It’s midnight on a Sunday night and a customer wants to find out where the nearest store is or whether your company stocks a certain product. Imagine being able to provide that customer with all the information they need without having to get out of bed and tell them.
A website provides you with this opportunity - It rarely takes sick days, works 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and it’s even willing to work on Christmas day...
Customers often use a company website as their first point of contact with the organisation, it creates an impression of your company straight away and can sometimes make the decision as to whether the customer wants to interact with your company or not.
Benefits of having a well designed website include:
- International recognition of your company.
- Websites can often be less expensive that traditional media. Online there is no need to pay for reprinting of literature if there have been changes to any information.
- They are convenient for customers as they are able to access the information they need wherever and whenever they want to.
- You website acts as an online identity – no doubt your competitors will be online so pitch up beside them and don’t miss out on valued custom.
- Give the opportunity for increased sales – customers are more likely to buy if procedures are simple and quick. Plus some customers might discover you by using online search engines so might not have known your company existed otherwise.
- Websites can be used as a promotional tool – a successful website can raise awareness of your company and be used as an online brochure showcasing your products in a limitless showroom. Printing costs can also be cut as literature can direct people to the website.
- A website hosts the ability to update information quickly and efficiently.
On the downside it could be said that the internet is just a fad, but can you really afford to miss out on such a profitable trend? As you can be certain your competitors aren’t...
Overall it IS important that your company has a website as customers use it as a source of information about your company, a place to purchase your products and it offers you company endless opportunities to communicate with your customers. However it is important to note that a good website design is extremely important, the reason many websites fail to produce results is because of bad design. Good web designers understand the need for websites to engage users and stimulate interest and often web design is not as expensive as first thought.
So give your company the online presence it deserves and call Inferno Designs for a quote...
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Using Royalty Free Image Stock
A picture paints a thousand words. This is certainly the case with good quality stock image or a digital photo.
There isn’t a modern website designed now days that doesn’t make good use of stock imagery and photos available to them online. Carefully chosen stock imagery can dramatically improve the look and feel of a website and transform what would otherwise have been a very bland and unimpressive looking site into a professional, vivid and eye catching one.
Within the past decade it has become much easier to access images and photos online but with the birth of Royalty Free Image Stock sites use of digital images has rocketed.
Purchasing Stock Imagery
There are many websites to purchase your images from and below are our top 5 Royalty Free Image Stock Sites:
Fotolia - http://www.fotolia.co.uk/
Getty Images - http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
iStockphoto - http://www.istockphoto.com/
Juniper Images - http://www.jupiterimages.com/
Shutterstock Photo - http://www.shutterstock.com/
Even though the stock images are very cheap and can be attained easily after signing up with an image stock website, you need to ensure that you purchase the correct license for the type of work you intend to use the image it for. There are now quite strict guidelines on purchasing the correct license for the image and this tends to depend on the purpose and whether you intend to re-sell the image on a piece of work or a template and if so what quantity.
For more info on the licensing rules you would need to view the respective terms on the stock site you were purchasing from.
Selling Stock Imagery
If you have an eye for catching the perfect picture on your camera then why not set-up an account with an image stock site and sell your images? Each and every image stock site will have certain criteria that needs to be satisfied in order for the images to be shown and sold via their site.
The sort of criteria that would need to be adhered to before your images are accepted consist of areas like: quality, resolution, subject matter, legal, copyright, uniqueness and other various image and photo quality conformity.
We will be writing more specifically about various useful tips and advice on the use and selling of image stock in future.
Inferno Designs professional photographers supply photos and stock imagery that can be viewed via the following stock companies:
Fotolia: Visit our Fotolia Image Stock
Dreamstime: Visit our Dreamstime Image Stock
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Image Stock, Photography and Web Design.
There isn’t a modern website designed now days that doesn’t make good use of stock imagery and photos available to them online. Carefully chosen stock imagery can dramatically improve the look and feel of a website and transform what would otherwise have been a very bland and unimpressive looking site into a professional, vivid and eye catching one.
Within the past decade it has become much easier to access images and photos online but with the birth of Royalty Free Image Stock sites use of digital images has rocketed.
Purchasing Stock Imagery
There are many websites to purchase your images from and below are our top 5 Royalty Free Image Stock Sites:
Fotolia - http://www.fotolia.co.uk/
Getty Images - http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
iStockphoto - http://www.istockphoto.com/
Juniper Images - http://www.jupiterimages.com/
Shutterstock Photo - http://www.shutterstock.com/
Even though the stock images are very cheap and can be attained easily after signing up with an image stock website, you need to ensure that you purchase the correct license for the type of work you intend to use the image it for. There are now quite strict guidelines on purchasing the correct license for the image and this tends to depend on the purpose and whether you intend to re-sell the image on a piece of work or a template and if so what quantity.
For more info on the licensing rules you would need to view the respective terms on the stock site you were purchasing from.
Selling Stock Imagery
If you have an eye for catching the perfect picture on your camera then why not set-up an account with an image stock site and sell your images? Each and every image stock site will have certain criteria that needs to be satisfied in order for the images to be shown and sold via their site.
The sort of criteria that would need to be adhered to before your images are accepted consist of areas like: quality, resolution, subject matter, legal, copyright, uniqueness and other various image and photo quality conformity.
We will be writing more specifically about various useful tips and advice on the use and selling of image stock in future.
Inferno Designs professional photographers supply photos and stock imagery that can be viewed via the following stock companies:
Fotolia: Visit our Fotolia Image Stock
Dreamstime: Visit our Dreamstime Image Stock
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Image Stock, Photography and Web Design.
