Tag: WordPress

Navigating Uncharted Waters: Mitzi’s Quest for a Unified Digital Presence

This project revolved around enhancing the online presence of Mitzi Alexander, a Travel Agent, & Magical Vacation Planner. Initially facing challenges in growing web interactions and bookings, Mitzi sought to create a more engaging online platform.

Her target audience included families, couples, newlyweds, friends, and groups interested in honeymoons, cruises, theme parks, and all-inclusive resorts. The project centered around developing an interactive website with reliable hosting and employing a SEO content strategy that highlighted Mitzi’s passion for travel and utilized targeted keywords for better visibility.

The result was a friendly and accessible user experience with increased customer interactions and conversions, amplifying Mitzi’s online presence and connecting her more effectively with her target audience.

Navigating Uncharted Waters: Mitzi’s Quest for a Unified Digital Presence

Mitzi Alexander, an accomplished travel advisor operating in Bloomington, Indiana, found not having a website hindered her ability to effectively reach and engage her target audience.

Despite her extensive industry expertise and commitment to delivering exceptional service, Mitzi lacked a cohesive online presence. The absence of a dedicated professional website posed a critical challenge, as she had no centralized platform to showcase her offerings comprehensively, share valuable insights through a blog, and cultivate direct connections with potential and existing clients.

Blogging, in particular, represented a missed opportunity for Mitzi. As a powerful content marketing tool, a well-executed blog could have allowed her to establish thought leadership in the travel advisory space, improve search engine visibility through SEO-optimized content, and foster engagement by providing travellers with informative tips, destination guides, and firsthand accounts of her experiences.

Without this essential digital asset, Mitzi’s marketing efforts were fragmented across various social media channels and disjointed web properties, resulting in a disorganized and inefficient approach to client acquisition and retention. This lack of a unified digital hub not only hindered her ability to reach a broader audience but also compromised the professional image and credibility she aimed to project.

Recognizing the escalating importance of a robust online presence in the travel industry, Mitzi understood the urgent need to implement a comprehensive digital strategy. Establishing a well-designed, user-friendly website with a strong content marketing focus would be crucial to elevating her brand, amplifying her expertise, and ultimately driving sustainable business growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Initial Consultation and Strategy Development

We kicked off the project by collecting information through a series of in-depth consultations to fully understand Mitzi’s business objectives, target audience, and unique value propositions.

Co-Creation and Iterative Design

Mitzi was actively involved throughout the design process, providing feedback and insights that shaped the website’s look, focus, and functionality. We employed an iterative design approach, allowing us to refine and adjust the website based on Mitzi’s input and user testing results.

Training and Empowerment

Understanding the importance of Mitzi’s ability to manage her own website and content, we provided comprehensive training on the website’s content management system (CMS) and best practices for SEO optimized content creation. This empowers Mitzi to publish new blog posts and make updates as needed, ensuring the website remains dynamic and reflective of her evolving business.

Custom CSS for Unique Branding

We delved deep into the customization of the WordPress 2024 theme, employing custom CSS and useful plugins to tailor the site’s aesthetics to Mitzi’s brand identity. This involved tweaking the color schemes, font styles, and layout structures to create a cohesive look that resonated with the essence of travel and adventure, essential to Mitzi’s business.

Interactive Features for Enhanced Engagement

To improve the site’s user engagement, we integrated a variety of interactive features. These included hover effects that reveal more information, smooth transition animations that guide the user through the site, and clickable elements that invite exploration and discovery. Each interactive feature was designed to enhance the user journey and encourage deeper engagement with the content.

Drop Shadows for Depth and Dimension

We employed subtle drop shadows in strategic areas of the website to add depth and dimension to the design. These carefully crafted shadows provided a soft lift to images and content blocks, creating a layered effect that drew users’ attention to key elements of the site. This technique not only added visual interest but also helped in organizing content in a more digestible and appealing manner.

Emojis for Relatability and Fun

Understanding the importance of relatability and personality in digital communication, we incorporated emojis throughout the website. These emojis were selected to complement the textual content, adding a touch of fun and approachability to the site. Whether used in headings, bullet points, or within blog posts, emojis helped to break down barriers and connect with users on a more personal level.

❤️ 🛳️ 🎢 🍹📞✉️📓💬 ❤️ 😃🔍 📝 🗒️🏝️ ⛰️ 🌍☕️🍦👨‍👩‍👦‍👦🩴❤️‍🩹🗼 🌆 🏛️⛰️ 🌌 🔥🌴 🌊 🦜🧭 🗺️🍽️ 🎉❄️ ☀️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 👩‍❤️‍👨🎢🎡😆🪄📔🍹☀️🍽️ 🥂🧘 ⛷️ 🏄🏊 🧖👶 🧒 🧑 🧓😉

Custom Features Tailored to Travel Planning

To specifically cater to the needs of travel planning, we developed custom features that enhanced the functionality of the site. This included dedicated pages for specific customer types, a blog section with different travel categories, and testimonials with shared experiences from Mitzi’s satisfied clients.

