Why Tingalls Loves Squarespace
If you’re looking for a low-cost, quick way to get a professional website, we recommend Squarespace. We’ve been working with this platform since early 2020 and have launched over 80 websites in just 18 months. Comparing this platform to WordPress, one of its biggest differentiators is because it’s a hosted web platform, you don’t have to worry about software updates or plugins. Because of its saturation in the market, WordPress has become a huge target for spam and hackers so if you’re not keeping up with these updates, your site can become vulnerable very quickly. If that’s not reason enough, below are 12 other reasons to make the switch! One-Stop-Shopping […]
I Received a Negative Google Review, Now What?
Since humans first started buying and selling goods and services, people have felt the need to provide “constructive feedback” to business owners – both positive and negative. Before the internet, criticism came in the form of letters, emails, or disgruntled customers at your front door. With the evolution and permanency of social media platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook, reviews now influence 80% of consumers’ online purchasing decisions. Other staggering statistics from the website ReviewTrackers, show you shouldn’t ignore reviews if you want to stay in business: 94% of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to […]
Is Squarespace the Right Web Solution for You?
If you know Tingalls, you know we love great design. And, finding tools that both pair great design and enhance efficiency to help save our clients money is a win-win in our book! One platform we’re particularly excited to be offering is Squarespace. While there’s no shortage of options of website builders on the market, including Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy and many others, we’ve become more and more impressed with the customization of Squarespace the more we work with it. In short, its intuitive drag-and-drop design features come already responsive so you can rest assured your site will look amazing both on desktop browsers and phones alike. That’s huge! Here are […]
Tingalls Wins Sixth Consecutive Award for Best Website Developer in 2020
We are super excited to announce our firm has won the prestigious InBusiness Magazine’s Executive Choice Award for Best Website Development Company for our sixth consecutive year! Winners are determined by a majority vote of write-in ballots from 1,000 Madison-area executives, business owners, and decision-makers. The award honors businesses across various industries for excellence and proven success in a spectrum of categories. Despite the devastation the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some businesses, we are feeling grateful. In March, our team was able to quickly get set-up to work remotely to help our loyal client base with website edits, email blasts, and signage so they could communicate with their own […]
Website Backlinks Build Confidence
You’ve built a website with content geared toward the type of customer you want to attract. You researched and used the keywords your customers search for within Google (or other search engines), which means you’ve made the first steps in getting your website found. But as strong as your keyword efforts may be, it’s only the beginning of getting and keeping your target customer. To create a website that will continue to bring in a new and evolving audience, you need to be seen as part of a network of authoritative websites in your community and industry. The best way to do that is to earn backlinks to align you […]
The Four P’s of Brand Development
Why is Your Brand so Important? Your brand (for good or bad) creates a first impression that will endure. The way your customers see, hear, and feel about your business is all wrapped up in how they perceive your brand. Present a brand with a strong backbone, oozing with potential and influence, and that’s what people will take away. Follow the pack with a generic, vanilla brand presence, and you’ll be lucky to be remembered at all. So, it’s essential you get people to buy into your brand from the very beginning. It’s More Than a Logo Beyond a nice-looking graphic, your brand’s identity communicates your unique selling proposition (USP) […]
Your New Website Has Launched, Now What?
You just launched a new website for your small business … good for you! You’re feeling fantastic and just want to check that off your to-do list, sit back, relax and let the customers roll in … If only it were that easy! Long gone is the mentality “if you build it, they will come.” You wouldn’t expect a hammer to work if you just left it in the toolbox, would you? Just like that hammer, your website relies on you to put it to good use. It took a lot of planning and strategizing to get the look and function you envisioned for your website. Now is the time […]
Market like a Pirate with the AARRR Framework
Today, September 19th, is International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and thus, a fun day to highlight one of the most important metric frameworks to live by as a startup marketer or to help you grow your business during rough waters. In 2007, Dave McClure, founder of startup accelerator 500 Startups, rolled out a 5-step framework for growth. That framework was called AARRR, or also known as the Pirate Metrics. What is AARRR? AARRR stands for Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral and Revenue and is a fundamental framework to understanding your customers, their journey and optimizing your funnel as well as setting some valuable and actionable metric goals for your business. […]
Build Your Company Culture on Personality to Strengthen Your Brand
