Category: Marketing Automation

The robots.txt file helps major search engines understand where they’re allowed to go on your website.
But, while the major search engines do support the robots.txt file, they may not all adhere to the rules the same way.
Below, let’s break down what a robots.txt file is, and how you can use it.

What is a robots.txt file?
Every day, there are visits to your website from bots — also known as robots or spiders. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing send these bots to your site so your content can be crawled and indexed and appear in search results.
Bots are a good thing, but there are some cases where you don’t want the bot running around your website crawling and indexing everything. That’s where the robots.txt file comes in.
By adding certain directives to a robots.txt file, you’re directing the bots to crawl only the pages you want crawled.
However, it’s important to understand that not every bot will adhere to the rules you write in your robots.txt file. Google, for instance, won’t listen to any directives that you place in the file about crawling frequency.
Do you need a robots.txt file?
No, a robots.txt file is not required for a website.
If a bot comes to your website and it doesn’t have one, it will just crawl your website and index pages as it normally would.
A robot.txt file is only needed if you want to have more control over what is being crawled.
Some benefits to having one include:

Help manage server overloads
Prevent crawl waste by bots that are visiting pages you do not want them to
Keep certain folders or subdomains private

Can a robots.txt file prevent indexing of content?
No, you cannot stop content from being indexed and shown in search results with a robots.txt file.
Not all robots will follow the instructions the same way, so some may index the content you set to not be crawled or indexed.
In addition, If the content you are trying to prevent from showing in the search results has external links to it, that will also cause the search engines to index it.
The only way to ensure your content is not indexed is to add a noindex meta tag to the page. This line of code looks like this and will go in the html of your page.
<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>
It’s important to note that if you want the search engines to not index a page, you will need to allow the page to be crawled in robots.txt.
Where is the robots.txt file located?
The robots.txt file will always sit at the root domain of a website. As an example, our own file can be found at https://www.hubspot.com/robots.txt.
In most websites you should be able to access the actual file so you can edit it in an FTP or by accessing the File Manager in your hosts CPanel.
In some CMS platforms you can find the file right in your administrative area. HubSpot, for instance, makes it easy to customize your robots.txt file from your account.
If you are on WordPress, the robots.txt file can be accessed in the public_html folder of your website.

WordPress does include a robots.txt file by default with a new installation that will include the following:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-includes/
The above is telling all bots to crawl all parts of the website except anything under the /wp-admin/ or /wp-includes/ directories.
But you may want to create a more robust file. Let’s show you how, below.
Uses for a Robots.txt File
There could be many reasons you want to customize your robots.txt file — from controlling crawl budget, to blocking sections of a website from being crawled and indexed. Let’s explore a few reasons for using a robots.txt file now.
1. Block All Crawlers
Blocking all crawlers from accessing your site is not something you would want to do on an active website, but is a great option for a development website. When you block the crawlers it will help prevent your pages from being shown on search engines, which is good if your pages aren’t ready for viewing yet.
2. Disallow Certain Pages From Being Crawled
One of the most common and useful ways to use your robots.txt file is to limit search engine bot access to parts of your website. This can help maximize your crawl budget and prevent unwanted pages from winding up in the search results.

It is important to note that just because you have told a bot to not crawl a page, that doesn’t mean it will not get indexed. If you don’t want a page to show up in the search results, you need to add a noindex meta tag to the page.

