Posts by Amy Masson
Setting up online book for tours
I pretty regularly get inquiries from companies that offer tours. As a regular traveler, these inquires excited me, because I have a pretty good idea of what the customer is looking for and how to accommodate them. What I always tell them is they need to offer ONLINE BOOKING. Many people balk at my suggestion. They…
Read MoreSetting up a donation form with GiveWP
I’m no stranger to setting up payment forms on websites. If you’ve been a client of mine, you’ve probably even used one to pay me. But I was tasked with coming up with a payment form that would not only allow one-time donations as well as recurring donations and show a ticker so people can…
Read MoreWords Matter
What you put on your website is as important as how it looks. So when it’s time to write copy, there are a few things you should consider. What do you want your customers to know? Think about it this way – most people don’t land on your site on accident. They land there because they…
Read MoreThe new Google reCAPTCHA
Do you hate CAPTCHAs? Me too! As someone who uses technology on a daily basis, I can’t tell you how irritating it can be to not be able to enter the CAPTCHA correctly. The truth is that using CAPTCHAs has been studied, and it does have an adverse affect on your conversion rate. People will try…
Read MoreWe can set up and manage your Facebook Ads
Did you know that 58% of the entire adult population of the world have a Facebook account? Facebook has not only become the default social media app for most of the world, but it’s also become one of the biggest news sources for people. So if you haven’t considered using it for advertising, maybe it’s time…
Read MoreHappy 11th Birthday to Us!
It’s hard to believe that Sumy Designs has been in business now for 11 years! Last year to celebrate our tenth anniversary we redesigned our site and created a brand new video. We still really love our site and video, so no update to this year other than regular blog posts and tweaks. I thought it…
Read MoreShould you auto-post to social media?
There’s not one simple answer. So I say maybe. But more often lately I’m leaning toward no. If you use Jetpack, there’s a sharing option that allows you to connect your blog to all your social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Path, and Google Plus. You can easily set this up with a…
Read MoreMore Tips for Creating Great Newsletters
In my last post, I wrote about how to have an effective newsletter sign up. Just popping a sign-up box on your website isn’t enough to engage your readers, you have to offer great value and give your subscribers a compelling reason to subscribe. After you get subscribers, though, you still have to send a newsletter.…
Read MoreTips for Effective Newsletter Sign Ups
You can barely go to a website these days without being asked to subscribe to a newsletter. But what makes someone more likely to subscribe? In a word: Value. Be sure your newsletter is offering value. Just popping in a box that says “subscribe” isn’t going to compel someone to sign up for your newsletter. What…
Read MoreWordPress updates matter
I’m a pretty big stickler about updates. Update your software, do it often – it’s my number one hacking prevention tip. At least once a week I login and run updates for my own sites, as well as clients on our support packages. Sometimes more than once a week even. I’m regularly running updates because I know they…
Read MoreHow to dominate your local search results in 3 simple steps
If you are a local business, meaning a business that offers goods and/or services within a geographically-limited area, I have some good news for you. You can dominate your local search results. And it’s not even that hard, it just a commitment on your part to put in the time to make it happen. Step One: Claim…
Read MoreNot everyone needs a custom website
Probably 95% of the websites we make are our own custom creations. Most of our clients come to us because they want a professional website that doesn’t look like every other website out there. So that’s what we do. We pride ourselves in coming up with beautiful, original website designs for our clients. But here’s…
Read MoreRules for using Social Media for Business
We work with a lot of new small businesses, start ups who want to get involved in social media to help promote their business. This is a great idea, but I have a few social media rules that you should follow. Sumy Designs Social Media Rule #1: Don’t set up any social media account that…
Read MoreHow to add SSL encryption to your WordPress site
Am I harping on encryption? Yes. Yes I am. Sorry not sorry. It’s important. So you probably want to know, at this point, HOW do you get it on your site? There are three basic steps to this, but with anything, these steps can be simple or complex. Get SSL Install SSL Change site to…
Read MoreHow to optimize your blog post for social media
If you are reading this, you’re probably on Twitter or Facebook or both. And you may have a blog. We are huge supporters of blogging because it’s great for you, great for your business, and great for the search engines. You’ll learn more about yourself and your own business by doing it, as well as…
Read MoreThere’s no such thing as a hack-proof website
Nobody wants their site to be hacked. But one myth that we all need to let go is that there is something you can do that will make it 100% impossible for someone to hack into your website. The only 100% effective way to not be hacked is to not have a website. If there…
Read MorePage Speed Matters
Is your site slow? If so, it’s a bigger issue than ever before. Last weekend I attended WordCamp US and one of the big sessions that was standing room only was a talk called “A View from Google: The Latest in Search and Mobile” by Maile Ohye. Unlike many of the speakers at WordCamp, Maile isn’t…
Read MoreEncryption is not the same as security
There’s been a lot of talk about SSL lately, mostly because next year Google Chrome is going to start showing alerts in the browser on unencrypted sites. But they’ve been pushing for encryption for two years now. It’s been a ranking factor in their search algorithm for two years and now even WordPress is pushing for…
Read MoreThis one time at WordCamp
I love WordCamp. This weekend, I had the opportunity to go to the second annual WordCamp US, and it was fantastic. What is WordCamp? WordCamp is a conference that’s all about WordPress. They have smaller ones all over the country all the time. I’ve been to them in Las Vegas, Chicago, Columbus, and Boston, as…
Read MoreWhat’s a CDN and should you use one?
CDN stands for Content Delivery Network. It’s basically a network of servers that deliver static content from websites to users based on their geographic location. So let me break this down for you to try to make it more clear, because it can be confusing. When you go to a website like sumydesigns.com, that website…
Read MoreHow Google AdWords Bidding Works
Getting started using Google AdWords can be really daunting and confusing. Luckily, we’re here to help you out. One of the things people get most confused about is keyword bidding. What is keyword bidding? When ads are set up in Google, you select your keyword phrases. These are the terms that you hope will trigger…
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