I want an online business card

This is the simplest form of website. It simply displays your business logo, address and contact details with possibly a contact form. There are no other pages.

This is fine if you simply need an online business card. If you don’t have physical business cards to hand, give people your website address and they can contact you through it. The down sides to this is you may not show highly on search results, so you cannot rely on business from your website as there will be minimal information for passing visitors.

I want to share information only

Similar to above, this type of website gives visitors your business and contact information, but also goes into a little more detail about your business and the services you provide.

You may have a homepage with a short introduction, an ‘about’ page with more information about your business and its history, a services page with a list of services provided, and a contact page with your contact details, a contact form and possibly a map of your location. You may also have pictures throughout your site to better illustrate what you do or possibly even a picture gallery.

This is the most popular type of website, because it is cheap, can rate better on search engines, and it keeps visitors browsing your website for longer, which in turn makes your website much better at generating business.

I want to share updates with people

Similar to above, this type of website provides a good amount of information about your business and services, with pictures, contact details and a few pages of information.

In addition, you may want to share news updates with people, or encourage extra business with offers and discounts. A blog is the perfect way of keeping in touch with people. By updating your blog often, you could also benefit from better search engine results as search engines look for websites which are updated frequently.

By integrating social networking profiles such as Twitter and Facebook, you also reach people who may not be looking at your website every day. Letting people share and talk about your blog posts further increases your reach. It’s also an idea to submit your blog posts to news submission websites of the same or a similar topic, as many people subscribe to news feeds and may find your blog of interest.

While considered somewhat of an old fashioned approach, email newsletters are still an incredibly popular way of keeping in touch with customers and clients, new and old. This approach requires some work and some patience, but ultimately lets you reach people via email, wherever they are. Encourage people to sign up to your newsletter with offers and discounts, but also encourage people to share each newsletter with their friends and colleagues.

I want to sell something through my website

An e-commerce website is ideal for those wanting to sell directly through their website. Your products are listed, perhaps in categories, with pictures, descriptions, prices, delivery costs and perhaps customer reviews. While e-commerce websites generally tend not to be the cheapest, with some good promotion you can eventually make up for it in sales.

There are a number of options for selling online. A number of services let you set up a shop for free, but they take a percentage of your profits. The best way to sell something through your website is usually to set up a shopping cart system which is fully integrated into your website. We offer a good solution for small online shops, so do get in touch to see if we can help you.

I want to sell something, but not through my website

This is normally referred to as ‘partial e-commerce’. Some people are uncomfortable with carrying out transactions through the web, so we offer a solution where all your products can be displayed on your website along with pictures, reviews and prices, as they would an online shop, but visitors are encouraged to call or email to check stock and order, so the rest of the transaction can take place over the phone or in person.

This is a cheaper and preferred solution for many businesses, as there is no need to set up a payment gateway.

I want something different

There are many different types of website, this post covers some of them. There are of course times where a website doesn’t fit into any type of category. It’s usually a good idea to check what your competitors are doing, especially some of your more successful competitors. Let us know what your business is about and we can suggest the best option for you.

Photo © Steve Depolo

The post Getting Started with Websites appeared first on Norwich Designer.

There are many plugins and themes available to WordPress users, but it’s the ability to blend the system seamlessly into any website which makes it so appealing to us.

We’ve received such positive feedback from our clients about its ease of use, and having offered basic website design with WordPress as an add-on for some time, we now install WordPress as standard with all out sites.

After building a website for a client, we produce a customised user guide based on the precise workings of the clients website. We take screenshots and give step-by-step instructions. For our clients who may never have used or heard of WordPress, this eases them into using it. Even people who have only ever used a browser to view websites are finding it easy to follow our guide, although of course we do provide technical support if needed.

So what do our clients love about WordPress?

WordPress gives our clients the freedom to add, update and remove content easily by logging in and following our handy guide. We don’t charge by the page because for our clients, adding and editing pages is the same as adding or editing blog posts!

