Archive for February, 2010

The problem with hosted blogs

I think its is absolutely fantastic that so many business owners are writing blogs these days.  For me, seeing an up to date blog on a potential suppliers website is a massive bonus. It shows me that the company or individual takes their business seriously and also that they really know what they are talking about and want to engage their customers.

However there are some pitfalls of using hosted blogs like wordpress.com that not all bloggers may be aware of. 

1. The domain name.  The website address on your blog will be something like mycompanyname.wordpress.com Which does not look super professional and lets the whole word know that you are using a free wordpress account.
2. The SEO.  Apart from the ability to talk directly to your clients, one of the major benefits of a blog is SEO (search engine optimisation). If you have a 5 page website with a few mentions of your keywords then you might be found on Google.  Imagine adding your blog to your main website and adding all the 100′s of articles you have published?
3. Diverting traffic from your main website.  Ok, so you tweet your post and get 100′s of visitors to your blog but so what? What is the good of 100 people on your blog if they don’t click on your website? Have you even checked your stats to see how many click on your website?  Have you even got a link on your main blog page/banner/menu directly to the website?
4. Flexibility.  Going forwards your business is going to outgrow the hosted solution, you will want to hire a developer who is going to want to dig in and get their hands dirty customizing it for your ongoing needs.

Essentially,  businesses hosting a blog on shared hosting like wordpress.com are missing a massive opportunity, especially in terms of SEO and driving traffic to the main website.

So why not install wordpress on your own hosting and set it up along side your main website?  You don’t have to pay for expensive works to have the two integrated (although this can give an even more professional edge!) as they can still be separate.  If you don’t have a main website then you’d still benefit from points 1, 2 and 4 by purchasing  a professional domain and hosting the website yourself.  Not sure where to get started?  get in touch!

Blogging | 23.02.2010 15:37 | No Comments

What’s your website plan?

There are so many different types of website available these days – it’s a minefield.  Let’s list a few of them: blogs, brochure websites, cms websites, static websites, blogsites, sites with shopping carts, ecommerce website, social networking sites, database driven websites, flash websites and the list goes on.

So how do you work out which website is the best for your business?  This can be tricky, especially when you have three quotes full of jargon from three different agencies and still can’t work out which is which is the best value or even how to compare them!

Start by asking yourself what you need your website to do?  Do you need it just to display services? do you need to sell something from the website? do people need to book or sign up for something? do you need people to find you on Google? Do you want to write lots of content on the website? Do you need a members only section? Do you need to have content available to download?

Write it all down in a big long list, remember to focus on functionality.  Don’t be afraid of the length of the list or the possible cost implications at this stage – we will refine this in the next step.

Once you have a list you can then prioritise.  Organise your requirements into three groups.  1) must have 2) nice to have 3) will need in the future. 

An typical example might look a bit like this

My website needs to

1. Promote me an authority on my subject
2. Allow visitors to sign up to newsletters and send an auto responder
3. I need links/integration with my social networking sites like twitter and facebook as these are part of my marketing campaign
4. I need to be able to sell places at workshops
5. Targeted at woman and I already have my branding
6. I must have the ability to easily update the website

Nice to have’s

1. I might need some help with my copy, I’d like to write it initially but I will probably need some guidance to make it persuasive enough.
2. I’d like my twitter and facebook page designed to match my website
3. A gallery page with photo’s from events
4. A place for visitors to view and leave testimonials

In the future

1. I am not too worried about being found on Google at the moment as I will be actively marketing the website, but I might need help with this in the future
2. I might want to sell more products online, perhaps ebooks and more workshops
3. I might like to include a secure login in the future
4. I will want more pages in the future as my services expand

Once you have your list it should be much easier for you to decide on the right website solution and budget.  Being prepared in this way will also help your website agency with their proposal.  A good agency will consider the future needs and propose a solution that does allow for growth (of course you might want to opt for a cheaper solution with less room but the important things is that you are aware of the options- right?!).

Why not have a go at writing your website plan?  This is useful even if you have a website since it will help you identify some immediate and future needs.  If you would like some help with your website plan please do get in touch for our free  website consultation.

Website Design | 23.02.2010 12:32 | No Comments

The importance of a wireframe

I’ve talked about wireframes a couple of times before. As website designers and developers we often use them in house to enable us to decide on the layout of a page or website. For the larger websites we would really struggle without them as we need the whole team to be “on the same page” – so to speak.

We don’t often share our wireframes with our clients. This is because essentially they are a bit like technical architect drawings. We have found previously that not all of our clients want to be involved at this level and certainly not all would be able to visualize the finished website. At worst some clients might be completely put off by the wireframe and it could cause some unnecessary stress.

We usually create the wireframes using pen/paper, kids drawing tools and perhaps Microsoft paint! So not very sophisticated and not particularly client facing but perfect for our internal meetings and not very time consuming (our time is your money!)

However our current project for Digital Invoicing did require a functional wireframe. The clients were technically minded and wanted to be involved fully in order to achieve the best possible results. The wireframe is below.

So how do we do it?

As you can see this is so very different from their existing website. Essentially we

1. Held a number of meetings to discuss with Rob and Tim what wanted form their new website revamp.
2. We brain-stormed everything that we could include.
3. We completed some competitor research and also some vertical research to see what other companies were doing to solve similar issues for unrelated products.
4. Refined our list into a manageable number of features for the number of pages.
5. Once we had our “must have” features for the home pages it is a case of dividing up the page and creating the wireframe.

The page needs to remain aesthetically pleasing, balanced and use a tight grid. Rob and Tim were also keen that the page did not feel cluttered and didn’t scroll too far.

We are really pleased with the results.

1. The new layout is interactive, allows for lots of important information and uses plently of whitespace to make it easy to read.
2. Importantly we highlight their target market in the banner so that visitors can quickly decide if the product is for them. Targeting your website (and business) in this way means less time is wasted trying to convert customers who do not really need/want your product and you can really focus your message.
3. Clear call to action (did you spot the bright red sign up button !?!)

We have since made some adjustments to the wireframe and are now working on the graphic design to add colors, textures and a bit of magic to the dull wireframe. Check out the bog soon for an update!

Website Design, Website Examples | 16.02.2010 13:34 | No Comments

SEO workshop – Fantastic Success!

“Thanks for all the hard work you put into the workshop. It certainly means that things have moved on since we set up Thoughtful Products Ltd.” – Mike

 

“A good session explaining many of the intricacies and misconceptions of Google” – Norman

 

“Zoe gave me the courage to have a go myself along with her support” – Anne

 

“Well prepared, informative and helpful” – Tom

 

“Thank you very much very good!” – Kim

 

SEO, Workshops & Training | 9.02.2010 10:58 | No Comments

Download our new portfolio

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Everything else | 4.02.2010 11:21 | No Comments