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10 places to shout about your site

March 2nd, 2010

In the effort to drive more traffic to your website, it’s so easy to get absorbed in the world of online marketing, and completely forget about the opportunities you have in the ‘real world’!


As a general rule, wherever you have information about your company, your website address should be there too. That way, if you catch people’s interest, they’ve got something to reference, somewhere to get more detail, before getting in touch directly.


The following list is a starting point – 10 places where you can shout about your website in the real world. The list is by no means exhaustive, so do add a comment or let me know if you have more ideas.


  1. Business Stationary

    Ok, let’s start with the obvious – I’m hoping you’ll have this one sorted already. Ensure that any literature that leaves your office has your website address on. That includes business cards, invoices, headed paper, promotional leaflets, brochures, the list goes on… Make it prominent, and give people a reason to go and look at the website.

  2. Email Signatures

    Think about how many emails you send out each day. Add a signature (in Outlook, go to Tools -> Options -> Mail Format to set up a default signature), and as well as your name and telephone number, include your website address. If there’s a particular service you’re promoting, or you’d like to get more people signed up to your email newsletter, include specific links to the relevant pages.

  3. Adverts in local or industry specific press

    Offline advertising can be incredibly expensive. But depending on your business type, advertising in the local village magazine, or in industry specific publications, can be a valuable way of gaining new business. Make sure you include your website address in your ad – so people can go away and find out more about you!

  4. Networking Events

    Face to face business networking can be an incredibly valuable way of building up your business, as well as gaining support and a good supplier network at the same time. But depending on the format of the event, you may not to get to speak to each and every person in the room. If you get a chance to do a 60 second pitch, consider mentioning your website. And where appropriate, make some promotional literature available for people to take if they wish – with your website address on!

  5. Sponsorship & Charitable Work

    You may decide to sponsor a local event, do some charitable work, or similar. See this as an opportunity to get your name, brand and website address out there! Make sure when you are referenced, your website is referenced too.

  6. Van Livery

    Particularly for trades people, your name and brand can become very well known in the local area, simply by virtue of it being on your vehicle. Make sure each and every vehicle is professionally sign written, and give your website address a prominent place.

  7. Office Signs

    This is particularly relevant if your office is in a busy location. Have your office signs include your website address, so people passing by can go away and find out more.

  8. Stickers anyone?

    This idea came from seeing a servicing sticker that our local plumber had left on the boiler. It’s a reminder of when the boiler needs servicing again, and as well as a phone number, why not include the website? This could be applicable to any manner of businesses who do recurring work for clients – leave some literature behind with your details so they can find you again when they need you.

  9. Any freebies you give out

    This is an obvious one, but if you attend trade fairs and events where you distribute any sort of freebies – make sure your website address is included!

  10. 10. Press Releases/Features

    Great! You’re featured in the local paper, trade publication, industry magazine….. oh, wait a minute…. you mean to say there’s no website address in there?! It’s an all too common problem. Make sure all press releases include your website address. When interviewed, request that it be included. If possible, give people a good reason for going and taking a look.


Posted in Tips from a Web Designer | No Comments »

5 Ways To Analyze Your Current Site

February 19th, 2010

Analyzing your website

Picture this. I meet someone who I find has an appallingly bad website. It looks unprofessional, it’s cluttered, there’s no clear sense of purpose, the list goes on. In other words, a perfect opportunity for us as a website design studio.


We have one slight problem though. I discover that this appallingly bad website was built by the person I’m talking to. My task becomes everso slightly more difficult – to convince someone that what they’ve spent hours creating is actually, well…. rubbish.


Anyone that knows me knows that diplomacy isn’t one of my strengths (at least you know where you stand that way!) So in case that person is you, to avoid the pain, I’ve put together some pointers below against which you can analyze your current website. Hopefully it’ll help you work out whether your website is up to scratch or not. Because believe me, there are an awful lot of sites out there that are in the ‘or not’ category.

