Imagine walking into a store with flickering lights, broken shelves, and outdated products. You’d probably turn around and leave, right? That’s exactly how visitors feel when they land on a poorly maintained website.

Your website is a 24/7 sales rep, but if it’s slow, outdated, or broken…it’s costing you customers. Let’s fix that.

What We’ll Cover

Website maintenance doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

1. Why Website Maintenance Matters
2. Common Website Issues
3. Essential Maintenance Tasks
4. DIY vs. Hiring a Pro
5. How Often to Update
6. Best Tools for Website Maintenance
7. What to Do if Your Website Breaks
8. Why Outsourcing Website Management is Worth It

Now, let’s dive in.

1. Why Website Maintenance Matters for Your Business

Your website isn’t a “set it and forget it” deal. Regular maintenance is crucial for:

• Credibility – 75% of consumers judge a business’s credibility based on its website design.
• Lead Generation – Slow or broken sites turn visitors away before they convert.
• SEO & Visibility – Search engines hate neglected websites. If you’re not updating, you’re not ranking.
• Security – Hackers love outdated websites. One vulnerability can compromise your entire business.

Expert Tip: A fast, secure, and regularly updated website builds trust and boosts conversions.

2. Common Website Issues That Hurt Your Business

Here’s what might be secretly sabotaging your website:

• Slow Load Times – 53% of users leave if a page takes more than 3 seconds to load. (you know it’s true)
• Broken Links & 404 Errors – Frustrate visitors and hurt SEO rankings.
• Outdated Content – Makes you look inactive or irrelevant.
• Security Vulnerabilities – Outdated plugins and software make you a hacker’s easy target.
• Poor Mobile Experience – Most users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site. Not to mention, Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites. Run a mobile usability test on a regular basis.

Fun Fact: Did you know that Amazon once lost an estimated $34 million in a one-hour website outage?

3. Essential Website Maintenance Tasks (Even If You’re Not a Techie)

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is thinking website maintenance is just about security. It’s also about user experience. A slow or broken site frustrates visitors and makes them leave before converting.

Not a tech wizard? No problem. Here’s a simple checklist:

• Update software & plugins (monthly)
• Run security scans (weekly)
• Fix broken links (quarterly)
• Test site speed & performance (quarterly)
• Backup your site (weekly or before updates)
• Check mobile responsiveness (quarterly)

“Is website maintenance necessary if I’m not making changes to my site?”

Yes! Even if you’re not adding new content, backend updates, security patches, and performance monitoring are still very important.

4. DIY vs. Professional Website Management: What’s Right for You?

DIY Approach: If you have time and a little patience, you can handle basic updates, backups, and monitoring.

Hire a Pro: If you’d rather focus on your business than wrestle with WordPress errors, outsourcing is your best bet.

I’ve seen too many businesses wait until their site is completely broken before reaching out for help. Think of website maintenance like regular check-ups for your car. Waiting until something crashes can cost you far more in lost revenue, security breaches, and frustrated customers. A little prevention goes a long way.

5. How Often Should You Update Your Website?

Expert Tip: If your website hasn’t been updated in over a year, you’re overdue for a check-up.

6. Top Tools & Services for Website Maintenance

No need to start from scratch! These tools have your back:

• Security: Wordfence, Sucuri
• Backups: UpdraftPlus, Jetpack
• Performance Monitoring: Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix
• SEO & Broken Links: Ahrefs, Screaming Frog
• Uptime Monitoring: Pingdom, Uptime Robot

The right tools can make website maintenance almost effortless. But tools alone aren’t enough. You need the expertise to interpret the data and take the right actions. Investing in a website management service ensures your site is not just monitored but actively optimized for security, speed, and conversions.

7. What to Do If Your Website Breaks or Gets Hacked

A hacked website is every business owner’s nightmare, but the worst thing you can do is panic. Instead, have a solid backup strategy (and a professional you can call.) MARION web development agency has helped businesses recover their websites in hours, but those without backups? That’s where things get tricky.

First, don’t panic. Follow these steps:

1. Check for updates – Outdated software is often the culprit.
2. Restore a backup – Always have a recent version ready.
3. Scan for malware – Use Sucuri or Wordfence.
4. Change passwords – Secure your accounts.
5. Call in a pro – If all else fails, get expert help.

Pro Tip: Regular backups are your best insurance policy. If things go south, you can restore your site in minutes.

8. Hiring a Website Management Service: Why It’s Worth It

You’ve got enough on your plate. Keeping your website secure, updated, and running smoothly shouldn’t be another headache.

At MARION marketing agency, we take care of the heavy lifting so you can focus on growing your business. Our website maintenance services include:

✓ Security monitoring & malware removal

✓ Regular updates & performance optimization

✓ 24/7 uptime monitoring & support

✓ SEO and content updates

Your website is too important to ignore. Let’s make sure it’s working for you, not against you.

Ready for a worry-free website? Contact MARION today for expert website management that keeps your business ahead of the curve.

Creating a B2B website can be daunting because you want to convey a lot of information at once in a professional manner without losing the visitor’s interest. This is especially challenging because it takes a lot of work to make technical jargon sound exciting.

What is a B2B Website?

A business-to-business (B2B) website is a company website that intentionally speaks to business professionals. Unlike a straightforward B2C website, B2B websites need to target multiple decision-makers from different levels in a company without losing focus or sacrificing relevance.

What Makes a Great B2B Website?

Not all websites are created equal. A great B2B site has a few key things going for it:

• It’s easy to use (no one wants to dig through a maze of menus).
• It nails the “why us” message right off the bat.
• It looks fantastic on any screen, big or small.
• It’s fast — like blink-and-it’s-there fast.
• And it knows how to nudge you with just the right CTA.