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
How has Marketing Changed in the Past Decade?
The year 2000 was meant to bring many changes. Everyone would begin wearing silver space suits, flying around the sky in private space ships or on a more somber note there was the possibility of the end of the World due to the Millennium bug...
In reality none of this has happened...
But over the past 10 years marketing is one thing that has changed. Many of the changes may have seemed insignificant, but those businesses that to retain a continued increase in customers need to keep ahead of these trends.
With most households having internet access and new methods of communication with consumers have opened up to marketers. Marketers are now able to use tools such as social networking, email marketing and viral videos to target consumers. In turn this has created the possibility of 2 way symmetrical communication with consumers which in can aid with evaluations of campaigns.
Contrary to speculation we aren’t experiencing ‘the death of traditional media as we know it’ – it is true that print media has experienced a decline in its popularity but in my opinion print media will always have a place so long as the digital divide exists. Marketers must understand that there needs to be a balance and a mixture of marketing methods used.
Consumers now see advertising for what it is and are able to see through transparent campaigns. Marketers need to treat consumers with the respect they deserve and mix old methods with the new, to offer cohesive yet interesting marketing campaign.
In some ways audiences have become fragmented with consumers having higher expectations and increasing control over their purchases. This has led to a rise in the number of niche television programmes, magazines and websites. Consequently marketers have the option to target specific audiences with tailored media vehicles. Initially it could be thought that this would make marketers jobs easier, which is in part true, however it is now increasingly difficult to decide where to focus already tight resources to get the best results.
Companies now face competition on a global scale so it is even more important to take part in regular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Businesses need to ensure that they aren’t lost in the crowded market place and are in customers brand repertoires.
Society has changed over the past 10 years so it would be naive to believe that marketing should have stayed the same. It is important to track and measure changes in society and make sure that your companies marketing strategies meet the current wants and needs.
If you were to take just one piece of advice from this article it would be:
Don’t sell consumers two pieces of wood when they could have a lighter...keep up with the times!
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design and Web Optimisation.
In reality none of this has happened...
But over the past 10 years marketing is one thing that has changed. Many of the changes may have seemed insignificant, but those businesses that to retain a continued increase in customers need to keep ahead of these trends.
With most households having internet access and new methods of communication with consumers have opened up to marketers. Marketers are now able to use tools such as social networking, email marketing and viral videos to target consumers. In turn this has created the possibility of 2 way symmetrical communication with consumers which in can aid with evaluations of campaigns.
Contrary to speculation we aren’t experiencing ‘the death of traditional media as we know it’ – it is true that print media has experienced a decline in its popularity but in my opinion print media will always have a place so long as the digital divide exists. Marketers must understand that there needs to be a balance and a mixture of marketing methods used.
Consumers now see advertising for what it is and are able to see through transparent campaigns. Marketers need to treat consumers with the respect they deserve and mix old methods with the new, to offer cohesive yet interesting marketing campaign.
In some ways audiences have become fragmented with consumers having higher expectations and increasing control over their purchases. This has led to a rise in the number of niche television programmes, magazines and websites. Consequently marketers have the option to target specific audiences with tailored media vehicles. Initially it could be thought that this would make marketers jobs easier, which is in part true, however it is now increasingly difficult to decide where to focus already tight resources to get the best results.
Companies now face competition on a global scale so it is even more important to take part in regular SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis. Businesses need to ensure that they aren’t lost in the crowded market place and are in customers brand repertoires.
Society has changed over the past 10 years so it would be naive to believe that marketing should have stayed the same. It is important to track and measure changes in society and make sure that your companies marketing strategies meet the current wants and needs.
If you were to take just one piece of advice from this article it would be:
Don’t sell consumers two pieces of wood when they could have a lighter...keep up with the times!
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design and Web Optimisation.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
What is and How Do I Blog?
For many people the word blog means very little. Often when talking to people about my blog the answer is: ‘oh I don’t know about anything like that!’
However they are not reserved for the elite. Indeed setting one up is easier than a lot of people think. Everyone with something to say and an internet connection can have one.
The content of the blog depends on the individual or group writing it. Some can be used to:
Rant and rave: http://www.kackle-kackle.blogspot.com/
Inform on certain topics: http://thecommscorner.blogspot.com/
Report on previous events: http://www.lovelincoln.co.uk/ll
Create an online presence: http://scaryworldofbusiness.blogspot.com/
The beauty of blogs is that they can be used for a variety of reasons. They are an effective way to encourage discussion and engage an audience with a topic, product and organisation. This interaction with consumers can benefit an organisation as you can gain invaluable feedback straight from the direct users of you business. People are likely to leave feedback and comments online because it is easy to do so, gone are the days when you have to write a letter to head office regarding the service.
There are many different platforms upon which you can set up your blog. In my experience Wordpress and Blogger are the most popular and the easiest to set up however many others exist such as: dotemplate, Weebly, Templatr, Psycho and Firdamatic. It is important to find one that works for you. You can personalise your blog by choosing different themes to suit the personality of your blog and by adding widgets such as a live twitter link.
Blogs can be promoted using other social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and search engines like Google. However they can also be done by more traditional methods such as word of mouth. Unfortunately the content can be the best, your ideas original, the layout perfect but there is the risk that people might not see it so it is a good idea to continue promoting your blog for more views and followers.
