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Is your website finished?

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Here at Locally, we work with all kinds, types and sizes of businesses, from fledgling start-ups beginning their journey and medium to large enterprises, on the cusp of global ‘domination’. They all have several things in common…

They all started as an idea. Then this idea took shape with help, hard work and sheer determination, this initial idea took shape. Some may have had more of a stilted start, fractured and stressed whilst other businesses flourished.

But, in the mix there is something else that underpins their success – and that is their online presence. More specifically, their websites.

Do you have a website?

The likelihood is that you do and this is great news.

Do you a presence of social media platforms, appropriate to your business?

The likelihood is yes, and this is great news too.

Do you treat your online presence as a fluid, living, breathing thing; a thing to be nurtured and coddled, a thing to be developed and advanced over weeks, months and years.

What?!

This is a common misconception about websites. We think of website development as a tick box exercise. You may pay a company to develop the design; you may spend a large slice on getting a copywriter to create the words and then someone, somewhere flicks the magic button and your website goes live.

And then, because life and business is busy, we tend to sit back and think that ‘we have a website so that’s done’.  And move on to the next item.

If only website life was so easy. But it isn’t. The truth of the matter is your website may not be working as hard for you and your business as what you think or as what you need.

The time has come to grasp this thorny issue. So the next time you see a company advertising website design for “only £99” you know that this is simply too good to be true… and here’s why:

  • It is a cheap commodity and online ‘do-it-yourself ‘packages cut the mustard

The answer is, they don’t. If you are serious about your business and serious about your online presence, then these kind of cheap, all-in-one packages do not cut the mustard, at all.

You only need to look at the hundreds variables used by search engines to rank websites to understand that there is a common theme. These packages are usually offered over a short period of time. Buying a website domain for 1 or 2 years instantly sees you drop several of these ranking variables. Not owning a website domain, and not optimising it in a professional way sends the wrong kind of message to search engines; it is not giving off a professional, ‘people can trust us vibe’.

Take a look at some of the highest ranking websites and you will note from poking around the sitemap and other ever-so-slightly hidden information that they are all created, designed and hosted by professional web design and hosting companies, specifically for the company – and are NOT off-the-shelf short term packages.

  • Once you have your website, you have to STILL work with it

And this is an important point that the vast majority of companies miss when it comes to their website. And we understand why.

Any business needs to spend the vast majority of its time doing the things that make it money. This is the stuff that pays you, your employees and allows you to carry on growing. Why would you spend hours faffing with blogs, updating social media and developing your website when you have an order book that is bulging? You have customers waiting…

And this in itself kind of says that your business is doing well. So why do you need to be developing and working on your website?

Times change. Consumer tastes change. What is a great product now will be developed and enhanced by someone else. Unless you keep up, stay in pace or even ahead of the game, then your business will start to fall behind.

Your website needs to be maintained. But, smaller companies may not have the staff power to monitor the website on a 24 hours basis and, for many, this may not be necessary if the website is not processing large volumes of traffic.

High end website designers and developers like Locally can do all this for you, spotting glitches as they happen and instantly repairing them. You, on the other hand, can focus on the things that make you money because consumer orders will be processed via your website.

  • You CANNOT do EVERYTHING…

… but when businesses are created, we have to. But as soon as the purse strings allow, you need to hand over this responsibility of building, designing and maintaining your robust business website to a professional company.

You are still in the driving seat; it is, after all, your website and your business. You create and enhance your products and services… and then these need adding to your website. You need the content optimising so search engine ‘see’ it, so potential customers see it, they order it… you get the picture!

But they can only find your website in the crowded world of the web if it stands out from the thousands of other online competitors. They will only order from you if they like the look and feel of your website.

Who maintains your website?

The Landing Page – is it ‘fit for purpose’?

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We love posts and articles that make life a little easier especially when it comes to making sure our website is working as hard as possible for us – after all, we have invested time, money and oodles of creativity in it.

You probably feel this same sense of pride in your website but, we need to talk. It seems that landing pages – the page that attracts and converts visitors to customers – are not quite doing the job they should be doing.