In need of more design help? The professionals at our web design company in Houston can turn your website vision into a reality.

If you’re an industrial business, check out our related article for more specific examples of the best manufacturing website design and our guide to digital marketing for manufacturers. You’ll learn about user experience and how to improve your manufacturing company’s SEO.

9 B2B Web Design Examples

Balancing all these fine lines can be difficult, but luckily for you, here are some B2B site examples that you can draw inspiration from! See what makes a good business website to help improve the vision you have for your own brand.

1. Bentobox

Bentobox

Bentobox follows the mantra that “less is more” by letting their copy speak for itself. A minimalist approach is hard to find in B2B industries where companies often bog website visitors down with too much information on the first page.

Bentobox gets straight to the point with a call-to-action button in the center of the landing page that stands out among the other muted colors. A simpler home page also improves page load speed.

A fast-loading site is important because 47% of users expect a maximum load time of 2 seconds, and 40% of visitors will abandon sites that are still loading after 3 seconds.

2. SpareFoot

SpareFoot

SpareFoot manages to get away with the text-heavy homepage by breaking it up with a cheeky image and organizing the options to make it easier for prospective customers to choose what they need. Everything you need is neatly organized and just a click away.

Instead of dryly listing all the options they have, they allow you to search the nearest units near you straight from the homepage for quick ease of use. The playful image ties everything together- without it, the website would look quite monotonous and ordinary.

3. WeWork

WeWork

WeWork uses visually appealing pictures of their workspaces to create pleasing displays on its website and showcase available locations to potential customers. The clean and light design evokes a sort of blank slate for your needs, which follows their business philosophy.

Looking for a visually compelling layout on your new B2B site? The web design veterans at MARION’s website design company in Austin have years of experience delivering stunning end results!

One of the most effective design elements in this B2B website design is the personalized location search that automatically pulls where you are. This simple feature makes it easier for both you and the customer by anticipating their needs and getting them to click the call-to-action that much faster.

4. Proof Drinks

Proof Drinks

Proof Drinks leans into their edgier aesthetic by prominently showcasing one of their example product brands as the hero image. Their copy supports this decision with words like “exciting” and “innovating”.

If you were a brewery looking for a company that supports creativity, it’d be easy to be drawn to Proof Drinks. Overall, you immediately get the gist that this is a unique company that prides itself on their dynamic culture and philosophy.

5. MOO

MOO

MOO makes the boring art of business card printing look trendy and fun. Their website is a great example of how to transform a traditionally dull service into an engaging and visually appealing experience. The perfectly curated design pulls you in from the get-go, and the casual, conversational copy shows they’re far from your average printing company. Every detail on the site feels intentional, and it’s streamlined to make the entire customer experience as user-friendly as possible.

They don’t just present their services; they make you want to stick around and explore. From the vibrant visuals to the effortless navigation, everything is designed to engage visitors and keep them coming back. Compared to the traditional cut-and-dry printing companies, MOO stands out in every way. It’s not just about getting the job done; it’s about making the process enjoyable while showing off all the details that set them apart.

6. Zoom

Zoom

Zoom has a no-nonsense and professional website that gets straight to the point. From the moment you land on the page, it’s clear they’re not here to waste your time. The design is clean and professional, making it easy to focus on what really matters. The copy doesn’t beat around the bush — it’s short, clear, and tells you exactly what you need to know without drowning you in jargon or unnecessary details.

The call-to-action is impossible to miss, letting you sign up or start using the company’s services right away. No digging around or jumping through hoops. Everything about their product and service solutions is neatly organized and presented on one page, so you can quickly understand what they offer without endless scrolling or confusion.

What’s even better is that there aren’t any distracting elements pulling your attention away. Zoom’s site is designed with purpose, just like their platform. It’s straightforward, intuitive, and gets you where you need to go in just a few clicks. It’s a no-nonsense approach that makes the process of getting started feel effortless; exactly what you’d expect from a company that prides itself on efficiency and reliability.

7. Aiia

Aiia

Aiia lets their product speak for itself with an image that takes up the entire homepage. The picture tells the story of their simple tagline, “Original Promotional Products” and shows that their values and products break from the norm.

Aiia’s website proves that sometimes you just need an impactful photo to do all the heavy work. When you scroll down the page, it transforms into a promotional video that showcases their newest and most exciting products.

8. Rocka

Rocka

As one of the most experimental website designs on this list, Rocka highlights their innovation and youthful energy with a unique background image and bold typography. The modern design is a departure from other B2B websites, which works for newer companies.

If you’re not as established as other companies, a dynamic landing page might catch the attention of a prospective partner. New visitors might be intrigued and want to learn more. Even the best B2B websites can lean towards boring, but you can’t accuse this one of being dull!

9. Pixelgrade

Pixelgrade

Pixelgrade’s home page showcases its different themes on the right-hand side in a way that makes it “bleed” down, making you scroll further to discover more and read on. The distinctive color scheme also makes it so that the call-to-action button heavily contrasts against the background without being jarring. All the basic design elements work together to create an engaging website.

It’s not just about function; a little flair goes a long way. Think bold color palettes, layouts that don’t scream “template,” and interactive features that make you want to stick around longer. A well-designed site says, “Hey, we know what we’re doing.”

Quick Tips for Building Your B2B Website

Thinking of revamping your site? Here’s the cheat sheet:

• Pick a platform that makes sense for your goals and budget.
• Consider working with pros. DIY can only take you so far.
• Focus on your target audience. What do they need, and how can your site deliver?