There has been a rise in the popularity of guest blogging – this is when an individual who maybe has their own blog writes a post for yours or vice-versa. This is a brilliant way of sharing traffic as all the followers from their website, if they like your post, are likely to look on your website.
Overall blogging is great, slightly addictive but great all the same. So get writing!
My top 5 tips for blogging:
- Make it interesting
- Add pictures to break up the text
- Follow other bloggers
- Don’t make your posts too long if possible, people tend to zone out online
- And most importantly – Don’t forget to spell check!
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation.
However they are not reserved for the elite. Indeed setting one up is easier than a lot of people think. Everyone with something to say and an internet connection can have one.
The content of the blog depends on the individual or group writing it. Some can be used to:
Rant and rave: http://www.kackle-kackle.blogspot.com/
Inform on certain topics: http://thecommscorner.blogspot.com/
Report on previous events: http://www.lovelincoln.co.uk/ll
Create an online presence: http://scaryworldofbusiness.blogspot.com/
The beauty of blogs is that they can be used for a variety of reasons. They are an effective way to encourage discussion and engage an audience with a topic, product and organisation. This interaction with consumers can benefit an organisation as you can gain invaluable feedback straight from the direct users of you business. People are likely to leave feedback and comments online because it is easy to do so, gone are the days when you have to write a letter to head office regarding the service.
There are many different platforms upon which you can set up your blog. In my experience Wordpress and Blogger are the most popular and the easiest to set up however many others exist such as: dotemplate, Weebly, Templatr, Psycho and Firdamatic. It is important to find one that works for you. You can personalise your blog by choosing different themes to suit the personality of your blog and by adding widgets such as a live twitter link.
Blogs can be promoted using other social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and search engines like Google. However they can also be done by more traditional methods such as word of mouth. Unfortunately the content can be the best, your ideas original, the layout perfect but there is the risk that people might not see it so it is a good idea to continue promoting your blog for more views and followers.
There has been a rise in the popularity of guest blogging – this is when an individual who maybe has their own blog writes a post for yours or vice-versa. This is a brilliant way of sharing traffic as all the followers from their website, if they like your post, are likely to look on your website.
Overall blogging is great, slightly addictive but great all the same. So get writing!
My top 5 tips for blogging:
- Make it interesting
- Add pictures to break up the text
- Follow other bloggers
- Don’t make your posts too long if possible, people tend to zone out online
- And most importantly – Don’t forget to spell check!
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation.
Email Marketing or SPAM?
The fast growth of the internet means that now when the word SPAM is mentioned most people think ‘unsolicited emails’ instead of ‘canned meat.’ SPAM is associated with companies sending emails full of irrelevant information or emails that contain viruses.
The assumption that email marketing is SPAM is unfortunate as when used correctly email marketing is a fantastic tool to reach your audience and pass on information effectively.
Marketing is plagued by the argument that it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of a method. However email marketing can be measured. By setting up analytics you can see who has opened it, whether they have clicked on a link and been taken to the website or just deleted it.
Email marketing can drive traffic to your website by providing links to take customer to certain areas of the website. It can also remind people of your existence and raise awareness so your company is at the top of their mind.
Because of there being no official regulations it is easy for any company who has internet access and a list of email addresses to create a distribution list and send out an email.
Here are 5 tips on how to use email marketing as a positive tool to promote and engage customers with your company:
1. Content
The content of the email should be interesting and relevant to the customers who receive it. It shouldn’t be an email full of the ‘hard sell’ neither should it contain boring information that has no impact on the individual. This can be achieved by making sure the writer of the content has previous experience and understands this fundamental point.
2. Compatibility
Ok, so you have the content perfected, the distribution list of willing recipients made, you click send. But they can’t view it...
Make sure that the format is compatible with their systems and the fonts used can be opened by the internet browser.
3. Integrate
Email marketing by itself is effective but when integrated with other marketing tools such as social media its effectiveness is drastically increased. Consumers are already involved with your company and chose to engage with it on social media sites so the next progression would be to infiltrate their inbox. They will recognise it and therefore it won’t be seen as SPAM, rather as an extension of their engagement.
4. Scheduled
Just because email marketing is comparably cheaper than running a direct mail campaign of the same size do not abuse this. Emails should be sent on a periodical basis to make sure they aren’t over used and consequently ignored.
5. Opt out
Email recipients should have an option to opt out. There should be a clear and easy procedure to follow which should be honoured by the company. If the recipient continues to receive emails after this they will often then develop a negative association with the company.
By following the tips above and embarking on the process with a design company who has previous experience make sure that you are using email marketing to its full potential.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Email Marketing, Company Branding and Web Design.
The assumption that email marketing is SPAM is unfortunate as when used correctly email marketing is a fantastic tool to reach your audience and pass on information effectively.
Marketing is plagued by the argument that it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of a method. However email marketing can be measured. By setting up analytics you can see who has opened it, whether they have clicked on a link and been taken to the website or just deleted it.
Email marketing can drive traffic to your website by providing links to take customer to certain areas of the website. It can also remind people of your existence and raise awareness so your company is at the top of their mind.
Because of there being no official regulations it is easy for any company who has internet access and a list of email addresses to create a distribution list and send out an email.
Here are 5 tips on how to use email marketing as a positive tool to promote and engage customers with your company:
1. Content
The content of the email should be interesting and relevant to the customers who receive it. It shouldn’t be an email full of the ‘hard sell’ neither should it contain boring information that has no impact on the individual. This can be achieved by making sure the writer of the content has previous experience and understands this fundamental point.
