Use Customer Reviews to Your Advantage as Content

Published September 25, 2023

In today’s digital age, customer reviews are more important than ever when it comes to creating content. Consumers rely on reviews to make informed decisions about products and services they are interested in purchasing. Therefore, businesses that prioritize customer feedback and utilize it in their marketing strategy have a competitive advantage.

Having positive reviews can lead to increased sales and brand visibility. Customers are more likely to trust a business that has positive reviews from other customers. Additionally, negative reviews can provide businesses with valuable feedback to improve their products or services.

Customer reviews can be a great source of content for any business. Not only can they help improve products and services, but they can also be used to create valuable content that can attract new customers. Here are a few tips on how to use customer reviews for content.

Use Reviews as Testimonials

Highlight positive reviews on a website or social media channels to showcase the positive experiences customers have had with the business. Positive reviews from satisfied customers can be an incredibly powerful tool in building trust and credibility with potential customers. Here are some tips on how to make the most of positive reviews:

  1. Feature the best reviews prominently on a website: This could be a dedicated page or a widget that displays reviews on the homepage.
  2. Share reviews on social media: Sharing positive reviews on social media channels can help increase reach and engagement. Specific social media graphics that highlight the best reviews can be created to make them stand out from other posts.
  3. Respond to positive reviews: Take the time to respond to positive reviews and thank customers for their feedback. This shows that there is value for their opinion and the business cares about their experience.
  4. Use positive reviews in marketing materials: Consider using quotes from positive reviews in marketing materials, such as in email newsletters or on business cards.

Create a Q&A Blog Post

Compile a list of common questions customers have and use customer reviews to answer them. This will provide valuable information for potential customers and help address concerns they may have. Using common questions as a blog post is an excellent way to create high-quality content that is both engaging and informative for readers. To begin, identify a list of relevant common questions related to the topic of the blog post. This can be done through research or by drawing from personal experience and knowledge.

Once questions have been identified, structure the blog post to address each question in detail. Start with an introduction that sets the stage for the blog post, and then move on to each question. For each question, provide a clear and concise answer that is supported by evidence, research, or personal experience.

To make a blog post more engaging, consider including examples, anecdotes, or case studies to illustrate points. Additionally, use images, videos, or infographics to break up the text and make the content more visually appealing.

Finally, be sure to conclude every blog post with a summary of the key points covered in the post and a call-to-action that encourages readers to engage with your content further.

Create a Product Comparison Guide

Use customer reviews to create a comparison guide that highlights the differences between products and competitor products. This can be a useful tool for customers who are trying to make a purchasing decision. This can also become a pros versus cons piece, as well all know that product reviews include good and bad results. If there is an issue with a competitor product, maybe write how your product fixes the issue. If a competitor product has something similar, speak about your product’s advantages. Use all of the customer feedback to improve content and products in the end. Take note of any common themes or concerns that customers mention in their reviews and then use this feedback to improve content and address any issues that may be preventing customers from making a purchase.

The Bottom Line

Businesses can leverage customer reviews to create compelling content. For example, they can showcase positive reviews on their website or social media pages. They can also use customer feedback to create blog posts or videos that provide insight into their products or services. Not only does this demonstrate transparency, but it also shows that the business values customer opinions. Need help with creating blogs, social media posts or emails? Contact our team and we can assist.

 

Starting A Website in 3 Steps

Published September 11, 2023

A website is an essential and powerful tool for any business in today’s digital age. It not only helps a business establish an online presence but also enables it to reach a wider audience, which can increase its customer base and revenue. A website can serve as an online storefront, showcasing the products or services a business offers, and making them accessible to customers worldwide.

Moreover, a website is a great way to provide important information about the business. Customers can easily access the contact information, hours of operation, and pricing, which can help them determine whether the business meets their needs. This can save time and effort for both the business and the customers.

Sounds like a website does a lot for a business, right? That is why we make it really easy for you to start a website in 3 easy steps: 1) Choose a host 2) Choose a Web Address 3) Choose a Theme

1) What is a Hosting Plan?

When creating a website, there are several key decisions to make in order to ensure a successful outcome. One of the most important decisions is choosing the right hosting plan. 