Trust MARION with Your B2B Web Design

If you’re thinking, “Wow, our website could use some love,” you’re in the right place. With over 40 years of marketing experience, MARION has the right team to create a visually engaging website for your brand. The strategic approach of our digital marketing agency marries the best user experience and graphic design practices to deliver a revenue-generating machine.

Reach out to our Houston, Austin, and Dallas web design agency, and we’ll show you how to turn your B2B website into your best salesperson. It all starts with a quick conversation. Let’s talk! 

We’re proud to share that MARION has been honored with a 2024 Gold MarCom Award for our website redesign work with fleetkeep! This award celebrates creativity and excellence in marketing and communication, and we’re thrilled to be recognized for our efforts.

About the Project

fleetkeep came to MARION looking for a fresh digital presence that aligned with their brand identity and showcased their industry expertise. Our team worked from the ground up, designing a website that not only looks great but functions seamlessly.

The project included:

• A complete redesign with a modern, user-friendly interface.
• Custom content creation to highlight Fleetkeep’s services and expertise.
• Improved functionality to better serve Fleetkeep’s growing audience.

The result? A dynamic website that delivers a cohesive brand message while providing an engaging user experience. Check it out here.

Winning this award underscores our dedication to helping businesses like fleetkeep thrive in today’s competitive digital landscape. A huge thank-you to fleetkeep for trusting us with their vision and to our talented team for making it happen!

If your business is ready to stand out online, MARION is here to help. Let’s create something exceptional together!

An effective industrial website needs to quickly convey what products and services your company provides without overwhelming the visitor. In today’s marketplace, you can’t slide by with a 90 ‘s-themed industrial website that isn’t mobile-friendly.

Your industrial website design needs to engage buyers, whether they’ve just discovered your company or they’re existing customers browsing your complete line of capabilities. Truth is, the best manufacturing websites incorporate great website design and SEO (search engine optimization) so that they cater to repeat buyers and new sales prospects alike.

Key Features and Design Elements for B2B Industry Leaders

Industrial companies have unique needs when it comes to B2B website design. Your site should instantly communicate your offerings without overwhelming your visitors. Modern industrial website design focuses on engaging potential customers while providing existing clients with an easy way to explore your products and services. Here, we’ll look at some effective elements of industrial websites to help your brand stand out.

1. Engaging Visuals That Set Your Brand Apart

A standout industrial website starts with captivating visuals. Rather than using generic stock photos, invest in high-quality imagery that showcases your products, facilities, or the environments in which your products thrive. Strong visuals keep visitors’ attention and convey that your business is committed to quality and innovation.

Example: Kuraray

Kuraray, a global leader in specialty chemicals, uses clean, professional images of their facilities, products, and industry applications on their website. The imagery isn’t just visually appealing. It reinforces Kuraray’s brand as a cutting-edge, leader in the chemical industry. (Full disclosure: MARION works with Kuraray)

Kuraray

2. Compelling Hero Messages

For industrial websites, a compelling hero message at the top of the homepage is essential. This message should be concise and impactful, capturing your brand’s unique strengths or mission in a few words. Your hero message will likely be used across all mediums of your manufacturing content strategy. By directly addressing visitors’ needs and emphasizing your company’s solutions, you can drive deeper engagement.

The right hero message will pop out from the other contenders. For more guidance, get help from an industrial internet marketing agency in Austin or Houston today!

Example: Titan Systems

The message “Engineered Solutions. Delivered.” draws the reader in and is intriguing enough to make you click to learn more. The hero message works because it’s so effective in its conciseness. It tells you what the company does, and the “delivered” in red is a nice touch for emphasis.

Titan Systems

3. Clean Design and Intuitive Navigation

Industrial companies often have extensive product lines and complex offerings, so a streamlined layout with intuitive navigation is vital. Simplify your design by incorporating white space, a navigation bar, and clear calls-to-action that guide website visitors through your offerings without overwhelming them.

An easy-to-use industrial website is a critical piece of digital marketing for manufacturers. You want visitors to get the information they need as quickly and clearly as possible before they give up and leave. A clean user experience also benefits your SEO for manufacturing.

Make sure you counter this common mistake by not cramming a list of all your products on the home page. Focus on bold yet simple elements such as negative space, a definitive marketing color scheme, read more buttons (that lead to other pages), and much more.

Manufacturing web design does not need to look like a disorganized mess. For help from an effective industrial web design company in Austin, check out MARION today.

4. Integrated E-commerce Features

E-commerce features are increasingly essential for companies that want to simplify ordering for OEM customers and distributors. An industrial website that allows users to request quotes, place orders, or reorder products can boost sales while giving visitors a hassle-free experience.

Example: Protolabs

Protolabs offers an e-commerce experience with a customer portal where clients can manage quotes, orders, and materials. This not only saves time but also promotes customer loyalty, as it allows customers to easily handle transactions at their own convenience.

Protolabs

5. Responsiveness and Mobile Development

With users accessing websites on multiple devices, responsive design is essential for any successful industrial website. This design approach ensures your site’s layout, images, and functionalities automatically adjust to any screen size, from desktops to tablets to smartphones. For industrial companies with complex content and product details, responsive design improves readability and user interaction, providing a smooth experience regardless of device.

Mobile compatibility also plays a major role in Google’s search rankings, as search engines favor websites that are mobile-friendly. With responsive design, your industrial website can attract a wider audience, engage visitors effectively, and ultimately enhance your online presence. This adaptability not only helps you reach a diverse audience but also maintains brand consistency and ease of navigation, crucial elements that instill credibility in prospective clients exploring your company’s offerings.