2. Compatibility
Ok, so you have the content perfected, the distribution list of willing recipients made, you click send. But they can’t view it...
Make sure that the format is compatible with their systems and the fonts used can be opened by the internet browser.
3. Integrate
Email marketing by itself is effective but when integrated with other marketing tools such as social media its effectiveness is drastically increased. Consumers are already involved with your company and chose to engage with it on social media sites so the next progression would be to infiltrate their inbox. They will recognise it and therefore it won’t be seen as SPAM, rather as an extension of their engagement.
4. Scheduled
Just because email marketing is comparably cheaper than running a direct mail campaign of the same size do not abuse this. Emails should be sent on a periodical basis to make sure they aren’t over used and consequently ignored.
5. Opt out
Email recipients should have an option to opt out. There should be a clear and easy procedure to follow which should be honoured by the company. If the recipient continues to receive emails after this they will often then develop a negative association with the company.
By following the tips above and embarking on the process with a design company who has previous experience make sure that you are using email marketing to its full potential.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Email Marketing, Company Branding and Web Design.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
10 Top Website Design Tips
Inferno Designs have designed and delivered hundred’s of top quality Website’s to a multitude of industries and companies of all sizes. What are the 10 most important tips or bits of advice that we can provide you with regards to making the most of your Company Website to ensure you get value for money.
1. Do your Research
Make sure that you put enough time into carrying out some research. If you have a website already then how can you improve it, were you getting what you wanted from your old site? If not why not? Who are your Competitors? Who are your Audience and who would you ideally like to be getting to the site? Is your site for showcase purposes, to be used as a brochureware website or an online shop? All of these questions and more need to be asked before you even approach anyone to build it for you. Be very clear on what you would like the website to achieve for you, who your competitors are and who your audience is. Simple points I know, but it’s amazing how many people do not give it any thought at all then wonder why their beautifully designed website is not performing as they would have liked.
2. Website Requirements
So you fathomed out some initial ideas via the research you have carried out, know who your audience is, who your competitors are and what you would like from your site. So now you need to outline what those requirements are. These website requirements will act as the bench mark for you to look back on and assess whether your website has been designed to the spec you required. So many people rush in before they have defined exactly what it is they want from their website? Again very basic points, but these will really help you throughout the development of your site as well as qualifying the end product against your initial website requirements.
3. Succinct but Sexy
Once you have decided who will build your site (which should be no 2.5), we come to the look and feel of the site. Many website designers will tell you that this is the most important element of a site due to the fact that if people see the site and are put off by the look of it, they will just go elsewhere.. Well yes, there is a lot of truth in that statement, however it is not the only element that must be treated with importance - just see points 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 - these are all valuable points that should be worked on with as much importance as the look and feel. A website’s design will obviously be driven by the industry and audience you are targeting, so ensure that you take this into consideration when designing the site.
4. Content, Content, Content
Just as important, if not more important than the design is content, after all Content is King! The content that you use within your website should be succinct and descriptive, it should contain key words that you would like to be found on within Search Engines.. Not too many as it will just dilute the effectiveness of the content with regards to SEO. Also keep it fresh (see point 8) - ensure that your content is kept up to date, changed and added to on a regular basis via news and blog articles.
5. Call to actions
Ensure that users or customers can easily get access to you, via telephone numbers, feed back forms, email addresses, contact forms or live chat methods. Make these methods available from all pages on the site to prevent the user from having to keep navigating to and from the contact page (presuming you have one). Call to actions are yet another and sometimes overlooked element to any website. Make sure you make it easy for customers to contact you, this is vital..
6. Search Engine optimisation in Mind from the Outset..
SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, Web Optimisation – what ever you call it, you need it and it needs to be part of the way you think about and construct your site from day 1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be categorised into several key areas some on-site and some off-site. We will leave the off-site elements out of the equation for now as well will cover this in future blog articles. On-site SEO elements consist of (in no particular order) meta tag optimisation, good content (see point 4), internal links, fresh content and blog articles, alt text, good HTML / CSS code structure, W3C web compliance, Header tags and sitemap. There are plenty more but these several points are the very least you can do to aid your SEO.
7. User Experience
Your site is now looking good, it has all the call to actions necessary, has been designed with SEO in mind and has great content! That’s it isn’t it… Well no, not exactly, what about user experience? It may be the best designed site ever and be well optimised but if the user finds it hard to either move around the site or purchase your product, this will let all of the other elements down. You need to design the website from a user’s point of view. Throughout the designing of your site you need to be mindful of how the user will look, travel, use and buy from your site. This needs to be as easy and as hassle free as possible!
8. Keep it Fresh!
So you have put a lot of time and effort into building the site and have launched the site.. Probably the worst thing you can do now (apart from not promote it) is to not update or add regular content to the site. Users may visit your site once but if there is nothing that changes then they will soon get bored, also in terms of Search Engine Optimisation this is also not good. Search Engines do keep track of how frequently your site is updated and will treat that site accordingly in terms of the frequency at which it visits and updates its search results.
9. Post Launch Maintenance..
So your site has gone live, now what do you do? How do you maintain the site, who maintains it and how? Had you planned for the post launch maintenance up front? If not then it could be difficult and very time consuming to update and edit your own site. Now days there are many Content Management Systems (CMS) or sites on the market, these are good if you need to update on a regular basis. If you do not need to update on a regular basis then CMS may not be required, however see point 8 - Keep it Fresh!
