Share Minimalism is derived from the desire to use only the most crucial elements in creating a project.  When designing a website, minimalism can prove to be quite useful and alluring when used for the right reasons and under certain circumstances.  Prior to the actual construction of the website, it is important to have a plan and an idea for what the website will be used; by building from the ground up and using only what is necessary, the chance that the minimalist design of the page will be great is increased.  The following tips from a web design Manchester company will guide you in the right direction when considering minimalism in your website's design. Balancing Functionality with Minimalism When you begin the construction of a website, do not start by putting everything on the table and then removing elements that are not necessary.  Minimalism only works effectively when all needs of the user are addressed.  In other words, can the user successfully take advantage of all the site has to offer via the website?  Are there any key aspects to your website or business that have been left out of the website's design?  For many, a website is a first impression or storefront and it is essential that the design incorporates all functional aspects and the best way to do it is by starting from scratch and using the necessary web elements.  Using Minimalism with Good Intentions A web designer Manchester may mistake the use of minimalism as a way to provide an aesthetically-charming look to the website.  Unless the designer has a serious knowledge of art and how minimalism works, the resulting design may end up being bland and mediocre as opposed to fashionably minimalist.  It is vital to understand what the design should embody – both in substance and in theory – prior to construction.  The user of the site should be able to navigate easily and be completely able to understand everything he...

Share If you are a seasoned web designer, you’ve probably got a good idea of which markets offer the biggest pay and how to properly target them.  If you are new the web designing game, however, you may still be searching for the magic potion that will suddenly allow you to start making money on your site.  Unfortunately, there is no magic when it comes to affiliate marketing; the only formula for success is a lot of knowledge and a little bit of luck.  If you are just getting started as a web designer Manchester, here are a few tips to help you avoid some of the mistakes others have made and put you on the fast track to making money online. Everyone Loves Free Stuff In the midst of pushing sales, driving traffic, and praying for a pay out, don’t forget one very important thing; people love free stuff.  Anything free will get people’s attention and keep them coming back for more.  The last thing any web designer Manchester wants is for people to take a look around your site and click off; never to return. Instead, fill your site with free offers for information, product updates, or anything else that applies to your site, and require a name and email to access it.  Once they have filled that in, you’ve got the ability to keep your site in the forefront of their minds at all times (or at least until they request to be removed from your mailing list).  By sending out emails with information, you have a much better chance of people returning to your site. Create Completely Unique Pages Even though it might be a hassle, every good web designer Manchester knows that the only way to really present your site in an appealing way is to present each product on its own page.  If you try and mash everything together, you readers will get overwhelmed and frustrated and begin searching other sites.  You also don’t give your products the proper time and presentation that they deserve.  By keeping...

Share   We have a question for you.  It’s probably one you’ve asked yourself many times.  How important is it that your company is represented online – not only with a website, but with a good looking, easy to use and well designed website? The answer is actually very simple. Think about it like this: when was the last time you opened up a phonebook or used directory enquiries to get the contact details of a company you were looking for?  If you’re anything like us, it was a long time ago.  The internet has quickly become an indispensable tool that gives us what we want and need instantly with very little effort, replacing many different mediums.  Web design agency Manchester Warren Phillips Web Design combines a team of talented people to create websites that not only look fantastic but are user friendly and intuitive too. Give Your Customers the Information They Need The secret to marketing your business online is about giving a visitor to your website as much information as you can while they’re browsing and the longer they spend on your website the more information you’ll be able to give them.  Warren Phillips Web Design are in the business of web design Manchester and are experienced in creating websites that users are eager to explore because of their usability.  On average an internet user will arrive at a page and within seconds, decide whether or not to stay on the page.  Warren Phillips Web Design are web designers Manchester that know how to build sites that will keep your users interested. The Personal Touch from Your Web Design Agency Manchester At Warren Phillips Web Design we like our customers to know that they’re being well looked after.  We believe that each and every part of the web design process is collaboration between your company and us to ensure that when the final product is completed, it speaks the language of your company and it is truly something...