Keyword Research and Integration

To bolster the website’s search engine visibility and attract Mitzi’s target audience, we employed a comprehensive SEO strategy using the Yoast SEO plugin, a powerful tool known for its effectiveness in optimizing WordPress sites for search engines.

Our first step was conducting thorough keyword research to identify terms and phrases closely aligned with Mitzi’s services and the interests of her customer personas. This research included a deep dive into travel-related terms, with a focus on niches like honeymoons, cruises, theme parks, and all-inclusive resorts. We meticulously integrated these keywords into the website’s content, including headings, body text, and image alt tags, ensuring relevance and contextuality.

Optimizing Metadata for Enhanced Discovery

With the Yoast SEO plugin at our disposal, we optimized the website’s metadata with precision. Titles and meta descriptions for each page were crafted to include targeted keywords while remaining engaging and informative. This not only improved the site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) but also increased the click-through rate by compelling users with enticing summaries of what Mitzi’s site had to offer.

Improving Site Structure for SEO

Understanding the importance of a well-structured website for SEO, we used Yoast’s insights to organize Mitzi’s site content in a way that enhanced navigability and relevance. This included creating a logical hierarchy of headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.) and ensuring that internal linking was both user-friendly and beneficial for search engine crawlers, thereby enhancing the site’s overall SEO performance.

Content Optimization for Engagement and Relevance

Each piece of content, especially the blog articles, was carefully optimized to strike a balance between engaging Mitzi’s audience and meeting SEO best practices.

Outcome

Review left by Mitzi Alexander

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐5 Stars!!

“Working with David Martin Design on my website was a remarkable experience. Their understanding of my vision, coupled with their creative insights and technical proficiency, resulted in a website that exceeded my expectations.

Throughout the project, David and Jarod displayed a lot of patience and flexibility, accommodating all of my changes and requests with ease. Their in-depth knowledge of technology ensured that every aspect of the website was meticulously crafted and up to date with the latest trends.

David is not just a web designer but a true partner in bringing my vision to life. If you’re seeking someone who combines expertise with patience and a commitment to excellence, David is the perfect choice. Highly recommended for anyone looking to create a standout website.”

In the journey of building and launching Mitzi’s website, our collaboration was not just a one-time project but the beginning of an ongoing partnership. We are committed to providing Mitzi with continuous support, ensuring her website remains up-to-date, secure, and aligned with the latest web standards and trends. Our team is here for regular maintenance, updates, and to answer any questions or address any challenges that may arise.

Looking ahead, we see a wealth of opportunities for future projects with Mitzi. As her business evolves and her needs grow, we are excited to explore new avenues to enhance her digital presence further. Whether it’s expanding the website’s functionality, integrating new tools and features, or embarking on targeted digital marketing campaigns, we are eager to continue our collaboration.

Our goal is to be more than just a service provider for Mitzi; we aim to be a trusted partner in her business’s growth. By staying engaged and proactive, we anticipate the needs of her travel advisory business and offer solutions that not only solve immediate challenges but also pave the way for new opportunities. This long-term partnership underscores our dedication to not just meeting but exceeding Mitzi’s expectations, driving her business forward in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

David Martin shares his final thoughts on the project:

Dave Martin: “Working with Mitzi on her website has been a uniquely rewarding experience. It’s always a pleasure to receive referrals from existing clients, and having the opportunity to work closely with both Mitzi and her husband has truly been a highlight. The collaborative spirit of this project allowed us to delve deep into Mitzi’s vision and bring it to life in a way that resonates with her passion for travel. It’s projects like these that remind me why I love what I do.”

The project with Mitzi Alexander was more than just building a website; it was about capturing the essence of her passion for travel and creating a digital space that reflects that enthusiasm. The collaborative process, from conceptualization to launch, has been a testament to the power of partnership and shared vision. As a team, we look forward to supporting Mitzi in her ongoing digital journey and are excited about the potential for future collaborations that continue to push the boundaries of design and functionality.

August 15, 2024
WordPress SEO for the Busy Entrepreneur: Image Optimization
Are you trying to DIY your online presence but are struggling to understand all the search engine optimization (SEO) terms? Are you worried about causing more damage or harm than good, or overwhelmed with deciphering what practices are essential and what could be saved for a rainy day?

Hello and welcome to the first chapter of our WordPress SEO for the Busy Entrepreneur series where we help our clients, fellow entrepreneurs, and aspiring digital marketers better understand the foundational practices of SEO for their website’s organization.

We know the stress of trying to run a business on top of marketing it. That’s why people come to us and we have a business! (Talk about the circle of life!) But we also have many wonderful clients who aren’t at that stage of their entrepreneurial journey, who need a professional website with reliable hosting and can’t afford a marketing agency quite yet. Yet, many have a drive that knows no bounds and are more than willing to put in the work updating their website with edits and blog posts. They just don’t have the time to learn what’s important, what’s less so, what resources to trust and learn from.