10. Analytics
Analytics are one of the most useful and valuable tools to be used in conjunction with your website once you have launched it. Once you have spent your valuable money and time on your site you want to be able to measure and track how successful your site is in the way of visitors, products sold, pages viewed etc, and what you can’t track now days isn’t worth knowing. Analytics need to be hooked in from the outset to ensure that you can see and track how well your new website us doing, from there you can begin to understand the trends of your visitors, why they are visiting your site and why possibly they are not. Using the website statistics you can continue to tweak and tailor your site to suit the trends and in turn generate more interest and sales, and so the cycle continues.
So there you have it – our top 10 tips for designing a website. I will cover many more hints, tips, advice and tutorials over the coming weeks and months, so why not follow us in order to keep up to date with our blog articles!
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
1. Do your Research
Make sure that you put enough time into carrying out some research. If you have a website already then how can you improve it, were you getting what you wanted from your old site? If not why not? Who are your Competitors? Who are your Audience and who would you ideally like to be getting to the site? Is your site for showcase purposes, to be used as a brochureware website or an online shop? All of these questions and more need to be asked before you even approach anyone to build it for you. Be very clear on what you would like the website to achieve for you, who your competitors are and who your audience is. Simple points I know, but it’s amazing how many people do not give it any thought at all then wonder why their beautifully designed website is not performing as they would have liked.
2. Website Requirements
So you fathomed out some initial ideas via the research you have carried out, know who your audience is, who your competitors are and what you would like from your site. So now you need to outline what those requirements are. These website requirements will act as the bench mark for you to look back on and assess whether your website has been designed to the spec you required. So many people rush in before they have defined exactly what it is they want from their website? Again very basic points, but these will really help you throughout the development of your site as well as qualifying the end product against your initial website requirements.
3. Succinct but Sexy
Once you have decided who will build your site (which should be no 2.5), we come to the look and feel of the site. Many website designers will tell you that this is the most important element of a site due to the fact that if people see the site and are put off by the look of it, they will just go elsewhere.. Well yes, there is a lot of truth in that statement, however it is not the only element that must be treated with importance - just see points 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 - these are all valuable points that should be worked on with as much importance as the look and feel. A website’s design will obviously be driven by the industry and audience you are targeting, so ensure that you take this into consideration when designing the site.
4. Content, Content, Content
Just as important, if not more important than the design is content, after all Content is King! The content that you use within your website should be succinct and descriptive, it should contain key words that you would like to be found on within Search Engines.. Not too many as it will just dilute the effectiveness of the content with regards to SEO. Also keep it fresh (see point 8) - ensure that your content is kept up to date, changed and added to on a regular basis via news and blog articles.
5. Call to actions
Ensure that users or customers can easily get access to you, via telephone numbers, feed back forms, email addresses, contact forms or live chat methods. Make these methods available from all pages on the site to prevent the user from having to keep navigating to and from the contact page (presuming you have one). Call to actions are yet another and sometimes overlooked element to any website. Make sure you make it easy for customers to contact you, this is vital..
6. Search Engine optimisation in Mind from the Outset..
SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, Web Optimisation – what ever you call it, you need it and it needs to be part of the way you think about and construct your site from day 1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be categorised into several key areas some on-site and some off-site. We will leave the off-site elements out of the equation for now as well will cover this in future blog articles. On-site SEO elements consist of (in no particular order) meta tag optimisation, good content (see point 4), internal links, fresh content and blog articles, alt text, good HTML / CSS code structure, W3C web compliance, Header tags and sitemap. There are plenty more but these several points are the very least you can do to aid your SEO.
7. User Experience
Your site is now looking good, it has all the call to actions necessary, has been designed with SEO in mind and has great content! That’s it isn’t it… Well no, not exactly, what about user experience? It may be the best designed site ever and be well optimised but if the user finds it hard to either move around the site or purchase your product, this will let all of the other elements down. You need to design the website from a user’s point of view. Throughout the designing of your site you need to be mindful of how the user will look, travel, use and buy from your site. This needs to be as easy and as hassle free as possible!
8. Keep it Fresh!
So you have put a lot of time and effort into building the site and have launched the site.. Probably the worst thing you can do now (apart from not promote it) is to not update or add regular content to the site. Users may visit your site once but if there is nothing that changes then they will soon get bored, also in terms of Search Engine Optimisation this is also not good. Search Engines do keep track of how frequently your site is updated and will treat that site accordingly in terms of the frequency at which it visits and updates its search results.
9. Post Launch Maintenance..
So your site has gone live, now what do you do? How do you maintain the site, who maintains it and how? Had you planned for the post launch maintenance up front? If not then it could be difficult and very time consuming to update and edit your own site. Now days there are many Content Management Systems (CMS) or sites on the market, these are good if you need to update on a regular basis. If you do not need to update on a regular basis then CMS may not be required, however see point 8 - Keep it Fresh!
10. Analytics
Analytics are one of the most useful and valuable tools to be used in conjunction with your website once you have launched it. Once you have spent your valuable money and time on your site you want to be able to measure and track how successful your site is in the way of visitors, products sold, pages viewed etc, and what you can’t track now days isn’t worth knowing. Analytics need to be hooked in from the outset to ensure that you can see and track how well your new website us doing, from there you can begin to understand the trends of your visitors, why they are visiting your site and why possibly they are not. Using the website statistics you can continue to tweak and tailor your site to suit the trends and in turn generate more interest and sales, and so the cycle continues.
So there you have it – our top 10 tips for designing a website. I will cover many more hints, tips, advice and tutorials over the coming weeks and months, so why not follow us in order to keep up to date with our blog articles!