Share If you are looking to be successful at web design Manchester, there are some important pieces of advice you should know.  Web design can be a difficult profession for many people; one poorly designed website can drive away customers and cause severe damage to your reputation.  So in order to ensure your success you need to ensure you follow some basic guidelines.  These are described below: A Good Working Relationship is Important Having a working relationship is important when it comes to web design, not only with your clients but also with your in-house web design team.  The process of building a quality website should be an enjoyable and productive experience for everyone involved.  The worst situation you can be in when it comes to a working relationship is for the experience to become incredibly stressful, protracted and difficult – this can seriously harm creativity and won’t lead to positive results. Testimonials Matter An important thing to have when looking for new clients are good testimonials.  Having good testimonials can help drive a lot of new customers to you that are seeking quality web design Manchester.  You should never underestimate the power of a good testimonial from a satisfied client.  A good testimonial shows that you are able to listen to your clients and can provide exemplary services when it comes to web design Manchester and will help you appeal to a wider audience.  It also never hurts to get recommendations from trusted friends and colleagues. List Your Benefits over the Features You Provide Something that a lot of people involved with web design Manchester will do is go out of their way to list all of the great services and features that they provide to their clients.  This seems like it should be a good thing, but the problem is everyone else offering web design Manchester offers those same features and services!  Agencies that only promote the services they...

Share If you are looking for a good web design agency Manchester, there are some important things to think about before you make your final decision.  Don’t just opt for the first company you come across, or even worse – the cheapest company; instead you need to look for a company that can build a website that meets your needs and requirements. Know What Platform Your Website is Built For When you are choosing a web design agency Manchester, it is important to have an idea of what platform your website will be built on, since the platform is the backbone of your website.  Some popular platforms such as WordPress and Joomla provide you with the ability to keep growing your website along with your company without having to use too much custom code.  This allows you to have more control over your website as well as save money in the long run.  WordPress especially has become an incredibly popular platform for company websites as well as personal blogs because of its robust customization options. Like Your Web Designer’s Style This should go without saying, but it can be overlooked quite often.  You should make sure that your web design agency Manchester has the same design style as you have or you should at least like their style.  If you don’t like the style of your web design agency Manchester, then chances are you won’t be very happy with the website that they build for you.  Ask your web design agency Manchester for links to previous websites that they have designed for other clients so you can get a better feel for their style and their ability to change styles depending on the clients.  You should also check to see if the design on their website is clean and easy to navigate or cluttered and confusing. Get References This may be one of the most important things, and it should never be understated.  Always make sure your web design agency Manchester provides you with as many references as...

Share If you are thinking about becoming a web designer Manchester and are just getting started, there are a few things that you might want to keep in mind.  Web designing is an extremely fulfilling career but it doesn’t just happen overnight.  In order to make the step up from novice to pro, there are a few things that you might want to keep in mind. It Doesn’t Matter What Tools You Use One of the most common misconceptions when it comes to web design is that you have to have “the right tools” in order to be a successful web designer Manchester.  While it is true that if you claim to be a professional and you then use Microsoft Front Page you will be laughed at, even the most popular tools that are considered requirements for web designers will likely be obsolete or at the very least outdated in the next 3-5 years.  Remember, it wasn’t all that long ago that being familiar with WAP and Perl was essential for web designers Manchester.  Now they are completely archaic.  As long as you remember to keep an open mind towards emerging technologies and continue to learn and be forward thinking, you will benefit in the long run. Make Your Own Experience For many novices, the hardest part of being a web designer Manchester is getting their foot in the door.  When you don’t have very much experience, it is important to get yourself to stand out from the rest by making sure you have an impressive portfolio of work to spotlight your skills as a web designer Manchester.  Yet, many novices tend to have very weak portfolios if they have one at all.  It is important as a web designer Manchester to seek out your own opportunities to build your portfolio and give you experience instead of merely relying on your employer to provide you with interesting projects.  If you want to grow as a web designer, you have to do it yourself.  Contact local clubs and non-profit agencies and create your own...

Share If you own or are thinking of starting a small business, it’s a good idea to give your company a web presence as soon as you can.  A website is like a virtual business card and will enable you to promote your company to a wider selection of people.  However, when starting a website for your small business it is highly important to make sure your website looks professional; this is one of the main reasons why many small business owners turn to a web design agency Manchester for help. Why is Good Web Design Important? Any good web design Manchester company will tell you about the importance of a good web design.  Especially in the case of a small business website, the way your website is portrayed will often be the first impression that a potential customer has of you.  A website can either project professionalism or negligence and you will surely want your company to be viewed in the best light possible.  If you don’t know what you are doing it is a good idea to ask a professional web designer Manchester for assistance. Factors to Consider When building a small business website some of the factors that you will want to consider include: Business strategy and goals – a small business website needs to be part of a brand identity and the text and images present need to blend in with the company’s corporate identity. Professionalism – we mentioned this above, but it really is important for a small business website to project professionalism in order to gain their potential customer’s trust.  A flawless designer will pay attention to each aspect of a website individually and make sure the completed project looks harmonious. Prospective customers – a good small business website will be designed with future potential customers in mind.  You need to know who your product or service is aimed at and design your website accordingly. Innovative – even though your website needs to be...

