Web Design and SEO Go Hand in Hand
As we approach 2012 many of you will be looking to get a new website to go into the New Year with a virtual bang. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you all the benefits a website has to offer as a place to showcase your products or services. A new website is no doubt a good move, but what if it can’t be found?
Your customers need to be able to find your site when they are searching for your products or services, which is where SEO comes in. SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it’s the behind the scenes stuff that gets your website noticed in Google. Without it, your website is like a shop with no signs – not good!
There will be some of you that already have SEO covered and your old website has brilliant Google rankings. Your customers are finding you, but when they get to your site they don’t like what they see. This is something we internet types refer to as ‘bounce rate’ – if your bounce rate is too high it means that too many customers are bouncing straight off your site using their metaphorical internet space-hopper. One way to make sure your customers stick around is to upgrade your website to something more modern, slick and shiny – a website to be proud of.
Whatever category you fall into, you need to be aware of the ways that SEO and web design can work together for you. A good internet solutions company (like eSterling of course) can help you with the complete package, making sure your website attracts visitors and keeps them interested.
Web design and SEO go hand in hand like fish and chips or gin and tonic… I just wish the web designers would learn this and make the SEO team a cup of tea once in a while!
The Benefits of Having a CMS
CMS stands for Content Management System and is a way of editing your website without the assistance of a web developer.
The key benefit of a CMS is the separation of design, content and structure which allows advantages throughout the lifecycle of your website. Each section can be amended independently, which allows you to change content without jeopardising the front-end design. This separation creates the flexibility of a CMS, allowing the editor to safely create content, add images, multimedia files and much more….
- Consistency of design is preserved.
Because content is stored separate from design, the content from all authors is presented with the same, consistent design. - Designed with non-technical content authors in mind.
If you can write an email, you can add content to your site! Absolutely no specialist knowledge required. - Decentralized maintenance.
You can edit anytime, from anywhere with an internet connection - Configurable access restrictions.
Users can be given certain permissions that prevent them from editing content which they are not authorized to change. - Navigation is automatically generated and adjusted.
Menus are generated automatically based on the database content meaning links would not point to non-existing pages. - Content is stored in a database.
Central storage means that content can be reused in many places on the website - Cooperation.
Encourages efficient and effective updates.
If you think you would benefit from having a CMS for your website please get in touch for a competitive quote.
Why scrolling on a website isn’t the end of the world
In our quest for constructive feedback from our clients, we often come across requests to scale a website down so that the whole page fits within the screen size. When a client asks for their site to appear ‘above the fold’, we always explain that this isn’t such a great idea and I’ll explain why…
New viewing mediums
With the web now extremely prominent on mobile phones and tablets and even HDTVs, the way the site can be viewed will be different on each platform. Users will also have a variety of different resolutions on their monitor and each browsers visible screen size will be different depending on the size of the toolbars. This means there isn’t a specific ‘above the fold’ point where all of the content must be.
Negative impact upon the design
If you scale down a website by around 300 pixels then the design of the site will significantly suffer. The original design will no doubt include plenty of white space around the design so the user can ‘breathe’ when looking through the site and everything is clear and easy to manoeuvre around. However, once that is removed and many of the elements are bunched up, the site will be a lot more difficult to scan and will probably result in the user either not noticing key information or not bothering to explore the site further.
Users are willing to scroll
Research has suggested that although the user will naturally spend more time looking at the top of your website, they are more than happy to scroll down to view more, especially if the site is designed to be scannable. In research carried out by ClickTale.com it found that 76% of users scrolled and that a good portion of them scrolled all the way to the bottom.
In House Vs Outsourcing
I speak to a lot of prospective clients and a phrase I hear often is “It’s OK, we deal with all of that in house”. I always feel that these people have made a mistake by not listening to what an external web design and SEO company could have to offer, as there are many benefits to outsourcing work to a company such as eSterling…
- The cost of employing a single developer or SEO professional to work on your website will cost an average of £30k per annum. SEO packages start at just £75 per month with eSterling.
- An in house team (or individual employee) may only have a vague overview of all the areas of web design and SEO that needs to be covered. eSterling’s team is built up of individuals who specialise in different areas, including SEO, Adwords, email, web design and coding.
- Finally, a permanent employee will need to take holidays and sick days. Here at eSterling our team is large enough to provide cover all the time, meaning your company won’t be at a disadvantage.
Outsourcing web design, web development and SEO to eSterling could save you a lot of time, money and effort. So why not compare our service with your in-house team to see if you can get a better deal?