Content

  • Is it up to date? It MUST be – if you don’t want to annoy people that is.
  • Is it short and snappy – broken up by well formatted headings, with lots of white space at the appropriate points?
  • Is it targeted at your user? Is the language appropriate for the intended audience?
  • Do you clearly state the benefits you bring to your clients, not just how many years experience you have and how many different features your product has?
  • Does the content accurately reflect YOU as a business, as a person?

Usability

  • How quickly can someone completely new to the site find stuff? Is it intuitive or do you have to personally point someone in the right direction?
  • Is there a consistent layout across the site? There are no hard and fast rules about this, but the easier you can make it for someone, the better – don’t confuse people!
  • Is there a consistent navigation menu across the site? Personally, I like to have a top level navigation menu that remains consistent right across the site.
  • Can people always find their way back home easily?

Design/Look and Feel

  • Does the design of the site reflect YOU? Your Company? Does it do you proud, or are you everso slightly embarrassed to give people your website address?
  • Is the style right – Modern? Professional? Fun? Arty? Technical? If you turned all the words into gobbledegook, what impression would you get?
  • Is it too cluttered? Are you trying to fit too much into the space available? White space is generally a good thing – give my eyes time to rest :)
  • Fonts – what typeface are you using? Is it the right one? For example, have a look at the difference between Comic Sans, Georgia, and Verdana – they all portray a completely different image.
  • Are you using images? If so, are they sending the right messages, or are they simple boring people. To give an example, a picture of a hard drive for a PC repair company – duh, I’m not really interested in what a hard drive looks like, that’s why I’m asking you to fit my computer, not doing it myself. Inspire people!

Technical

  • Code – is your website standards compliant? You can check by going to validator.w3.org and typing in your website address.
  • Speed – how quickly does the site take to load? Clear your browsing history and reload your website – if it takes more than a few of seconds, that’s probably too long.
  • Cross Browser Performance – does your website look good in all the commonly used web browsers? Not everyone uses Internet Explorer – I use Mozilla Firefox normally, and I often review websites for clients with a completely broken page layout when it comes to anything but Explorer. You can check by going to www.browsershots.org and typing in your website address.

Visitor Levels

  • Are you getting enough quality visitors? Do you know how many visitors you’re getting even? (If not, go and sign up for Google Analytics, it’s free).
  • If not, is your site ranking in search engines for relevant terms, which people are actually searching for?
  • If not, is your site optimised for these search terms?
  • Slightly off-topic, but relevant none-the-less – are you telling people about your site, building up links, building up a social media profile to drive traffic to your site, etc?


Right, that was an extremely quick, high level run through just some of the things that run through my head when analysing a site. If you’d like more advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch. But when thinking through these things in relation to your own website, be honest with yourself – after all, if it’s not up to scratch, it’s your business that you’re letting down.

Posted in Tips from a Web Designer | No Comments »

How much time is this going to take?

February 8th, 2010

Download Blog Planning Template here (MS Excel file)


So you’ve decided to start blogging. Or you’ve been told that Google likes regularly updated content on your website. Tis true, and what’s more, users like it too.


But before you launch into the blogosphere, do me a favour and stop to think awhile. For this reason – it looks a bit half-hearted if users arrive at your website only to see five or six posts that were written in a burst of energy a year and a half ago, and then… nothing.



Establishing and maintaining a blog requires effort. I actually find writing posts, articles, newsletters pretty enjoyable. But it does require some dedication.


Here are a few tips I’ve picked up along the way:


  • Start as you mean to go on. Don’t start with a bang and then fizzle out. Think about how much time you can realistically commit on a regular basis to your blog or website. If that’s just an hour once a month, then fine – but keep it consistent. That way, users know what to expect.


  • Have a set time in your diary once a day/week/month when you’ll update your website/blog. Set a reminder in your calendar so you can’t avoid it! Ok, so this is real life, so things will crop up that mean you can’t always do what you’d planned. But you can make sure you fill in the gaps as soon as you have a spare moment.


