If you have a website that has a space along the top for a banner then you will need to think carefully about the dimensions and aspect ratio of the banner when it comes to choosing the right photos. If the banner space is log and thin then there is no point trying to use a photo that is almost square as the majority of the image at the top or bottom will have to be cropped off. If you are struggling to find good landscape images that you could use then you could buy one from stock photos such as from Istock or Getty images. Buying them will allow you the right to use them on your website but does mean other websites may have the same image. Another way you can get round the odd size of your image is to have an abstract image that focuses on something zoomed in. This will allow you to be a lot more creative when it... Read More »
Keeping your marketing company informed
If you use a marketing company for your online and / or off line marketing then it is vital that you keep them in the loop or changes that are happening in the industry and within your business. When some companies use a marketing company, they forget that they are not experts in their industry but instead in promotion and marketing. They will require a certain amount of input from you in order to get the campaigns to be successful. As with many things in life, the more you put in the more you get out and that goes for marketing too. If you are having a change of management or have a new line of products that are hitting the shelves soon, then give your marketing company as much notice as possible so they can start to plan in what needs to be done in order to attract customers and gain enquiries / sales. A simply quick phone call or email may be enough... Read More »
How to manage a website project
If you are a self employed web developer or if you are in charge of a website project for a client then it is important that everybody knows what is included in the build from the start, costs and also timescales. Every project should have a specification, an estimate or quote and also a timeline to show the dates that certain elements should be completed by. This is a way to ensure that everyone understands the timings and can be used for the programmer to also ensure that the information he / she requires to complete the job is received on time. When deciding what is included on a website, it is sometimes worth creating a flow chart which details the pages / functions within the site. You may also want to create a wire frame that shows the layout of the website and possibly a visual of the home page or a product page for example. Doing this upfront can often allow both parties... Read More »
Using a theme for your website that is responsive
All websites that are built now should be responsive. This means that they automatically respond to the size for the screen in which they are being displayed on. As there is a huge amount of options when it comes to screen sizes such as those on a tablet, mobile or large PC screen, it is vital that your website adjusts accordingly to fit each one when needed and still looks and functions how it should. Research has shown that if your website does not do this then you may run the risk of losing visitors immediately which potentially loses you sales too. If you are using WordPress for your website build then you can chose a theme to start you website project with. When using this theme, you need to check if it is responsive and how it displays on multiple devices. You can amend a theme to make it responsive but it often involves a lot of work and it is usually advisable to... Read More »
Can you create multiple location pages without getting hit by the duplicate content filter?
As a company you may wish to target buyers in multiple locations. Google states that content should be unique on every page and that pages with duplicate content could be removed from the Google listings altogether. This is a risky game that no one wants to play and therefore you need to rethink how you can change your content to suit. Firstly make sure that any page that is duplicated from another one is stripper back in terms of text and images. There should be no reference to the original page and this allows you to have a blank template to work with. Rather than editing content from a previous page, you may wish to actually rewrite the text from scratch. This will ensure that you do not miss anything and will allow you to think of other ways of getting your information across. You may wish to add testimonials from clients in that area or even to add images of the business location and... Read More »