WordPress lets you update your website from anywhere from any computer. No additional software is needed, just a browser and internet access. There’s even an iPhone app available! You can also add additional users with varying levels of access, so managing your website can be a team effort.

WordPress can grow with your business. Blogs, social feeds, event calendars and shopping carts can all be handled within WordPress. So as your business grows, so does your website.

We also include the WordPress SEO plugin, which is great for Google. If you’re a beginner to SEO, you get to learn the basics within WordPress as you write content for your site. The traffic light system directs you towards writing better content for search engine optimisation.

The post Why we love WordPress appeared first on Norwich Designer.

For each entry there is one Facebook Like, a Twitter Retweet and a Google +1 button. Retweeting an entry a hundred times counts only as one vote, but you can vote 3 times for each entry, once with each button.

Logo Design
Gatehouse Press
Starstruck Media

Website Design
Gatehouse Press
Raj&Pablo
Clare Weller
27th Norwich New Costessey Scouts
Norfolk Wherry Brass
Farrell & Holmes

Book Sleeve Design
Another Use of Canvas
Gift
Another Kissing Couple Has Exploded
Not Expecting Fish

The post Vote for us! appeared first on Norwich Designer.

It sounds obvious, but it’s not always clear. There are hundreds of graphic and web designers in Norfolk alone, each showcasing a portfolio of work in the hope of attracting new clients. Some people will care mainly about the price, with the assumption that the designer will come up with something which fits exactly what they envisage, so they don’t take a second look at the portfolio.

To me, the portfolio is the most important part of a designers website, although I would say that! It showcases not only the work undertaken but also the style of the designer and the type of project undertaken. A carpenter needing a website will be looking for a designer who has built a few carpentry related websites, as the designer will have experience in the style of design required to appeal to their type of client.

It makes sense, but when you’ve spent some time browsing portfolios, you can be easily distracted by something which looks great, including the price, but doesn’t fit what you actually need.

My advice to those looking for a designer is to take the time to look through portfolios, get a sense of the style the designer tends to go for. There may be an element which is present throughout the portfolio, you may like it or you may not. Imagine your own website or logo in the same style as some of the designers previous work, could you live with that? Would it work for your business? Consider whether the designers work fits the style you prefer.

These points are more important than looking at costs alone. Everybody is on a budget, everybody wants something for nothing. It may seem obvious that the more you pay a designer, the better the project will be. An expensive designer doesn’t always deliver the goods, similarly a designer offering cheap prices may be able to hit the nail on the head.

Photo © copyright Terren in Virginia

The post Choosing the Right Designer appeared first on Norwich Designer.

Remember why you need a website in the first place. To sell your product? Offer a service? Or just to get a message across? It’s always important to remember who you are trying to attract and what they’ll expect from you, as well as what you need to tell them.

The homepage should be the place where you summerise your whole website and entice visitors to dig deeper. If you offer several different services, write as much as you can about each subject and summerise each service into a short paragraph. Use this paragraph on the homepage.

When you’re really stuck for what to write, it can be a good idea to search for websites selling similar products or services. Pick out the best websites and see what they say about their products. This can give you a good idea as to what to write for your own website and how to arrange your content.

Always be careful not to write too much text. Not only can it be off-putting to see a wall of text on a website, but it can be unhealthy for the readers eyes! Some people think visitors will simply print off the page, but this isn’t always the case. If you have lots of text, cut out unnecessary or repetitive information. It’s always possible to convey large amounts of information without writing too much.

The post Writing Content appeared first on Norwich Designer.

Colours and Contrast

Bright, clashing colours only work well in very rare cases, but chances are bright green along with bright purple is going to look hideous. Too many colours and people just won’t stay on your website. Colour should never distract from the content or the over all message.

Text should also be readable, contrast is important and white text on a light grey background is not going to be readable for a lot of people. You have to take into account that different monitors have different settings so display colours differently. What is blue on one screen may look purple on another.

For good branding and good design in general, keep your colours consistent throughout the website. Choose a scheme and stick to it.