6. Emphasis on SEO and Visitor Conversion

A well-optimized industrial website helps increase brand awareness, attract organic traffic from search engines like Google, and ultimately drive business growth. Effective SEO combines technical elements like structured data, load speed, and mobile compatibility with on-page strategies like keyword optimization and high-quality content. This balance ensures that your site ranks well in search results, reaching the audiences searching for your products and services.

SEO is just the beginning. Conversion optimization is equally important. Your website should be designed with clear calls-to-action, easy navigation, and compelling content that leads visitors from discovery to inquiry or purchase. Whether it’s an intuitive navigation bar or a strategically placed contact form, each element should work to capture and convert visitors into clients.

Together, SEO and conversion optimization create a powerful foundation for turning website visitors into valuable leads and loyal customers, providing ROI that justifies your investment in a great industrial website.

Your Website: A Tool for Industrial Leadership

An optimized industrial website is more than a digital placeholder for your brand. It’s a comprehensive tool to attract leads, drive sales, and position your brand as a leader in the industry. From emphasizing your product lines to engaging visitors with cutting-edge design, each element is crafted to guide potential clients through the customer journey and foster business growth.

Industrial Website Design, Done Right with MARION

Industrial website design for manufacturing companies is no longer a luxury, it’s a necessity. MARION’s industrial marketing services in Houston can help your company put its best foot forward and improve your chance of attracting and closing new business.

Contact MARION today to create a custom, responsive industrial website that grows with your business. Our marketing agency in Houston has been serving the industrial and manufacturing industry for over 40 years. We’re ready to help you build an online presence that enhances brand recognition, increases conversions, and positions you as an industry leader.

Schedule a consultation or check out our industrial web design portfolio for examples of sites that we’ve created for customers like you!

Ever had your website hacked? Sometimes it’s obvious — you go to your website, and something other than your content appears, instantly jolting you into a state of dread and dismay. If you’ve not experienced a website defacement before, you may not know what to do about it, which makes it even worse.

But, at least you know an intrusion has occurred.

Lately, hackers have stepped up their use of stealth hacking to compromise websites. Instead of announcing themselves by defacing your website, hackers leave code in place to perform a variety of misdeeds while you, the site owner, are none the wiser.

Search engines, however, can detect malware and blacklist the website, leaving you with a red banner over your content and probably a red face to go with it. Even so, search engines only find a portion of all malware infections, and they don’t block all the infected websites they find.

In 2022, only 8.42% of malware-infected sites identified by search engines were blacklisted.

According to SiteLock.com, a website devoted to website security: “Search engines are using greater caution when blacklisting websites to avoid reporting errors at the site owner’s expense. When a blacklisting occurs, the consequences can impact a website’s traffic, reputation, and even profitability.”

4 Common Website Security Vulnerabilities

Hackers commonly use these web page security vulnerabilities to exploit your website. Learn what they are and how to secure your website against them.

1. Lack of Server Security

If your website’s hosting environment is not secure, neither is your website. Some budget hosting plans are at increased risk for intrusion due to the high volume of websites and traffic on a single server. If it becomes infected, the hosting company could be forced to shut down your website to prevent harm to other sites on the same server. And it would be you that contracts and pays for the cleanup.

It’s usually preferable that experts deal with a malware infection than to do it yourself. So, a hosting plan with excellent support, such as managed hosting, is beneficial for security.

2. The Login

Brute Force attacks are automated attacks used to crack a login or PIN. In a brute force attack, a software program goes through a series of guesses, for example, a list of words from a dictionary.

Dictionary attacks are still used but not as often as they once were because computer processing power has increased. A modern computer can crack an eight-character alphanumeric password in about 2 hours — no dictionary needed. Guessing every possible combination of letters and numbers is called an Exhaustive Key Search.

Other types of brute force attacks include Reverse Brute Force attack, where a common password is used to try to guess a username, and Credential Recycling, which uses previously discovered user/password combinations.

3. Plugins

Website builders and CMS platforms like WordPress depend on third-party plugins or extensions to provide the capabilities of the modern website. For example, contact forms, event schedules, SEO, layout editors, popups, and a host of other functions come by way of plugins.

Hackers exploit weaknesses in the code of plugins to gain access to the site. Once in, they can leave malware, create user accounts, and wreak havoc.

4. CMS

Content Management Systems like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and others are vulnerable to hackers, even without plugins. Always update your CMS whenever a security patch is released. For professionally managed web design in Austin or Houston, contact MARION today!

How Prevalent Is Hacking in 2024?

You might be surprised to learn that automated programs have been trying to hack your website today and yesterday, and they’ll be back tomorrow.

SiteLock has this to say about the rate of hacking attempts in 2022 from their SiteLock 2022 Website Security Report:

“The volume of threats doubled in 2022 vs. 2021, with an average of 4.1 million websites having malware at any given time. The primary source of the increase in attack volume is malicious bots. In fact, websites received 5.5 times more traffic from bots than human users, with more than 60% of those bots being malicious.”

How To Secure Your Website from Hackers

Here are six high-level options to protect your website from hackers in 2024 (and beyond!)

1. Use strong passwords and never re-use a password. Instead, use a password management system like LastPass that stores your passwords and fills in login details for you. Password management systems can also generate random character string passwords for you.
2. Choose plugins and extensions for your website carefully. Look for evidence that its maker supports the plugin. A list of recent updates, the number of users, and reviews are all criteria to consider before installing any plugin. For further help with WordPress web design in Houston, contact MARION today.
3. Keep plugins up to date and delete any that are not in use. Enable automatic plugin updates where possible. An intrusion is far worse than the occasional inconvenience that an unattended plugin update may cause.
4. Keep an eye on your website. Inspect your website at least once per day.
5. Scan your site for malware every day. There are several ways to obtain automatic malware scanning, from plugins to paid services. Sucuri is a good free option for manual scans, but research paid options for more in-depth scans.
6. Use a website application firewall. This will detect intrusion attempts and limit access to your website as needed. There are also different types of SSL certificates that can be used to protect access to your site.

