CONNECTED NATION – WEB DESIGN
Bowling Green Ky. (March 9, 2018) - Connected Nation launched its new website on February 1, 2018. Hatfield Media, based in Louisville, Kentucky, helped us create a user-friendly site that is engaging and accessible across multiple platforms.
They did so with a challenging deadline that included working with multiple websites.
Below is a blog first published on Hatfield’s own website on February 27, 2018. It includes great tips that you can use today to improve your online presence and, ultimately, audience, donor, and/or customer engagement.
~Jessica Denson, Communications Manager
WHY IMAGES ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR WEBSITE STRATEGY
Client: Connected Nation
Most business owners would do just about anything to increase customer traffic, convert more leads, and boost their organic search rankings. And while original content, keywords, and meta tags can do wonders to develop your SEO, there’s one often overlooked factor that contributes to your site’s rankings: User experience, or how effective your website is in sending your message and helping your user complete his/her goal.
The good news is you have some measure of control over this part of your website by including high-quality images. This is one simple and effective way you can improve your site’s user experience and, at the same time, enhance your SEO. Covered in this post are the basic rules and benefits of adding photos to your website. The value of doing so can then be assessed through the increased amount of leads your site converts and the higher organic search rankings it receives.
Effectively used, images can help drive more visitors to your website, promote social sharing and ultimately help drive business goals such as sales.
CONNECTED NATION – BRINGING HIGH SPEED INTERNET TO THE UNITED STATES
Connected Nation believes that everyone should have opportunities to improve their lives, families, and communities regardless of who they are, where they live, or how they begin. As a whole, they develop and provide the tools, resources, and methods that help states and communities create and implement solutions to their broadband and digital technology gaps.
Connected Nation assists local, state, and federal organizations assess their broadband and technology access and provides solutions to expanding adoption and use to more people. This includes school technology assessments, the development of community-specific Technology Action Plans, and implementing digital job training programs within communities.
CN has provided training for over 80,000 new computer users and has donated over 10,000 devices in partnership with foundations and public and private funders. Additionally, CN has helped thousands of vulnerable individuals get access to low-cost high-speed Internet.
IMPACT-DRIVEN IMAGERY
Here are the top five ways Hatfield Media used imagery to get the Connected Nation message across to users when visiting their site.
CLARITY
We wanted to be clear on what Connected Nation stands for, who they serve, and what they do best. In addition, we felt it was important to highlight what they do using big, bold, beautiful images. When you’re clear on how you’re different and what results and benefits others will experience by interacting and engaging with you, marketing and sales becomes almost effortless.
HUMAN FACES
No matter the type of content on a page, users will always tend to gravitate to images of faces first, and text second. Eye-tracking studies confirm this fact as well as the fact that we return to those faces multiple times as we consume the information on the page. That means that a face will, quite literally, give users their first impression of a website, and continue to influence a user’s experience as they go. For UX designers, faces can be a strong tool that, when used correctly, can powerfully enhance an experience.
COLOR PALLETTE
ConnectedNation.com is a website that put a lot of attention into their visual design in garnering the trust of its audience. The color palette is clean and fresh and the use of subtle gradients and shadows give the website that extra polish. The red, white, and navy blue is representative of their work across the nation. The tone in the photos is soothing while the use of the complimentary yellow makes calls to action stand out and inspire the desired action.
REAL PHOTOS
Put a real face to your name! No matter how professional the stock photo, it will always be someone else’s vision and someone else’s interpretation of the idea, concept, emotion, etc. that you are trying to convey. As the old adage goes, “a picture is worth a 1000 words.” When it comes to your website, why would you want those words to be someone else’s? With custom photography by the Hatfield team, you have control over what thoughts and emotions your website conveys. From a marketing perspective, that is HUGE. Regardless of whether it is a personal purchase decision or one for business, emotions and feelings always have an impact on decisions, even if it is a small impact.
BRING YOUR MISSION STATEMENT TO LIFE
The first step in building admiration from the inside is to ensure that visitors to your website trust, love, and respect the brand mission itself. To do so, make sure your company’s mission statement or its embodiment is featured in an enabling, enticing, and enriching way.
Parting Words
Don’t just use images for the sake of using images. Use images for a greater purpose beyond filling up white space or making a web page more visually interesting. With a little forethought and consideration, images can be a powerful type of content that will enhance the user’s experience on your website.
POWERFUL WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT
Hatfield Media provides full service website design and development, as well as video production, search engine optimization and digital marketing services. If your business or organization is currently seeking a new partner in this field, we would love to have the opportunity to meet with you and learn more about your goals for 2018!