We know how important the look of a website is. It’s the same as the cover of a book, the plating of a meal at a restaurant, the paint color on the exterior of your home. While the design is what draws someone in and is incredibly important to your website, there is one step before “the look” that will make or break your site. That step is wireframing. Wireframes for websites are crucial for creating the site you want.

What are Wireframes for Websites?

First, let’s cover what a wireframe is. If you want to build a site, the wireframe will be your foundation on which to begin building. Wireframes for websites are simple layouts that outline the sizes of the page, placement of page elements, features, conversion areas, and navigation. Skipping this step would be like putting great writing into a nicely bound book but without the chapters, correct order, page numbers, and index. These things are necessary. Another way to look at is like a blueprint for a home, where you can see the structural placement of the plumbing, electrical and other structural elements without any interior design treatments.

Types of Wireframes for Websites

Wireframes are broken up into two categories based on the level of detail they use.
Low-fidelity
A low-fidelity wireframe resembles a rough sketch and has less depth. They are quick to produce and help a team collaborate some big picture ideas. These can help a business get an overview of how the site will flow for users.
High-fidelity
High-fidelity wireframes are more robust because they incorporate a level of detail that more closely matches the design of the actual web page. These take longer to produce but can save the most time in the end because every detail and nuance are completely mapped out. For more complex projects, this type of wireframe is popular.

5 Reasons Why Your Site Needs a Wireframe

Skipping the step to get the look and feel put together is a huge mistake that could prove disastrous for any website. Putting together a website without a wireframe is like painting the home before you finish construction on the walls. To help you understand why here are five essential reasons your web developer should provide you a wireframe before they start coding.

1. Wireframing Saves Time

The old cliché is true; time IS money, and no one wants their website to run over on time or budget. So where can you cut down on time spent? Wireframing. The old saying, measure twice, cut once, applies here too.

• Your designs will be more calculated.
• Everyone from the web team, the agency, and the business are on the same page.
• Site content can be easily understood and therefore created quickly. Think landing pages with copy, blogs, etc.
• You avoid hacks later on, which are a massive sales and time interruption.

2. Wireframes Help Determine What Features are Needed
Deciding what features you want on your site is overwhelming. Wireframes for websites can help you determine what features are necessary and where to include them. We are talking about features like chat support, social media icons, Google maps, etc. Wireframing particular project features on a website provides clear communication for everyone on how these features will function and where they will live on your site. The good thing about wireframing is flexibility; you may decide to take out a feature once it’s laid out because it just doesn't work with your site’s goals or design.
3.  Wireframes Give You a Visual Display
Showing the site design on a wireframe can offer you a real idea of what your site may end up looking like before design. Wireframes turn abstract ideas into a tangible visual example. Having this to display to other members of your team, your boss, etc. will be extremely helpful for making decisions early on.
4. It’s The Professional Thing to Do
You spend a lot of time, money, and resources on a website; you don’t want it to look cheap. Whether you are working on Wix or WordPress, design work is necessary. No matter the scale of your site, wireframing will identify some fundamental issues with the site before they go live. It will give you a detailed roadmap of where your site is going to ensure you end up in the right place.
5. Wireframes Will Help the Overall Look and Feel
Wireframes for websites assist in ensuring that elements of design and branding fit properly into the site. Adding features of the site one at a time makes sure everything is in the site correctly. Skipping wireframes can delay this feedback and increase the time the designer and web developer will need when making changes later on.
So, before you start building your website, make sure you add wireframing to the process. A well-built site provides the platform for all of your digital marketing endeavors in the future. When your site is built with speed, clarity, and intelligence, it can become the core of your marketing efforts. Contact us today if you have any questions on website development. We are happy to help guide the way!

It is a common enough request. Companies come to Seafoam Media, or any other SEO company, wanting to "rank higher" on Google. As brick and mortar stores compete with their online counterparts it is only natural to want to level the playing field, digitally. Even service based industries, at least those with a physical location from which they operate, need to be aware of the potential revenue that SEO can drive toward their business. This is why, at Seafoam Media, we take a holistic approach to search engine optimization. It is not enough to simply want to rank higher, local businesses have a crucial opportunity to optimize their presence across the Google platform. And while the Google algorithm is a complex and mysterious beast, understanding local SEO is an important piece of the puzzle; one your company can't afford to ignore.

Understanding Local SEO

First things first, what is local SEO? There are three key places on the Google Search Result Page or SERP that will help you understand local SEO. At the very top and very bottom of the page, you may see Google's pay per click section, the ads. These are clearly denoted with a small yellow "ad" box next to the result. These are chosen based on a bidding system for keywords.  Below that section are the organic results, which is typically what people think about when they think of SEO. These are based on a complicated algorithm of keywords, search phrases and relevant content among other things. In between these two worlds, for businesses with a local presence, is local SEO.
Rather than index based on a keyword or phrase, local SEO ranks based on a physical address and phone number. You may notice that on some searches Google offers a map with pertinent location pins. Google chooses these locations based on not only your search term, but also the physical location of your IP address.  The intention, on Google's part, is to offer the closest matches for the user's convenience. This is the local portion of search, and it should be pretty obvious why this is so important to optimize. Local SEO sends potential customers, those that are searching for your product or service, to your door. This is becoming increasingly more important as people utilize their phones to search, as we showcased in a blog post. Local SEO plays a large factor in what appears when you ask Siri where to find a pizza place near you.
While no one knows the exact formula, it is a good guess that Google looks to several sources for its local data, including Apple Maps, Google Places, Yelp and YP.com. It is a safe assumption that Google sources its local data from a bevy of reputable (Not Spammy!!) online directories for some of this local data. It also appears that online reviews help to shape the local love, and the more solid sources for these reviews the better. We know that Google loves Google, so Google reviews play a part in the algorithm, but it appears that any online reputable online review can help. Like all other aspects of SEO, there are a lot of factors that go into optimizing your brand for local SEO; and there is no quick solution. Slow and steady will win the race, but there are some tips to bear in mind as you navigate Local SEO.

• Keep it consistent: The best way to optimize your local SEO efforts is to be absolutely consistent in your brand. Use the same formatting for your name, address and phone number. No exceptions. Human beings understand the difference between ABC Co., ABC Company, and ABC Company LLC, but Google may not.
• Ditch the duplicates: More listings on a database doesn't guarantee faster results. In fact, duplicate listings can confuse Googles bots and cause your listing to sync along the way. Just like organic SEO, Google abhors duplicate content. Monitor your online brand and clean up any duplicate listings.
• Take the time to be descriptive: Simple blasting your location and phone number across the web isn't the best option for local SEO. Take the time to write smart and compelling descriptions of your brand when you can in online directories. You want to make sure that those searching for a product know exactly what they are getting with your company.
• Honesty is the best policy: Google has a myriad of ways to catch bad actors in the field of SEO. Those looking to garner quick results may find themselves on the bad side of Google and on page 10 as a result. Like organic SEO, keep your local SEO efforts on the up and up by encouraging your customers to post legitimate reviews.

These are just a few tips to help in understanding Local SEO. As you can see, it takes quite a bit of time and effort to really stand out with local SEO. If you want to know more about what local SEO can do for your brand, contact Seafoam Media today.