Sample Robots.txt File Directives
The robots.txt file is made up of blocks of lines of directives. Each directive will begin with a user-agent, and then the rules for that user-agent will be placed below it.
When a specific search engine lands on your website, it will look for the user-agent that applies to them and read the block that refers to them.
There are several directives you can use in your file. Let’s break those down, now.
1. User-Agent
The user-agent command allows you to target certain bots or spiders to direct. For instance, if you only want to target Bing or Google, this is the directive you’d use.
While there are hundreds of user-agents, below are examples of some of the most common user-agent options.
User-agent: Googlebot
User-agent: Googlebot-Image
User-agent: Googlebot-Mobile
User-agent: Googlebot-News
User-agent: Bingbot
User-agent: Baiduspider
User-agent: msnbot
User-agent: slurp     (Yahoo)
User-agent: yandex
It’s important to note — user-agents are case-sensitive, so be sure to enter them properly.
Wildcard User-agent
The wildcard user-agent is noted with an (*) asterisk and lets you easily apply a directive to all user-agents that exist. So if you want a specific rule to apply to every bot, you can use this user-agent.
User-agent: *
User-agents will only follow the rules that most closely apply to them.
2. Disallow
The disallow directive tells search engines to not crawl or access certain pages or directories on a website.
Below are several examples of how you might use the disallow directive.
Block Access to a Specific Folder
In this example we are telling all bots to not crawl anything in the /portfolio directory on our website.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /portfolio
If we only want Bing to not crawl that directory, we would add it like this, instead:
User-agent: Bingbot
Disallow: /portfolio
Block PDF or Other File Types
If you don’t want your PDF or other file types crawled, then the below directive should help. We are telling all bots that we do not want any PDF files crawled. The $ at the end is telling the search engine that it is the end of the URL.
So if I have a pdf file at mywebsite.com/site/myimportantinfo.pdf, the search engines won’t access it.
User-agent: *
Disallow: *.pdf$
For PowerPoint files, you could use:
User-agent: *
Disallow: *.ppt$
A better option might be to create a folder for your PDF or other files and then disallow the crawlers to crawl it and noindex the whole directory with a meta tag.
Block Access to the Whole Website
Particularly useful if you have a development website or test folders, this directive is telling all bots to not crawl your site at all. It’s important to remember to remove this when you set your site live, or you will have indexation issues.
User-agent: *
The * (asterisk) you see above is what we call a “wildcard” expression. When we use an asterisk, we are implying that the rules below should apply to all user-agents.
3. Allow
The allow directive can help you specify certain pages or directories that you do want bots to access and crawl. This can be an override rule to the disallow option, seen above.
In the example below we are telling Googlebot that we do not want the portfolio directory crawled, but we do want one specific portfolio item to be accessed and crawled:
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /portfolio
Allow: /portfolio/crawlableportfolio
4. Sitemap
Including the location of your sitemap in your file can make it easier for search engine crawlers to crawl your sitemap.
If you submit your sitemaps directly to each search engine’s webmaster tools, then it is not necessary to add it to your robots.txt file.
sitemap: https://yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml
5. Crawl Delay
Crawl delay can tell a bot to slow down when crawling your website so your server does not become overwhelmed. The directive example below is asking Yandex to wait 10 seconds after each crawl action it takes on the website.
User-agent: yandex  
Crawl-delay: 10
This is a directive you should be careful with. On a very large website it can greatly minimize the number of URLs crawled each day, which would be counterproductive. This can be useful on smaller websites, however, where the bots are visiting a bit too much.
Note: Crawl-delay is not supported by Google or Baidu. If you want to ask their crawlers to slow their crawling of your website, you will need to do it through their tools.
What are regular expressions and wildcards?
Pattern matching is a more advanced way of controlling the way a bot crawls your website with the use of characters.
There are two expressions that are common and are used by both Bing and Google. These directives can be especially useful on ecommerce websites.
Asterisk: * is treated as a wildcard and can represent any sequence of characters
Dollar sign: $ is used to designate the end of a URL
A good example of using the * wildcard is in the scenario where you want to prevent the search engines from crawling pages that might have a question mark in them. The below code is telling all bots to disregard crawling any URLs that have a question mark in them.
User-agent: *
Disallow: /*?
How to Create or Edit a Robots.txt File
If you do not have an existing robots.txt file on your server, you can easily add one with the steps below.

Open your preferred text editor to start a new document. Common editors that may exist on your computer are Notepad, TextEdit or Microsoft Word.
Add the directives you would like to include to the document.
Save the file with the name of “robots.txt”
Test your file as shown in the next section
Upload your .txt file to your server with a FTP or in your CPanel. How you upload it will depend on the type of website you have.

In WordPress you can use plugins like Yoast, All In One SEO, Rank Math to generate and edit your file.
You can also use a robots.txt generator tool to help you prepare one which might help minimize errors.
How to Test a Robots.txt File
Before you go live with the robots.txt file code you created, you will want to run it through a tester to ensure it’s valid. This will help prevent issues with incorrect directives that may have been added.
The robots.txt testing tool is only available on the old version of Google Search Console. If your website is not connected to Google Search Console, you will need to do that first.
Visit the Google Support page then click the “open robots.txt tester” button. Select the property you would like to test for and then you will be taken to a screen, like the one below.
To test your new robots.txt code, just delete what is currently in the box and replace with your new code and click “Test”. If the response to your test is “allowed”, then your code is valid and you can revise your actual file with your new code.

Hopefully this post has made you feel less scared of digging into your robots.txt file — because doing so is one way to improve your rankings and boost your SEO efforts.

A good advise is: Just do it! Build a separate landing page for each target of your campaign. Because otherwise it’s like, “The campaign actually works, but it doesn’t convert well on the website.” Example: the campaign successfully drives traffic to the regular website and then it doesn’t deliver what was promised or is too complicated or too inflexible. Websites often have too much different content and directions, the customers are confused, do not feel picked up – and bounce. Right? What do you think?
submitted by /u/paulemannski [link] [comments]

What makes a successful marketer?  One who succeeds in determining the right product and positioning, setting the right price, and using the right method for promoting it. Unfortunately, these achievements are not an easy feat and require a lot of research and effort to make work. If you aren’t able to achieve even one of…
The post Understanding the Marketing Mix Concept – The Four Ps appeared first on Benchmark Email.

At this point, most marketers know that Google’s Chrome browser will stop supporting third-party cookies in early 2022. The purpose is a noble one: guard against unauthorized tracking of individuals across the internet. But moving away from third-party cookies also poses a challenge. Their primary usefulness is grounded in providing rich insights into user journeys across the web; finding new ways to gather those insights requires both marketers and customers to adapt.
That’s why Salesforce Pardot developed a first-party tracking service that allows customers to keep providing personalized experiences based on user journeys and continue serving relevant content at the right time.
What is a third-party cookie?