A website host is a service that allows individuals or organizations to make their website accessible on the internet. Essentially, a website host provides the necessary technologies and infrastructure to store and serve up website content to visitors who access the website through a web browser. It is a place to store the files that make up your site, such as images, videos, and HTML documents.

There are many different types of website hosts available, each with different features and pricing plans. Some website hosts offer shared hosting, which means multiple websites are stored on the same server. Others offer dedicated hosting, which provides a server exclusively for your website.

Our team has several host options available and preferences as to why we use certain ones. Ask us whatever questions you may have about this at anytime!

2) What Is Your Web Address?

Another important decision is whether to choose your web address, also known as domain name, now or later. While it may be tempting to wait until later stages of development, choosing a domain early on can help you establish your brand and provide a clear direction for your website.

Here are some tips to help you choose a web address that will be effective and memorable:

  1. Keep it short and simple – Shorter domain names are easier to remember and type accurately. Avoid using hyphens or numbers, as they can make the domain name harder to remember and pronounce.
  2. Make it easy to spell – Avoid using unusual spellings or words that are commonly misspelled. This will help ensure that your audience can easily find your website.
  3. Use keywords – Incorporating relevant keywords into your domain name can help improve your search engine ranking and make it easier for potential customers to find you online.
  4. Consider your brand – If you already have an established brand name, consider using that as your domain name. This can help build brand recognition and make it easier for customers to find you online.
  5. Check availability – Before settling on a domain name, make sure it is available for registration. You can use a domain name registrar to search for available domain names and register your chosen domain.

3) Make Your Website Look Good with a Theme

Once you have your hosting plan and domain in place, the next step is to choose a theme. This will determine the overall look and feel of your website, and can help you establish a visual identity that will be memorable to your visitors.

Designing a theme for a website can seem like a daunting task, but with a little planning and creativity help from our team, it can be a fun and rewarding experience. Here are a few steps to help you get started:

  1. Determine the purpose and audience of your website: Before you start designing your theme, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the purpose of your website and the audience you’re targeting. This will help you choose appropriate colors, fonts, and imagery that will appeal to your intended audience.
  2. Choose a color scheme: Once you have a clear understanding of your website’s purpose and audience, you can choose a color scheme that reflects the mood and tone you want to convey. Keep in mind that different colors can evoke different emotions, so choose colors that align with your website’s purpose and message.
  3. Select fonts: Choose fonts that are easy to read and complement your website’s design. Stick to a maximum of 2-3 fonts to avoid cluttering your website.
  4. Create a layout: Sketch out a rough layout of your website, including where you want to place your content, images, and navigation menus. This will help you visualize how your website will look and make it easier to start designing your theme.
  5. Add images and graphics: Images and graphics can make your website more visually appealing and help convey your message. Choose images that are relevant to your content and align with your website’s color scheme and overall design.
  6. Test your design: Once you’ve created your theme, test it on different devices and browsers to ensure it looks good and functions properly.

The Bottom Line

Website Design and Management is a fundamental component in your business’s overall Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Your website design needs to be a combination of marketing, brand, user experience, and accessibility.  With Triple-Nine, you can leave the website development, management and security to us, so you can stay focused on your business.

The Easiest How-To Guide for Creating a Website

Published March 21, 2023

There are millions upon millions of websites on the Internet today. Users can literally search for anything and the search engine will populate an eye opening amount of results. Each website is unique and owned by someone, but how does someone even start to build a website? Let’s discuss the basics from a beginner level of what some terms are, how a website gets created and the secret to obtaining a spot on the Internet!

Definitions

Web​site – a group of World Wide Web pages usually containing hyperlinks to each other and made available online by an individual, company, educational institution, government, or organization. A web page is a page of a website. Think of it as a book. The book is the website and the chapters are the web pages. But then there is a sequel to the book…and that is a link on the website that takes you to another website! 

Web Server – an Internet-connected computer that receives the request for a web page sent by your browser. The server is the book store, where you need to go to be able to obtain the book.

Web Browser – connects your computer to the server through an IP address. Examples of web browser are:

  • Google Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Internet Explorer
  • Safari

The web browser is how you search for information at the bookstore. This actually could be better explained as the card catalog at a library. The old Dewey decimal system! 

