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34 | Kitchen & Bath Design News January 2015 I f you've ever been online, you've undoubtedly used Google Search. Google's mission is to "organize the world's information." Google powers all kinds of search, whether it's some- one at home looking for "kitchen remodeler" or some- one on their phone looking for a great place to see coun- tertop samples. Google's method of delivering search results is complex enough that people have written books on it. I'll boil it down to something really simple: Google is trying to give you the most human and relevant search result it can. You ask Google a ques- tion, and it does it's best to return an answer that's rel- evant to you, not necessarily the result that someone paid the most money to have shown. To pull this off, Google has to collect a lot of infor- mation to get those results. On its own, Google does a pretty decent job at this. Try Googling yourself sometime. Hop on Google and search for not only your business name, but terms that your potential custom- ers would use. Things like "kitchen remodel" "cabinets" "countertops" "interior de- sign services" are all things you should check. Do this search both on your com- puter and on your phone. The results may be diferent. You should see the basics, things like your address, phone number and business hours. If you don't, it's be- cause Google has not found them yet. Thankfully, rather than wait, you can easily give this info to Google by signing up at "Google Places." There you can verify that you own or operate the business. Now that you have the ba- sics out of the way, it's time to think about your Web site. Google crawls the Web con- stantly indexing Web sites so that when a potential client searches for local remodel- ers or designers, your frm comes up. YOUR WEB SITE How does your site look? Are you proud of it? Does it have fresh content? If the answer to any of those questions is "no," then it's time to start thinking about building a new one. There are three ways you can go about this: 1. You could use a so- cial media site as your Web site. If you're already using Houzz for Facebook, you can set up pages there as your site. The beneft here is that these are very turnkey and can be set up in a matter of hours. This can be a great option for a single designer starting out. The downside is that they are basic, and not very customizable. 2. You can use an "out of the box" Web site build- ing solution. These are online services that allow you to use a template for your site. Once you have this template, you just fll in the blanks with your pictures, text and Web pages. Most of these services are very easy to use. Wordpress and Squarespace are two servic- es that are very inexpensive and make some really com- pelling Web sites. Setting either of them up requires very little in the way of technical skills. Most of the interfaces are drag-and-drop. With both of these services, you can buy or bring your own domain name. If you're thinking about using one of these services, it may be worth signing up for a trial to see what your site will look like. 3. Hire a professional. Maybe you don't have time to do it yourself, or maybe you need something that's more custom than the frst two so- lutions. Hiring a professional is one way to ensure you get the site you want. However, fnding a Web developer can be difficult. First, you need to defne the scope of the project. Does your entire business need a new identity and branding? If so, a PR frm may be a good choice. If you just need a new site, though, start by looking online for a developer. Check out their portfolio of work. Here's where things can get difcult: Just because a developer can make a great site doesn't mean it's the best site for you. The Web likes fresh content. We're in a business where having fresh pictures on our site is really important to show that we're remodeling kitch- ens and baths every day. You need to have your developer show you how easy it is for you to edit your site. They should be build- ing your site on something called a "content manage- ment system," which is a fancy term for a Web site that you can log in and edit yourself. Squarespace and Wordpress are CMSs as well, just simpler ones. If you cannot easily edit your own content, you're going to be paying that developer a lot of money every time you want to change something on your site. You also want to be wary of any developer who prom- ises to optimize your site for the most hits and trafc. While it's important that your site is visible; the amount of people isn't the primary con- cern here. You want local people to fnd your site above your competitors. Once they get there, you aren't selling them widgets, you're selling them beautifully designed kitchens. Your Web site is your digital showroom, and you want it to be easy to use and engaging to people once they get there. Good de- sign should be the focus here, not how many people a de- veloper will get on your site. MOBILE FRIENDLY No matter what route you're taking, you need to make sure that your site works well on mobile appli- cations. A lot of the options you have for building a site have a special mobile version. If you have a kitchen showroom and someone fnds your site on a desk- top, they can be presented with a stunning photo gallery when they land on your page. If they fnd you because they're looking on a cell phone, they're probably trying to drive to you or call you. Having a mobile site that puts your contact information front and center for a mobile user is really important. You'll also want to see what the experience is like on a tablet or a cell phone. Is your site easy to navi- gate? Are the menu buttons large enough for someone to use them with their fngers? Does the site even work on mobile? There's a lot of research that shows that people looking for businesses on their phone are ready to purchase, so be ready for them with your site. These are some great steps to take to make sure that your digital profle is as good as your showroom is. It's easy to forget that a de- sign client's frst experience with you often starts with an Internet search, and looking at your Web site. Making sure that experience echoes the quality of the fne cabi- netry and design you sell is critically important to your business. Eric Schimelpfenig, AKBD, has been an innovator in design and 3D technology for many years. He has worked with KraftMaid, Google, Masco and many other prominent companies in the kitchen and bath industry teaching Google Sketchup, speaking about technology and writing about innovat ions in technology. Improving Your Digital Profle Whether it's updating your Web site, making sure your Google results are accurate and complete or ensuring your site is mobile friendly, it's critical to stay on top of your digital profle. "It's easy to forget that a design client's frst experience with you often starts with an Internet search, and looking at your Web site." Read past columns and features and send us your comments about this article and others by logging onto our Web site: www.ForResidentialPros.com Design Technology { Eric Schimelpfenig, AKBD }