The general purpose of a web cookie is to store data within a user’s internet browser that a website or web service can access on subsequent visits. For instance, an online vendor may use a cookie to identify a user so that user can maintain their shopping cart between site visits.  
Third-party cookies are cookies set by a service provider that doesn’t share the same root domain as the website. Think about the practice of embedding a video player service (videoexample.com) into a page on your website (example.com) that stores the time watched so a user can restore their view across sessions. Since the video service doesn’t share a domain with the website, the cookie set by the service would be a third-party cookie.
Why are third-party cookies going away?
While third-party cookies are often used to provide better customer experiences, they also pose significant privacy risks.  
Can you think of a time when a product ad seemed to follow you across websites? Third-party cookies made that possible. They also enable Cross-Site Request Forgery, which forces users to complete unwanted actions on web applications in which they’re currently authenticated.
In an effort to become more privacy-friendly, all major web browsers are ending their third-party cookie support. Safari and Firefox have already discontinued use. But the biggest impact will come when the market leader, Chrome, ends their support in early 2022.
How will this impact engagement tracking in Pardot?
In a soon-to-be-cookieless world, first-party tracking can help you maximize the data you collect firsthand from customers, so you can continue to provide the personalized marketing experiences they expect. However, moving from a third-party to first-party tracking approach will result in a few key impacts to engagement tracking in Pardot.
The main one is that Pardot customers will be unable to track visitors anonymously across domains. This will be true for everyone moving to first-party tracking, whether they?re a Pardot customer or using another platform. This means:

When a customer visits firstbrand.com, then secondbrand.com, two visitors will be created by Pardot.
The customer will need to complete a form on both domains for this information to be linked.

The second big impact is that Pardot customers will have to align the domains for all of their assets in a campaign to properly track the user journey. Domain alignment will be key to maximizing engagement data in a cookieless world.
Aligning domains to maximize tracking
Let’s consider a typical campaign that includes an ad, a landing page, form, whitepaper, and an email.

The only way to track this entire journey is to ensure that all the links and assets share the same root domain as the tracker domain. For example, if your campaign website is sampledomain.com, then the root of the tracker domain must also be sampledomain.com. Otherwise, your activity insights will be incomplete.
Preparing to migrate to first-party tracking
When converting to first-party tracking, a little planning will go a long way. We recommend completing these steps ahead of time:

Assess your web properties to see which tracker domains you may be missing for domain alignment, and fill any gaps.

Note which websites you’re currently tracking to identify where you’ll need to replace the Pardot tracking code.

Review your Pardot-hosted content and ensure domain alignment. Pardot-hosted content will use first-party tracking as soon as it’s turned on. 

Turning on first-party tracking in Pardot
You can turn on first-party tracking with just a few clicks. First, go to the Pardot Settings edit page (or Account Settings in classic Pardot).

To enable first-party tracking, simply click on the “Use First-Party Tracking” setting. 
By default, the “Use third-party cookies with first-party tracking” setting will turn on at the same time. You can use this setting to help make the transition smoother and preserve existing visitors.
The “Use third-party tracking” setting controls the legacy tracking functionality, from accepting activity for pages with the old tracker code to removing the old tracker code generator on the Campaigns page. We recommend turning this off after you’ve fully converted to first-party tracking to avoid potential confusion.
Configuring tracker domains for first-party tracking
The good news is that creating tracker domains hasn’t changed much. The main differences are:

You need to set a default campaign
The location of the tracker code generator is different

Setting a default campaign
When you set a default campaign, you’re setting a primary campaign for your tracker domain. This means you can change the campaign without changing the tracking code. Select the default campaign by clicking “Edit” for each tracker domain on the Domain Management page.
Finding tracking code generator
The tracking code generator is now located on the Domain Management page, just below the “Tracker Domains” configurations.

Simply select the tracker domain and the platform will auto-generate the appropriate tracker code for you to place on your website. Remember to select a tracker domain that aligns with your website’s domain or that activity won’t be tracked. 
Keep learning
Now that you have a better understanding of first-party tracking, don’t wait to start your migration assessment!
Find tips for implementing Pardot’s first-party tracking in our help documentation.
Find more context on the changing browser privacy landscape in this blog post.
This blog post is part of our security, privacy, and technology series.

If you’ve been a marketing professional for years now, learning about the four Ps of marketing might seem like a throwback to you.
However, for those of us who work in the industry but didn’t study marketing in college, it’s entirely possible you haven’t heard of the marketing mix.
Below, let’s learn about the four Ps of marketing and how they’re still relevant in today’s marketing landscape.

The four Ps are meant to help marketers consider everything about a product or service when they’re deciding how to market it for their business. Framing your marketing around the four Ps will help you learn what the competition is doing and what customers want from you.
You can use the four Ps to answer questions about the product, price, place, and promotion of your product or service.
For example, you can ask yourself:

Product: How does your product meet your customer’s needs?

Price: What is the value of your product?

Place: Where are customers looking for your product?

Promotion: How can you differentiate your product from competitors?