Contact MARION for Professional Website Design and Maintenance

Contact MARION for professional web design and maintenance services that blend creativity with functionality. Our digital marketing capabilities have evolved with the industry, and we now offer custom web design services in Houston and Austin, Texas. Don’t let your website be just a presence; let it be a statement. Connect with our digital marketing agency in Houston today, and let’s build a digital experience that resonates with your audience and keeps them coming back for more.

Connect with us today to schedule a free marketing consultation.

Web design is a process of designing and formatting websites and web pages. Web designers use a variety of tools to create the desired look, feel and usability of the site. From a digital marketer’s perspective, solid web design can effectively benefit SEO, boost conversions, strengthen PPC campaigns, outshine competitors, and so much more!

But what happens if you’re not a designer? If you’re wondering what you need to know before you begin the web design process, this guide will provide some insight.

Introduction: The Basics of Web Design

Web design is not only about making sites attractive and readable; it also needs to make sure that they are user-friendly. An effective business website design should be such that the visitor doesn’t need any additional guidance or instructions to navigate through its content. Bad web design can truly make or break a website!

A great way for beginners to learn basic web design is by following simple tutorials on the internet. There is an abundance of online resources that provide step-by-step instructions on how to build specific components of a website like menus, headers, navigation bars etc.

Step 1: Planning

Planning is one of the most important phases of the web design process. The planning phase includes some basic tasks such as:

• Defining your company’s goals and objectives

• Studying and researching competition and what content is trending

• Defining target audience

• Collecting data about target audience’s interests, demographic, and behavior

• Creating a content plan to deliver on the company’s goals and objectives; this also includes an outline on how to keep that plan updated.

This stage is crucial for any business seeking success with their website. This will help you figure out what design decisions you need to make in order to meet your goals.

Step 2: Wireframing

The wireframe is a crucial part of the web design process. A wireframe is a diagram that represents the structural layout of a website or application. It covers the site’s content, hierarchy, interactive elements, and navigational flow. Wireframes can be created with pen and paper before they are transferred to more sophisticated design tools like Photoshop or Illustrator. 

The goal of this process is to ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page before any work begins on visual design, coding, or development processes. This way everyone knows what to expect from each other and can plan accordingly.

Step 3(a): Designing the Layout

Web design is the process of creating a design solution for a website. This includes gathering and analyzing information about the desired content and the intended audience, and then creating a representation of these on screen.

There are some basic elements you need to consider when designing your web layout:

• What is your goal?

• What are you trying to communicate?

• Who is your target audience?

• How much space do you have?

• How many pages do you want on your site?

There are also different layouts that can be used such as: grid, mobile, one column, two column, etc. Be sure to research your layout options before deciding on one. 

Step 3(b): Designing Typography

Typography is the work of selecting typefaces, point size, line length, letter spacing, and adjusting other elements of type to create a particular mood or tone. Additionally, it includes features that are more decorative in nature, such as choosing colors for text and backgrounds.

A person skilled in typography design is actually referred to as a typographer.

With so many factors to take into consideration when designing typography for your website, it can be hard to know which fonts are best for your project. Typographers have studied the factors that affect legibility and readability on screen or paper so they know what matters most when designing fonts. One factor is x-height which is the height of lowercase letters relative to capital letters in proportion to their widths. This is just one example, but there are many factors a web designer should consider with typography. That’s why having an experienced designer is so important to web developement!

Conclusion & What’s Next?

Let’s conclude by saying that the future of web design is going to be a bright one. We predict that these next years are going to bring a lot of changes and new technologies for us to explore. To maximize your website performance and get the most out of web design, it’s helpful to partner with the right web design agency. Contact us online today to schedule a free marketing consultation! 

Have you ever wondered how many pages a website has? Whether it’s a competitor’s site or even your own, knowing how many pages a website has can be extremely beneficial. In this quick guide, we will share with you some helpful website page counter tips and resources. Keep reading to learn three easy ways to find the number of pages on a website.

How To Find Out How Many Pages a Website Has

As mentioned above, there are three easy ways to accomplish this:

1. XML Sitemap Method
2. “Site:” Operator Method in Google Search
3. Google Search Console Method

1. XML Sitemap

Using the XML sitemap is a simple way to count the number of pages on a website. Plus, the sitemap method is available to anyone! To access a website’s sitemap, scroll to the website footer and follow the link to their XML sitemap.

If you can’t locate a “Sitemap” link on the website, there is another quick solution. View any sitemap in your browser by using either of the following URLs. All you need to do is replace “sitename” with the name of the website!

For example, if you wanted to check the number of indexed pages on our website, marion.com, you would search: https://marion.com/sitemap.xml

If the website you are checking uses advanced sitemap plugins, such as YoastSEO, the URL count will be automatically shown. Otherwise, you’ll need to count the number of pages manually.

2. Site: Operator

For this method, you will need to open a new Google search and copy the following search query, replacing “sitename” with the name of the website you are looking for:

site:sitename.com

For example, if you were checking our website, marion.com, you would search: site:marion.com.

The results will show the number of indexed pages on Google. However, it is important to note that this may not be an entirely accurate count of web pages on the site. Rather, it gives you an idea of the approximate number of indexed pages on Google.