Share Many people think that working as a web designer  must be a great job… and it is.  But how do you get started?  First of all, don’t give up your day job just yet.  Working as a professional web designer Manchester isn’t as easy as it sounds and it can take years to build up a client list and earn enough money to support yourself.  That said, it can be done it just takes effort, creativity, patience and a lot of knowledge.  Education If you want to work for a web design agency Manchester you will need to be knowledgeable about web design in general.  Many professional web designers in Manchester will have studied for a degree in computer studies, graphic design, arts or web design itself; but it isn’t entirely necessary.  Whilst this is a great way to get some formal training, if you haven’t got a degree in one of the above you shouldn’t feel held back.  You can teach yourself the basics but it will take time. Stay Up to Date As technology continues to change, so does a web designer’s job.  To work for a web design Manchester company you will need to keep updated with technology and everything that comes with it.  This includes having the latest knowledge of all the latest design programmes such as Adobe Photoshop and programming languages.  Web design incorporates a variety of fields including using graphic software, programming, creating visual website layouts and SEO.  If you want to offer a full web design package you will need to be knowledgeable in all of the above (and more) and keep your knowledge current. Specialise As web designing is such a popular job it’s a good idea to specialise in one area when you are just starting out.  Becoming an expert in a specific type of website design, a specific type of programming or a specific type of graphic software can put you a step ahead of other new web designers who have a basic knowledge of...

Share   In today’s competitive and snazzy web 2.0 world, universal web design techniques are often forgotten.  Many of these techniques are known to work in numerous industries around the world, so why they are being left behind by normal web designers in unbeknownst to us.  If you were to hire a professional web design Manchester company like ours to help with your website, you could be sure that the following mistakes would not happen.  Let’s take a look at some of them: 1. Difficult to Read Text One thing that a web designer Manchester should advise you about is the type of font you use for your text and its size.  Many websites nowadays are incredibly difficult to read, and the end result is a high bounce rate.  People just won’t stick around on a website that has text that they cannot read.  To counteract this you should make sure that the size of your text is at least 14 px, and also experiment with the different fonts.  To make your website as user friendly as possible, a clear font in a colour that is easy on the eye is essential. 2. Visual Noise Another thing that a professional web design agency Manchester will tell you is: simpler is better.  Whilst you might like to see a lot of things going on in a website, most readers don’t and if their eyes are constantly moving, they will easily get confused by your website.  A website needs a focal point and a visual hierarchy so a reader can easily find what they are looking for without too much effort.  The more scattered a page is and the more meaningless images that are included, the more you will find your readers going elsewhere… to your competitors. 3. Difficult to Determine Text Links Whether you are linking to other pages on your website, an affiliate page or to another website, your links need to be easy to read.  A professional web designer Manchester will tell you that the norm for text links is for them to be...

Share   Trained web designers are more often than not going to be able to create a truly professional website for you.  However if a professional web designer in Manchester is out of your budget range, or if you want to try to build a website on your own there are a few tips that you might want to follow to help you increase your chances of creating a professional looking site. Professional web designer Manchester employees tend to look at ways to improve their knowledge and skills so consider starting your own checklist of what you do know before you begin your web design.  By looking at the knowledge you already have you will be able to plan, create, and design the best website much more easily.  A web designer Manchester may be able to guide you through what you don’t understand or you could even hire a web design agency Manchester to complete anything you are struggling with. One of the first things you need to consider when building a website is the domain name.  Picking a proper domain name is important as you want people to be able to recognise you from your website address.  You may also want to register a subdomain in order to make certain everyone is redirected to your website even if they misspell your actual website domain.  As well as memorability, a good web domain can contribute to your SEO strategy so try and include your website’s main keywords in it if you can. Another tip is to try and target your local audience first.  You may have global consumers, but it is best to target those in your own back yard especially if your website is advertising your brick and mortar business.  In this way you ensure that you are talked up locally before any other company.  A lot of websites were started on a global scale even though they serve the local market.  It has meant a lot of changes in web design for these companies to ensure they are now geared more for the local consumer. You will also...