Guest Blog by Val Edwards, P2G Consulting Purposefully enhance your brand’s potency, by ensuring it is recognizable in all aspects of your business operations, from tip to tail. Strong company culture is built in part on insights into staff personality and preferences. Data from one of the many personality assessments can inform your hiring decisions, team relationship development, and communication practices. Let’s delve into the pros and a couple of cons related to assessing your staff by style. Pros: Using personality/style assessments with staff members can: provide a framework for relationship building, particularly linking manager to direct report balance how colleagues view each other and interpret team behaviors balance the […]
Get to Know the Tingalls Team: Kallie Johnson
Name & Title: Kallie Johnson, Senior Graphic Designer How long have you been with Tingalls? 7 Years Favorite summer activity? Boating and spending time up north (Minocqua) Favorite restaurant in Madison? Oh wow! This is hard, so many good ones. I’d probably go with Heritage (definitely for brunch) or Merchant. If you could travel anywhere for 2 weeks, all expenses paid, where would you go and who would you take with you? Chilean Patagonia with my husband. Looking back, what was your favorite design project and why? The Limited Edition Anniversary blend of the J. Henry Bourbon label. It was a fun challenge to create a label that had a […]
5 Ways to Improve Your Business Page on Facebook
It’s no secret the goal of Facebook is to offer its users a customized, meaningful experience. They use a complex algorithm that decides what users see in their news feed based on many different aspects of their behavior. It calculates what they click on, who they’re friends with, and the type of Facebook Business Page or group they choose to follow. While Facebook hasn’t provided a precise definition of what makes a “meaningful experience,” it’s safe to say that users are increasingly favoring posts that encourage interaction, discussion, and engagement. What does this mean for you? This means that your business Facebook page should listen as well as speak to […]
3 Rules for Effective Logo Design
Your logo is more than just a visual on a page. It’s an essential part of your company’s identity. An artistically balanced logo design should not only attract attention but create a fantastic first impression. When done well, your company logo will pull together the many aspects of your business identity and start a conversation with your customers and clients. Since you only get one chance to make a first impression, getting your logo right is critical. The following three simple rules will help make your logo stand out from the rest. 1. Make sure your logo has scalability Your logo needs to be able to be scaled up or […]
10 Questions You MUST Ask Before Hiring a Graphic Design Firm
Finding the right professional for your next design project doesn’t mean you have to be super creative yourself. It just means you have to know the right questions to ask to find the best designer for you – someone who will click with your team and your company. Here are some questions to help you discover if the design firm you’re considering has the conceptual and collaborative skills, attitude, and the design mojo, to be a part of your creative team. 1. How long have you been in business? A firm that has been in business for a long time will likely know the ins and outs of marketing. Experience […]
Get to Know the Tingalls Team: Nicole Jacobson
Name & Title: Nicole Jacobson, Graphic Designer How long have you been with Tingalls? It will be 2 years this fall. Favorite restaurant? Chicken Licks (Chicken Lips) – the wings are unbeatable. My order never changes: Original sauce, french fries with dry rub and at least a pint of their house made blue cheese! Favorite summer activity? Being in the middle of the woods with my camera snapping action shots of my friends and family racing dirt bikes. If you could travel anywhere for 2 weeks, all expenses paid, where would you go and who would you take with you? Maldives for sure, with my husband and a few close […]
Do I Have to Include LLC in My Logo Design?
We get asked this question a lot during our logo design process. It’s right next to why does my logo color look different on my website? You can find the answer to the second question here. For advice on that initial question of whether your logo needs an LLC included in its design, we asked the experts. According to the lawyers we asked, the short answer is maybe. Because, as part of your company’s entity formation, you are required to include the LLC in all of your forward-facing client correspondence. This includes your marketing pieces. As Leslie Elkins, Co-owner of Kramer. Elkins & Watt, LLC says, “The only requirement for a logo […]
Custom T-Shirt Design
Tingalls offers ONE-OF-A-KIND t-shirt design services. Stand out from the crowd with a custom t-shirt design! The fun begins at Tingalls with t-shirts designed especially for the group that has something to say! We offer a one-stop-shop and no minimum purchase. Our unique T-shirt designs easily promote any business, team, or event beautifully. Promote Business: Brand your staff in and outside the office! Sports Teams: Pump up a team with matching tees! Fundraising: Custom tees for outings, family reunions, and more. Events: Uniforms with custom names & numbers. Contact us to get started!
5 Unique Ideas for Email Marketing
Your next email marketing campaign doesn’t have to be the same cookie-cutter content you’ve used time and time again. Instead, think content that connects your customers to your business ethos. It is most likely that what’s important to you is important to the people your business attracts. So, don’t be afraid to get excited and creative with your next email newsletter. Here are five awesome ideas that we at Tingalls Graphic Design think will inspire you to take your email marketing up a notch. 1. Put a Face to a Name You know that your team is your best asset. Show them off and build brand loyalty in the process. Use your […]
What’s a 301 Redirect, and Why Do I Need One?
A 301 redirect is behind the scenes code that shows your website how to redirect a visitor (and Google) from an old page to a new page. Read on to learn more about how this code helps your website perform better.