What is F-Commerce?
We’re all familiar with the term ‘e-commerce’ when it comes to selling products online. Now f-commerce (the ‘f’ stands for Facebook) is becoming more and more popular with brands and consumers alike.
If you’re an online retailer, it is essential that you understand the impact that social media is having on e-commerce. Unique selling opportunities now exist on Facebook and other social media platforms. These networking sites allow you to engage with your customer base – and in the ideal scenario have them promote your products to their network of friends.
At the simplest level, this can be done by the addition of Facebook’s ‘Like’ button to your website, which acts as a simple content sharing device. When someone clicks on the ‘Like’ button on your site, this information is posted to that person’s Facebook wall and this will be viewable by their friends. As the average Facebook user has over 100 friends, this simple action could have a snowball effect as more and more users ‘Like’ your brand.
This communication is not just one-way. A page on your website can pull information from Facebook to show the names and profile pictures of people who have ‘Liked’ your product. This way you can find out more about the customers that are interested in you.
The opportunity now exists to take further steps forward to integrate e-commerce with your Facebook page. This means not just engaging your customer through your social presence, but also inviting them to buy products (in part or in whole) over the Facebook platform.
To achieve this, the look of your Facebook page can be tailored to look less like the profile page familiar to most users and more like a standard web page. This also allows you to integrate e-commerce elements, either by pulling product information onto your page using an API, displaying your shop through an ‘Iframe’ or even creating an App to perform the whole process through Facebook.
A number of online retailers have already rushed to take advantage of this new opportunity. Brands like Max Factor, Heinz, Thorntons and JD Sports have all made the transition from promoting their brand to selling goods through their Facebook pages.
The time internet users spent on Facebook in 2010 surpassed the time people used both Google and Yahoo. It is therefore essential to use social media platforms to find a bigger audience for your goods. Large brands such as Coca-Cola get more than 10% of their traffic from their Facebook page and this figure is only growing.
The Facebook platform is currently completely free and businesses can take advantage of this to set up a page with no hosting charges, fees or percentages paid. Call eSterling today to find out the ideal social media and e-commerce strategies we can offer you so that you can make the most out of f-commerce.
Design is the first Spark of a Flame
As a Design Manager and a Web Designer for over 10 years, I have often come across people within all types of industry who refuse to give ‘design’ any importance when it comes to their business. It genuinely infuriates me when I hear the phrase ‘…and they don’t mind how it looks…’
Don’t mind how it looks!? Are these people serious? Yes, yes they are.
As the title of this piece suggests, ‘design’ is the first impression, the first flicker of the brand, the initial spark of interest, the first element which tells you about the company. To under estimate this is so short-sighted that it’s actually harmful to the long-term future of your company.
Finding a company or service online just tells you that have marketed their web site well; it does not tell you if they are professional, contemporary, personable, approachable or indeed good at what they do.
The brand, the key messages and indeed the professional approach to what they do is what counts. All of these elements are the foundation of the design. It’s not simply ‘looking pretty’ nor is it the use of the latest trends or fads. Design envelops all that is visual, all that is seen and all that functions.
Some Web Professionals believe content is king, and I am one of these people. But it is how this content is delivered which is often ignored by people who do not place any significance on design.
Imagine finding a web site which is at the top of Google for what you are looking for. You open the page and it’s just simply black text on a white background with a few bad quality images slapped in there for good measure. Although this company are exactly what you want, would you keep on scrolling down this mush of text and images to try and find some contact information so you can give them a call? Or would you keep searching the web? I know what I would do. And having been in this industry for over 10 years I know what most people would do.
Having a web site built with little or no regard for the design aspect is simply not worth it. The web site will not generate business, will not impress potential customer, will not generate enquires or interest, will not grow in to a massive selling tool nor will it scare your competition. Your competition will get a boost knowing that their web site is better and their web site will impress YOUR current customers.
I have seen web sites grow into a major selling tool for 100’s of companies. Can your current Sales Department visit 100+ potential customers a day? A well designed web site can.
An impressive, professional looking web site built with SEO in mind can be the beginning of a wonderful relationship between you and the web. Your web site can end up bringing in more business than your entire Sales team – and that’s a fact.
I hope you can now see why it frustrates me when I hear the immortal phrase’…and they don’t mind how it looks…’ Are they mad? Yes, yes they are.
If you have any questions or want to know more about Designing for the web, either email me on adam.egginton@esterling.co.uk or leave a comment here and I will answer any questions posted.