Thinking about your marketing in terms of the four Ps will help you strategize how to reach your customers. The four Ps of marketing are also known as the marketing mix.
To develop a marketing mix, you’ll need to think about how you can uniquely position your brand amongst the competition. The most important part of thinking about the marketing mix — or the four Ps of marketing — is to understand the customer, the competition, and your company. You’ll evaluate your product and how to promote it.
But getting started isn’t easy. That’s why we’ve created the ultimate collection of marketing mix templates you can use to visualize your marketing mix and share it with your employees or investors. Use the templates to organize your initiatives and activities by the right section.
Featured Resource: Marketing Mix Templates

Click here to download the templates for free.
Use the template to follow along with the 4 Ps of marketing below.
The 4 Ps of Marketing (Example)
1. The First P of Marketing: Product
When you think about your product, consider exactly what you’re selling. Is it a specific product? Or is it a service? Your product can be a physical product, an online app, or a service such as house cleaning. Really, anything that you’re selling is the product.
Then, think of your brand messaging, the services you offer, and even packaging. When you define your product, think about what problem your product solves for your customers. Consider how your product is different from competing products. What features are unique to your product?
It’s important to know your product intimately so you can market it.
Product Example
We’ll use Marketing Hub as an example.
What is it? “Marketing automation software to help you attract the right audience, convert more visitors into customers, and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale — all on one powerful, easy-to-use platform.”
Who is it for? Modern marketers who juggle too much data and who are stuck with impossible-to-use software solutions that make their job harder, not easier.
Which features does it have? Marketing Hub offers blogging, SEO, social media management, email marketing, and ad tracking tools in a single, intuitive platform.
What problem does it solve? Marketing Hub simplifies the marketing automation process for busy marketers by bringing all data and tools under one roof.
2. The Second P of Marketing: Price
When it comes to price, you have to consider how much you’re going to charge customers for your products or services. Of course, you need to make a profit.
When coming up with your pricing strategy, you also need to think about what competitors are charging for the same product or service and how much customers are willing to pay. You can also think about what discounts or offers you can use in your marketing.
When you decide on a price, you want to think about perception. Do you want to be known as a cost-effective option in your industry? Or perhaps you’re a luxury brand and the price is slightly higher than competition on the market. Keep in mind that pricing SaaS products is a little different than pricing physical products.
Either way, the language you use to market your product will be greatly impacted by the price of your product.
Download a sales pricing calculator for free.
Price Example
Marketing Hub is priced to grow with you as you grow.
We offer the following subscription tiers:

$0/month (Free)

$45/month (Starter)

$800/month (Professional)

$3,200/month (Enterprise)

3. The Third P of Marketing: Place
When it comes to place, this might mean the physical location of your company, but it could also be defined as anywhere you sell your product, which might be online.
The place is where you market and distribute your product.
Remember that not every place makes sense for every product. For example, if your target market is seniors, then it won’t make sense to market on TikTok. It’s important to choose the right places to market your product and meet your customers where they’re at.
Think about possible distribution channels and outlets you could use to sell your product. Be sure to take into account whether your business is B2B or B2C.
At this point, you’ll need to think about how to market your product on all the various channels that make sense for your company.
Place Example
As a provider of a SaaS product, we offer Marketing Hub directly on our website.
Marketers can sign up for Marketing Hub by creating an account directly on our platform. We’ve created a convenient sign-up page for free subscriptions — or they can request a demo from our friendly sales team.
4. The Fourth P of Marketing: Promotion
Promotion is the bread and butter of marketing. This is when you’ll think about how to publicize and advertise your product.
Additionally, you’ll discuss brand messaging, brand awareness, and lead generation strategies.
When it comes to promotion, keeping communication in mind is of the utmost importance. What messages will resonate with your target market? How can you best promote your product to them?
Think about where, when, and how you’ll promote your brand.
Promotion Example
We want to be where marketers are. Most importantly, we want to help them grow in their careers — as well as grow their businesses.
Our inbound marketing strategy will focus primarily on organic acquisition. We’ll promote Marketing Hub over the following channels:

The HubSpot Marketing Blog

HubSpot Academy

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

LinkedIn

Use the 4 Ps of Marketing to Create a Winning Marketing Strategy
Even though marketing has changed since the four Ps were developed, the foundational elements of the industry haven’t. You can apply the concepts of the marketing mix to create winning marketing strategies that help you profitably launch and promote your company’s products.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

For the last year and a half, many of us have gotten used to doing everything — including shopping — from home.
Now, it seems full reopenings are closer than ever in the U.S. as the CDC now says that fully vaccinated Americans no longer need to wear masks or social distance unless there is a federal, state, local, workplace, or tribal mandate requiring them to.
But as cities, offices, stores, and restaurants reopen to full capacity, many of us are beginning to think about how life will be after the global pandemic ends.
As an individual, a post-pandemic world might be quite exciting to think about. But, as a marketer, entrepreneur, or manager, you might be wondering, “Will shopping go back to normal after reopenings?”
To help brands in the U.S. navigate and plan for reopenings, we used Lucid to ask more than 300 North American consumers, “Which best describes how you’ll shop once businesses fully reopen after COVID-19 shutdowns?”
The results might or might not surprise you.
Data Source
Just over one-third, or 35% of respondents say they’ll “shop almost completely online.” Meanwhile, 21% predict they’ll do an even mix of online and in-store shopping, while 18% will primarily shop online but go to stores when they’re convenient.  
If you’ve built a strong brick-and-mortar brand, don’t panic. First of all, this is just one general consumer survey with a small pool of respondents. Additionally, aside from the respondents who plan to do a mix of online and in-store shopping, 21% of respondents plan to shop primarily or completely in physical stores after economies fully reopen. Had we asked about specific products or polled people in another country, the results might have been different. 
While this is just one data point to think about, it’s worth noting because it shows that there will likely be a strong interest in online shopping — even when every physical store re-opens to full capacity.
So, how can you navigate changing future shopping behaviors? Whether you run or work for an online or physical business, here are a few tactics to embrace.