Flash and GIF Animation

Animation can add a great deal to the whole experience of navigating or using a website. However, making text flash or your logo spin looks tacky and dated. A flash intro is more annoying than helpful. Returning visitors certainly won’t want to have to click through the same animation each time they enter your website. Just display the homepage already!

Flash is not supported by mobile devices and many people don’t have flash installed on their computers. It can also be difficult for search engines to index a flash website or the parts of your website which are flash.

Themes and Templates

The advantage of choosing a ready-made website theme is that you don’t have to pay big fees for bespoke designs. The negatives, however, outweigh everything else. Hundreds and thousands of people will likely have the same design website. In Norwich alone, I’ve seen at least 8 different businesses using the same website template, which isn’t even very nicely designed.

There are also some essential features a website template cannot offer. A bespoke web design will usually come with hosting, website statistics, social media integration and SEO tools. All these features are important in maintaining an effective website which will help bring home the bacon. A website template will look nice, but nothing else.

Music

Background music is a big no. If I’m searching Google and open 10 or so links in separate tabs, finding the website with the music is a big annoyance! But aside from how I surf the web, music in general adds nothing to the experience. The only time music is acceptable is when the website is a full on movie-like experience.

Bad content

Always make sure your content is well written, well organised and easy to understand. Linking to PDF files separately is a pain for visitors, especially when the information contained in that PDF could easily be placed directly onto the web page. Restaurants, including major chains, are particularly bad at this.

You may also have a lot of information to get across, but too much text on one page is a big turn-off for web users. Looking at a computer screen for too long is bad for the eyes, so try to divide your content up into different pages, or cut down on unnecessary text.

No ALT text

Images can be a great way of getting your point across and providing some visual interest. Those images can go unnoticed by Google, though. Always give your pictures some descriptive ALT text so Google can pick it up.

Mobile

It’s always beneficial to have a mobile-friendly version of your website. This is especially useful if your business is likely to appeal to someone on the go. For example, hungry people searching for a nearby restaurant or café will like to see menus on their phones before making a decision. We create responsive websites where the layout adjusts automatically to the screen size of the device it is being viewed on, so you are able to reach far more visitors than before.

The post Why Your Website Stinks appeared first on Norwich Designer.

Don’t overload

Remember the idea is to get people to make contact, either by going onto your website or calling you. Aim to write something short but enticing or appealing.

There may be a lot of information you want to get across, but this is the point of a website, not a leaflet. Keep it simple. If you’re offering a deal or discount, make sure this is prominent.

Be good looking

A leaflet needs to have the most basic information, but it also usually needs to be visually appealing and attractive or at least eye-catching, so there needs to be room for this in the form of a design.

Clashing colours are a bad idea, unless done effectively. Too many clashing colours or designs can come across tacky. Stay clear of clip art or word art. You may think it looks awesome, but people usually see this as unprofessional.

Target a specific area

It’s sometimes a good idea to focus on a certain niche market, especially if you offer many different services. Mention your main services but pick out a particular area you specialise in or need to advertise more, give this a prominent space on your leaflet.

Don’t try to appeal to too many people, you will end up appealing to no-one.

Make an offer

It’s always difficult to find new clients or customers, and even more difficult to keep them coming back. It always helps to include an offer on your leaflet but one offer may not be enough. Offer a big discount for new customers, after their first purchase give them a smaller discount to entice them back for a second helping.

Even if you offer a fantastic service, it’s not always possible to convince a new customer to come back after the first time, especially when other businesses are offering similar discounts. It may cost a little to begin with, but you should make it back in the long run. Make sure your offer grabs the readers attention.

The post Tips for an effective leaflet design appeared first on Norwich Designer.

Have a plan

Get your content written and divide your content into different subjects. This can help you decide how many pages you need and what will go on those pages.

Having your content ready before going to a web designer will greatly improve the end result, the designer will know exactly how to design your website and arrange content in the most effective way.