  • Think about where you’ll be getting your ideas from. Here are just a few suggestions, I’m sure you’ll come up with more:
    • Keep an eye at what’s going on in your industry/sector and share your opinions
    • Share some of the knowledge you use when working with your clients
    • Answer the questions that you had when first starting out in the industry
    • Share a solution you’ve arrived as a result of a problem in your day-to-day work


  • Create a schedule with dates, future post titles and ideas – sit down every two or three months & plan out future posts. Print it out & pin it on your notice board – no getting away from it then! I started out with this strategy this year, and it’s incredible the difference it’s made to the regularity of posts on my blog!


  • If you’re limited on time, consider one of these options:
    • Rather than long, in-depth posts, just keep an eye out for useful, informative or engaging posts by other writers – and then link to them, with your own thoughts & comments on the subject
    • Re-use content you may already have accumulated – articles, user guides, press releases, etc. But make sure they’re interesting, up-to-date and relevant!
    • Find someone else to blog for you – there are companies that will offer this as a regular service to clients. Ideally, you’ll sit down to discuss & agree topics in advance. Work out who will be doing the research, and what input is required from you.


  • Remember to publicise as well as write! Use article publishing sites; put a link to your blog in your email signature; use Social Media to tell people about your new post; link back to posts from your newsletter; and tell everyone you know about your blog & where to find it!


I created a blog schedule template for my own use, and have posted it here so you can take advantage of it too. It’s nothing complicated – have a look and adapt it to your own liking. Click here to download Blog Schedule Template (MS Excel file).


Posted in Tips from a Web Designer, Website Planning | No Comments »

What are your users looking for?

February 1st, 2010

I don’t know about you, but I find it frustrating when Google returns a site in the search engine results which looks promising in relation to what I’m searching for – only to find when I get there that it’s not at all what I was looking for. Grrr!

Obviously, despite the amazing technological feat it has attained, Google is not perfect – and never will be. But site owners can help it on its way – and gain the trust of users at the same time.

Consider what it is your users are looking for. I’m not talking in-depth scientific research here –more just employing some common sense for half an hour. Once you’ve worked out what your users are looking for, you have to supply that need – and let Google know, through your site meta data, headings, etc – what it is that’s on your site.

Example: A Local Primary School

A while back, I built a website for a local primary school (www.dry-sandford.oxon.sch.uk). Rather than simply putting a fresh look over the old website, we sat down & thought what people would actually be looking for, and what people would find useful.

Here are a few examples of what we came up with:

  • Existing parents – likely to be looking for latest news on school closures, club updates, when school photos are going to be taken, the list goes on… So throughout the website, we have a ‘Status board’ which the school secretary regularly updates – so parents can immediately see latest news
  • Existing parents again – finding a school dinner money order form might be useful if the one in Ben’s bag got a bit worse for wear while said bag was used for a football goal after school. So we have a School Office area – where forms, newsletters, etc are all uploaded & accessible to parents for download & printing.
  • Prospective parents – the obvious one is comprehensive details of the school, its ethos, structure and more. But we felt it important that prospective parents get a ‘feel’ for the school – so we’ve used a lot of images and also got children involved in creating audio clips – so their voice is heard on the site too.

Are you at odds with your users?

Bear in mind though – sometimes what your users are looking for, and what you want to give them, might be two different things. Maybe they’re just looking for information, whereas you are looking to sell.

In many cases, a hard sell to someone who is just looking for information, will fall flat on its face. The trick is to start gaining that person’s trust, proving your expertise in the field, supplying a certain amount of information – so that you then start to earn the right to pitch to that user – usually at a later date.

Consider how you can create incentives which will encourage the user to come back to your site, to stay in touch. Think about how you could get users to register their email address on your site, so you then have a means to keep in touch. The golden rule here is to remember that users are NOT stupid – and that’s why it’s important you gain people’s trust, provide something of value – to avoid them feeling like they’re been used, or conned into some marketing programme.

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Website Planning: Who are your users?

January 21st, 2010

Website Planning: Are you planning your website for your users?

Website Planning: Are you planning your website for your users?



It is often far too easy, when planning a website, to spend hours and hours thinking about portraying who you are, what you do, what the design should look like… And then forget the people that are going to decide whether your website is a success or not – your users!