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Monday, 13 September 2010
Recipe For a Marketing Campaign that Won't Work..!
Initially when asked to write a recipe for a marketing campaign that will fail I was stumped as obviously it’s not something that companies usually want to know. However if companies know what doesn’t work they can make sure if they don’t fall into the trap...
Ingredients
100kg - power mad employees who won’t work as a team
0g - target audience
100g - a rubbish product
200g - advertising where your potential customers won’t see it
10g - bad customer service
150g - mixed messages
200g - a poor distribution line
300g - not tracking changes in consumers wants and needs
You will also need to have full use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and a badly designed website.
Method
Firstly ensure the product doesn’t match the wants and needs of your target market. It is possible to achieve this by making sure that you don’t carry out any market research to find out what trends have emerged or may emerge in the future. However please note, it would be better if your company did not have any idea as to who the target market is, but this is VERY hard to achieve and can only be mastered by a few experienced individuals.
To make sure that the marketing campaign fails completely no effort should be taken to ensure that consumers know about the product. For this method it doesn’t matter whether the product is good or bad. Sometimes you have to work with a good product however one way to fail in this situation is to advertise in places where potential customers won’t see it and in outlets that don’t match the brand. For a good example, imagine a designer handbag in Wilkinsons.
Continue to advertise the product in the wrong places until the balance sheet turns red.
Add the 100kg of power mad employees who won’t work as a team. This is one of the core ingredients because this alone can have the desired effect on the marketing campaign. However make sure there is limited collaboration between advertising, PR, marketing and management as otherwise you run the risk of projecting a cohesive message that consumers might understand.
Grate consumers up the wrong way by hassling them with social media tools with regular and pointless updates. One way to fully use social media to ruin your campaign is to connect with consumers but not listen to what they say – promise them something and then don’t follow though.
At this point you should be able to see the results of all your hard work, or lack of it.
If you do manage to get a customer purchasing your product make sure that the staff are VERY rude when taking part in the transaction. This should lead to the customer being angry, leave them to simmer for a while. This will work best if the complaints procedure is as long and complex as possible.
Throw in a badly designed website that provides no useful information.
To finish sprinkle on a bit of controversy from the directors of the company which reflects badly on the company or a product recall due to safety concerns and you will have yourself a perfectly bad marketing campaign.
Please note:
Do not under any circumstances take any positive media coverage regarding the product or company.
Timescales have been omitted due to the subjective nature of the recipe.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Company Branding and Email Marketing.
Ingredients
100kg - power mad employees who won’t work as a team
0g - target audience
100g - a rubbish product
200g - advertising where your potential customers won’t see it
10g - bad customer service
150g - mixed messages
200g - a poor distribution line
300g - not tracking changes in consumers wants and needs
You will also need to have full use of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and a badly designed website.
Method
Firstly ensure the product doesn’t match the wants and needs of your target market. It is possible to achieve this by making sure that you don’t carry out any market research to find out what trends have emerged or may emerge in the future. However please note, it would be better if your company did not have any idea as to who the target market is, but this is VERY hard to achieve and can only be mastered by a few experienced individuals.
To make sure that the marketing campaign fails completely no effort should be taken to ensure that consumers know about the product. For this method it doesn’t matter whether the product is good or bad. Sometimes you have to work with a good product however one way to fail in this situation is to advertise in places where potential customers won’t see it and in outlets that don’t match the brand. For a good example, imagine a designer handbag in Wilkinsons.
Continue to advertise the product in the wrong places until the balance sheet turns red.
Add the 100kg of power mad employees who won’t work as a team. This is one of the core ingredients because this alone can have the desired effect on the marketing campaign. However make sure there is limited collaboration between advertising, PR, marketing and management as otherwise you run the risk of projecting a cohesive message that consumers might understand.
Grate consumers up the wrong way by hassling them with social media tools with regular and pointless updates. One way to fully use social media to ruin your campaign is to connect with consumers but not listen to what they say – promise them something and then don’t follow though.
At this point you should be able to see the results of all your hard work, or lack of it.
If you do manage to get a customer purchasing your product make sure that the staff are VERY rude when taking part in the transaction. This should lead to the customer being angry, leave them to simmer for a while. This will work best if the complaints procedure is as long and complex as possible.
Throw in a badly designed website that provides no useful information.
To finish sprinkle on a bit of controversy from the directors of the company which reflects badly on the company or a product recall due to safety concerns and you will have yourself a perfectly bad marketing campaign.
Please note:
Do not under any circumstances take any positive media coverage regarding the product or company.
Timescales have been omitted due to the subjective nature of the recipe.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Company Branding and Email Marketing.
Saturday, 4 September 2010
The Key to Effective Marketing..
It would be easy to give just one element of the marketing plan and claim that it was the ‘key’ to effective marketing. It could be getting the right message, understanding your target audience or making sure you evaluate the campaign properly. But it’s not...
Consumers sometimes fail to differentiate between marketing strategies from different companies, getting confused by mixed messages. This highlights the need to have an integrated campaign. This task has been made harder by the introduction of new methods brought by the internet.
A successful marketing campaign will utilise both online and offline methods together in a partnership to use them to their full potential. If companies just concentrate on offline methods it could be said they are not moving with the times or keeping up with their target market. Online methods such as e-newsletter, article marketing, having a presence on twitter and social networking sites can either strengthen relationships with consumers by encouraging them into two-way communications or bombard them if not used correctly.