It’s become clear to us that there needs to be a resource for entrepreneurs who are willing to put in the work, but can’t afford a single moment more. For those who need the pieces broken down and targeted specifically for their WordPress site. For those who aren’t technically savvy and have no desire to be, they just want things to work and for customers to go 📈. If any of these sounds like you, you’re in the right place.

Today, we’ll be talking about Image Optimization, why it’s important and how it plays into your institutions marketing success, and ranking each piece by what’s most important as well as the process we recommend you take for the most efficient use of your time.

What is Image Optimization?

Image optimization is the process of converting high quality photographs, artwork, and graphics from their original state into copies that are optimized for websites and social media platforms. This process involves two main procedures:
1. Cropping, resizing, and saving images into a compressed format while sacrificing minimal quality
2. Correctly categorizing and describing the images you’re using through image metadata
Just like you wouldn’t want to wear a t-shirt that’s 5 sizes too big and claims to be “wrinkle-free” when it’s clearly not, you wouldn’t want an image on your website that takes 2 minutes to load and ends up not being what the user was looking for. The process of image optimization is like tailoring that oversized t-shirt to fit just right.

Image Compression: Tailor Your Images to the Digital World

Image Compression is ultimately about carefully cropping, resizing, and compressing the image file so it loads quickly and looks great on screens – without sacrificing the quality or intent of the original image.

Image Compression can be broken down into 4 steps:
1. Crop: Crop the image so that the main focus is centered, if needed. Consider the platform(s) you’re uploading to and whether they use a square, rectangular, or circular aspect ratio. This not only reduces the file size, but also improves it’s impact.
2. Resize: Digital cameras today are capable of taking superb quality photographs in 4K resolution. But images on web pages or social media platforms are rarely displayed at this resolution, since most images are not displayed full screen and the majority of internet users are using devices lacking 4K output. When in doubt, a 1200px width is more than enough for the vast majority of images used on a web page.
3. Reformat: There are plenty of image formats out there nowadays. Each come with their own benefits and drawbacks, but to keep it simple: Use .jpg for images that have a background, and .png for images that have a transparent or no background. The default quality option should be sufficient.
4. Compress: Using a free image compressor like compressor.io can further reduce the file size of an image by up to 80% sometimes without making a noticeable impact on quality. Now would be a good time to rename your image for SEO purposes (more on that below.) If you follow nothing else in this guide, using these image compression tools are an extremely easy and straightforward way to reduce page load time.
Crop & Resize Images on Windows

Open File Explorer and find the image you want to edit.

Right-click on the image, hover over “Open with,” and select “Photos.”

Click the “Edit & Create” button in the top-right corner.

Select “Edit” from the dropdown menu.

Click the “Crop & rotate” button.

Adjust the cropping frame by clicking and dragging the corners or edges of the frame. Once satisfied, click the “Save a copy” button to save the cropped image.

Open the cropped image in Paint (right-click the image, hover over “Open with,” and select “Paint”).

Click the “Resize” button in the Home tab.

Ensure the “Maintain aspect ratio” checkbox is checked.

In the “Horizontal” box, enter “1200” (the vertical dimension will adjust automatically). Click “OK” to resize the image.

Click “File” in the top menu bar and select “Save as.” Choose the desired location and format, and click “Save.”
Crop & Resize Images on Mac

Locate your image in Finder

Open the image in Preview (double click on the image)

Press and drag your selection

Hover on Tools in the top menu bar, select Crop

Hover on Tools again, select Resize Image

In the width box, put 1200px & confirm

Save the image by hovering on File in the top menu bar and selecting save (or press ⌘ S)
Image Metadata: The Catalogue Card for Your Photos

Before we delve into Image Metadata, let’s back up and ask the question: “What is Metadata?”

Metadata defined for the laymen

To define it simply: Metadata is data about data. It’s information that categorizes and summarizes what something is.

To use an analogy: In the 80’s you needed to find a book (website) at the library (web). You would use the library catalogue (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) to search for the book either by it’s name or author. When you found the right card (search result), it would tell you the call number or location. You would then go through the shelves or ask a librarian for help (click) and eventually find and check out your book (website).

In our case, we use metadata describing your website to help the robots that search engines use to rank search results better understand who your organization is, what you do, when you’re open, how to contact you, etc. and ultimately rank as high as possible.

What do I need to know about image metadata?

Image metadata is important not only because it helps these robots understand images they can’t actually see (yet) and determine if they’re relevant or not, but also ensures your website remains accessible for those with sight disabilities or a painfully slow internet connection by providing descriptions of what they’re viewing.