Share Whatever your reason is for designing a “dark” website – you’re tired of light backgrounds, your client told you to do it or you have a deep seated anger problem, there are a few things to keep in mind during the design process.  Dark websites can be hard on the eyes, especially if the dark is mixed up with large pieces of light.  In fact, if you don’t know what you’re doing we highly suggest hiring a professional web design agency Manchester to either guide you through it or do the work for you.  If you’re still intent on going it alone, here are a few tips: Font Selection Most dark websites have a black background and white font.  This is all well and good but you need to make sure that your readers can actually read your text.  When designing a dark website, you will be advised by your web designer Manchester to use serif fonts rather than sans serif fonts.  Why?  Well to put it simply, serif fonts tend to be brighter on the screen.  Sans serif fonts tend to appear in muted colours and are incredibly hard to read. Muted Headers It’s a known fact that brick and mortar stores often have a gap between the entrance to their store and their first rows of merchandise.  Why?  To give the customers eyes time to adjust from the bright sun to the dimly lit store atmosphere.  It works in the offline world and you should be thinking about doing the same online too.  Most websites are bright and going from one to the other within seconds can really hurt your eyes… try it if you like.  This is why, if you are planning on designing a dark website, you should include a muted header.  A dark design with a muted header gives a customer’s eyes time to focus… and limits the pain. Colour Selection Any good web design agency Manchester will tell you that an attractive website will be a popular one; and the same rings true for dark...

Share   If you are considering designing your own website or hiring a professional web design agency to do the work for you, you clearly have a lot to think about.  There are a lot of considerations that come into play here with expertise being at the top of the list.  If you (or your employees) don’t have the expertise that is required to create an attractive, user friendly, professional looking website, a web design agency Manchester is your best option.  The last thing you want to do is attempt to create a website yourself and fail miserably – not only will you have wasted your time but you are likely to also lose customers if your website isn’t up to scratch. What Expertise is Required? A good web designer Manchester will be knowledgeable in the following: Programming – whether it’s database programming, JavaScript or CGI; these are all things that may need to be utilised in the website design process.   HTML – although web design software (and numerous Google searches) can help with this, a basic understanding is often necessary unless you want to spend weeks trying to do something that would take a web designer Manchester minutes.   Website Navigation – A good web design agency Manchester will be knowledgeable about a user’s website experience and hence can create a website that is easy to navigate.  This is not something that can easily be understood without experience.   Artistic Ability – Your website needs to be tasteful and fit in with your brand.  A good web designer Manchester knows how to create an attractive website that will encourage your visitors to stick around.  Image manipulation also comes into play here as does optimising images for the web.   Business and Marketing Experience – There is no point in a website looking beautiful and being easy to navigate if no-one can find it.  If you are thinking of building your own...

Share   XML or Extensible Markup Language is a way to encode documents that can be read by a variety of machines and programs.  Over the past fifteen years, hundreds of XML-based languages have come into existence.  For example, many programs such as Microsoft Office and iWork use XML and also make decent XML document editors.  While XML is fairly straightforward and can incorporate multiple languages via Unicode, it does have a formal structure that must be followed.  Here we will outline some of the most common XML mistakes to help you troubleshoot any existing problems you may have with an XML document.   Lacking a Root Element Every XML document must have a root element in order to function.  This element is the parent element of the document, with all other elements being the children to it.  The root element does not necessarily have to be called <root> but rather it must function as the “head honcho” of the XML document. Example: <root> <child><subchild></subchild></child> <child><subchild></subchild></child> </root>   Lacking an Opening or Closing Tag Each element in an XML document must have an opening and closing tag.  This is also standard for other languages, such as HTML where some of the same tags are used.  When an element lacks a closing tag, the document attempts to read the remainder of the document in order to locate the tag and will assume that this is all part of the same element, but since it cannot “close” the element, it errors out.  Without an opening tag, the same event may occur or it may simply ignore the element, depending on the situation. Example: <p>Element 1 Opens and Closes Properly</p> <p>Element 2 Does Not Close Properly <p>Element 3 Does Not Close Properly<p> Element 4 Does Not Open Properly</p>   Lacking Proper Nesting While it is common in...

