The Rocket Blog

The Easiest CMS Around

We believe updating your website shouldn’t be difficult. Once you have access to your website you should know how to use it. The days of contacting a webmaster to a make a simple change to your site are over.

That is why all websites we build run on our RocketFuel CMS, a powerful content management system we created. It is one of the easiest to use content management systems available which means you will be able to update and control your website from day 1. 

Our system is so easy we promise once we build your site and hand it over we will train you to use it in just an hour.  (It's a fun hour. Trust us.)

Now With Even More Support

Now we also have created an awesome new CMS support section covering any questions you might still have about your website and how to manage it. Forgot how to upload a file or put a YouTube video on your site? We've got you covered.

Consider it a reference guide available for your 24/7 in case you have a question or need a training refresher.

It covers all the basics including general questions, adding & editing content, managing media, optimizing your site, and other frequently asked questions.

We are still available via phone or email to answer any questions, but now you have even more helpful options. We're supportive like that.

Suggestions?

We've covered the basics in the support section but you might want more. Have any questions you want answered? Have topics you want covered? Let us know! Just shoot us an email and we will include your topic in the ever growing support section.

We've been busy launching sites and getting even more ready for clients to send them out there into the world. Today we want to share a checklist of items you should accomplish before launching your website (whether you are with us or on your own).

Before you launch your site, go through this list and check off the items!

• Approve the final design. The first step to launching your site is finalizing the design. Once you've said yes to the final look of the site the rest is just details.
• Add content. Add content to your website so there is something for people to read and interact with when they finally arrive at your site. Creating and adding content before launch will also give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the content management system and how to operate your website.
• Proofread. Nothing gives a worse first impression than a website full of content with spelling and grammar errors. Make sure the content you use when launching a website is error free and the best possible content you can create.
• Request small changes or tweaks. You may approve the final look and layout of the site and then later realize it needs some small changes. This happens when you start adding content and working with the site, which is a big reason why we recommend doing this for a period of time before launching. Request the small changes you want before launching the site.
• Create social media accounts and connect them to the site. If you don't already have a social media account for your company or website then you should create one and start sharing and connecting before the site launches. Once you have an account add your links to the website so visitors can find you on social media sites.
• Plug in your mailing list information. Before launch make sure you have a mailing list signup on your site and it is working properly.  Catching email list signups from the beginning is important!
• Add analytics. We do this automatically for our clients but it's important to remember if you are launching a site on your own. Make sure analytics is loaded into your site and you have access to the information before launch so you have information from every single visitor.
• Tell everyone about it! Talk up the website launch before it happens. This is a critical step a lot of people miss but can help you create a successful website launch. You should mention the new site both before it's launched to build excitement and then again when it is actually launched to bring in traffic.

These are the last minute items that sometimes get rushed or forgotten in the excitement of finally launching a website. We do a large majority of this for RocketFuel clients (and more) when launching a site, but we know that knowledge is power and sharing this information will help anyone involved in launching a new website!

We love people with big dreams, probably because we have pretty big dreams ourselves.

So it's no wonder we love our client Nancy Roe who has the goal to be a published author by age 50. She has set the goal and has until November 2012 to accomplish it.

Nancy also dreamed up a new website and blog to share her journey and her organizational and crafty ways with the world. She calls it "The Nancy Way" and describes it like this:

"What is the nancy way? The Nancy Way is a manner of living that reflects a person's values, attitudes, and possessions. I hope you enjoy the organization tips, recipes, craft ideas, software tips, and the articles my dog writes for me (one must have a sense of humor)."

Nancy shares a lot of valuable tips for living a more organized and fruitful life.

We created Nancy's website and blog to showcase her talent and way of living. Just like The Nancy Way, the site is organized, clear of unnecessary clutter, and pleasing to the eye. It fits into Nancy's style and what she wants to preach on the site.

Make sure you check out The Nancy Way and browe the blog full of crafts, recipes, organization tips, and more!

Happy Holidays & Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a new year filled with good health, happiness and prosperity.

Make sure you have some fun while you're at it.

That's our plan!

"Does anyone there speak German?"

We don't hear that question very often at RocketFuel.

Actually, we've only heard it once.