3. Google Search Console

Lastly, the Google Search Console is also an option for determining how many web pages are indexed by Google. This method is beneficial for checking the number of pages on your own website. In order to use Google Search Console, you must either be a verified owner or be invited to access the data.

In your Google Search Console account, you will need to go to “Google Index” and then “Index Status.” From there, you will be able to view the total number of pages on your site. You are also able to view the details of total indexed pages submitted to Google by navigating to “Crawl” and then “Sitemap” on your Search Console account.

Why Your Website Needs an XML Sitemap

XML sitemaps are especially beneficial for large-capacity websites, new websites, and websites that use rich media content. However, almost all websites will benefit from incorporating this feature. Sitemaps allow Google to easily locate web pages and determine when they were last updated.

In addition, website page counters can be used for:

• Clarifying how many active web pages your site has
• Seeing all of the pages on your competitor’s domain

Refresh Your Website with MARION

After reading these three methods, you should now confidently know how to find all pages on a website. You will find that most sites you come across have a direct sitemap link conveniently located in the footer section. If not, you still have a few other viable options that we discussed here today.

MARION is a trusted Texas marketing agency that has been supporting local businesses for 40 years. Whether you’re looking for responsive website design, online marketing, or SEO services – our marketing team can help!

Schedule a free marketing consultation with MARION today and learn how we can help grow your business.

Multivariate testing helps businesses to make the most of each and every one of their website’s visitors by improving conversion rates by testing different web elements. In this article, we break down how to use digital marketing testing techniques to boost conversions and improve your digital strategy. 

What Is Multivariate Testing in Digital Marketing?

Multivariate testing is a technique used in digital marketing for testing different variables on a webpage to find the most effective combination. Elements such as images, copy, font or color can all be tested concurrently on audiences to determine which combination yields the highest results, such as click through rate or open rate.

In addition to web pages, multivariate testing is often used for other marketing channels such as PPC ads, social media marketing, email marketing and more. Regardless of the type of digital marketing campaign, the ultimate goal of multivariate testing is to help determine which variation is most successful out of all of the possible combinations.

Multivariate vs. A/B Testing in Digital Marketing

Multivariate testing and A/B testing are very similar. The only difference lies in the fact that multivariate tests involve testing the effects of changing more than one variable on your site, whereas an A/B test strictly tests the effect of changing only one variable. It’s common for both techniques to be used in UX design and web design strategies.

A/B testing, also referred to as split testing, is an approach to website optimization in which live traffic is used to simultaneously test two versions of a page to determine which version performs the best. In this method, site visitors are randomly sent to either version A or version B of a page, and their interactions are simultaneously tracked. A marketer will quickly be able to decide which version is most effective by seeing which page achieved the highest conversion rates.

Multivariate testing uses all these same core mechanisms, but compares several variables at once, therefore revealing more valuable information about how certain elements interact with one another. Data from each combination is compared to determine the most successful design, as well as reveal which components have the greatest impact on a visitor’s interaction.

Time and Traffic Requirements

The biggest difference between multivariate and A/B testing is the amount of traffic and time required to see results. Since you are only testing two versions with the A/B method, you’ll need a smaller amount of visitors before you start seeing results.

Meanwhile, the multivariate tactic needs several different versions to be tested, requiring a much larger number of visitors before obtaining accurate results. If you have a minimal amount of traffic, this system can take quite a while. However, if you’ve spent time building an online presence and your website has a high number of visitors per day, multivariate testing will be a quick and easy process.

A major benefit of multivariate testing on your website is that a winning variation could improve your marketing KPIs by leaps and bounds, while A/B testing usually delivers marginal improvements. This means that multivariate testing marketing elements on your site can accelerate your timeline for meeting marketing goals and objectives.

How Does Multivariate Web Testing Work?

In multivariate testing, web analytics are used to determine the best combination of elements to maximize results. Here are the steps you should take when using multivariate testing for your business:

1. Determine Potential Pitfalls & Areas for Improvement on Your Website

Take an unbiased look at your site as if you were a potential customer. Go through the buyer’s journey and make notes of bad UX design examples, potential pitfalls and/or potential areas for improvement. Identify any problems that a visitor may come across when browsing your site.

2. Formulate a Hypothesis

With the notes you took in step one, think of ways in which you can solve the problems. For example, are visitors potentially deterred from submitting a form because the form isn’t visible enough? Maybe it’s placed below the fold and needs to be moved higher up the page, or maybe it doesn’t stand out enough, so visitors tend to gloss over it without taking any notice.

You can then hypothesize that moving the form up the page, and/or making it stand out more from the content would increase form submissions on the page. 

3. Create Variations

Once you know what different elements you need to test and what changes you need to make to test out your hypothesis, you can then create the different variables to test. Consider changing the text, location, size, font, color, images and other elements to make your call-to-action more noticeable and enticing.

If you’re not an expert at making website edits, don’t worry! Our experienced digital team offers Dallas, Houston, and Austin web design help to Texas businesses.

4. Determine Your Sample Size

It’s almost time to start driving traffic to your pages, but first you need to determine your sample size. How many visitors will each page need to generate before you can draw conclusions about your tests’ findings?

5. Test Your Tools

Test everything on your site before you start running tests, just to be on the safe side. Ensure that all links are correct, CTA buttons are working properly as well as any other important aspect of your campaign.

6. Start Driving Traffic

Now that you’ve completed your variations and know exactly how much traffic you need, it’s time to start running traffic to them. A downside to multivariate tests is the massive amount of traffic needed before seeing results, so you’ll have to be patient.

If you’re located in Texas, partnering with a Dallas, Houston, or Austin SEO agency can help build a strategy that attracts plenty of relevant users to your website.

