Katherine Stevenson Web Design, Melbourne (2026)

19/01/2021

If someone's on your product page, they're (hopefully) only a few clicks away from converting.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is why it's important to make sure your product pages are providing the information that a potential purchaser needs.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Think of it this way - you go into a store and find a plate that you really like. But you're wondering if it's dishwasher safe.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There's no one around to ask, you'd have to wait a while before they were free.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Do you, a) move on to the next store or b) hang around, and patiently wait for the information that'll dictate your purchasing decision?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Unless the plate was absolutely amazing, chances are, you'd have left.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It's the exact same idea with your product pages. Your potential purchaser is interested in the product; you just need to make the information they're looking for available to them, so they can finalise their decision. Make it easy for them.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In the post, I've listed some key info that I'd recommend all businesses have on their product page.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What other components do you think are key?

12/01/2021

Storytime: I was chatting to a potential customer about a refresh of their website and was surprised to be asked this.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Should they just DIY the refresh?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Every now and then, I'll have someone I've spoken to tell me they've decided to DIY.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But I was surprised to actually be asked the question.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In the post, I've outlined a couple of points to consider.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What are your thoughts on whether you should DIY or outsource?

04/01/2021

And just like that, we're at the start of 2021!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I've been enjoying a bit of a break over the last couple of weeks as well as planning for 2021.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Part of that included mapping out my marketing plan and figuring out how I'm actually going to execute it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I've also been redoing some parts of my website (reel to come on the process 🙃).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The aim was to add more info, remove/fix out of date content, and get the blog section of my site ready for some new posts.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm still taking bookings for Q1 this year, so if you're interested in working together, send me a DM, I'd love to hear from you!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Hope your 2021 is off to an awesome start!

23/12/2020

I've spent the week working on some general business tasks. Things like:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ wrapping up client work for the year.
⚡ updating my website - I think it's always worse when you have to tell people your website is out of date as a web designer 🙃
⚡ locking in work for 2021 and getting projects to the point where we can hit the ground running in the new year.
⚡ changing up some processes - if you want ad-hoc Shopify design or development work done, there'll be a new process for that in 2021. I'm hoping it'll be more efficient for both clients and myself.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Are you finishing up for the year yet?

14/12/2020

With 2021 right around the corner, I wanted to share some information about one of my most popular packages of late.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
If you've DIY'd your website and want some advice on how to get it working harder for you then read on.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Alternatively, if you're looking to redesign your website but aren't sure what actually needs to be improved then this could be for you.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Meet, the eCommerce Audit.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'll review your website, including looking into the following elements and identifying areas for improvement:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ website navigation - are your nav bar and footer links easy to use?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ customer journey - how can you make it easier for people to add to cart and complete their purchase?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ Google Analytics - so yep, I'm *constantly* going on about why you need to check the data - but it's because it tells you what's working and what's not. A mini GA analysis in included in the audit.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
What will you actually get out of it? A report with actionable recommendations (think 'improve x by doing this and this', not just 'improve x') and a 30-minute strategy session to go through it and answer any other eCommerce questions you might have.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sound good? Send me a DM if you'd like all the info.

09/12/2020

'WordPress is the best platform'. 'Shopify is the platform to use'. 'Sell out using Instagram'. 'Drive 10k views to your website using Pinterest'. 'Start a Facebook group'. 'Learn about SEO'.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There is *so* much information out there. And to make matters worse, some of it is contradicting!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Back when I was blogging, I used to dart around from one strategy to the next.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Twitter chats. Blogmas (don't recommend 🙃). Instagram videos. YouTube. Pinterest. StumbleUpon (+ more).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But when I actually started seeing results? Was when I focused on *one*.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Learning the platform inside and out. Committing enough time into it. And building a strategy that actually worked for me.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The internet is great and all, but it's also full of information that just isn't going to work for you.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
There's also the whole, don't spread yourself too thin way of thinking, which is super important.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
In my experience results come way faster when you narrow down what you're doing.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It's also *way* less overwhelming.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Do you agree with my logic?

30/11/2020

There are just over 4 weeks left of 2020 🤯

Anyone else feel like the last month or two have just flown by?

Here’s what I’m focusing on for the next couple of weeks:

⚡️ wrapping up client work. Always a priority but I’ve got a few fun projects that will be coming to a close soon.