Step 1: The Domain Name

A domain name is a sequence of usually alphanumeric characters (such as Tripleninedigital.com) that specifies a group of online resources (as of a particular company or person) and that forms part of the corresponding Internet addresses

A domain name is quite literally your web address. Just like the bookstore has an address, so does your website. Your domain name should be something that is easily identifiable, doesn’t have a weird spelling, and makes a good impression for search engine optimization. 

When trying to figure out a good domain name, the best place to start is by doing your own search of similar websites and what their domain names are. Once you decide on a name you like, do a search to see if the price point to purchase it is feasible. Whether it is something that is wide open or owned by someone else, it will need to be purchased either way.

Some places that a domain name can be purchased from include:

  • Domain.com
  • Bluehost
  • Hostinger
  • GoDaddy

Step 2: The Website Host

In a nutshell, web hosting is the process of renting or buying space from a company (server) to house a website on the World Wide Web. Website content such as HTML, CSS, and images have to be housed on a server to be viewable online.

Think of it as renting an apartment. The website host is the landlord that owns the apartment. You want to rent that apartment so you can have all of your stuff inside of it. Your bedroom, your kitchen, your living room are all of your web pages and your bed, stove and couch would be your website content. 

You connect your domain name to your hosting provider so that when users visit your website address, they are shown your website that you store on your hosting account.

Some popular website hosting companies include:

  • GoDaddy
  • DreamHost
  • Bluehost
  • InMotion
  • SiteGround

Hosting services can cost anywhere between $2 to $100+ per month, depending on the kind of technology and support you choose. 

Step 3: Implement the Content Management System

Some websites are built and managed using Content Management Systems (CMS) like:

  • WordPress
  • Joomla
  • ExpressionEngine
  • Squarespace
  • Drupal
  • Wix

Thanks to the technology of these CMS, they are mostly user-friendly and you don’t need to know much HTML to manage them. Some are more expensive than others, but they all provide a valuable tool to the website creator – a way to easily build what people see on their screens when searching for you on the Internet.

Step 4: Want to Sell? Then You’ll Need an E-Commerce Platform

Not just every website comes with the capability to sell on the Internet. E-commerce is commercial transactions conducted electronically on the Internet. Another expense for your website, but could make you a great profit if done right!

Some examples of e-commerce platforms are:

  • WooCommerce
  • Shopify
  • Business Squarespace
  • Wix
  • GoDaddy Online Store

Step 5: Maintaining Your Website

All websites should have a maintenance plan in place. This means back-ups of your files, monitoring website uptime, updating website software and managing website content. It is very important to know that websites can, and do, crash (break). The most recent website crash that comes to mind that many people will know about is when Taylor Swift’s tour tickets went on sale on Ticket Master’s website and it crashed. 

There are several reasons why websites crash. Sometimes they are easy to fix and other times it takes a professional to navigate the reasoning. A few of the most common reasons for a crash include:

  • Broken code
  • Plugin errors
  • Update issues
  • Server or hosting provider errors
  • Massive traffic spike (Taylor Swift fans!)
  • Expired domain
  • Malicious attacks

If your website is not working properly, make sure other websites are working properly that aren’t yours to make sure it isn’t an Internet connection problem. If the Internet is working, then we suggest starting with whoever hosts or manages your website to see if they have any issues on their end. Make sure everything is updated and if there was recently an update, there might be a coding issue. This is where it can be tricky to manage your own website as coding is like a whole other language. Talk to your management team for some help when it comes to this problem.

Step 6: The Secret to The Best Website – Hire a Developer to Do All of This for You

If you have made it this far without your head spinning in circles, then you may be a great candidate to build and maintain your own website. However, if you don’t have any background in web development or programming, then hiring a developer is your best bet. A web developer is someone who can make creating and maintaining your website their priority while you focus on other things. And hiring a web developer who has an agency connection is even better if you are a business owner.

The Bottom Line

A website can be a good investment for anyone who has information they want to spread out to the whole world on the Internet. However, it can be very tricky to build a website that is engaging, user-friendly and pretty to the viewer. That is why when it comes to websites, even if you have a small background in coding, we always suggest teaming up with an agency that specializes in website development so you have a team on hand to help when questions arise.