Two groups of users

If you already have a website, one way to consider this is to split your users into two groups:

  • your target audience
  • your actual audience

Who are they really?

Think about who is actually looking at your site at the moment. This is not always straightforward, but you can start by looking at the enquiries and input you get from your website. Are the enquiries from the right type of people?

It’s also worth looking at your website user statistics (get Google Analytics installed on your site if you haven’t already – it’s free!):

  • Where are your users coming from?
  • What search terms are they using to find your site?
  • What do those search terms tell you about what the user is looking for?

Who would you like them to be?

Think about the profile of an ideal visitor to your site:

  • What would their age, sex, job, company size, location be?
  • What would they be looking for?

Compare the two

Do you target audience & actual audience match? If not, think about the following:

  1. Do you need to adjust the search terms your site is optimised for – to find a different type of user? Think about the different types of the user the following search terms might bring:
    • landscape gardening
    • landscape gardening company

    Although they appear similar on the surface, the first term might be used for people wanting to move into the landscape gardening market, people wanting to research the history of landscape gardening, as well as people looking for a landscape gardener.

    The latter term is far more likely to consist of simply people who are looking for a landscape gardening company.

  2. Do you need to adjust your on-page content to cater for the users you’re actually looking to convert into paying customers? For example, think about how your site will:
    • gain people’s trust – particularly if the majority of people will never have heard of you before. This will vary in importance depending on who your users are & what your business is
    • address your users – how technical should your language be? Are your users tech savvy or not? Do you need to explain everything from scratch, or will your users a basic industry knowledge that you then build on?
    • give the right impression of your company – are you trying to move into a professional market or target 18 year old students? Your language, style and content will (should!) vary tremendously dependant the answer.

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Website Planning: What’s your goal?

January 12th, 2010

Everyone needs a goal!!

Everyone needs a goal!!




This is the first of a series of posts based around the idea that before you launch into getting a new website created, it’s a good idea to plan :)


This is often done in conjunction with a website designer, but I thought it wouldn’t go amiss to share some of the tips I use with my clients when planning a website.

What’s your goal?

The first big question: what do you want your website to achieve? What’s the end goal? Ok, so here’s what I came up with off the top of my head:

  • Generate more enquiries
  • Back up offline sales efforts
  • Increase sales
  • Get you more publicity
  • More newsletter sign-ups
  • …and I’m sure you can think of more

The important thing is that you crystallise in your own mind what you’re expecting from your website. It’s a good idea to check that all your key stakeholders have the same expectations here too!

What has to happen to get there?

The next step is to work back from your goal. What has to happen (in terms of user experience, design, content), for you to achieve your end goal?


Let’s say I’m a freelance corporate photographer, and my first website goal is to generate more enquiries. For me, that says several things:

  • Photography is a very visual thing – my ability as a photographer is mainly evidenced by my portfolio. Therefore, give the portfolio a prominent place within the website. Use a big button on the home page to link to it if appropriate! Don’t clutter it – use a clean design, so the important bit – my photography – has highest impact.
  • To an outsider’s eyes, I’m only as good as my worst piece of work. So I cut out any work that is of lower quality to my norm/desired standard. Remember – my goal is to generate new enquiries, not show how many projects I’ve completed!
  • Testimonials count for a lot. So the next thing that comes to mind is that I should perhaps include client testimonials/comments within or linked from my portfolio.
  • I’ve got to make people do something once they’ve looked at, and been impressed by my portfolio. So include a ‘Request a quote’ or ‘Book me now’ link or button on the portfolio page. Don’t make it hard for the user! And don’t give the user too many options –> remember, you have one goal!!



As I always say – it’s not rocket science, it just takes a little bit of thinking.

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Local Customers: Get more of them…

December 10th, 2009

Local results for 'electrician oxford'

Google Local Business Listings are relied upon by many businesses as a way of generating more traffic to their website and thereby more enquiries and more business from local customers.


For any unfamiliar with the term, Local Business Listings are the search results you see next to a local map when you type in a localised search term, let’s say ‘electrician oxford’ (see results left).