Know your business

Have your business information to hand. Web designers usually want to know some basic information about your business and your customers. You may not think this information is relevant but these details can help your web designer build a better website for your customers.

How much you charge for your services can help a web designer decide how best to draw up a style which appeals to your target market. For example, a business offering budget services will generally not want a website which looks too upmarket. Similarly a business offering premium services will want to reflect that in their website design.

Also knowing your competitors will generally help a web designer ensure your new website remains familiar to the market but memorable at the same time.

Decide your budget

When web designers ask what your budget is, it usually remains unanswered. It’s difficult to put a number on what you’re prepared to spend on a website, usually it’s just “as cheap as possible!”

You may get quotes from various designers, but those quotes may vary quite dramatically, which is why it’s important to know exactly what you want from your new website. The more information you can give a web designer, the more precise the quote should be.

Do your research

There are thousands of web designers out there, I have certainly seen an explosion of new web designers locally. People looking for a web designer will likely make a judgement based on the price and portfolio.

It’s important to know what you’re going to get from a web designer. Some web designers charge extra for SEO, others include basic SEO features. Some designers charge based on how many pages are needed on the website.

Beware of the budget designer

I would question anyone quoting under £200 for a basic website. I don’t see any realistic way a designer can offer a good all-round service for such a low price without cutting corners. Good web design can be affordable, but cheaper is not always better.

Some budget designers offer unlimited revisions, this in reality means you can ask for changes to the design, but if you become too much work or the project takes too long to complete, your web designer may terminate the project. You’re left without a website and you’ve lost your deposit.

The post Preparing your new website appeared first on Norwich Designer.

It is always better to have a website which is completely tailored to your needs, this way you are maximising the effects and your website will be performing the best it can possibly be for your type of business.

You have to be realistic about the cost of your website, from design to development through to the day to day running and maintenance. An effective website is not a leaflet or business card, you can’t design something pretty and let that be the end of it. While you can simply display your contact details on your website and nothing else, nobody is going to know it’s there unless you tell them. And if you have to tell them, they probably already know who you are!

A basic ”business card” website is going to be cheaper, it will require little work, but it will likely never be noticed. A website with a blog, social features, content management, search engine optimisation – all the bells and whistles, or at least the absolute BASICS for a well designed, effective website – is going to cost much more. It will require more work, but it will be much more effective in bringing you business.

So what can you do to bring down the price but retain an effective website?

In my experience, no quote is ever set in stone. It is always possible to negotiate a lower price, but it will take some compromise on both parts. You may need to hold back on a certain feature until more funds are available, or expect the deadline to move a little. As a potential client, you should never be afraid to say ”that’s too expensive, what can we do to lower the quote?”

There is always room for negotiation. If a quote is set in stone and the designer won’t budge, you’re probably not working with the right people. A web designer not willing to work with the client on requirements and price is not a web designer I’d recommend working with.

The post How to get a good price on web design appeared first on Norwich Designer.

When it comes to criticism, it’s usually easier to give negative feedback than it is to give positive feedback. You could say a great website is one that goes unnoticed. So people generally have nothing to say about a good website because they’ve been able to use it to their satisfaction, without being confronted with something that doesn’t work instinctively.

A great design is about more than just aesthetics. Web designers work tirelessly to nail a great design, to come up with something that just works without having to think about it. What’s more difficult is a designer needs to reinvent the wheel with every project, coming up with something completely different, suited to the project, something that works differently but is just as good.

Ease of use

Great websites produce an instinctive relationship between itself and the user. Layout, spacing, colour and graphics are used in varying amounts to build something which the user can digest without really having to think.

Usually the main purpose of a website is to provide information. A web designer needs to ensure visitors can get to that information quickly and easily, after all, visitors only stay on a web page for a matter of seconds. The task is not to get people to stay on your website, but getting them the information they’re looking for, in the right amount, in the right way. In other words, its about effectively using the time they spend on your site.