Image metadata can feel complex to understand considering all the various elements that go into it, and even harder to know what to prioritize. But luckily, the elements that have the greatest visibility impact are also some of the simplest to incorporate. Here are the three most important elements concerning image metadata:
1. Alt Text: Alt text, short for Alternative Text, is the most important part of image metadata. This is really just a brief description of what the image is. It’s used for people who rely on screen readers, when the image fails to load to give context (common for those with slow internet connections), and for showing search engines that this image is relevant in relation to your organization.
2. File Name: An images name before uploading it plays a huge factor in helping search engines better understand the image content and increase it’s visibility. This is a great place to tie your images with your company and it’s specific services or people. Instead of “mark.jpg”, something like “Mark-Scott-Sales-Manager-Generica-Inc.jpg” helps search engines recognize that Mark Scott is the Sales Manager at Generica Inc, this is his picture, and that this image is relevant to the blurb describing him below it.
3. Title: The title tag is used as a tooltip description, providing supplemental information when the user hovers over an image. However, the this only applies to users on desktop. This is a good place to add keywords if warranted.
Let’s get to work: An actionable Image Optimization checklist

Now that we’ve explained the abstract concepts behind Image Optimization and it’s two major components: Image Compression and Image Metadata, let’s go through a step by step process on how to actually incorporate these pieces efficiently:
1. Gather your images into a folder called something like [subject]-originals
2. Decide where you’re uploading these images and crop each one as needed
3. Resize the width of each image to 1200px
4. Reformat each image. Are they photographs? Go with .JPG. Are they graphics or use transparent backgrounds? .PNG is the way to go
5. Create a folder called [subject]-optimized and upload your edited images to compressor.io
6. Download each image, saving it into the [subject]-optimized folder and rename each image to relate to your organization and the relevent service or person
7. If you want a break, now’s a good time
8. Login to your WordPress website, and navigate to the Media tab in the admin panel
9. Upload your optimized images
10. Return to the media library, click on the first image thumbnail in the upper left. This will open the image metadata panel. In the alt field, write a brief description of the image in question either manually or use AI to assist you. If you have a premium ChatGPT plan, use our A11y SEO Image Wizard.
11. Fill out the alt text (and optionally the title) for the remaining images. Congratulations! You’ve now optimized the images on your website. Your images can be now be added to the posts or pages of your choosing.
If you followed this checklist, you can rest easy that the most important standards concerning image optimization are being met. Your web page will now appear more attractive to search engines, as well as improve the page load times and accessibility for your visitors.
July 18, 2024
Building 67 Storage: A Branding Case Study

Transforming Ideas into Virtual Reality: The Genesis of 67storage.com

The creation of 67 Storage was a branding project that challenged our creativity and technical expertise but also strengthened our belief in the power of one-on-one collaboration.

Our partnership with Roman, the business owner behind 67 Storage, started with a mission to craft a digital web presence and branding that mirrors the efficiency, security, and user-friendliness of their recently built storage units on Highway 67.

Our branding project began with making a pivotal decision. Roman initially sought to name his venture after his last name, “Manley Enterprises”. However, after sitting down with Roman and getting a better understanding of his marketing goals, we found an opportunity for a more intuitive connection with potential clients.

We brainstormed and design a brand that wasn’t only a name, but also a literal signpost. A logo that encapsulated the business’s essence and its geographical significance. Drawing from its strategic location off of Highway 67, “67 Storage” was born.

This decision wasn’t just about picking a name—it was about crafting a scalable, recognizable, memorable, and easily searchable brand identity across both digital platforms and physical mediums for future customers. ’67 Storage’ was more than a choice; it was a strategic decision that streamlined the discovery process for potential clients.

Brand Identity Creation – Forging the 67 Storage Identity Inspired by the Open Road

With the name “67 Storage” setting the stage, the journey towards creating a cohesive brand identity began.

Color Scheme

A Palette Born from the Road

The color scheme transitioned from concept to palette, drawing from the distinctive colors of highway road signs. This choice was intentional, aiming to evoke a sense of reliability and guidance, much like the road signs that navigate travelers to their destinations. The colors chosen were more than just visually appealing; they were a narrative in themselves, telling a story of trust, direction, and safety.

Typography

Typography plays a pivotal role in bridging 67 Storage’s brand identity with its digital presence. Research into the typography of highway signs—specifically Highway Gothic and Clearview—revealed the practical challenges of licensing and digital optimization. Thus, for the logo, we chose Interstate, a font inspired by highway signage yet suitable for digital use, found on Adobe Fonts. For the website, Overpass from Google Fonts was selected for its web optimized design and open source license, ensuring a consistent, readable online experience. This thoughtful selection allowed us to maintain a connection to the brand’s roots while adapting to the digital landscape.

ClearviewHwy font single computer license purchase page indicating the cost of $795, which informed the decision to select Overpass for the 67 Storage website.

Screenshot highlighting Overpass, a versatile typeface from Google Fonts, chosen for its compatibility with 67 Storage’s branding and logo.

Logo Design

Drawing inspiration from the very roots of the name, the brand’s visual identity took cues from highway signs—a nod to the name’s origin and a brilliant play on familiarity and visibility. The logo was fashioned to mirror the clarity and straightforwardness of highway signage, ensuring instant recognition and connection.