How to Reach Shoppers After Reopenings
1. Launch or expand on your website.
Even if you can’t launch a robust online store yet, a basic website can allow potential customers to discover you online, learn more about your business, and find your contact information.
Once you have a basic website that explains what your brand does, how they can reach you, and where you’re located, you can continue to optimize it for audiences by adding:

Pricing pages that explain the price range for each of your services or higher-priced products.
Images or videos of your team providing a service, your store, new products people can find there, or customers who consent to be featured on your site.
A few blog posts that give more information about your brand, topics related to your brand, or tips related to your industry. For example, if you sell construction products, your blogs could give people tips for simple fixes they can make at home without needing to hire a professional.
A landing page or contact form where people can contact you for more information, a product demo, or to schedule a service.

For more about what audiences look for when they visit a business’s website, check out this data-filled blog post.
2. Consider adding online shopping or ordering options.
Not a tech-savvy web expert who can create their own online store quickly? That’s okay, If you’d like to explore selling products online, there are still tools that can help you,
During COVID-19, many online shopping platforms emerged to help brands sell products or services online. While many restaurants began to leverage delivery or pick-up order apps, small stores and boutiques could build stores with tools like Shopify, Facebook Shops, and Instagram Shops.
But, although having an online store might be a great idea, it does pose its challenges. For example, you’ll want to make sure your shipping and delivery strategy is ready for online orders so you don’t sell out if a product or service is very popular. You’ll also still need to spend some time putting product shots, descriptions, and your store’s basic design together.
If you’re not ready for an online store or service just yet and want to continue to vet the idea, you can keep reading for other tips that don’t require a full ecommerce experience. If you’re ready to launch your first online store, check out our Ultimate Guide to Ecommerce.
3. Embrace online marketing.
Even if you don’t have an online store, you should still consider leveraging social media, review sites, and email marketing to spread the word about your business online.  
If you’re completely new to the world of web marketing, a great place to start is by setting up a free Google My Business profile. This will allow your business’s name, address, details, website, and reviews to show up when people are looking for products or services you sell in your area.
From there, you can also consider venturing on to review sites like Yelp, while encouraging happy customers to give you reviews there.
If you’ve already taken the steps above, the next places to embrace will likely be social media and email marketing. Through these channels, you can let customers know about sales or new offerings, send them helpful content related to your brand, or share happy customer stories. This way, even if you don’t have an online store, people will be able to gain awareness for your brand on the web.
4. Immerse your audience in virtual experiences.
During the early days of shutdowns, we saw a handful of physical brands come up with ways to bring virtual experiences or product offerings to their audiences and customers.
For example, Planet Fitness offered gym members videos from personal trainers, hair studios guided customers as they gave themselves haircuts over video calls, and petting zoo patrons could pay for animals to attend their conference calls.
There are plenty of creative ways to bring virtual experiences to your audiences. And, while you can’t always charge for them, they could certainly grow your online awareness and help more prospective customers learn about your brand and physical store.
5. Prepare your physical business for new shopping behaviors.
Although we’d love to imagine the world going completely “back to normal” overnight, this will still take time. People will likely continue to remain cautious even if they’re vaccinated and their state is loosening regulations.
For example, customers will likely still want to see that businesses are making efforts to keep them safe. In 2020, a McKinsey Report suggests just this as many consumers said they’re more likely to buy from companies that show care for their customers.
With data like McKinsey’s, you’ll still want to take some precautions by following the most updated CDC guidelines — which can be found here.
Aside from getting your business ready for health-conscious customers, you’ll also want to zone into strategies you can use to make it convenient for customers.
As we saw in our consumer poll above, 18% — or almost one-fifth of our survey pool — said “I’ll primarily shop online but will shop in stores if they’re more convenient.” This means that if you have products or services that aren’t easily accessible or often sold out online, you might earn customers that would have otherwise shopped on the web.
The data above could be good to consider as you determine which services, products, or sales you’ll market when you fully reopen. If there’s something shoppers can get in-store that they couldn’t get online — like a product, in-person testing, or another interesting experience, be sure to tell your audiences that.
Diving into Digital Transformation
Because the global pandemic has accelerated many digital transformations that were already underway, it’s essential to embrace at least some digital strategies when running or marketing a brand — even if it is brick-and-mortar.
Luckily, because so many businesses are pivoting to digital tactics, there are plenty of free or affordable tools that can help you embrace online marketing.
Aside from tools, HubSpot also offers a handful of free downloadable templates and resources for marketers or entrepreneurs at every level, like the one featured below.