Click through rates vary from industry to industry, but as the local results appear before the standard stuff, a Local Business Listing is not something that should be ignored! Watch/read more information on creating/claiming your Google Local Business Listing on the Google site: www.google.com/local/add.

Getting on the map


What I want to cover in this post is how you can improve your chances of ranking in the results that appear next to the map on the first results page.


There is no one single factor that will win you that number one position – as with organic search results, it’s a combination of lots of different factors, some of which are more important than others. Most of what is below is taken from the results of a survey published by David Mihm earlier this year, so if you want to go more in-depth, have a look at his write-up here: Local Search Ranking Factors by David Mihm.


  • Where possible, & without making the listing seem ridiculously unreadable, try & get your keyword product / service (e.g. electrician) in the listing title & also in the categories your business is listed in.


  • If your Local Business Listing address is in the city/location the user is searching for – so Oxford in this case, you’re more likely to rank. This can prove problematic if you’re not based in the same area in which your target market is :(


  • Citations – these are the ‘links’ of normal search engine optimisation. Citations are references to your business; they are often links to your website too, but it might just be a directory entry containing your business name and telephone number. Look at the ‘Web Sites’ section in your listing and in those of your competitors – can you add directory listings for your business to increase the number of citations? Bear in mind that quality (of citation site) does have a bearing as well as quantity. Industry and location specific citations are important. Have a read of this blog post by David Mihm on citations in the UK.


  • Reviews: Previous clients have the opportunity to leave a review on your local business listing, & Google also picks up data from other review sites. A good number of positive reviews can have a big effect on your listing position. Why not get into a habit of asking each client to leave a review for you? For starters, ask existing clients if they would mind going back and adding a review; send them the link to make it easy.


  • Pictures. So this is less about ranking, and more about usability & trust. From a user perspective, if you add GOOD images to your listing, it will stand out that bit more from the rest. It’s all about engaging trust – whether it’s a picture of your office, a product example, or something else, just make sure it’s relevant & will work towards making the user feel more happy about picking up the phone and talking.


That’s it for now – I hope that helps you in your quest for local business; unfortunately for me, Google recently has stopped showing local business results for web design and seo companies for some bizarre reason yet to be established…. frustrating!! Google, please reinstate ASAP!

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Are users really lazy?

December 3rd, 2009

I’ve said it myself so many times – people browsing the web are lazy; they have short attention spans; don’t you dare give them huge chunks of content without breaking up with headings, bullet points and the like – you’ll scare them off!


But something got me thinking. I recently read a recommendation that ‘you shouldn’t make users scroll’ – i.e. that all your content should be visible when the user arrives on the page. And I actually disagree.


I think perhaps we’re being too harsh on web users here. It suddenly occurred that rather than being lazy, a lot of this is simply down to people demanding more. By it’s very nature, when you’re on the web, your competition is normally (although not always) pretty big. And so users can demand more.


And I believe that if you fit that demand, if you provide the right content – users will be happy to scroll ad-infinitum. What’s crucial then is not so much how long your post is, but how relevant it is. And using impactful, eye-catching and relevant headings, images, lists and the like are a means to an end – helping you to persuade the user that your post or web page is interesting, relevant and the right one for them to stick around and read.


Think about how that applies to your own website …

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5 key tips for writing website copy

November 9th, 2009

Have you ever had the pleasure of someone coming up to you at a networking event & spending ten minutes boring you to tears with the different services their company provides, telling you how many years experience they have, how many awards they’ve won….?


I’m guessing it didn’t enamour them to you. And yet that’s what so many of us do with our websites!!!


Of course we need to tell people what we do. But go back to face-to-face networking. If you’re good at it, you listen first, then you impart small chunks of RELEVANT information….hopefully with the result that the person you’re talking to will then want to know more.


Apply that to your website:

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What sort of website do I want?

November 3rd, 2009

Ok, so you need a website. That’s step one.

Trouble is, there are as many different varieties of websites as there are chocolate (well, nearly…). And websites are slightly more expensive than chocolate, so you probably want to make the right decision first time around. What you’ll find here is an overview of the more common types of sites – which will hopefully help you decide what it is you actually need…

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