Share   How to Choose the Best Domain Name for Your Website Before launching your site, you will need to have decided on your address: the door upon which all users knock to visit you.  Therefore it’s of critical importance that you choose the best domain name you can find.  But how do you do that?  Read on to find out. Choose Your Website Name It might seem obvious but, where possible, your domain name should be the same as your website/company name.  For example, if your company is called Green’s Grocers, there’s no sense in choosing www.freshfruitandvegetables.com.  You want your domain to be synonymous with your company’s image. Long or Short? This is a problem a lot of companies face.  They may feel that their company name is simply too long to use as a domain name.  Domain names can be anything up to 67 characters but some argue that shorter domain names are easier to remember whereas others think that longer domains (i.e. not acronyms) are easier to remember.  The bonus of going for a longer domain is that the likelihood of it still being available to buy is greater.  Really, it’s up to you.  You could be greensgrocers.com or gg.com but in actuality, gg.com is probably already taken and your customers are more likely to remember the former choice anyway. Hyphens Sometimes if the domain you want has already been snapped up, the next move is to hyphenate: www.greens-grocers.com.  The trouble with doing so is that people often leave out hyphens by accident and therefore end up at your competitor’s site instead.  Try using your locality: www.greensgrocerslondon.com for example.  There are plenty of ways around this problem. .com, .net or .org etc. If you’re running a small, local business, it’s actually better to go for a country-specific URL – though you may wish to buy up the .com address too if it’s available.  Most domain...

Share Not everybody has the skills or knowledge to design their own website.  The good news for them though is that there are many companies that can do the job for them for a price.  No website owner should ever just hire the very first design company they see.  The last thing anybody wants is a badly designed website.  So how should somebody go about choosing a webpage design company? Assess the Needs Not all websites are the same.  Some serve as meeting places for visitors while others are basically just online brochures.  Another thing to think about is whether or not the company may be needed long term or not.  If bugs are found after the finished work has been completed, will they deal with that and fix the issues.  Think about what you want from the website and it will make it much easier when it comes to selecting the right design company for the job. Research Nobody really likes doing research but it is the most important thing that any website owner can do in this situation.  You need to do a quick search to look at what work they have completed before and if the old clients had any problems with the design company. Evaluate This is when you need to decide if they are the right company to fill your needs.  If for instance it is an online shop that you’re running then look for somebody that has e-commerce experience.  Take your time to carefully evaluate a couple of different design companies until you feel certain that they are the correct company for the job. References Them saying they can complete a job is one thing but them actually completing the job is another.  From the research that has already been gathered get in touch with some of the past clients to see if they had any problems whatsoever with the company and if so, how was it resolved.  Obviously if they didn’t want to help after the original design was created then this is definitely not a company that should be...

Share     When it comes to choosing a colour scheme for your website, you can quickly become overwhelmed by the choice!  However, a little known web design fact is that there are actually only a limited number of colours that should be used within web design.  These colours are safe because you can almost always be sure how they will display on a user’s screen, whereas more complicated colours may look odd – though this is not so much of a problem on newer computers as they can display millions of colours with no problems. Settling on a Scheme Choosing the right colours for your website is almost as important as the content and graphics themselves.  The wrong colours can jar against your images or even the theme you’re going for so make sure you choose carefully.  It really depends on your audience.  For example, a site about St Valentine’s Day will need to use warm colours evoking love and romance, whereas a site about a dentistry practice might opt for more neutral colours. Neutral Colours Whites represent cleanliness and purity and greys represent conservatism and reliability.  A combination of the two is a popular choice for businesses wanting to evoke a professional atmosphere.  Browns represent home, family and earth so might be perfect for a garden centre.  Blacks convey a feeling of sophistication, elegance and power so could be a powerful scheme for a funky new wine bar or restaurant. Warm Colours Reds, yellows, oranges and pinks are the main warm colours you can choose from.  Red can evoke lust, passion and anger.  Yellows represent happiness and warmth and oranges are allegedly known to arouse the appetite!  Pinks are usually best for sites associated with femininity, romance and innocence. Cool Colours Blue is probably the coolest shade.  It produces a calming effect and exudes trust and intelligence.  A lot of healthcare and financial companies therefore...