When thinking of a marketing plan the following questions should be asked:
It is extremely useful to set objectives at the beginning of the campaign as they can be used as a benchmark for measurements and also as a constant reminder of where you want the business to be.
If all the above questions are thought about in turn and implemented together in a well thought out, cohesive and integrated campaign it is highly likely that your marketing will be effective.
In reality the key to an effective campaign isn’t one thing it is making sure that all the elements work together.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Consumers sometimes fail to differentiate between marketing strategies from different companies, getting confused by mixed messages. This highlights the need to have an integrated campaign. This task has been made harder by the introduction of new methods brought by the internet.
A successful marketing campaign will utilise both online and offline methods together in a partnership to use them to their full potential. If companies just concentrate on offline methods it could be said they are not moving with the times or keeping up with their target market. Online methods such as e-newsletter, article marketing, having a presence on twitter and social networking sites can either strengthen relationships with consumers by encouraging them into two-way communications or bombard them if not used correctly.
When thinking of a marketing plan the following questions should be asked:
- Situational analysis – Where is your business now?
- Objectives – Where do you want it to be?
- Public - Who are you saying your message to?
- Message - What are you saying to them?
- Methods - How are you planning on telling them?
- Timescale - When are you going to tell them by?
- Budget - How much will it cost you to tell them?
- Evaluation and review - Have you told them effectively and do they now know what you wanted them to?
It is extremely useful to set objectives at the beginning of the campaign as they can be used as a benchmark for measurements and also as a constant reminder of where you want the business to be.
If all the above questions are thought about in turn and implemented together in a well thought out, cohesive and integrated campaign it is highly likely that your marketing will be effective.
In reality the key to an effective campaign isn’t one thing it is making sure that all the elements work together.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Why should I use Linked-in?
Imagine your address book contained up to date contact details of colleagues and directors old and new without having to phone them and check regularly. Imagine being able to see CV’s of potential employees complete with recommendations from previous employers. Imagine gaining new contacts from existing ones without meeting face to face.
Now you can...
LinkedIn is defined as a business orientated social networking site. Founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002 and launched in May 2003 it enables users to keep an online address book full of old, existing and future connections with pictures and contact details.
Registers can build up their contact list by searching for contacts by name, company or email address. They can also follow and research companies of interest, discover potential jobs and gain introductions from their connections contact list.
This notion of ‘virtual networking’ is one of the benefits of LinkedIn – and one that I have found extremely useful. From their office, home or on the move users are able to ‘connect with’ directors of companies at the click of a mouse. It is a spider web effect with the user at the centre.
The website also offers a great alternative to keeping in touch with colleagues without adding them on Facebook, which can sometimes create problems – please see ‘Social Networking - Business or Pleasure?’.
Your LinkedIn profile appears in search results when your name is typed into Google so can be used by potential employers to see your job history and any recommendations that you may have received. Many users include a link to their profile on their CV so that employers can look at the information available online.
LinkedIn offers some fantastic benefits to users so start making the most of it today.
New users should check out the ‘Getting Started’ page to ensure they are using LinkedIn to its full potential.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Now you can...
LinkedIn is defined as a business orientated social networking site. Founded by Reid Hoffman in 2002 and launched in May 2003 it enables users to keep an online address book full of old, existing and future connections with pictures and contact details.
Registers can build up their contact list by searching for contacts by name, company or email address. They can also follow and research companies of interest, discover potential jobs and gain introductions from their connections contact list.
This notion of ‘virtual networking’ is one of the benefits of LinkedIn – and one that I have found extremely useful. From their office, home or on the move users are able to ‘connect with’ directors of companies at the click of a mouse. It is a spider web effect with the user at the centre.
The website also offers a great alternative to keeping in touch with colleagues without adding them on Facebook, which can sometimes create problems – please see ‘Social Networking - Business or Pleasure?’.
Your LinkedIn profile appears in search results when your name is typed into Google so can be used by potential employers to see your job history and any recommendations that you may have received. Many users include a link to their profile on their CV so that employers can look at the information available online.
LinkedIn offers some fantastic benefits to users so start making the most of it today.
New users should check out the ‘Getting Started’ page to ensure they are using LinkedIn to its full potential.
Article Written by Carli Smith
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
The Key to Effective Web Optimisation..
Web Optimisation, SEO, Search Engine Optimisation, Organic SEO, Site SEO, what ever you call it, it has now become a key part of both the build and promotion of any website. In order to generate visitors, good search engine rankings and potentially revenue it is critical!
It is no secret that there are many companies now entering the Search Engine Optimisation field but what makes difference between just good Web Optimisation and excellent SEO that gives you results?
Well there are several key areas that will help your Website Optimisation online and using all of these techniques together will collectively allow you to gain the edge for your chosen key words and in turn produce excellent results in the rankings.
Key words, key words, key words
Key words are really important, if you do not put enough thought or research into the key words you are looking to be found on then you are off on the wrong foot straight away.. The Key words you choose will act as the foundation to much of the Web Optimisation work going forward. Key words are the lynch pin upon what many effective, money making SEO campaigns are built.
There are many research and analysis tools out there to help you choose the best key words for your website, so ensure you put the time in up front to choose between 5 – 10 key words that will be the basis for your site optimisation. We will produce future blog articles to elaborate on this subject alone.
On-site Optimisation
With regards to on-site optimsation there are several important areas to consider. Firstly Meta Tags. Now even though these are not seen as important as they used to be, they are important. More so to give users an idea on what the page is about within search engine results as well as a useful set of instructions for Search Engine’s with regards to indexing.