Business Card Design

For the business card, we compressed 67 Storage’s brand identity into a readable, impactful design. The layout and iconography is intentionally minimalist to focus on clearly displaying key contact information. To balance the white space of the card, we crafted a background that aligns with the shield logo on the right. This enhances the card’s visual appeal and brand recognition. Moreover, a QR code links to the 67 Storage website for ease of customer access. Our design approach makes the business card an efficient networking tool and extension of the 67 Storage brand identity.

Picking 67storage.com: Securing a Strong Online Presence

Selecting the right domain name for 67 Storage was a crucial decision to make. Picking an overly complicated or hard to remember domain name could considerably impact it’s ability for customers to find and remember. To avoid this, we decided on 67storage.com, a short, straightforward domain name that both reinforces the brand identity and simplifies the customer’s journey to finding the business online online.

WordPress Website & Design: Crafting a User-Centric Online Space

The website for 67 Storage was intentionally designed to radiate its unique identity while focusing on two primary objectives: attracting new customers and enabling online payment for storage unit rentals. Using WordPress, we customized the latest 2024 Theme and enriched it with hand-coded Custom CSS. This approach added a layer of interactivity to navigation elements, buttons, and links, improving the overall user experience. For style, significant customization was made on the page template to echo the brand’s signature shield motif, ensuring a visual consistency across the digital and physical aspects of the brand.

Key features of the site include detailed information about available storage units, a comprehensive FAQ section, and integration with a payment processor, facilitating easy rent payments for customers. Additionally, the website is equipped with contact forms designed to cater to prospective customers, simplifying the process of inquiring about rentals. This strategic combination of form and function embodies 67 Storage’s commitment to service accessibility and customer convenience, ensuring the website not only serves as a digital storefront but also as a tool for operational efficiency.

Key Takeaway

Working closely together with Roman, we took the initial seeds of a business idea, patiently nurturing them through a collaborative journey to fruition. It was our personal approach to this collaboration—taking the time to understand Roman’s vision, marketing goals, and the core values he wanted to portray—that let us create more than just a name or logo; we built an identity that truly embodied the key principles of efficiency, security, and customer focus.

This project was more than a branding initiative; it was a testament to the power of personalized collaboration. By establishing a strong sense of trust with Roman and understanding his vision, we were able to ensure the branding truly reflected the essence of his business. This synergy created a robust, impactful brand that held a distinct logo and strong digital presence.

67 Storage is no longer only an idea, but a living representation of Roman’s vision, bringing a tangible impact to the marketplace. It stands as the embodiment of thorough deliberation, cooperative work, and perseverance, and we’re immensely proud to be part of this evolving journey of 67 Storage. Our collaboration with Roman underscores the incredible outcomes that can be achieved through an individualized, insight-driven approach to business development.

April 16, 2024
Web Development Resources for Setting Up Your First Website
The ability to create and maintain your own website is a skill that can bring tremendous value. While there are numerous resources available for creating and maintaining your own website, it’s always best to work with a local web designer whenever possible. Local designers are not only easily accessible, but they also understand the local market and can better tailor your website to meet the needs of your local audience. They are also more likely to provide personalized service and support. However, if you choose to go the DIY route, the following resources and tools can be quite helpful in your web development journey.

For beginners, resources like GreenGeeks (https://www.greengeeks.com/how-to-create-a-website) offer a comprehensive guide on how to create a website, from domain registration to web hosting. It’s an excellent starting point for anyone looking to build their first website.

Choosing the right domain registrar is key to ensuring your website’s success. Some of the top domain registrar companies include NameCheap (https://www.namecheap.com/) and Squarespace (https://domains.squarespace.com/). A domain name is your online address; it’s how people find you on the internet. Therefore, it’s crucial to select a name that is memorable, easy to spell, and reflects your brand.

When it comes to web hosting, there are various options available depending on your needs. Services such as IndianaWebHosting.com, GreenGeeks.com, & BlueHost offer reliable and scalable hosting solutions. These platforms ensure that your website is always available and accessible to your target audience.

WordPress is another essential resource for web development. With its user-friendly interface, it is an excellent platform for beginners and experienced developers. The platform has an extensive library of resources at (https://learn.wordpress.org/) to help you get familiar with WordPress and create a functioning website. Moreover, there are courses and playgrounds available, such as Getting Started With WordPress: Get Familiar (https://learn.wordpress.org/course/getting-started-with-wordpress-get-familiar/) and Creating a 4-page business website (https://learn.wordpress.org/course/creating-a-4-page-business-website/). These provide hands-on experience and step-by-step guidance for building your website with WordPress.

The digital landscape is always evolving, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies can give you an edge in creating better, more responsive websites. Building a successful web presence requires a blend of the right resources, continuous learning, and practice.

https://www.greengeeks.com/how-to-create-a-website

Domain Registration

https://www.greengeeks.com/how-to-create-a-website#domain-name

Domain Registrar Companies
- NameCheap
- Squarespace
Web Hosting

David Martin Design cPanel Business Web Hosting powered by IndianaWebHosting.com

GreenGeeks

BlueHost

WordPress Resources

https://learn.wordpress.org/ Whether you’re a first-time blogger or seasoned developer, there’s always more to learn. From community members all over the world, these vast resources will help you learn more about WordPress and share it with others.

