5 Steps To a Dream Website Design

With more and more 'self-build' options available to small and medium-sized businesses, do-it-yourself web design options are now more accessible than ever. It is important to remember, however, that the basic principles of a well thought out professional design still apply.

In this article, we'll take a look at 5 simple steps to get you started on the path towards your very own dream website design.

1. Start With The End In Mind
The key to a successful website design is to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What is your goal? Who is your target audience? No matter what business you're in, all web users want the same thing – simplicity and ease of use (we'll address usability later).

Right from the start, you should begin designing your web presence as you would a physical presence (whether you have a retail premises or not). Here's a few basic principals to keep in mind:

• Clear navigation – making all content reachable in as few clicks as possible
• Appealing aesthetics – do the colours and shapes appeal to your intended audience?
• Is there a logical and inviting way to start browsing your products
• Helpful, timely customer service – make it easy to get in touch

2. Beware of Design Over Substance
If you have little in the way of design experience, remember to keep your expectations realistic. It can be easy to let your creativity run away with you during the initial design phase, but unless you have the discipline to reign in your creativity, the project may suffer.

This is where a little advice from an experienced web designer can prove invaluable. Unless you have a limitless budget and timescale, a small short term investment could save you a great deal of time and money longer term.

3. Understand Usability
A real buzz-term these days, 'usability' encapsulates everything a successful design project should aspire to achieve. Too many designs sacrifice a good user experience in the pursuit of a flashy design or innovative features. That's not to say the two can't go hand in hand.

You know what you want your customers to do, but how easy is it for them to achieve it? Common mistakes include confusing navigation, distracting animation and a plethora of unnecessary links.

4. Search Engine Optimisation
Still ignored by many SMEs online, SEO remains a vital element of a successful web design. Too many designs still rely heavily on flash. While it has its uses, search engines favour HTML over flash, so use sparingly.

In this age of sharing, a cluttered URL (web address) will turn off both the search engine and content-hungry social media enthusiasts.

5. Test, Test and Test Again
Whilst we've touched on this above, the importance of the testing phase cannot be emphasised enough. A thorough approach will help to eliminate problems such as browser compatibility issues, broken links, functionality errors and accessibility issues.

In conclusion, keep in mind that your website should not only look good, but should also help you attract, appeal to and convert new customers. If you would like to review the effectiveness of your website design, call us on 01454 261111.

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Top Tips for Product Page Perfection – Part One

As the internet evolves and user expectation becomes increasingly sophisticated, creating and maintaining a successful e-commerce business has become a challenging task. When it comes to shopping online, usability is arguably as important as the product itself.

Product pages form a key component of the user experience, and as such a little extra short term investment can pay long term dividends with winning – and retaining – new customers.

In the first of these two articles, we'll look at the key components that make up the 'perfect' product page.

1. Love Your Product? Love Your Copy
More than a simple description, your product copy should retain the reader's interest. Remember – the secret of effective copy lies in understanding why the reader wants a particular product or service. Think benefits before features. Don't forget your keywords too.

2. Do You Have This In My Size?
A golden rule of ecommerce is keeping your customer informed. Whether it's size options, available colours, your returns policy, delivery charges or up-to-date stock levels – an informed customer is a happy one.

3. Painting a Thousand Words
A picture paints a thousand words – and nowhere is this more true than in the realm of ecommerce. Shopping is a visual experience, and a selection of high quality images is a great way to engage customers and sell your product.

4. Close Up and Personal
When shopping in a conventional sense, people love nothing more than to pick a product up and study it. An image zoom feature is a great way to help your customer to get a 'feel' for the product - in a virtual sense at least.

5. Injecting a Human Touch
Using models to demonstrate or interact with your product provides a nice finishing touch. It's also a great way of demonstrating functionality.

6. What Do I Do Next?
The web is all about usability. After all, how can you expect your customer to buy from you if their 'journey' is unclear? Think of each visitor as a first time online shopper – as if they need to be taken by the hand and guided through the process. When it comes to the 'add to basket button, think large and simple.

7. If You Like This, Then You'll Love This...
Related items are not only helpful to your customer, but are a great way to increase revenue by cross-selling. Place these at the bottom of the page in a prominent position. It should be easy for people to buy your products. If they have to figure it out or work at it, chances are they won't.

Look out for part two next month when we'll continue to look at more tips for achieving the perfect product page. If you would like help improving your ecommerce site, call 01454 261111.

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Getting Started with Facebook Ads

Over the last 5 years, the social media landscape has evolved to such a degree that Facebook has become an integral part of even the most rudimentary internet marketing strategy. By extension, a high proportion of SMEs are today actively using the Facebook platform to promote their business.

In this article, we'll take a look at a single but highly valuable aspect of the Facebook experience for business users – adverts.

If you're considering paid search advertising via the internet, then you really should consider Facebook advertising. To quote their advertising home page “Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people and businesses they meet”. So let's get started.

What is a Facebook Ad?
If you're one of the 500 million plus users on Facebook, you will doubtless have noticed the little ad banners that appear in the far right column of the page. Whether you're promoting anything from mobile phone deals, the latest BMW or a product specific to your locality, ads let you reach out to millions of users, 24/7...

What Are The Advantages?
Think of Facebook ads as a more refined version of paid search (PPC), or perhaps the logical evolution of PPC. Facebook ads allow you to target a far more precise target audience via an intelligent use of information drawn from user profiles. Therefore, you are pretty much guaranteed to reach a higher proportion of your chosen market.

Where Do I Start?
The good news is that it's a relatively simple process requiring little more than your page address, an picture, title and some body text (a little traditional marketing savvy is still required here). Facebook will ask you for some basic information regarding your target audience (age group, gender, interests and so on). As a result, you will receive a rather useful demographic projection.

Is It Expensive?
This is where the more traditional elements of search marketing creep back in. There are two options: cost per impression or pay per click. Basically, this means you either pay for a pre-defined amount of 'clicks' on your ad (usually 1000) or per individual click through. Much has been written on both subjects, so a little research is recommended here to establish which is best for you and your business.

However you choose to use Facebook, whether strictly as a social media channel, or to network and advertise, there is no doubting its value as a unique and dynamic marketing platform – don't be afraid to experiment and, most importantly, measure the resulting activity. If you would like to review the effectiveness of your social media marketing activities, call 01454 261111.

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