Whether or not you realize it, you judge every website by its visual appeal. And it only takes about 0.05 seconds to form an opinion. That means the hero image (the first photo, graphic, or video people see) has to be eye-catching enough to keep people scrolling the site.

High-quality hero images are the key to a great first impression. If done well, they represent the essence of your brand identity and the overall theme of your web page.
Yes, it’s a lot of weight for one piece of visual content. That’s why it’s the most heroic of all.
This guide will explain how to level up your website with the perfect hero image, from choosing a graphic inspired by the latest design trends to ensuring your image is the optimal size. We’ll also walk through hero image examples to spark ideas for your own website. Get ready for some design eye candy.

Hero Image In Web Design
If engaging visuals are the sprinkles on top of every great design system, a hero image is the shiny, red cherry. It draws your eye in and makes you want more.
In web design, a hero image is the first photo, graphic, illustration, or video people see on a web page. It typically incorporates both an image and text in order to convey a company’s core message. Hero images sit above the fold and often feature a call to action (CTA) that encourages people to dive deeper into the website. The goal of this image is to add energy and excitement to a page. You want it to show off your brand’s style, share the purpose of your site, and make people excited to explore.
A good hero image can elevate your traffic and conversions by making people want to interact with your site. Animation, carousels, and scroll-triggered effects are ways to flex your creativity beyond typical stock photography. But a bad image can bring down an otherwise great design. Off-brand visuals, large files that slow loading speed, and meaningless copy can ruin the user experience.
One common mistake when designing a hero image is getting the right file size. Too large, your loading speed plummets. Too small, everything looks pixelated. Let’s walk through the different hero image sizes so you can create a stunning image every time.
Hero Image Dimensions
Finding the right aspect ratio and cropping can get confusing when sizing a hero image. Banner hero images aren’t the same as full-screen images, and every image has to scale to fit the space. You also have to consider that no one browses in exactly the same way. Personally, my screen is usually zoomed in to 120%, but others may have dozens of tabs open that are all different sizes.
Some image cropping is bound to occur as your hero image scales to fit a variety of screens, so it’s best to think of the following dimensions as guidelines, not rigid rules.
1. Full-Screen and Banner Image Dimensions
The ideal size for a full-screen hero image is 1,200 pixels wide with a 16:9 aspect ratio. For a banner hero image, the ideal size is 1600 x 500 pixels.
If you need crystal-clear images, or your target audience browses on large screens, you may have to size up to 1,800 pixels. Keep in mind this can result in a large file size that slows down your site.
You can check your loading speed for desktop and mobile with Google’s PageSpeed Insights. It gives a comprehensive look at which site content loads first and where there’s room for improvement. Aim for a page load time of one to two seconds because you’ll likely lose people if it’s over five seconds.
2. Mobile Hero Image Dimensions
The ideal size for a mobile hero image is 800 x 1,200 pixels.
While it’s important to consider how your hero image looks on a desktop, you can’t ignore the mobile experience. Nearly 55% of global website traffic in 2021 is generated on a mobile phone.
Your hero image design must be responsive and fit a vertical (phone) and horizontal (tablet) orientation. Dynamic hero images, like videos, do well on a desktop, but they often have to be swapped out for a static image for mobile. Videos take more time to load, and no one wants to take a massive hit to their data plan just to see your site.
3. Hero Image Compression
You want to compress your hero image if you have a large file size (anything over 1MB is too big). You can use sites like TinyJPG, Compress JPG, or Adobe’s Photoshop Compressor to decrease the size without reducing quality. Just make sure to get the dimensions right beforehand or the image may appear blurred or stretched.
When sizing a hero image, check your Google analytics to see the typical screen resolution of your website visitors. Then, design with that target audience in mind. Just remember to test out your hero image on multiple browsers, screens, and phones to see how it scales. Once you have the dimensions right, it’s time to work it into your web page using HTML and CSS.
Hero Image HTML
HTML is a coding language made up of elements used to give structure to a web page. It creates order and lets you embed content (like hero images) into a site.
Creating a hero image with HTML ensures your visual appears on a web page, while CSS makes it look good on a screen. Both require coding skills, so you may need to brush up on your HTML and CSS knowledge or enlist the help of a developer.
The main things to keep in mind are:

The hero image needs to be centered.
The text needs to be easy to read.
It has to look great on all screen sizes.
The image should cover the entire viewport.

Follow these steps to set up an eye-catching hero image. Note: The examples below include HTML elements and CSS rules, but I’ll explain the difference between the two later on.
1. Create the structure.
Set up two containers for your hero image using the coding conventions of your website. For instance, the first example below uses .hero for the structure and .hero-content for the image, text, and button, while the second uses .image-container and .inner-container.
Image source
Image source
2. Add your content.
Once the structure is in place, it’s time to personalize your image. Add an image, choose a custom font, craft a header and subheader, and create a button with an enticing CTA. If you want to add a filter to your background image (without applying it to the text), DeveloperDrive recommends including the filter before your .hero-content code.