Getting Started With WordPress: Get Familiar – Click here to open a private and secure WordPress site that only you can access.

Creating a 4-page business website (11 days to complete)
October 30, 2023
Essential Web Design Components for Secure Business Websites

Web developers and web designers need to take into account security measures and appropriate payment processors when designing and developing websites. Heavily regarded payment processors certified with PCI compliance, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.net should be considered.

Web hosting also needs to be taken into account, as the hosting company must offer secure encryption protocols such as Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). Additionally, the hosting company should provide daily backups. This way, customers can be sure that their private data is safe and secure.

When it comes to web design, WordPress and WooCommerce are two of the most popular content management systems for e-commerce sites.

WordPress and WooCommerce are the perfect foundation to build a successful e-commerce business or to simply collect payments. WooCommerce is a plugin for WordPress that adds a range of e-commerce features. With WooCommerce, designers can create an online store in minutes, and can easily begin collecting payments with Stripe PCI compliance. Lastly, web designers should be sure to adhere to all web design standards to ensure the website is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

When developing websites for small businesses, e-commerce, HOA neighborhoods, and other organizations with customers’ sensitive data, designers need to be vigilant and strategic in their plans. In these scenarios, web designers should employ secure certificates, trusty web hosting, and payment processors with PCI compliance. By following these guidelines, businesses can be certain that they are providing a secure and protected online experience for their customers.

September 13, 2023
New Internship Opportunity for IU O’Neill School Student, Kyle Buchanan

We are happy to announce that IU O’Neill School Student Intern, Kyle Buchanan, has joined David Martin Design. Kyle is working closely with David Martin, owner of David Martin Design, on a variety of client projects & learning about website design, web hosting, content marketing, competitive research, & SEO (search engine optimization).

Despite not specializing in the information technology field, Kyle believes he will be able to problem-solve when it comes to content and ideas he doesn’t fully understand.

Look at that handsome fella!

“For me, every job is all about problem-solving, even if you know exactly what you’re doing. The very way I came into this position was by thinking of solutions to issues I was facing. I wanted to find an internship here in Bloomington, but I was growing more and more tired of the traditional application process.”

“You either hear nothing back or you get your hopes up going through additional interviews only for the job to pick the other candidate. I thought to myself about solutions and one day I just sat down and started researching local businesses here in Bloomington, ironically using BloomingtonOnline.com that I now help manage, and came across David Martin Design.

Looking at my relevant skills when it comes to website design, I have to say that I don’t have a lot coming into this. I am a technology savvy person though so I have a basis of knowledge in what we work with, because of this relationship or lack thereof with the basics of some key aspects of David’s job, I often find myself having to put my problem-solving skills to work again and again as I find myself in new and often challenging positions. I am happy to say that in the short time I have had the chance to work with David so far I have learned so much with regards to not only technology or Google but to aspects like professional project management.”

For the past three years, Kyle has been attending IU Bloomington as a Financial Management major, and he is currently in the process of applying to law schools for next fall. We look forward to seeing great things from him!

October 2, 2021
Blogging for Business: What You Need to Know About WordPress and Content Management
Blogging is rapidly becoming an integral part of running an online business. While some business owners are quick to dismiss blogging as a waste of time and energy, the statistics are suggesting otherwise. As more and more websites start maintaining a blog, there’s an increased demand for a more blog-friendly content management system (CMS).

Although WordPress started out as a meager blogging engine, it is now considered the preeminent content management platform. As the largest CMS in the world, WordPress powers roughly 39% of websites. Its flexibility, reliability, and customizability attract web designers over other CMS competitors.

Here, we’ll explore why it’s important for businesses to understand WordPress and why publishing fresh content is a must.

WordPress JetPack Plugin – Artist Wall at the 2019 WordCamp US in St. Louis

Why Businesses Need to Know About WordPress

Whether you’ve heard about WordPress in your research about website development or this is your first exposure to it, you might be wondering what makes it so different. With dozens of other reputable platforms from which to choose, what makes WordPress so unique?