7. Analyze and Learn from Your Results

Each of your tests can be used to learn something valuable about your pages and visitors. You can use this information to make changes and even for future tests.

3 Examples of Multivariate Experimental Design

When using multivariate testing, you can change several different design elements such as headlines, clickable links, and image placement. There’s no limit to the number of variations you can run. Let’s look at some examples of multivariate experimenting in digital marketing.

1. Example of Multivariate Testing Email Marketing

In multivariate testing, marketing specialists can experiment with different elements of their email marketing strategy in order to see which method gets the most attention from their audience. You can test several variables such as subject line, from name, content, phrasing, send time and more.

Source: Campaign Monitor

In the above email, Campaign Monitor tested which call to action readers preferred: link text or a button. After testing these two variations, results showed that there was a 28% increase in click-throughs on the email with a button CTA.

Here are a few ideas to consider for multivariate testing in your email marketing campaigns:

• Are subscribers more responsive to emails with your company name in the subject line?
• Will including images increase engagement?
• Are your subscribers more likely to click linked text or a linked image?
• Will newsletters with colored text increase click rate?

If you want help with professional web design in Houston, Austin, or Dallas/Fort Worth, our experienced team is ready to assist your Texas-based business!

2. Example of Multivariate Landing Page Testing

Multivariate testing allows you to develop high-converting landing pages by experimenting with the performance of different variables. Never underestimate the importance of landing pages—they’re what turns a visitor into a prospect and a prospect into a conversion.

With multivariate testing, a website’s landing page will be split into several slightly different versions to be randomly assigned to your site’s visitors. Each version’s success will be tracked, ultimately showing you the best way to run your site.

Source: Leadpages

Your landing page copywriting is key to persuading your audience to take action. Consider testing different lengths and tones and sentiments.

In this example, both landing pages’ headlines present the same offer while using unique language. The only way to know which one is better is by testing it.

3. Example of Digital Content Testing on Social Media

When testing your digital content strategy on social media channels, the goal is to determine which combinations are well-received by your audience. Consider these key metrics for social media marketing when running multivariate tests:

• Engagement: Which version results in more likes, comments, shares, or clicks?
• Impressions: Which version reaches the largest number of people?
• Traffic: Which version drives the most visitors to your site?

Source: Sprout Social

In this example, Entrepreneur is testing both the title copy and featured image. Note that the caption, subtext and link all remain the same. The goal of a test like this is to understand which combination will get the most clicks.

Here are a few other multivariable testing ideas worth trying:

• GIFs vs. static images
• Use the same content with different audiences
• Change the tone of voice
• Experiment with different CTA buttons
• Incorporating videos vs. images

While testing content changes on your website, keep in mind that your page copy has an effect on maintaining an SEO-friendly website design. If you’re based in East Texas, an Austin, Dallas, or Houston SEO company can help reconcile your verbiage changes with your ongoing strategy.

MARION Can Help Your Business Create High-Performance Digital Marketing Assets

Multivariate testing can be a powerful optimization method, regardless of your business. It’s a sure-fire way to drive traffic to your website and improve customer experience. Not quite ready to take on multivariate testing on your own? We’re here to help! MARION is a Texas-based digital marketing agency that offers traditional and internet marketing services.

Many B2C and B2B marketing strategies are focused on the local community and facilitate meaningful business growth. Depending on the size of your town or city, this can lead to stiff competition. However, learning how to advertise a small business locally is something a resilient entrepreneur like yourself is fully capable of.

This article will help you learn how to advertise your local business in a tactful and sustainable way.

7 Best Ways to Advertise Your Small Local Business  

As a small business owner, your chief marketing goal is probably to get more customers. Local advertising allows you to reach customers online when they’re searching for products or services in your area.

Make the most of your business marketing budget with these 7 local advertising strategies suited for small businesses.

1. Local Social Media Marketing
2. Local SEO
3. Location-specific Landing Pages
4. Paid Local Directories
5. Local Influencer Partnerships
6. Local Event Sponsorships
7. Co-marketing with Relevant Local Businesses

Using a combination of several or all these local business advertising methods can help position your company as a leader in your community.

1. Local Social Media Marketing 

Advertising your business on social media is a golden opportunity to engage with your target audience and reach potential customers.

However, before you rush to create a profile on every social media platform in existence, it’s important to understand your target audience. When brands offer content curated to their audience’s needs, individuals will feel more connected to the brand. 

A recent study shows that 79% of marketers have used social media to increase traffic to their websites. While there are several reasons why small businesses need social media to win, it’s critical to make informed decisions before spending your hard-earned money. When deciding which social media platform to advertise with, it’s important to consider these factors: 

• Where is your target audience most concentrated?  
• Where is your target audience most accessible?  
• Where does your target audience most actively engage with ads?  
• How much time you must devote to your social media marketing strategy?

Reach out to MARION for expert help with social media marketing in your community.

 2. Local SEO  

If you have a local business, optimizing your website is also about making sure people can find you in real life. Local search engine optimization is all about targeting an audience that is in the same geographical area as you. 

Local SEO is an incredibly effective way to advertise your website locally, as it allows businesses to promote their products and services to local customers at the exact time they’re looking for them online. Don’t hesitate to get help from a local SEO company if you’re interested in long term growth.

Here are a few examples of Google searches with local intent: 

• Composting drop-off near me
• Plumbers in Houston
• Houston sign companies

Essentially, local SEO is a strategic process that focuses on the optimization efforts of local businesses. MARION offers local SEO in Houston, Austin, Dallas, and Greater Texas if you’re in need of a helping hand.

3. Location-specific Landing Pages  

Having a location-specific landing page on your website that represents each of your stores is the first step to increasing brand visibility. 

