to know you
  • Make a short and sweet "hi" video where you introduce yourself and what you do
  • Make a video tour of your office introducing your staff
  • Film a meeting - where you work on or consult for a real project
  • Film production or testing of your product
  • Record staff training session
3. Establish Your Expertise
One of the issues in purchasing or following is learning to trust you or your product's ability. How do they know you are the best? A video can show them that you are an expert.


No matter what credentials you have - you know you impress most when you sit with a customer inadvertently demonstrating your expertise, while discussing their needs. This is difficult to replicate on a piece of paper or static website. However, a video can show you in action!

How to show your visitors that you are an expert
  • Include a video of a presentation you made (preferably one with a standing ovation!)
  • Create some useful tutorials on your field of expertise
  • Answer client questions in video format
4. Showcase Your Product or Service
A picture is worth a thousand words.  Rather then tell them what you do - show them. 

The possibilities are endless. Show them your product in action. Show them your service being performed. Show them a before and after video. Show them the benefist  after a client used your services. Create a case study video. Create an unrelated video using product placement ( of your product!!) blatantly everywhere.

5. Create Word of Mouth Recommendations
Word-of-mouth recommendations - your customers recommending services or products that they are happy to recommend. A video clip provides an extended reach.

Visitors may not know your customers personally -  there may be more than 2 degrees separation - but a real testimonial will show a real person who is happy with your product or service. Better still  - create a video of customers using your product - wearing your dress, turning on a tap with a new washer or holding their new puppy.

You can create testimonial by simply asking a happy customer to webcam their feedback or you can be more formal and interview customers specifically asking how they benfitted from your service or product. 

PS
I hope I have provided you with some YouTube web marketing ideas today - if you need help with this we can provide assistance with movie editing & filming services. [contact us here]

We are not affiliated with YouTube or and the same can be done with any video media - in particular Vimeo also provides a platform that is widely used. We simply chose YouTube as the example for this article as most people would be familiar with it.

Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219
Blog - http://blog.3kits.com 

3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.

Friday 14 November 2014

Microsoft .NET is going Open Source and Cross Platform

.NET and Open Source …  ya heard me!

This week, Microsoft announced it would be opening up more of the .Net framework, under the MIT open source license, to the public.  This includes the CLR, JIT, Garbage Collector and the core .NET base class libraries, all to be hosted on GitHub.  
Earlier this year they had already opened many other important components to the framework like ASP.NET, Entity Frameworks, and others.  It’s bold progress towards transparency, where before we’ve had only black boxes, and embracing a globally spanning development community for collaboration and contributions.

.NET going Cross Platform… what?  Will run on Linux… how?  And OSX… SHUT UP!

No, seriously… cross platform.  Yeah, really… on those guys, aka Linux and OSX.  So, this is kind of like a really, really, and yes really big deal.

Yeah, Mono already “runs” .NET on Linux, but with Microsoft finally committing to a cross platform solution, the two are going to make the impossible, possible.  Every developer will have the freedom to develop and run/host their applications on the (popular) OS and infrastructure of their choosing.  
This isn't the Microsoft we knew growing up with.  Embracing a larger community, who traditionally has been seen as the enemy/competition shows a nothing to fear attitude and the resolve to be an even bigger fish in the biggest of ponds.
Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219
Blog - http://blog.3kits.com 

3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Updating Your Website: Time Vs Money