Surprisingly the question came via a phone call several months ago when amixon inc. was looking for a local company to create a US version of their German based company website.

amixon® develops and produces process apparatuses for the processing industry. They focus on building food and sterile apparatuses which meet the highest hygiene requirements for food industries.

We might not speak German (we know about ten words between everyone in the office), but we definitely know how to build websites. Good thing speaking German wasn't a requirement.

amixon needed a simple website for the US market that would act as a counterpart to their German version of the site.

We created the amixon mixing technology website for them with this in mind. The site stays stylistically close enough to the German that they are complementary while still getting out the information to a different audience in the US. The site shares information about amixon, about amixon products, and amixon processing.

We think it is a pretty nifty little site, even if it isn't in German.

Product Pages Are Key

We've seen e-commerce sites come and go over the years and we've helped create some successful online stores for clients. But having a beautifully designed e-commerce website is not the only thing needed for success. We've noticed the sites that succeed all have something in common: great product pages.

Great product pages bring in visitors through search engines and entice visitors to buy. Without great product pages you online store will not live up to it's full potential.

What makes a great product page?

There are a few things you need to create a great product page. These include:

• Great photos. Photos draw visitors in and are a huge selling point for online stores. They are so important in fact that successful shopping sites like Zappos do all their own photography of products for sale on the site.
• Unique content. Unique content on product pages differentiates your site from other sites that sell the same products. The biggest mistake many sites make is copying product content from the manufacturer's site without making any changes. Instead you should create your own engaging and unique content for each product page. This will offer more value to shoppers and also help you rank better in the search engines.
• Search Engine Optimization. Search engines are the biggest source of traffic for most e-commerce sites. You should optimize product pages based on keyword research using unique titles, headers, and content, with good site architecture and external links to complement this work.
• User generated content. User generated content like reviews contribute an extra element to product pages that adds depth to your site. Many people shopping online read reviews first and base buying decisions on the reviews they read, which means user generated content can be a strong component on your product pages.

If you focus on implementing the above items on your e-commerce site's product pages we promise you will have a more succesful site.

Off The Square Catering

Off The Square Catering in Memphis offers stylish catering at affordable prices for weddings, corporate events, and private events.

They are located just off Overton Square, hence the name, and they cater events all over Memphis.

We've had the food and we can promise you it's good.

We also promise Off The Square Catering now has a great website. (But we might be biased.)

Off The Square Catering Website Design

User experience is our second highest priority after design so we made sure the website was easy to navigate and made sense for potential Off The Square customers.

We wanted to highlight the menu options (they do custom menus too) without forcing visitors to download a pdf menu on everything is available on the site. We gave Off The Square photo gallery capabilities to showcase their outstanding former cake and pastry work.

Keeping it simple and stylish but very user friendly best matches the clientele Off The Square hopes to bring in. We are confident the newly designed website will bring in more customers. (We love helping local businesses succeed!)

Mmm, Cakes!

The Off The Square Catering website gives visitors the necessary catering information like sample meal plans.

The real star of the show is Off The Square's cakes section which showcases all the amazing cakes they have made for previous events. We may have drooled a little bit creating galleries filled with yummy photos of Wedding Cakes, Kids Cakes, Crazy Cakes, and Petit Fours and Cookies.

Make sure you check out the new Off the Square Catering website. You won't be disappointed, but you might be hungry!

RocketFuel is happy to share our most recently launched client website: Advance Electric Co., Inc.

Advance Electric is a full-service electrical contractor that has been servicing the mid-south for over twenty-five years.

They have a reputation for taking on a variety of commercial and industrial projects of all complexities and sizes, which can be seen in their projects.

Advance Electric has been powering the Mid-South since 1984. Now they've got a RocketFuel powered website. Since 2011.

Though Advance Electric has been proudly serving the mid-south since 1984 their website looked almost as old. When they approached us they needed an update that would bring their website into the new century where their business already was.

We swapped out the previous harsh and hard to read red and black color scheme on the previous site design for a more modern and calming blue and white based website that matched the Advance Electric logo. Overall we made the new website more user friendly instantly thanks to a simple but great web design.

We made the new website for Advance Electric more dynamic in many areas. Instead of just a plain list of services we made the services section of the website more dynamic and interactive with photos and more information for each area of services.

