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.

 

Categories
Web Marketing

Is your website advertising your business in a professional way?

So many businesses think carefully about their logo, their business premises and staff uniform and make sure that it is professional, but neglect to put the same thought in to their website. If you are a business owner then try to put aside some time to evaluate your website and make sure that it is looks as it should. If you have had the website live for sometime then you need to check if all the information is still correct. Having out of date opening hours, stock or even contact details can be very detrimental to your business. You may find if you lose a customer because the information on your website is not right then they do not come back again.

As browsers get updated you may find that your website doesn’t display the way you want it to. IT may be that some of the content is hidden or that elements are over lapping each other. This may only require a simple change to the code but can make a huge difference to the overall appearance of your website and how professional it looks. If it has been a long time since you have your website developed you may find that your previous designer is no longer available to work on your site. If this is the case you will need to try and find someone else to work on it for you.

 

 

 

 

 

Categories
Web Design

How to cost a new website project

Part of being a freelance or self employed web developer is costing your own jobs. Costing a new website can be tricky as often you don’t know exactly how long something is going to take so therefore has to estimate it.

Customers often want a fixed price when it comes to websites which you can understand as they need to check they can afford it and budget for it. As the website build goes along you may find that you have to add on extras that were not disclosed in the initial specification.  If this is the case then you need to explain that it was not in the original quote and will cost extra. Always get approval from the client before doing any extra work as they may not agree to pay you for it otherwise.

The only true way to accurately cost a job is to meet with the client and find out as much information as possible about what they want. Check how many pages they want and what functionality will be on each page. You also need to check what changes they want to be able to make themselves. If they need to be able to add products or service or create news articles for example then this will all need to be built in and may require more time.

 

Categories
Web Marketing

Finding the right person to outsource your marketing to

If you are looking to outsource your marketing to a third party then you need to ensure that you find a company or an individual that you can trust and reply upon. Often the best way to do this is to go off recommendations, but this may not always be possible.

You may find that there is quite a difference in the prices charged by marketing agencies, individuals and agencies abroad. You may be approached by several companies that are based in places such as India that are willing to do your marketing for a fraction of the cost that you would pay in the UK, but you do need to be careful as you may find that due to the time difference there is quite a delay in being able to get in touch with them or getting work to and from them.

The best way to find good marketing people is to see their results. You should never feel bad to ask to see what work they have done previously and what results they have achieved. You can sometimes also ask for if you are able to speak to another one of their customers to get feedback as to what they are like to work with.

 

Categories
Web Marketing

How to add new and useful information to your site

Content is key when it comes to websites. Not only is content important in terms of what your visitors are looking for but also in terms of what the search engines are looking for.

When a visitor lands on your site they need to be able to find the information they are looking for quickly. If they can’t then they are likely to leave.

The more relevant, unique and fresh content you have on your site the better. Some people think that they can just copy and paste articles or blog posts from other sites to add to their own, but this is not the way to do it and is certainly not good practice. Google says that any content added to your site must give the reader some benefit and some unique value.

Adding a news section or a blog is a great way to get new content on your website as this should be unique to your business and will not clutter up the main pages of the website. Adding a couple of articles a few times a week may be enough to give you a helping hand when it comes to search engine optimisation and website rankings.

 

 

 

 

Categories
Web Marketing

How to get emails past spam filters

If you are looking to send out advertising emails then you will want to ensure that as many of them as possible get through to the relevant people’s email inboxes. It is very easy for emails to be marked as spam and there are a number of reasons why this may happen. It could be that there is an issue at the server end and either the server IP has been blacklisted or the email address hasn’t been configured correctly. In the first instance ask your hosting company to check their end to see if everything is ok. If it is, then you should look at the information that is contained in your email.

Somw words are set up to automatically trigger spam filters and if you use these words or use them too often you may find that your emails do not get through.

If you are sending out mass emails then you should send them using a specialist email marketing company. Sending emails from your own hosting account could cause your IP to get black listed and this could then take your site offline too. Specialist companies will be able to advise you on what to include and what to exclude in your marketing email.