One of the proven keys to success to any website is keeping it updated.
Why? Well who wants to stumble across a website that has latest news from 2005, and we all just love those “upcoming events” that happened 2 years ago. How about those staff photos? How many of those people are still working for your company?
It is also now commonly known that search engines such as Google consider a website regularly updated as more relevant to related keywords or phrases. What does that mean? Well in simple terms if you update your website regularly there is a high chance you’ll benefit from improved search rankings.
Ideally you should update your website at least every 2-3 weeks for optimal results, by doing this, in most instances, search engine crawlers that go through your website will find new or updated information.
So if you want to get serious about having a successful online presence then consider implementing a plan to keep your website up to date.
When devising your website maintenance plan, here are a few points you should consider:
  • What information can you add or change to your website on a regular basis?
    Consider things like news, regular or seasonal promotions, articles & blogs. Also look at the kind of information that your competitors have on their website – how does it compare to yours?
    Start writing any ideas that come to mind right now.
  • Do you (or your staff) have time to update your website (whilst keeping to a regular maintenance plan)?
    If your answer is No, or if you it takes you any longer than 5 seconds to answer that question, then consider getting the website updates done for you.You can look into either organising a web site maintance plan with a website design company or employ someone to do the updates. This is a much more effective solution then having “Update the Website” on your To-Do list for the next 3 months.The benefits of having a regularly updated website should provide a good return on investment if implemented correctly.If your answer is Yes you do have the time to update your own website, then the next obvious question is:
  • Do you have the facility to update your own website?
    If the answer is No, and you geninuely have time available to put into your website then you’re wasting one of the most valuable resources you have.The best solution for a self managed website is to use a content management system (CMS). This provides you with an online administration panel that you can log-in to and update information, add new content plus a whole stack of other available features.If you are happy with the look of your site then you can have your design intergrated into the CMS system or you can have a complete rebuild of your website with a fresh new look.When evaluating the cost of getting a CMS system, then in most instances your website will pay for itself in time with saved maintenance costs for making the changes yourself. But remember a CMS is only effective if you have the time to utilise it – don’t let your web updates end up on your To-Do list.  
Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219
Blog - http://blog.3kits.com 

3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.

Monday 10 November 2014

Website Optimisation To Grow Ecommerce Sales

Website optimisation:How to grow your sales without spending a cent on marketing.



Today we’re going to talk about a very hot topic at the moment – website optimisation.
There’s been a lot of talk around the web recently about what a good website conversion rate is and how you can improve through website optimisation.
In this blog we’re going to dive deep into the 3 key principles that effect your conversion rates. Plus you’re going to discover the top 5 aspects of your site to optimise if you want a dramatic boost in your conversions.
Before we jump straight into the juicy stuff, lets quickly cover what conversion rates are and why they matter so much.

What are conversion rates?

The term ‘conversion rate’ refers to the percentage of your website visitors that take some kind of action. For ecommerce stores is the number of people that buy, and for traditional businesses it’s the number of leads that you get.
Say for example you had 100 visitors to your site, and 3 people took some kind of action such as purchasing from you. That would be referred to as a 3% conversion rate.

Why are they Conversion Rates Important?

Conversion rates are important for a number of reasons, however the biggest one, and the reason that we are going to focus on today is because they are directly proportionate to your profits. Let me explain…
In the example above lets say that the 3 people who purchased from your site all bought $100 worth of products. This means that 100 visitors, you make $300. Following me so far? Great.
Now here’s where things get exciting. Imagine you could increase the number of people who buy from you. What would it mean to your bottom line if from every 100 visitors 5 people bought?
It would beam your sales would jump 60%.
Now the cool bit. To grow your sales by 60%, all you need to do is increase your websites conversion rate from 3 to 5%. Pretty simple huh?

What effects website conversion rates?

There are hundreds of things that affect your conversion rates. These range from site layout to colour scheme and even load times.
However there are 3 key factors that are essential to all conversions. If you tick all of these boxes then you’re likely to outsell your competition every single time. They are…
  1. Proof
Your clients want proof that what you are selling does what you say it does. Although consumer confidence online is growing, people are still cautious of sellers making big promises they can’t back up.
  1. Urgency
Why should your customer buy from you today? They can just come back next week right?
  1. Do they like you?
The single biggest thing that kills sales online is when the customers simply don’t like the business. It doesn’t matter if you have the best product in the world, if your business doesn’t come across as friendly, then your sales will suffer.
If you master all 3 of these principles on your site, you’ll be amazed at how quickly your sales will grow.
To help you implement these 3 key principles of website conversion optimisation on your site, I’ve compiled a list of proven things you can adjust.
This list contains my top 5 points of website optimisation. If you take this advice and act on it, your sales will soar.
Adding verified payment logos can boost sales and increase customer confidence.