We think the website looks great and so do our friends at Advance Electric. Hop on over to check out the site yourself and let us know what you think!

Content Creation Suggestions

The hardest part about having a robust website that people actually want to visit is creating the content. These days there is so much content online that you have to create outstanding content that rises above the rest in order to capture visitor's attention for a time. The following suggestions will help you create content people actually want to read.

• Be interesting. The most important thing you need is interesting content. Interesting usually means different or exciting and depending on what industry you are in this will mean different things. But above all other things remember to make your web content interesting.
• Be linkworthy. The internet runs on links. You want other websites to link to yours, which increases your visitors and your rankings in search engines. This means the content you create for the web needs to be worthy of receiving links from other website. In other words, create the best content you can.
• Be helpful. One way to get those links that you need is to create helpful content. The majority of people online aren't interested in you - they are only interested in themselves and what your content can do for them. Create content that helps people by giving details instructions, information they can't get elsewhere, etc.
• Or be controversial. Often being controversial online and asserting differeng opinions gets more links than anything. Creating a controversial article or blog post will attract both people that agree and disagree with you widening your content's overall exposure.
• Encourage interaction. All web content is now social. Blogs have comments and web pages have the ability to share. Encourage visitors to leave comments or otherwise interact with your content by answering poll questions or sharing an article on social media platforms.
• Have a call to action. If you are a business this is especially important. When you create web content be sure to end with a call to action for the reader/customer. Ask them to call you, email your company, fill out a form, etc. Create content with the purpose of getting your reader to act.
• Proofread before publishing. Use spellcheck. Check for proper grammar and punctuation. Make sure your web content is worthy of being published before you actually publish it. It increases authority and makes your website look more professional.

Content Formatting Guidelines

If you' follow the suggestions above and create outstanding web content then the last step is to make sure your content looks good. It's amazing how fast people flee from a poorly designed site with hard to read content. Believe us, we know. If you've got a web design from RocketFuel you will have nothing to worry about but just in case here are some guidelines to help you make sure your content for the web doesn't scare people off based on looks.

• Break the content up. People don't read web content - they scan it. You need to break up content on a web page so it's easier for a visitor to skim read. Break up all the big paragraphs and use more breaks to make it easier to scan.
• Use headings. Headings make web content much easier to scan and read. Use headings on your web page to break up the sections of content as well as gain an added SEO benefit.
• Use lists. Lists are the ultimate in easy to scan reading material. Using lists regularly on your website helps visitors get information they want quickly.
• Use bold and italics for emphasis. Using these gets a point across and lets the viewer know what is important. Use these rather than resorting to all caps or other annoying methods.
• Use easy to read colors and fonts. White text on black backgrounds makes content harder to read. You want to make things as easy as possible on your website so avoid hard to read fonts and color combinations that detract from what you are trying to say.

Following these basic guidelines will give you a head start on creating web content that will succeed. Good luck!

It's always exciting to start a web design project from scratch. We recently had the opportunity to do just that with Memphis Kitchen & Bath.  

Owner Bob Ranson came to us with almost three decades of experience in kitchen design and a new business that needed a website. We set to work designing a new website from the ground up for a new business built on years of experience. 

Since a big portion of the website was about showing off previous work we created a rotating banner on the homepage to show off previously created kitchens in addition to a portfolio page. The portfolio section of the website showed more in depth examples including explanations and photos of a comfortable kitchen, a classic kitchen, and a modern elegance kitchen. Memphis Kitchen & Bath has room to grow and expand their online portfolio as they complete more kitchen design projects.

In addition to showcasing work Memphis Kitchen & Bath has already done we wanted the website to show what they can do for each potential new customer. This meant explaining the work process and highlighting the various aspects of kitchen design offered like cabinetry, hardware, and countertops. The wood grain background of the website complements the style of work done by Memphis Kitchen & Bath, hopefully just adding further encouragement to all those customers looking for new wood cabinets!

Additionally we created an area to showcase Memphis Kitchen & Bath's biggest asset: previous experience. This resulted in a more in depth about section that shows experience and testimonials from previous clients. Altogether the website shows potential new clietns that Memphis Kitchen & Bath is a professional company they can trust.

Have you seen the new Memphis Kitchen & Bath site yet? Check it out!