Secondly website analytics. In order for you to gauge how well the optimising of your website is going as well as the areas you need to improve you will need to hook in a good analytics package. Try Google Analytics.
Thirdly and most importantly content, after all content is king! Ensure that the content on your website is well constructed, has a suitable scattering of your chosen key words that are preferably linked or nestled in header tags and finally that it does not read like a chunk of text written specifically for search engines..
Off-site Optimisation
Off-site optimisation is just as important as on site and can also be summed up with several key areas. Firstly, Link Building, this has had good and bad press over the years and people have differing techniques and theories regarding the best way to achieve good results.
Some people say it’s more important to have quantity of links over quality and some say quality of links are far more important than quantity. Well the truth is that a bit of both wouldn’t hurt… However we believe that quality of links, meaning the quality of the site that you are linking from, is most important. It is better to start slow and get some good links in place with sites that have a good Page Rank rather than look to get many links very quickly, this may even have an adverse effect..
Secondly Online PR is a must! If you have a product, service, niche idea or just something to shout about then write it down and spread the news. There are now a multitude of news and online blogging style websites that allow you to share with other people…vast amounts of people… So write a good article and get it out there. Preferably make this a regular thing as well.
Search Media Optimsiation SMO
Finally it has been the buzz word for the past few years – SMO or Search Media Optimisation. This involves all of the social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Linked In, MySpace – these are just a small selection of the most well known ones – for a more extensive list visit this A – Z link of Social Networking websites.
So what’s the craze? Well you can either look at our latest Social Networking Blog articles:
Twitter – What’s it all about?
Social Networking – Business or Pleasure?
Facebook – What’s it all about?
Or you can just ask any one of the millions upon millions or people using them. For any business not harnessing the power of social media they can consider themselves well and truly left behind.
Social Networking websites used to be seen as a form of informal social media method for youngsters in chat between each other and share things, it has come on a long way since then. Used effectively Social Networking not only benefit, but boost the online marketing of any website. If you’re not using it start today!
We will be going into more depth on all areas on future blog articles.
Please view our site if you would like us to help you out with your Search Engine Optimisation, Online Marketing or Website Design.
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, SEO and Company Logo Design.
It is no secret that there are many companies now entering the Search Engine Optimisation field but what makes difference between just good Web Optimisation and excellent SEO that gives you results?
Well there are several key areas that will help your Website Optimisation online and using all of these techniques together will collectively allow you to gain the edge for your chosen key words and in turn produce excellent results in the rankings.
Key words, key words, key words
Key words are really important, if you do not put enough thought or research into the key words you are looking to be found on then you are off on the wrong foot straight away.. The Key words you choose will act as the foundation to much of the Web Optimisation work going forward. Key words are the lynch pin upon what many effective, money making SEO campaigns are built.
There are many research and analysis tools out there to help you choose the best key words for your website, so ensure you put the time in up front to choose between 5 – 10 key words that will be the basis for your site optimisation. We will produce future blog articles to elaborate on this subject alone.
On-site Optimisation
With regards to on-site optimsation there are several important areas to consider. Firstly Meta Tags. Now even though these are not seen as important as they used to be, they are important. More so to give users an idea on what the page is about within search engine results as well as a useful set of instructions for Search Engine’s with regards to indexing.
Secondly website analytics. In order for you to gauge how well the optimising of your website is going as well as the areas you need to improve you will need to hook in a good analytics package. Try Google Analytics.
Thirdly and most importantly content, after all content is king! Ensure that the content on your website is well constructed, has a suitable scattering of your chosen key words that are preferably linked or nestled in header tags and finally that it does not read like a chunk of text written specifically for search engines..
Off-site Optimisation
Off-site optimisation is just as important as on site and can also be summed up with several key areas. Firstly, Link Building, this has had good and bad press over the years and people have differing techniques and theories regarding the best way to achieve good results.
Some people say it’s more important to have quantity of links over quality and some say quality of links are far more important than quantity. Well the truth is that a bit of both wouldn’t hurt… However we believe that quality of links, meaning the quality of the site that you are linking from, is most important. It is better to start slow and get some good links in place with sites that have a good Page Rank rather than look to get many links very quickly, this may even have an adverse effect..
Secondly Online PR is a must! If you have a product, service, niche idea or just something to shout about then write it down and spread the news. There are now a multitude of news and online blogging style websites that allow you to share with other people…vast amounts of people… So write a good article and get it out there. Preferably make this a regular thing as well.
Search Media Optimsiation SMO
Finally it has been the buzz word for the past few years – SMO or Search Media Optimisation. This involves all of the social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, Linked In, MySpace – these are just a small selection of the most well known ones – for a more extensive list visit this A – Z link of Social Networking websites.
So what’s the craze? Well you can either look at our latest Social Networking Blog articles:
Twitter – What’s it all about?
Social Networking – Business or Pleasure?
Facebook – What’s it all about?
Or you can just ask any one of the millions upon millions or people using them. For any business not harnessing the power of social media they can consider themselves well and truly left behind.
Social Networking websites used to be seen as a form of informal social media method for youngsters in chat between each other and share things, it has come on a long way since then. Used effectively Social Networking not only benefit, but boost the online marketing of any website. If you’re not using it start today!
We will be going into more depth on all areas on future blog articles.
Please view our site if you would like us to help you out with your Search Engine Optimisation, Online Marketing or Website Design.
Article Written by David Taplin
Visit Inferno Designs for more on Web Design, SEO and Company Logo Design.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)