A new website for personalised clothing specialists White Lodge Promotions
White Lodge Promotions is a leading supplier of personalised clothing based inLichfield, Staffordshire. The company offers a wide range of printed and embroidered clothing for work and leisure including everything from branded workwear to hen-night t-shirts.
White Lodge Promotions came to eSterling at the beginning of 2011 for a new website that was clear and modern. eSterling designed a site that reflected White Lodge’s existing branding and showcased their products to the best effect.
Luke Edmonds, from our web design team commented on the design; ‘The scrolling banner on the homepage is an eye-catching way to draw attention to important product types and also highlight the top brands that White Lodge work with,’
eSterling also provides ongoing SEO services for White Lodge, making sure key products such as school leaver hoodies and embroidered work wear are found in the search engines.
Lee Gwinnett, White Lodge’s MD is impressed with the results. He commented; ‘I’m genuinely pleased with the efforts of the team at eSterling. We now have a professional website and I’m looking forward to continually pushing forward with the SEO campaign. I recommend eSterling without hesitation to my business contacts,’
Visit the White Lodge Promotions website today to browse for products and take a look at our design.
‘No frills’ websites… “my son, brother, daughter or grandson can do IT!”
This is a statement I hear every day from people I talk to about our services. If you happen to have an experienced and professional web designer in your family, then lucky you! But chances are your relative isn’t as clued-up as they say they are…
The rapid development of the internet has created plethora of wannabe designers and developers. I still come across websites which look like they were developed with WordPad and they make me really sad! I’m talking about websites with just a few pages here; colours all over the place and with a navigation looking like a five-year-old has done the job!
These shoddy ‘web development’ offerings bring down the rest of the industry. Even some big telecommunications companies (mentioning no names) are belittling professional web designers by offering cheap websites, that look cheap as well.
I love the internet and would love to avoid seeing websites that would make me squirm….so let’s get rid of the wannabes and those very dull websites. Let’s instead make the web beautiful with professional website design that reflects the aspirations of your brand.
Do yourself a favour and upgrade your browser today!
Having worked with many clients over the years, I’ve noticed that many people are still using old, out of date versions of their web browser. Many of them don’t even realise how much they are missing out on!
Most web developers and major companies have dropped support for older browsers like ie6, so some sites will not display how they are intended to. Although all good web developers will insert alternative code for older browsers to display correctly, a lot of new technologies will only work in new browsers
For example, all those nice rounded corners and shadows on your new design will not appear in older browsers without a lot of extra work and code that will slow down your sites performance. You could be missing so many features on your own or your favourite website without even knowing it!
The more you stay up to date, the more it will push the web industry to give a more innovative experience to you, the user.
Older browsers are also more and more vulnerable to modern threats. Of course you shouldn’t just rely on a browser to protect you, but an older browser can be an easy way in for these threats – so why not update?
The best part is that all of the major browser updates are free to download, so there really is no reason not to keep up to date and take advantage of all the great new features out there!
eSterling client Frumoo launches new pack design for its new semi skimmed recipe
We love to see our clients grow, so it was great to receive this press release from Frumoo in my inbox this morning…
Frumoo has completely revamped its packaging and launches its new pack look with Ocado.com later this week.
“We want to show what’s at the heart of our Frumoo smoothies, which is a love of British provenance. With of course our brand mascot Bertie the Cow looking on,” says Founder Maria Leavesley. “You have to keep evolving to survive, so we’ve also reduced our box size by a third, very compact.”
“It’s the only product in this category to be made with fresh milk, not yoghurt. We’ve got to get that message out there,” adds entrepreneur Sir David Tang, Frumoo’s financial backer.
Made exclusively with fresh British milk and all natural fruit, the new look Frumoo now uses semi skimmed instead of whole milk, following the School Food Trust Guidelines.
As delicious as the original but now with fewer calories and even lower sugar, each 200ml re-sealable pouch provides a quarter of a child’s recommended daily Calcium intake and 100% of their daily Vitamin C requirement.
Also new on pack is the stamp of approval from the Vegetarian Society and a partnership to aid recycling with Terracycle, as well as an endorsement from leading Nutritionist Christine Bailey.
Two flavours: Blackcurrant, Plum & Apple and Raspberry, Pear & Apple. New price £2.99 for Multipack x 4 (200ml pouches).
For more information, images or just a chat please get in touch with Cally: mum@frumoo.com or call 01283 790111.
Visit www.frumoo.com to find out more and to check out their eye catching and interactive website that was developed by eSterling.