That’s a great question and one which has no shortage of answers. However, we’ll only stick to a few of the most compelling to help small business owners understand what they’re missing out on. Here are a few reasons why businesses need to know about WordPress.
1. It’s completely free.
Free…it’s music to any business owner’s ears. Unlike other content management systems, WordPress operates under what’s known as a GNU General Public License which essentially means it’s free for anyone to download, edit, and customize. When compared to other, more costly CMSs, WordPress has risen through the ranks as one of the most popular among small businesses that are trying to keep costs down. While you’ll eventually need to spend money on web hosting and domain names to get your website up and running, WordPress saves you on costs other platforms wouldn’t spare you.
1. WordPress is totally customizable.
As a business owner, you know just how vital it is to set yourself apart from competitors. A common complaint among web developers about more rigid CMSs is their lack of customizability. Due to WordPress’s open-source design, anyone is free to upload add-ons, plug-ins, and other features that maximize customizability and flexibility. If you can think it up for your website, there’s a good chance somebody has already contributed the functionality to WordPress. With a single click, you have access to tens-of-thousands of unique features. As the needs of your online business change, WordPress can easily keep up with its unmatched flexibility.
1. It’s SEO-optimized by default.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the method through which your website is primed for optimal exposure on search engines like Google to increase your chances of reaching your target audience. Without an SEO-optimized site, your content can easily get lost in the shuffle. WordPress takes the stress away by ensuring all sites made on the platform are SEO-optimized by default since their structure is recognized by most search engines. However, your website SEO can further be maximized by downloading SEO-focused plug-ins that are available to everyone.

Business Blogging Statistics

As a small business owner, it’s understandable why you might be hesitant to dedicate valuable resources to developing and maintaining a blog. You can’t afford to waste time and energy on areas of your business that won’t offer a return. Fortunately, there’s a wealth of data underscoring the positive impact that blogging can have on businesses.

Here are a few of the most impressive statistics:
- Blogs can lead to a 97% boost in indexed links and a 434% boost in indexed pages. (Demand Metric)
- 8 out of 10 internet users engage with both blogs and social media sites. (Demand Metric)
- Businesses with blogs generate 67% more monthly leads on average than their counterparts that don’t have blogs. (Demand Metric)
- Blogging businesses see 55% more online visitors than companies that don’t blog. (HubSpot)
- In 2019, marketers prioritizing blogging saw 13X more return on their investments than those who didn’t. (HubSpot)
The Importance of Publishing Fresh Content

Of course, having a blog doesn’t do small businesses any benefit if they’re not regularly updating it. Although there are several advantages of maintaining a constant stream of fresh content, there are two primary reasons:
1. Search engines prefer newer content.
2. It’ll be easier to keep your audience engaged.
When forced to choose between ranking an older site that regularly posts new content and a site of the same age that hasn’t posted in months or years, Google will rank the former website higher even if the content is relatively similar. Reflecting the demand for new and updated content, Google wants to present its users with the freshest content. Most search engines work in the same manner. In order to prime your website for higher rankings in search engines, you need to post new content regularly.

Another critical reason to keep your site updated with fresh content is to keep your audience engaged. Whether you’re wanting to catch the attention of new users or keep regular visitors coming back, you need to make sure your site is providing something worthwhile. While the content you put out matters, the rate at which it’s produced also plays a role in the overall success of your site.

If you’re a small business owner who’s ready to reap the benefits of having an optimized blog, feel free to reach out to David Martin Design. With decades of experience building and managing websites for small businesses, David knows how to maximize the return on your website investment.
March 1, 2021
5 Informative (And Free!) Web Design Tools That Can Teach You More About Your Site
Above all, websites are vehicles designed to help you achieve larger goals. For example, a restaurant’s site might be created to increase awareness and encourage patrons to visit (or order takeout). An entrepreneur might rely on a website to inform potential clients about his or her services.

While a website is an ideal tool for online marketing in the 21st century, there’s no guarantee it’ll work the way you intended. Website design requires constant monitoring, updating, and adjusting in order to ensure a site is optimized for performance.

In order to be able to make the right adjustments, you have to first gather accurate information about your site’s functionality. Fortunately, there are a plethora of online web design tools that provide insightful and in-depth data about a site’s performance. Let’s take a look at a few you should know about.
1. SEMRush
Touted by many online marketers as the premier and most comprehensive online marketing tools, SEMRush offers users an in-depth analysis of their site’s advertising information.

It offers data regarding paid and organic search traffic, domain referrals, backlinks, and more. This is all available in SEMRush’s free report, although you can unlock an even more extensive review for the paid version.

Despite being advertised as an all-in-one platform, SEMRush probably won’t eliminate the need to use other online web tools. Still, it’s a great place to start your advertising research.
1. ScanWP
If you know a site is running WordPress but aren’t sure which theme, that’s where ScanWP comes in handy. Simply plug in the URL of the site, hit “search”, and you’ll be provided with a host of helpful information such as the theme version, price, associated tags, and where the theme can be purchased.

ScanWP even comes with Plugin detection so you can get a better idea of what’s been added to the site. Compared to other online web design tools, ScanWP is rather minimal but that’s one of its advantages too! It’s a great option for WordPress fans and can even be downloaded as an extension for Chrome browser for integrated use.
1. Nibbler
Nibbler isn’t as well known as some other online web design tools, but it still earns a spot on the list. With the free version, you can put five different pages through the Nibbler tests which analyzes your site based on more than a dozen factors and offers an overall score.

The total score (out of 100%) is an aggregate rating of your site’s accessibility, experience, technology, marketing, and more. In addition to this composite score, you’ll get a deeper breakdown of each factor, giving you a better look at your site’s strengths and weaknesses.