The problem with creativity is that sometimes, we are just too close to it to really see what we are creating.

Sounds double-dutch BUT, it means we can’t see the wood for the trees; it is a bit like proof-reading your own article and then re-reading it on the web, months later and realising that you have made huge grammatical gaff in the second paragraph. What will people think?

But before you take the next plane to obscurity, this is a simple error to fix… You need a fresh pair of eyes to take a look at your creative creation. Whether this is reading your article or taking a look at your website for errors and faux paus, you need a pair of eyes that are kind, yet objective…

Know anyone?

It can be difficult, we know and so, out there in Internet Land, is the answer – and we have found it!

You can now assess your landing page using the alphabet (and various other hints and tips!)

The Landing Page – what is it and what should it ‘look’ like?

We are not necessarily talking design when we talk about ‘looks’, but about the content contained here-in the landing page.

This is the page that any prospective customers see when they visit your website and needs, according to a variety of web design experts to contain the following:

  • Your business’s unique selling point or proposition (also known as USP)

And so, your landing page needs to have a headline, a supporting headline (or tagline), a statement that reinforces what it is you do/offer/sell and a ‘closing argument’.

  • an appropriate graphic or short video that is directly linked to what you do/offer/sell
  • recommendations – showing customers how other people have benefitted from what you do/offer/sell
  • and finally, a call to action – in other words, what customers need to do in order to access what you do/off/sell, such as
    • “call us NOW and get 10% off!”,
    • “it couldn’t be simpler to order from ABC: fill in the online booking form and return TODAY”

Take a look at – ‘spa LONDON’ https://www.spa-london.org/swisscottage – their landing page tells you it is affordable luxury in the prefect environment, and restores your body and mind. It also tells you to ‘book NOW’!

Hush Hair, Birmingham https://hushhair.com/main/ tells you they are a premier salon, there is 25% off for new clients with selected stylists and that they used on the best styling and dye products (well-known and trusted brands listed), and they are independent, employing only the best hairdressers. Their phone number is prominent, as is their opening times.

The good, the bad and the not-so-good looking ones… we have all come across them, landing pages that tell us nothing, give us the wrong feeling, hence we navigate away to another competitor.

And so, here we look at the best bits of the Landing Page alphabet…

E is for engagement – your landing page needs to be creative, sparking an interest and an intrigue in what it is you do. Does you landing page do that? Could the content do with a re-vamp?

J if for justification – if you making claims on your landing page (and anywhere else on your website), then you need to have the facts to prove it; if you say you are the ‘best at…’ who says? Did you win an award? Beware false claims so try something generic like, ‘one of the leading massage at work companies in…’ etc.

M is for mistakes – check, check and check again for errors. And then get someone else to check. As we pointed out at the start, when you have written or created something yourself, you can become so embroiled in the content, that you cannot ‘see’ the most obvious and glaring of mistakes.

P is for performance – how many times – be honest! – have you logged on to a website only to find that waiting X number of seconds is far too long. Fingers drumming impatiently on the desk will not speed it up and, with a harrumph and sigh, you navigate away. Your landing page needs to load, and load quickly.

Y is for ‘you’ – because you – the writer, author, creator, business owner etc. – are the soul of the whole project but take care with how much you share. When we ring this note of caution, we suggest that you take care with the tone of your landing page. ‘Appropriate’ should be bamboozled across the whole website, not just your landing page…

Established and new websites need to ensure that their landing pages are working as hard as possible, converting browsing customers into paying ones. For the full landing page alphabet, check it out at Copyblogger.

What website design will look like in 2015

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We have recently re-designed our website and we are loving the final result – what do you think?

We have stayed true to our brand, using blue as the main colour and a delightful earthy orange for the buttons and highlighted text etc. We have also improved accessibility too, with ‘our blog’ having a button at the top of the page, along with ‘service’ and ‘portfolio’, as well as that all important button ‘get a quote’.

Following the usability checklist, all the important information we want customers to have is at the top of the page and there is no need to scroll horizontally either!

Why re-design your website?