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Notice how the width and height under the .hero section are set to 100vw and 100vh. This ensures the image fits the entire viewport, both vertically and horizontally, so it spans the whole screen.
No hero image is complete without a button that drives people to take action. Incorporate one into your image with the <button> element. Just make sure to include the font-family since the text doesn’t automatically translate from the .hero-content element.
3. Center the content.
Not all hero images have centered text, but most have a centered image. To align your background image, you can make a flex container by incorporating display, justify-content and align-items under your .hero element.
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For centered text, include a .text-align: center rule under your core content element. In the following example, the text is nested under the .hero-content code.

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4. Make it responsive.
You want your hero image to look good no matter the screen size. Setting media queries allows you to create parameters so your image is responsive at a particular screen width.

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5. Test the view.
Congratulations, your HTML structure is set! Test out how the image, text, button, margins, padding, and centering look on different screen sizes. If something seems off, comb through your code to see if you can find issues. For detailed instructions on creating and troubleshooting with HTML, check out this article from DeveloperDrive. All look good? It’s time to add style with CSS.
Hero Image CSS
While HTML creates order, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) adds flair. It’s a rule-based language that complements the HTML elements by applying stylistic effects. For example, CSS lets you turn the text in a hero image header bright yellow so it pops against the purple background.
If you don’t include CSS within your hero image, the HTML elements default to the basic browser properties like the example below.
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That’s not the most attractive web page, right?
By including CSS rules, you can develop an image that draws in visitors instead of scaring them away. The above HTML examples include CSS rules, but let’s walk through a basic design so you can work it into your own image.
The following template outlines the basic HTML and CSS needed to create a full-screen hero image. You can adjust the style by changing the rules under the .hero or .hero-text elements, like font-family, color, border, or padding-top.
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For more information and inspiration on ways to use CSS for images, look to the hero-image forum on GitHub. Now, it’s time to check out what good hero image coding can do for a company’s web page.
Hero Image Examples
Like all creative mediums, hero images are influenced by trends. Remember when clipart was cool? How about when every news site hit you with a splash page?
To create a relevant hero image today, look to these design trends.
1. Parallax and Scrolling Animation
We experience parallax every day when watching cars pass by or walking down the street. It’s the optical illusion that makes objects close to us appear to move faster than objects farther away. In web design, parallax uses foreground and background to recreate this effect. The result seems like magic. Just make sure not to overwhelm visitors by incorporating too many moving elements. Simplicity is key here.

Scrolling animation makes participation the goal. A good scrolling animation encourages people to keep scrolling before offering up a unique, engaging experience. Scrolling animations come in a variety of packages and work well across a number of industries, like retail, creative services, news publications, education, and more.
2. Abstract Compositions
Circles, triangles, stripes, and color blocks are back in vogue. Instead of restricting space and making sure everything is in its place, abstract hero images evoke a sense of freedom and creativity. You can find this trend taking over tech companies and startups, like this example from Zendesk that incorporates video within an abstract semi-circle to keep the design playful.

3. Soft Color Schemes
The average adult spends nearly eight hours per day with digital media — and that can lead to a lot of eye strain. Web designers have taken note and are starting to lean toward hero images with neutral, pleasing color palettes. This trend is popping up on retail, wellness, and medical websites to offer a more comfortable experience that’s easy on the eyes.
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4. Products as Design Elements
Products are the star of the show when it comes to hero images. Companies want to show their offerings and entice visitors to learn more about the features. For hero images, it’s common to see products being used as graphic elements or deconstructed so visitors can dig into the details. Tech and retail companies often use this type of hero image, but it can work for any brand looking to put its product at the forefront.
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Image source
5. Lifelike Color
So long flat colors, hello fine 3-D shading. This trend in hero image web design is all about making people feel like they’re inside the screen. Designers create these realistic experiences using gradients, shadows, and blended colors. While this trend will likely stay in tech and apps, it’s great for pulling people into the world of your website.
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6. Videos
Research by Wyzowl found that 84% of people have been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video. This makes video the perfect visual content for an attention-grabbing hero image. If you decide to use a video, it’s best to keep it under 30 seconds long and on a loop. As mentioned above, you’ll want to switch out the video for a static hero image for your mobile site so it doesn’t eat up data or take long to load.