Nibbler even offers a handy list of top priorities for improving your site.
1. GTmetrix
GTmetrix is an informative online web design tool that analyzes a site’s page performance. Whether you’re trying to improve search engine optimization (SEO) or implementing a new theme, it’s always important to know how site changes are impacting overall functionality.

In its “speed visualization” section – pictured above – GTmetrix provides an insightful breakdown of how quickly (or slowly) your site loads by second. This gives you a better idea of how users interact with your site.

This online web design tool’s report page acts as an analytics dashboard where key indicators of site load speed are neatly organized and summarized. Similar to Nibbler, you’ll also get actionable tips for improving your site page speed.
1. Pagelocity
Customer experience is an integral component of website design. If you’re looking for a web design tool that’s geared towards analyzing your site’s optimization in this area, Pagelocity is an excellent choice. Its analysis focuses on three different categories: on-page SEO, performance, and code insights.

On-page SEO offers insights into various factors on your site that are critical to SEO such as headings, keywords, and links (both internal and external). Performance analyzes your site’s composition including scripts, style files, and images to determine its overall functionality. Lastly, Code Insights goes a little more in-depth to look at a site’s markup which refers to tags, classes, and page speed.

Your Local Web Design Expert

If you’re not sure how your website is performing, David Martin Design can help. With decades of experiencing building, designing, and optimizing sites, David knows what it takes to keep websites up and running efficiently to meet your goals. Feel free to contact David to learn more.
February 15, 2021
The Top Plugins To Enhance Your WordPress Website
These are the top FREE plugins for WordPress according to WordPress.com. This data is from September 2019.
- Akismet Anti-Spam – Used by millions of websites, Akismet filters out hundreds of millions of spam comments from the Web every day. Add Akismet to your site so you don’t have to worry about spam again.
- All in One SEO Pack – Use All in One SEO Pack to optimize your WordPress site for SEO. It’s easy and works out of the box for beginners, and has advanced features and an API for developers.
- All-in-One WP Migration – This plugin exports your WordPress website including the database, media files, plugins and themes with no technical knowledge required.
- Classic Editor – Classic Editor is an official plugin maintained by the WordPress team that restores the previous (“classic”) WordPress editor and the “Edit Post” screen. It makes it possible to use plugins that extend that screen, add old-style meta boxes, or otherwise depend on the previous editor.
- Contact Form by WPForms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress – WPForms allows you to create beautiful contact forms, feedback form, subscription forms, payment forms, and other types of forms for your site in minutes, not hours!
- Contact Form 7 – Contact Form 7 can manage multiple contact forms, plus you can customize the form and the mail contents flexibly with simple markup. The form supports Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
- Duplicate Post – This plugin allows users to clone posts of any type, or copy them to new drafts for further editing.
- Elementor Page Builder – A page builder that delivers high-end page designs and advanced capabilities.
- Google Analytics Dashboard for WP by ExactMetrics (formerly GADWP) – This Google Analytics for WordPress plugin enables you to track your site using the latest Google Analytics tracking code and allows you to view key Google Analytics stats in your WordPress install.
- Google Analytics Dashboard Plugin for WordPress by MonsterInsights – With over 2 million active installs, MonsterInsights is the most popular Google Analytics plugin for WordPress.
- Google XML Sitemaps – Use this plugin to greatly improve SEO to create special XML sitemaps which will help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com to better index your site.
- Jetpack by WordPress.com – Jetpack is a popular WordPress plugin created by Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com. The plugin brings many of the most powerful features available on WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress sites and thereby contributing greatly to the improvement of WordPress powered blogs and websites.
- Really Simple SSL – Really Simple SSL automatically detects your settings and configures your website to run over https. To keep it lightweight, the options are kept to a minimum.
- TinyMCE Advanced – TinyMCE Advanced introduces a “Classic Paragraph” block for the block editor (Gutenberg). If you are not quite ready to switch to the block editor or have plugins that cannot be used there (yet), using the Classic Paragraph block is your best option. It lets you continue to use the familiar TinyMCE editor for most tasks, and at the same time gives you full access to all blocks and new features in the block editor.
- UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin – simplifies backups and restoration. It is the world’s highest-ranking and most popular scheduled backup plugin, with over two million currently-active installs. Backup your files and database backups into the cloud and restore with a single click!
- WooCommerce – With 80,876,475 downloads, WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform for building an online store (stats from Builtwith).
- Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan – Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware scanner that was built from the ground up to protect WordPress.
- WordPress Importer – The WordPress Importer will import the following content from a WordPress export file: Posts, pages and other custom post types, Comments, Custom fields and post meta, Categories, tags and terms from custom taxonomies, & Authors.
- WP Super Cache – This plugin generates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. After an html file is generated your webserver will serve that file instead of processing the comparatively heavier and more expensive WordPress PHP scripts.
- Yoast SEO – Yoast SEO is the most complete WordPress SEO plugin. It handles the technical optimization of your site & assists with optimizing your content.
December 5, 2019