For many companies and businesses, it seems like only yesterday that they laboured for hours with their hardworking web design company over the placement of buttons and re-wrote the content several times. The website was tested, then launched and, in all honesty, with superb search engine optimisation it is doing what you want it to do.

F-a-b-u-l-o-u-s (sit back, savour the moment).

But, as you know, the landscape of the Internet is a crowded place. It is full of businesses that are  in direct competition with yours. Websites need to be working hard all of the time and it may be that if you have not updated/re-designed/re-modelled/call-it-what-you-will in recent years, then it could start to miss a trick.

Cast your mind back…

Do you remember, back in the 1990s, every website had a dancing Santa and flashy graphics that were revolutionary and hip? But, attitudes changed and as graphics and photographs improved, these flashy bits started to look dated.

Now, as we march ever closer to 2015, you would never in a million years have a website header with a jerky, ‘flash’ driven graphic with Santa and his trusty reindeers flying across the sky again, and again, and again and…

It would simply not do. It would be cheap and so far from on-trend that you have nearly fallen off the website design in terms of ‘what is hot and what is not’ scale.

But why?

Website design is a ‘critical component in effective marketing and lead generation’ which, put simply means, it is your online shop window to the world. It should be enticing and welcoming, not off-putting and cheesy.

Herein lurks a danger.

We assume that when we read the various articles and studies on how a website should look – or the ’10 things to avoid with your website’ – that because we exhibit none of these guffaws and online faux pas that our website is still doing its job.

It may not be. It may still look and feel a little dated, a little clunky. Is this the image you want to portray?

Website design trends for 2015

Nope. We thought not and so the clever people at Locally spends hours scouring the web and gazing once again in to our crystal ball and we came up with these trends for website for 2015…

Trend 1: Minimalist design

 

Whereas once everything was flashy and pizzazz-y and ‘fun, fun, fun!’, it now seems the world of website design has matured into a clean, demure and minimalist design approach. Gone is clutter and in comes clarity and purpose. Concise and deliciously simple, adding dashes of colour (that link to your brand and logo etc.) is all that it takes to pull your website right on trend.

Locally thinks…

Whitespace is going to become important in design. This is a design concept that has spaces on the page that are not filled with text, graphics or images etc. The use of whitespace is a clever way of ensuring that the eye has somewhere to ‘res’t on a page, without being bombarded by information. We think of it as allowing the website design to breathe…

Trend 2: Visual engagement

 

Especially video, it would seem. Consumers and visitors to your website are demanding more and more information and although a lovely bit of copy-write is fabulous, when it starts to run into thousands of words on your homepage, it can become off-putting. Step forward the power of video!

A two to three minute video can introduce more concepts and thoughts about your business and service than 3,000 words of text ever could. This video revolution is going to gather pace so take some time during 2015 to stay on-trend with some well-deigned, scripted and filmed ‘shorts’.

Locally thinks…

Producing video isn’t for everyone and so we think that taking a look at online presentation platforms such as Slide Share is also a valuable option for many companies. Easy to set up and well-within the reach of most proficient IT users, this platform is a great way of getting information across in a fun and entertaining way, but keep the words to a minimum.

Trend 3: the ‘card’ layout

 

Spend half an hour zooming around the web hitting on a variety of websites, from business-to-business websites and business-to-customer websites and you cannot fail to notice the rather fetching design of a card layout. Possibly taking inspiration form platforms such as Pinterest, this layout is a great way of ordering information into groups and sub-groups. Delivering information in small bites rather than one big colossal main course seems to be the order of the day.

Locally thinks…

We think this card layout is great for some businesses, but not all. However, as a re-design option it really is bringing your website right into the 2015 and could give you a great head start on competitors. It will also ‘force’ you in to a re-think as to how your information is ordered too. We like it!

Trend 4: Responsive

We have just blogged on this with our take on the need for your website to be mobile ready and it seem that the rest of the world agrees with Locally. Not sure how all this is done? It is not complicated or budget-bustin’ and is something that we can do quickly and easily.