  1. Add ‘safety’ logos to your site- by adding logos like PayPal, security certificates, Visa and MasterCard to your site some sellers have increased sales by 7%
  2. Show limited available stock- Add a snipped to your site that say’s something like “Quantity in stock: 2”. This creates urgency and increases the number of buyers who purchase immediately.
  3. Create reviews page- Recent studies revealed that people trust reviews online almost as much as a personal recommendations from a friend.
  4. Write your descriptions in a friendly tone- Forget the ‘corporate’ style writing, that doesn’t make friends. Simply be yourself and your customers will thank you for it.
  5. Highlight your guarantee and returns policy- If your customer is protected by a guarantee or returns policy, then make it a selling point. By adding a guarantee some businesses experience sales growth between 10-25%.
Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219


3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Our top 6 AdWords Management Tips for Beginners

Setting up an AdWords account and starting to see ads is super easy. However, if you dive straight into it without any research into best practices, it is even easier to spend a lot of money on little returns. People coming to us have often tried AdWords themselves and are reluctant in trying it again due to low returns on their previous investments. After having a look at their old campaigns, there are some standard mistakes that people make that are costing them money on irrelevant searches. In this post you will find some of our best AdWords management tips for beginners.

Structure the campaign


Quite often, I see AdWords campaigns that have one ad group with all the different keywords stuffed into the same ad group. This means that all the keywords your ad shows up for will be represented by the same ad text and lead the visitors to the same webpage (normally the homepage).

By structuring the campaign into different ad groups for different product groups. You can target the ads specifically for what people are searching for, increasing the likelihood of them clicking on your ad rather than a competitor’s. You can also forward them specifically to the landing page that shows the products or details the services they are searching for, eliminating the need to navigate from your homepage to locate what they are after.
A good side effect of this method is that you increase your quality score of the keywords, meaning that you pay less for the ad to rank in the similar position. A Quality score of 10 means that you pay about 40% less per click than if your Quality score was 5, which is the average score.

Target narrow and specific searches


Another reason why most AdWords campaigns are draining your budget is when people are using the standard broad match keywords. Google loves it when advertisers use broad match keywords, as it means that their ads are shown for an extremely wide range of searches. For example, a broad match of kids clothing enabled the ad to appear for searches for anything related to kids and clothing, including similar words of the two, no matter which order the words are used in the search. For example, you might get shown on searches for “how to repair holes in children’s pants”.

Normally, the more specific the search is, the more likely it is that the searcher is in a buying mode. General searches such as women’s fashion normally indicates that the searcher is in a research mode, and does not yet know what they want to buy, or if they want to buy.
By using [exact match] or “phrase match”, you can target the long-tail specific searches that are relevant to your products or services. Another method is to use a broad match modifier, which can be used to target any combination of the words you indicate. For example, +black +leggings +online will trigger the ad to appear for searches that contain the three words in any order. Adding the online to the keyword helps to qualify the searchers as ready to buy, and looking for a place to get the products online.

Conversion tracking


The great part of AdWords, is that in most cases, you can track exactly which keywords and ad texts leads to sales. Place the conversion tracking code on the successful checkout page on your site so that you can effectively track which keywords are giving a return on investment. By sharing the data with Analytics, you can get even more information, as you can combine this data with revenue data.

When your website is tracking leads, ensure that you track enquiries via contact forms, quote request forms and other interaction with your sales department. It is harder to track telephone enquiries though, and we rely on information from the sales department for feedback. However, there are methods of tracking telephone calls made via AdWords clicks as well.

Negative keywords

When using broad, phrase or modified broad match, it is essential to add negative keywords to reduce the chance of the ads appearing for irrelevant searches. For example, adding keywords such as jobs, tips, ideas, and careers to an AdWords campaign for a cleaning business will ensure that the ads do not accrue costs for people looking for a cleaning job.