Navigation

Visual cues or “calls to action” grab the users attention quickly. If the ultimate aim of your website is to get visitors buying a product, a good call to action would be a big, bold button which is simply labeled “Buy Now”. To further enhance the button, you might make it light up when you hover your mouse over the button, and make the button press down when you click it. This adds much more to the feel of a website than just a simple blue text link.

You may want to filter users through a one way navigation through the website. Your homepage may show a big picture of your product with a call to action which directs visitors to a page with more information. That page may contain another call to action which directs visitors to buy the product. Again, if done correctly, you can create a user experience which doesn’t bombard the visitor, but which gives all the right information in the right quantities and in the right order.

Quick loading

Information which takes a long time to get to, whether it be loading times or by clicking lots of links, becomes more difficult to find and less likely to be seen. You wouldn’t want to click through 5 or 6 pages before you get to the information you’re looking for. Equally, waiting for content to load can lead a visitor to click the little red X. Loading times can be reduced in a number of ways.

The main culprit for long loading times is graphics. As much as I am a graphic designer and love graphics, for the web it’s not particularly a good idea to overload your website with a large amount of graphics. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a great looking website, it’s more about knowing how to keep image sizes to a minimum.

When exporting images for a website, it’s a good idea to get to know in your mind roughly how long a 100kb image may take to download at different speeds. You may think it’s fine to use heavy graphics, after all, your visitors will be on a fibre optic connection, you don’t need to worry about big files. However, with mobile web users on the increase, it’s important to take all users into account.

A mobile visitor will likely be out and about, and especially here in Norfolk, UK, they will be downloading a website on their mobile at the lightening speed of 1kb an hour. Perhaps that’s a slight exaggeration, but in a world of super fast broadband and fibre optic connections, the sad fact is some parts of the world are STILL lagging behind.

The point I’m trying to make is that for some poor souls, although a graphic-rich website looks great, it’s going to take them a long time to see it. Is it worth the wait? You may think so but your visitors probably won’t stick around to find out!

Fancy a sprite?

A good tip for faster loading times is to use sprites. This is where some of the graphics for the website are contained within one image file, which is loaded on entry to the site.

It may take a little longer to download as it’s a bigger file, but once downloaded, it will be the only image needed and those graphics will show up instantly after you’ve downloaded the image file once.

Sprites work great on hover images because you don’t get the initial pause from having to download the second image when you hover over it. Sprites are also particularly good if you have many icons on your website.

Textures

Repeating textures are another great way of adding something visual to the design without sacrificing on the loading time. The texture only needs to be a small file, but you can repeat it across a large section of the website. A faux leather texture can give a luxurious feel to the website. A paper texture combined with a hand-written font can give a more personal feel.

Too much content

Content is the most important part of the website and will usually be the first thing a web designer asks for before designing a website.

A big wall of text is never a good idea. Visitors are not going to be viewing your website for any length of time, so having to sit and stare at a screen full of text is bad for the visitors eyes not to mention an extremely boring task.

If you have to include a large amount of text, perhaps it would be a good idea to contain it within another page or a PDF file and recommend the user prints it off.

Attention to detail

Knowing the tricks-of-the-trade for dealing with image file sizes can help you in creating an aesthetically pleasing design which doesn’t take until the end of time to download. Although I like to keep heavy graphics to a minimum, I like to pay close attention to the few graphics I do create.

Adding a small shine to a glass-effect button or creating a feint shadow to make and element stand out better. These are small things which can take a while to get right but can give a finished look to the website. You may not think the average user will care about the smaller details, but the small details add up and help to give a more finished product. If the user feels they are browsing a good quality website, they will assume you put the same attention to detail on your products or services.

Finally

A good website design takes a lot of thought, research and time. Consider all your options and do your best to see to the users needs. Although I’ve mainly covered the visual side of web design, there are many other points to consider, such as compatibility and usability.

Website designs always need refreshing after a certain length of time, so it is impossible to design something with the assumption that it will look just as fresh in 5 years time – a good website is one that keeps up with the times.

The post What makes a good website design? appeared first on Norwich Designer.