⚡️ setting aside some time for learning. And not just Googling ‘how to...’ 🙃 there’s a Facebook ads course and Shopify app development tutorial that I’ve got planned to go through.

⚡️ writing blog posts. This is one that I never prioritise (oops) but part of the plan for 2021 is regular and consistent posts which I’m hoping to get a head start on. Which brings me onto...

⚡️ 2021 business planning. Because results are wayyy more likely to happen with a plan.

What’s on your to-do list for the rest of the year?

26/11/2020

Often a client will tell me that they'd like something on their website a certain way because "that's a feature I always use when looking at other sites".
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Don't get me wrong, thinking about how you interact with different websites is great.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
But it shouldn't be what you base decisions on.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Because, whilst everyone will interact with your site slightly differently, you want to appeal to the majority of people (and you might not fit into that majority) that have a chance of buying from you.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Sure, you can make informed decisions based on having a thorough understanding of your target market, or by researching eCommerce best practices.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
However, you also want to look at the data. What pages have a high exit rate, and how are your users interacting?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Looking at a combo of Google Analytics and HotJar will give you the insights you need to make good website decisions 🙂
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Agree?

19/11/2020

Which one stands out more to you? And which are you more compelled to click on?
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm a massive advocate for having clear call-to-actions (CTAs) on your website, and having buttons is an easy way to do that.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
You want to make using your website as easy as possible for people, and part of that, is done through smart navigation.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
A button makes it super obvious where you want your users to be clicking, and can can help get them to where you want them to be (the pages they can spend 💰 on).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
On the flip side, remember not to go overboard, overusing buttons can massively dilute your CTA (as a rule of thumb, you don't want more than one primary button on the page at any one time).
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Are you using buttons on your website?

16/11/2020

Short answer? No.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I find this to be a pretty frequently asked question so thought I'd share a little more around why I'm not a fan of having a slider with various images on your home page 👎
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ they slow your website down. This is the number one reason why they're a bad idea. Having one sliding element on your page is not worth sacrificing load time for.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ a lot of the time, they're not done well in terms of directing your customers to where you want them to be. If you're using a slider to showcase various pages on your website like your about page or reviews, you're missing an opportunity to take people to products. And a page with products is a page you want people to be going to after clicking that hero banner.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⚡ it's not the best way to showcase your information. If you're still not convinced then I want you to go check your stats around how many people actually look at the second, third (and hopefully not more) slides. Not many, right? If you're not repeating that information throughout the page, then whatever percentage of your users aren't sliding, are missing that information. And that's usually a problem.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
So what's the answer? Just have one hero image and make it a banner. Forget the slider. Have a clear CTA and some copy that showcase what your brands about.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
How do you feel about website sliders?

09/11/2020

My favourite kind of marketing is 100% the set and forget kind. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one...

One of the easiest do-once marketing channels you can take advantage of is email.

Sending newsletters can (whilst being super effective) be tedious. So can campaign emails.

Automated, refresh every 6-12 months, kind of emails though? They're my favourite.

I'm thinking of your welcome series, abandoned cart series, win-back, and post-purchase emails.

You put the work in once (including testing that the emails are sending correctly), and then reap the rewards, what's not to love?

If you're using something like Klaviyo, you'll also be able to easily see what impact these emails are having on your business.

Have you set-up your automated emails yet?

02/11/2020

I get asked this one all the time.

Luckily, there's a pretty straightforward answer 🙂

I want you to answer the following:
⚡are both the country-specific and .com domains available? This might be the .com.au or .co.nz domain depending on where you're based.
⚡is your target market-based in one country?

If you answered 'Yes' to the first question, then you should 100% buy both the domains. Otherwise, you run the risk of someone else purchasing a domain you may want in the future.

Now we just need to figure out which domain you should use...

If your target market is only based in one country (or you only ship, say, Australia wide), then you're going to want to use that country-specific domain.

Similarly, if your branding is all geared up to being a locally owned business, the country-specific domain is likely best for you.

So what about that other domain (you know, the one I just told you to buy).

You want to set-up a redirect so that if anyone accidentally types in the wrong URL (sometimes people will just assume a .com address or vice versa), they still end up on their site.

Do you own the country-specific and .com versions of your domain?

Katherine Stevenson Web Design

19/01/2021

12/01/2021

04/01/2021

23/12/2020

14/12/2020

09/12/2020

30/11/2020

26/11/2020

19/11/2020

16/11/2020

09/11/2020

02/11/2020

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category