Monitoring and testing


When the campaign is running, it is important to monitor the effectiveness of the campaign. Having set up the conversion tracking, you can evaluate which keywords and ad groups are giving value, and which ones are not. Just keep in mind that sometimes sales made might not show up as a conversion. Often people might do their research on a smartphone before moving to a desktop to process the order more easily. This will not show up as a conversion from AdWords clicks.
You can experiment with different ad texts, call to actions and different keywords to target as well as monitoring which keywords triggered your ads to be clicked. This data can help give you ideas for negative keywords to add, as well as more keywords to focus on. If the keywords keep on costing to much money compared to results, you may need to consider pausing your ads from appearing from these searches. Don’t forget to test your website, as the your prices, text, call to actions and checkout process can all lead to people dropping out of the purchase decision.
These tips form the basis for a successful AdWords campaign. Even though there are a lot more tweaks and tools that we use on a daily basis to make campaigns more efficient, if you can adhere to the above tips, you have a good starting point to see positive returns from AdWords.

Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219


3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.


Saturday 8 November 2014

Five Reasons Your Ecommerce Website Needs a Blog

Search engines love blogs.

The most popular blogging platforms have a fundamentally search-engine-friendly website structure.
The average blog will display many updates, one after the other.

However, it’s misleading to think of it as a single, all-inclusive page.  Click on a post’s title, and you’ll find each entry is effectively a standalone page, each able to draw dedicated Google traffic with unique niche appeal.
By covering a wide variety of topics and questions, you can find traffic from searchers who would never have otherwise found you.
If your store’s products have descriptions straight from the supplier, chances are that same descriptions appears on dozens of other online shops.  As Google ignores duplicate content, you’ll need something extra to stand out from the crowd.  The variety and substance of a blog will go a long way in selling your website to search engines as current and legitimate.

The personal touch.

While the “real you” may be hidden behind a professional online shopfront – and probably benefit from it – the blog offers a refreshing change of pace.  This is your change to be a little more casual and open about your business journey.
Some business owners will bare their hearts and souls; others will simply share the occasional behind-the-scenes photo or anecdote.  Even if your material is strictly utilitarian, a playful personal tone in your writing will go a long way.
This can help build visitor trust and long-term loyalty from those who want to see you succeed.  Think of your blog posts as you would a Facebook or Twitter updates: a carefully-thought-out portion of your online marketing strategy, in the guise of a fun, casual update.
Be sure to ask plenty of questions.  Ask your readers for their stories, feedback and general comments wherever  possible!

Better customer service.

A blog comments section you regularly check and reply to can work wonders for your customer service.
Show the world you’re open, friendly and happy to take questions and requests.  Transparency goes a long way in establishing trust.  A purchase from your store will feel inherently less risky when the customer knows you can easily be approached afterwards if there are any concerns.
If you manage to build an active community in your comments section, it can also work wonders for the self-esteem.  Emails and phone calls are generally reserved for negative experiences and complaints.  In this more casual medium, you might find customers more likely to pay compliments.

A way to drum up excitement for new products.

Blog page will often tease visitors with new patterns and products, as well as photos of shipping containers on the way from overseas.
As such, they often get comments asking how far away the next major shipment is, effectively guaranteeing sales the moment is does arrive.  All from sharing an aspect of business most online shops keep completely hidden from the public!

Show off your expertise.

Blog posts don’t need to overtly sell your products.  Instead, it can be a wonderful way to build trust and establish yourself as an expert with general interest articles, reviews or “how to” guides.
Don’t worry if this only brings you traffic from overseas or outside your service area.  The more useful it is, the more likely readers will want to share it (especially if you’ve taken the liberty of ending your blog posts with prominent social media sharing buttons).  Better still, other bloggers who enjoy it might even link to you in their own posts.
This, in turn, feeds back into search engine appeal, improving your rankings and ultimately making future sales that little bit more likely.

Looking to build a Website for your company?
Call +91-40-65891579 / +91-9030416219



  • 3KITS is a leading Website Design and Development company in Hyderabad. Our company provides all services related to Web Design, Web Development, Software Development and SEO. 3KITS has the team of experienced Website Designers and Website developers in Hyderabad, India.