 
Hero Image Best Practices
Trends are only one part of creating a great hero image. The rest of the magic relies on tried-and-true design standards. Even if you’re not a trained designer, you can follow these best practices for a hero image that hits home with your audience.
1. Size
We already talked about the best dimensions for hero images above (1,200 pixels and a 16:9 aspect ratio), so consider this a reminder of how important it is to have the right size. You don’t want the browsers to resize an image for you or you might wind up with a funky, stretched visual that puts off visitors.
Pro tip: Experiment with PNG and JPG files to figure out which results in a faster page loading speed.
2. Harmony
People are instantly distracted by bad design and will click off your site if your hero image doesn’t harmonize with the rest of your layout. Keep your aesthetic in sync by carefully selecting the fonts, sizes, colors, navigation, visuals, and copy.
It’s helpful to reference your brand identity and guidelines when coming up with a hero image concept. You don’t want people to lose interest before getting to the good stuff.
3. Organization
Part of creating a harmonious design is having excellent organization. Your hero image content should have a logical hierarchy and flow, so every piece builds on what came before. This is incredibly important for pairing images with copy.
When a relevant image is paired with information, people can remember 65% of the information three days later. But only 10% is remembered from information alone. Make sure your message is clear and connects with your visuals. It’s helpful to set up a simple wireframe for how your hero image will be organized on the page.
4. Originality
Stock photos are a core part of content marketing, but they may be hurting more than helping when it comes to hero images. While 40% of content marketers said original graphics helped them reach their marketing goals, only 13% of content marketers said the same thing about stock photos.
You can flex your creativity by creating original hero images with Canva or get inspiration from Behance. Lacking quality photos? Browse Unsplash or Pexels for a variety of high-quality photos that can be used for commercial and non-commercial purposes.
5. Consistency
The biggest struggle to create engaging visuals? 43% of marketers say it’s producing them consistently. To get on a set schedule, set aside the time and resources you need to create visuals — even add it to your marketing budget.
If you’re crunched for time, consider revamping your old graphics. It’s a smart way to save time, and 51% of companies have found it’s efficient and effective.
There’s nothing worse than landing on a web page that looks like it was made in the dotcom bubble. It looks sketchy, and you’re afraid to click on anything in case it redirects you to some kind of virus. On the other hand, being greeted by a beautiful hero image makes you want to stay and explore the page.
As the first touchpoint people have with your brand, hero images have a major impact on your brand perception, website traffic, and conversion. So it’s time to put your newfound knowledge into practice and design one that draws people in from the first look.

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If you’re in marketing, chances are you’ve heard about A/B testing. As for whether you’ve actually had time to put it into practice, that’s a whole other story. For small business owners or marketers who are trying to do everything themselves, it can be tough to add yet another task to the ever-revolving list of…
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What does a great email design look like in the nonprofit space? Is it form or function? Style or substance?
A well-designed email can mean the difference between your readers clicking through your email and donating or not even bothering to open it. 
Today we’re going to talk about components that make up a great email in 2021, such as having a snappy headline, straightforward copywriting, and simple template design.
Grab your reader’s attention
Any non-profit looking to drive donations needs a watertight email strategy. It’s a great way to show readers the impact of their donations and how you’re putting their money to good use. 
The first step you need to take is getting them to notice you. 
A well-designed email with great copy jumps out at the reader from the inbox. It’s hard to resist and demands attention. So, how do you achieve this effect? Let’s start at the beginning.
Nail the subject line
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it’s an excellent tactic for writing subject lines. If you can leverage curiosity, you can intrigue your reader into opening your email. 
A great subject line:

Highlights the benefits of opening the email
Is concise enough to get the message across without giving too much away
Is personalized to the reader

Spend time writing various subject lines until you find the perfect fit. You only get one chance to interest your reader with the subject line, so make it count. 
Keep it simple
Too many people make the mistake of designing overly complicated emails. While they can look great, it’s not always the best format for email newsletters. 
Simple, mobile-friendly templates with one to three columns are effective because you can use them to direct your reader’s eye to the most critical components of your email.

Source: UNICEF
This email by UNICEF is a great example for several reasons:

It uses the inverted pyramid design to guide readers through the email
It uses powerful images to invoke readers’ emotions
It has a simple message and a clear call to action

Clear, engaging copy
When you study the structure of an email that converts well, you’ll notice there’s a certain something about it. What makes such emails capture readers’ attention? 
It’s simple: Punchy, concise copy.
Most people don’t read email copy in its entirety—they skim. This can be used to work in your favor. Just design your email to include blocks of text with eye-catching copy.
Once the first sentence hooks them, keep them reading until they get to the most important part—the call-to-action. In the non-profit space, this is typically an ask for a donation.

Source: WWT
This email by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust is doing several things right: They’re emphasizing their key message: Donate. The donate-specific links and buttons are highlighted in orange throughout to draw attention. 
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust also uses specific language like “now is a crucial moment” and “wetland wildlife needs your help like never before” to create a sense of urgency.
It’s worth taking a moment to talk about the effects COVID-19 has had on nonprofits and email marketing. COVID-19 has put a lot of charities under pressure. Vulnerable people are even worse off, and that’s something you can discuss honestly with your readers.
Open rates, click-through rates, and email signups have soared during the pandemic, so you need to think about how to make the most of your email list with design and content curation.
Well-arranged content
Finally, the way you arrange the elements in your email is essential. 
Use the inverted pyramid principle to direct your readers’ attention to those parts of your email that contain the most important information. 
That means starting with an eye-catching headline, then have a few sentences of supporting information, and top it off with a clear CTA at the bottom of the pyramid (i.e. click here).
Wrap up
Now you know how to design an email that stands out and drives donations. You’ve learned the importance of keeping eyeballs on screen, simple templates to focus reader attention, and the power of clear copy.
If you’re ready to take your email strategy to the next level, Campaign Monitor is here to help. 
But before you run off and launch your nonprofit email campaign, be sure to read our ultimate guide to email campaign design.
 
The post What Great Email Design Looks Like for Nonprofits In 2021 appeared first on Campaign Monitor.