A local landing page is any web page that your site visitors hit when they first arrive at your website. When optimized correctly, these local pages can even help you to show up for local searches. They are important for brick-and-mortar stores with multiple locations, or for service-based businesses that want to inform their consumers about the range of local areas they serve.

To take advantage of location landing pages and boost mobile visibility, your main website must be mobile-optimized and include a landing page for each location. To increase your chances of success, learn how to create landing pages that convert before you roll out any local pages.

4. Paid Local Directories

Customers need a way to find your business online. Many business owners know about online business directories but don’t realize how advantageous they are for advertising small businesses locally. 

Paid local directories are one of the best tools for bringing in new customers. Local directories list important information about your business including location, hours, and contact information along with pictures, reviews, and other relevant information. These listings pop up as organic search results on Google and other search engines.  

Getting listed on local directories is a great way to advertise your small business locally as it allows potential customers to discover you when searching for the services, categories, and amenities you provide. 

Here is a list of local business directories with great reputations:  

• Google My Business  
• Yelp 
• Angie’s List
• Houzz 
• HomeAdvisor

If your competitors are listed on specific directories, you should consider listing with them as well. 

5. Local Influencer Partnerships  

When a close friend recommends their new favorite restaurant to you, chances are you’ll be enticed to stop by. Social media influencers have the same ability to do this but on a much larger scale. 

Partnering up with local influencers is one of the best ways to advertise small local businesses. Not only do influencers have large social media followings, but most of their followers often live in the same area.

Influencers, especially local micro-influencers, have extremely high engagement rates with their followers and their audiences often trust their recommendations. The stronger relationship an influencer has with their audience, the more likely he or she can successfully promote your business locally.  

6. Local Event Sponsorships  

Whether you’re involved with a local charity drive or Little League tournament, the right event has the potential to attract highly interested customers.   

What is a local event sponsorship? An event sponsor is a company or business that supports an event, usually by providing funds or products, in exchange for something valuable. Whether it’s increased brand exposure, speaking opportunities at the event, or a chance to show off your product, event sponsorships are key to advertising local small businesses.

In addition, strengthening your business image is one of the most valuable benefits of event sponsorship. Customers love brands that care about spreading positive messages and helping the community. Virtuous local sponsorships can attract positive attention and support from the community and can be a cornerstone in your brand development strategy. 

7. Co-marketing With Relevant Local Businesses 

Co-marketing involves two or more businesses working together to reap the benefits of their combined marketing efforts. 

The most common way to co-market is for two complementary or supplementary companies with similar audiences to work together on a campaign and promote it to both audiences. When small local businesses combine their resources, skills, and ideas to create a powerful campaign, they can reach a much wider audience than each of them could ever achieve on their own. 

Each company in the partnership can reach outside their usual market to attract new customers. Even if people are unfamiliar with one business, it is granted credibility by its relationship with its partner.  

Here are a few ways to co-market your business locally: 

• Blog posts
• Email blasts
• Webinars
• Events (virtual or in-person) 
• Social media campaigns

MARION Can Help Advertise Your Local Texas Business

As you can see, there are several budget-friendly strategies for advertising your small business locally. All of them have the potential to expand your audience and grow your business. Try them out to see what works best for you. 

Not sure which strategies are right for your business? MARION is here to help! Our Texas marketing agency has been serving local businesses for nearly 40 years with continued success.

For years, Google has been introducing ranking factors centered around the user experience (UX) on your website. Elements like offering safe browsing, mobile-friendly pages via responsive web design, non-intrusive pop-ups, and using an HTTPS connection are examples of these UX search signals.

A new ranking signal has entered the SEO game and is expected to go into effect during 2021. The new signal is called Cumulative Layout Shift, and is a one of the three Core Web Vitals Google uses to gauge page experience on your site.

What Is Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)?

Cumulative Layout Shift is a measure of the stability of the elements on a web page. If the visible elements on your page move around a lot within a user’s viewing screen, you likely have a high CLS score.

You’re reading a news article and go to click on a link, then—NO!— the page shifts down and you end up clicking something else entirely. If this describes an interaction you’ve experienced before, then you’re already familiar with CLS.

Cumulative Layout Shift is a Core Web Vital within Google that is scored like golf – the lower the shift of your page, the better. CLS can occur because of third-party advertisements, font changes during page load, or videos and images without set dimensions.

The gif above is an example of a high Cumulative Layout Shift on a news website due to third-party ads. Seconds after the initial page load, advertisements cause the HTML content on the page to shift.

Why Is CLS Important?

In May 2020, Google announced that Cumulative Layout Shift (along with several other Core Web Vitals) will become a ranking signal in 2021. They made it clear that webmasters will be given a six-month notice before this new signal goes into effect.

Source: Google Webmaster Central Blog

In other words, keeping a stable page that loads quickly will become more important to your Google rankings than ever before.

How to Fix Cumulative Layout Shift

Cumulative Layout Shift can be mitigated by taking the following measures.

• Always set image/video dimensions
• Avoid using third-party advertisements on your site without specifying their container’s  predetermined dimensions
• Don’t use fonts and back-up fonts above the fold on a page

If making these changes are out of your realm of expertise, then our team can help. MARION’s web design in Austin, Houston, and DFW can help with the technical issues that affect your site.

Get Help with CLS from the Pros at MARION

Not only are we versed in web design and development, but we are a full-service SEO agency in Austin, Houston, DFW, and every place in between. MARION has been providing marketing services for Texas businesses since 1981, and we practically started offering SEO services when search engines were born.

Contact us today to schedule a free consultation regarding your company’s marketing growth!