Wolf Craft - 7 Tips to Improve Your Website Design

Has anyone else been experiencing an uptick in general work? Who knew the last quarter of the year would be intense!?

Recently we've been pushing full steam ahead with our reporting clients. These are usually companies who don't have a PR strategy and need help creating a roadmap for what we call a Content Ecosystem- basically how to create public-facing pillar content that supports your main talking points and can get repurposed for social media, newsletters, project pages, pitches, etc. It's something everyone needs, from an independent, one-person shop, all the way up to a multi-national corp with thousands of employees.

As part of this process we're always looking over draft articles, bullet points, project descriptions, things like that. A common thread? A lot of this copy is missing the really interesting details.

It's common to be so **in** your work, that you don't know how to tell your story in a way that's useful to potential clients, the media, collaborators, even current employees. To tease out the story-worthy details we've started recording zoom calls where we talk through project images. We think this is a great tactic for any creative who's having trouble writing about their work.

Or you know, you could always work with us on a Tweak and Edit :)

Show, Don't Tell

7 Tips to Improve Your Website Design
This post is the second in a two-part series that walks you through sixteen specific and actionable website design tips for the most important pages on any product-based businesses’ website.

These website design tips are centered on how to communicate what you do and sell better with the people who come across your website for the first time and don’t know anything about your business — editors, future clients, and potential collaborators alike.

Good Links Round Up

1. 5 tools that make marketing your creative biz easier
As Janine of feel good retail says- “There are a lot of shiny objects out there when it comes to running your business.” It’s hard to know which tools are even worth looking into. This list of essential marketing tools is a great place to start for any creative biz owner. We're big newsletter advocates, so we think you’ll find the newsletter search engine on this list especially helpful.

2. How to make sure your logo reflects your creative business
We’ve been reviewing A LOT of creative business’ websites recently and logo design keeps coming up as a topic that people are interested in. It also often happens to be an element that many businesses can improve upon. In the spirit of giving the people what they want, we dug through our spreadsheet of great websites to surface logo design inspiration from twelve creative companies to tell you what’s working and why.

3. Tips for selling at craft fairs
After two years of wayyyyy less human interaction, the thought of talking to a ton of new people while selling your work at a holiday fair may feel overwhelming. This post from Girl Gang Craft’s marketing manager Amanda walks through six easy-to-implement tips to effectively sell your work in person. In our favorite tip - “Build Your Mailing List + Take Notes” - Amanda gives great advice on how you can use notes to meaningfully reach out to customers later.

4. How to retarget via email after an abandon cart
If you’re looking for actually helpful marketing advice, Thomas McKinly’s newsletter, Ariyh, only includes actionable tips based on actual research. In this edition, he walks you through the most effective time to remind people about their missed purchase so you make more sales. Hint- 1-3 days is the optimal window and the article talks through why it works and the steps to implement for your biz.

5. 8 ways to (authentically!) get Instagram followers in 2021
Okay, okay. There are literally hundreds of articles online about how to get more Insta followers, and you probably know basically what to do, like posting regularly and using their newest format Reels. BUT sometimes a super clear article that lays out exactly how to hone your Instagram strategy is just the reminder you need to get your social media work back on track.

Wolf Craft Pro Tip

Don’t be afraid to follow up!
Sent a pitch...and crickets??? Nervous that if you follow up it will come off as annoying? Don’t worry, following up is a big part of the pitching process. At our sister firm Wolf PR we get a huge portion of responses after a follow up email. Editors are overworked and receive tons of emails each day, so things do slip through the cracks. Be friendly and courteous, short and sweet.

We suggest waiting a few days between emails and never follow up more than twice. On the second email we typically use a phrase like “one last time” in the email to let the editor know that we respect their time and won’t be bombarding them with additional emails.

When we’re pitching a project or launch to several publications we like to log all the correspondence in a spreadsheet. It helps quickly visualize where you’re at in the pitching process with all the publications.

Wins

Huge congrats to one of our very first Tweak & Edit PR Review clients, Aurora Lampworks. They've just launched their new website, and it looks fantastic!

Aurora Lampworks specialize in restoring historic lighting fixtures and have worked on spaces as iconic as the Park Avenue Armory, the Met, and the New York Public Library's Rose Reading Room. More recently they've launched their own collection, Aurora, which is all hand-fabricated in New York.

Thanks for giving us some time in your inbox! If you have any questions send us a note, we'll always reply.

Cheers,
Nora & Kirsten

PS - If you liked the newsletter, we’d be so happy if you shared it with others who might find it useful. Anyone new can subscribe here.

PPS- Check out our brand new service Tweak & Edit PR Review. When you sign up you'll get super actionable custom feedback on how to improve your assets and tweak your content so you're ready for press outreach.

Wolf Craft - 7 Tips to Improve Your Website Design

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