Locally thinks…

Responsive website with regards to smartphones, tablets, both android and Apple will actually be more mandatory than an option by the end of 2015…

Trend 5: Parallax scrolling

 

We’ll forgive you if you haven’t heard of this although you will have come across it, without realising. It is the hottest website design trend and will get hotter in 2015 (or so we think!). It gives the visitor to your website a smooth, pleasing experience as they navigate content; check out The Royal British Legion website and you will see what we mean…

Locally thinks…

This is a refined version of those flashy headers from decades ago and that over-doing it can create the same effect; make sure it works with your brand before you invest a decent portion of your website budget in it.

However, we love the fact that it is customer-centred and that it makes navigating a website delightful and smooth…

Being a little passé in website design can mean visitors get the wrong idea. Why not make a website re-design a goal for 2015?

PS Take a look at your fonts too. Using Arial or Times New Roman for example? Time to upgrade…

Where to begin – How to start your website

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How to start a website

Whether you want to start a website to sell sock monsters or to showcase your handy photography skills, the process you go through to start your website should be the same. By the end of this post you will realise how simple & straight forward it can be getting your website online in an affordable & efficient way.

As with pretty much everything on the internet, information becomes dated over time so I felt that it was time for some new relevant & straight forward information to help you get your website up and running!

Put your wallet away

Before you even think about getting your bankcard out and buy a domain or hosting you need to have a clear picture in your head (ideally on paper as well) of what you want or expect your new website to do for you. ‘Make me money!’ I hear you cry, but more specific than that – how?! Will you be selling a product through your website or will you be offering a unique service only you can provide?

Jot it down

Create a document & call it ‘my new website’ every time you think of a good idea or come across a website you like the look of place it in the notes section – no idea is irrelevant until you explore it first.  Another handy tool that I like to use is Pocket. It works as a cross platform bookmark – you can save all the websites you come across & want to keep note of in one place – so if you’re on your laptop you can bookmark the website & have a closer look later on the train whilst browsing on your smart phone – very handy!

In your ‘new website’ document decide how many pages you want and what you want to call them – For example if you were a gardener you might want to title your webpages by the services you provide as well as a gallery of the work you have done. If you’re a small company you are the unique selling point or your company, many businesses fall at the first hurdle by not ‘selling’ themselves. Think of your new website as your shop window, you have one opportunity to give a good first impression, make sure it’s a good personal one that is relevant to the passerbys.

Once you’re happy & got a clearer idea with your new websites structure, you need to decide who is going to write the text to go on your website. The content on your website is a key ingredient to catalyse business to your website, if you’re confident & got the time doing it yourself would be the cheapest (free) option, otherwise you can outsource the work to write website content .

On your level

OK so you’ve got a fair idea how your website to be laid out & the text & images to load up to your website now all you need is someone to help put it all together.

The quickest and easiest way to find out within 10 secs whether the website company you’re thinking of going with  is worth its weight is to ask this simple question. “Will my website get to the first page of the search engines”. If they answer “YES”  run a mile, if they answer “Your website can get to page one for certain keywords, but it won’t happen magically over night, we can point you in the right direction” Then you know you’re in safe hands.

From experience I would recommend getting your website built on a well known content management system (CMS) like, for example, WordPress. The reason for this is that if you leave yourself with options if you decide it’s time to move on. If you get your website built on a homemade CMS that only your web developer and his mate knows how to use, you have immediately placed yourself into a monopoly. I’ve heard many horror stories where developers charge £100’s for small changes that they could have done themselves with a decent popular content management system.

Get training if you can,  good reliable website developers should, as part of the project build, show you how to add pages content & images to the website – if they don’t ask how much they charge. The last thing you want is to be stuck with a website that you cannot change when you get a new telephone number.

To summarise

  • Put pen to paper and structure your website, a simple word document will be fine.
  • If you are promised a website that will make you a first page cash-printing wizard, run away faster…
  • Get your website build on a well known CMS like WordPress
  • There are good developers out there, if yours doesn’t sound transparent your probably not talking to one of them

Because I’m feeling nice I’ve put together an example of how you could structure your website using Goalscape – a tool we and or members find very useful to use.