Author: David

Categories
Web Marketing

Is online marketing something I should try and learn?

If you have recently set up a website then you most probably will have thought about online marketing. You may have the best website out there, but if no one knows about it or can find it then it becomes pretty useless.

There are a number of ways in which you can market your business online and a website is often a popular choice. It may be that you want to try and keep costs down and wonder if you can do the marketing yourself? Although there are definitely certain elements of marketing which can be done quite easily, there are other parts that should be left to the experts. Much of web marketing and especially SEO is not something you can learn overnight and also not something you can learn just from a college course. Much of it takes practice and you often need to do a few experiments to find out exactly what works and what does not work. If you are serious about your web marketing, then invest your money in a company that has proven results and that can show you what they have done for previous clients. No one can guarantee you a permanent number one spot on Google, but some companies can achieve great things with SEO.

Categories
Web Marketing

Should I allow reviews to be posted onto my website?

Whether selling a product or providing a service your business is constantly subject to judgement from customers, be it existing customers or potential new customers. There are many independent review sites such as Trip Advisor and Trustpilot that allow people to post company reviews and add a score (usually out of 5) for products and/or services. These websites are quite popular however the issue is that anyone can post a review, whether they are a verified customer or not. This means that you open yourself up to the possibility of negative feedback from false customers, these could be left by your competitors to purposefully reduce your score.

Reviews can, however, be very useful. With the way of the modern world most of us take time to read and compare product and service reviews prior to any purchases to make sure we avoid any negative experiences.

One option would be to allow customers to submit a review but have your website set up to have to manually approve any reviews, that way you can check that the review is genuine and that it is suitable to be published.

Many websites publish testimonies, these are positive customer quotes and are designed to promote your business through positive reviews from past customers.

Categories
Web Design

The benefits of having a website for your business

Whether you have a start up business or a fully established one not everyone has made the choice to get a website. Without one though you may be missing out, especially with the way the world of advertising is going with clicks and site visits being the new ‘word of mouth’. So how can having your own website help your business? The most obvious one is probably accessibility. If you have a successful website with great SEO, search engine optimisation, then your potential customers will be able to find you using search engines. A website also gives your customers chance to look through what services or products you offer at their own leisure, allowing them to consider your business and for you to grab their attention to convert their interest into sales.

Having a website means you will also have the capability to see how different marketing strategies are working for you. The website can feedback data such as volumes of traffic, how many people have clicked on your website, and also which areas of your site are most popular. That way you can invest your marketing budget wisely in the areas you’re bound to get the best returns. Take your time to find a good website designer who can convert your vision into a workable website for your business.

 

Categories
News

What is page load speed and why does it matter?

In simple terms page load speed is the number of seconds it takes for the content on your web pages to appear in front of visitors. As technology moves forward at lightening speed consumers are requiring faster responses to their clicks and if your website page load speed is slow it may cause visitors to leave your site possibly costing you sales. In addition, user behaviour on your website sends important signals to search engines which in turn can impact your ranking.

The page speed of your website is the first impression people get even before they have a chance to see your products and/or services. Visitors may get frustrated while they are waiting for your page to load and there is nothing more frustrating than waiting. Recent research found that 47% of people expect a website to load in two seconds or less, and 40% will give up if it takes more than 3 seconds to load so if your page speed is not fast the chances are you will have a high bounce rate and low time on page too.

If users get past the first page and start to browse around your website then are continually faced with delays again they will probably leave the site which ultimately will cost your company revenue.

Categories
Web Design

Is it time to invest in a business website?

Over the past two years many businesses have struggled to keep going especially those in the hospitality or services sectors. For those that have managed to keep their business afloat and are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel now could be the time to invest in a business website to really promote their company and see that much-needed growth.

It is possible to create your own website for a fraction of the cost of paying a company to design and create one for you, but it is important to ask yourself the question, “Do I know what I am doing?” Designing a website is not just about having a page on the internet it is much more than that. A good, well designed and optimised website should not only bring in new clients but will also rank well on search engine searches which is vital if the competition for clients is great in your field. The effective use of SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimisation is difficult to achieve without the expertise of a web developer who will use key words and phrases that are searched for by potential clients and ensure that they are in the content of your website.

 

Categories
Web Design

Creating your own user friendly CMS

A CMS system for a website is essential as it allows your client easy access to make certain changes to the website. There are several off the shelf content management systems on the market such as Joomla and WordPress but sometimes although good, these systems just do not offer your client what they need. If this is the case then you may need to build your own bespoke content management system.

If you are a web programmer that designs website for clients then you should always consider what functionality your client will need in order to keep the website updated. Even if your client asks you to do all the updates to the site and does not require access to the back end, it is good to build this in any way in case they change their mind down the line and also to make updates quicker and easier for yourself.

When building your own CMS system you need to ensure that it is user friendly. You should be able to add / hide sections as needed to allow you to strip back the system when needed and only give certain users access to different parts of the site.