Choosing a developer for a bespoke software project can be a difficult task. The options available are often overwhelming, and if you don’t ask the right questions you can waste your time and money on contracts that are not beneficial to your business. Whether you are a Northamptonshire based SME, or a growing business with a need for Bespoke Programming Northampton talent, the right questions can help save you time, money and frustration. What is your Discovery Process? A good developer is not just a code monkey. They need to understand the business and the need behind the project. This means more than just writing a brief. They need to know about the business processes, who the users are going to be, and the goals the business is trying to achieve. If the developer just skips to the ‘formality’ of the brief or is trying to rush through the discovery process, this is a big red flag. Projects that do not go through the discovery... Read More »
Is Hiring a PPC Marketing Agency Worth the Investment?
When it comes to Pay Per Click advertising, business owners are either overly hopeful or extremely confused. It is clear that advertising is effective, it is likely that you have tried advertising using Google Ads, spending money on ad clicks that never seem to convert. This proves that PPC is not the issue, the real issues are whether or not PPC agencies do a good job, and if hiring a PPC agency is worth the cost. What is the cost? Hiring a PPC Marketing Agency is not just spending money on someone to click on your ad, and this is not the value PPC Marketing agencies provide. To properly manage PPC advertising, agencies have to do the following: determine how to manage ad campaigns, determine which keywords to avoid/not avoid, and determine how to write ads/manage ad copy so that ad click rates are as high as possible. This is in addition to managing ad pricing, which is based on PPC advertising agency guidelines. Most... Read More »
Is your website at is development limit?
If you have a website that has been developed some time ago or one that has been added to and added to over the years, then there may come a point where you really need to start again with a new site. This is not to say that you cannot keep the content and even the look and feel of the site, but the backend system may be far too complex to allow it to be updated efficiently and it may be that much of the code is outdated. When looking to upgrade your site, you should try and detail what on your current website has to be kept and what you may want to remove or change. You should also have a list of new functionalities you want to add to the site and ideally have this in an order of priority so if you are not able to have it all straight away, it can be added in at a later date when... Read More »
Should you even make changes on a live website?
If you are a website developer or programmer, then it is often very tempting to make changes straight on to a live site rather than on a staging area. This can make jobs much quicker, but it can also be very risky and not a very professional what to work. For some smaller jobs, making changes directly on to the site can be the best option. For example, if you just wanted to adjust the font colour or one banner or to change the font size of the text in the navigation then you may choose to do it directly on the site. Even smaller jobs however can benefit from being done on a staging area as it gives you the opportunity to spot issues that may arise such as your navigation then pushing on to two lines for example. It may be that your client wants changes done but they want to be able to see what they will look like or how an... Read More »
Are modern apps too pushy?
Most people have well over 30 apps on their phone or smart device. These include social media apps, retailer reward apps, games and food delivery apps. But with so many apps on our handheld devices that have access to a lot of our personal data and track our own browsing logarithms who’s controlling who? Many apps will send you notifications, these are called ‘push notifications’ and they ping up on your device from time to time alerting you of an offer or an update on something within the app. As well as this some will also send you emails and SMS messages to notify you. Many devices also show red badge icons next to the apps on your home screen alerting you to open up the app for the notification. With so many alerts, often containing targeted advertising it can sometimes make us feel a little hassled and overwhelmed. However, there is something that you can do if these notifications are starting to bother you.... Read More »