Share   Guiding your readers carefully through your website is an important factor in the usability of your site.  It is something you must consider carefully when you are first working on a new website.  Changing your mind about navigation further down the line can be a costly and time-consuming decision.  Without successful navigation, a site can lose all sense of structure and organisation.  There are two main choices when it comes to picking the perfect navigation: whether to go horizontal or vertical. Horizontal Navigation This is the form that a lot of web designers seem to favour.  It looks neater and frames the website beautifully.  However, its obvious limitation is that it can only be as wide as your website so you have a limited space for extra options down the line.  However, this problem can be solved by using dropdown menus. Vertical Navigation As opposed to horizontal, vertical navigations offer the option to have unlimited menu items down the side of your page, making it an attractive option for companies with many different departments and sections.  However, this can look quite unattractive and create a lengthy website where people need to scroll down for miles before reaching the option they require. What to Include Your primary navigation should usually revolve around: A home page An ‘about us’ page A ‘contact us’ page Though you may require many more options for your company.  Remember that a lot of your users won’t necessarily land at your homepage first of all so it’s important to have simple navigation where users can easily find their way back to the homepage.  A common way of achieving this is to link your company logo at the top of each page to the homepage.  Talk to Your Designer If you’re hiring a professional designer, make the most of them!  They will be able to give you insightful advice on how best to structure your...

Share   How to Make Money with a Website Many people set up websites without really knowing how they are going to make the most of it and turn visitors in to a possible income stream.  There are many different ways of making money with a website and only through experimentation can a website owner truly see which methods work best for their site.   Advertising Networks Advertising networks such as Google Adsense are the most used way of making money from a website.  However, Google is not the only available advertising network available.  Sites such as Bidvertiser.com and Chitika.com are great alternatives.  You basically sign up and allow them to publish advertisements on your website in return for getting paid from clicks that the visitors make. The good thing about these ad networks are that the advertisements that are shown are in the same niche as what the website content is about.  This means that there is a much better chance that the visitors will see something that interests them enough to click on an ad. Banners If a website has quite a bit of empty space then maybe look in to selling that space for somebody that wants to advertise their websites.  By doing this, there is no middle man which means the website owner gets to set the rates and keep 100 percent of the money. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing is becoming an increasingly popular way for website owners to make money from their websites.  This involves finding a product to sell and earning commission from each sale that has been made from your leads.  Clickbank.com is one of the biggest marketplaces for finding related products to sell that your website visitors will be interested in. Sponsored Reviews This method doesn’t get used as much as it should be.  There are great amounts of money that can be made just from this method alone.  Sponsored review marketplaces offer a wide variety of topics to choose from in which a...

Share   Accepting payments is a must for any online business.  Potential customers expect to see this way of paying on all websites.  The reason why this is the preferred method is simply the speed that it can be done.  Customers don’t want to be sending cheques- they would rather just go somewhere else where online payments are accepted. photo credit: sovietmole Credit Cards For a website to accept only credit cards, the owner is going to have to have an Internet Merchant Account or IMA.  This sounds like a bank account but is different in the fact that it is only for processing credit cards but then the money needs to be transferred to your real checking account. TransFS.com is a great website to find an Internet Merchant Account provider.  The only problem with these kinds of accounts is that it takes about 4 weeks to actually get the account.  Once the merchant account has been received, the next step is to find a payment gateway in order for the transactions to work.  Basically the merchant account stores the money but needs a gateway to transfer the money in to the merchant account.  There are fees for using merchant accounts which is why this kind of method is better suited to bigger online companies.  For smaller businesses PayPal is a safer option. PayPal PayPal is now becoming one of the most popular payment gateways online.  Payments made through PayPal are very secure and no longer do payments just have to be made from account to account but with a business PayPal account you can now start receiving money from credit and debit cards too.  All that is needed is to add a PayPal button to the website, customers make their order and the money gets sent straight in to the owners’ account. Google Checkout Everybody knows and trust Google.  They now have their very own payment method called Google Checkout.  The service itself is very secure and reliable which makes this a top...

Share   Any website owner wants to know more ways that they can get a constant stream of traffic to their website.  Without the traffic there will be no money coming in to the website which also means the website will fail before it even gets started. Comments Many people fail to realise the impact that leaving a few useful comments can do for a website.  This is by far one of the most powerful methods available to draw high quality targeted traffic to any website.  All that is needed for this to work is to read a few blogs or websites and share your views on what they have written.  The better the comment is, the better the chances of people checking out your website. Guest Posting This is one of the better ways for anybody that enjoys writing articles.  If you’re knowledgeable in certain niches then the information should be able to flow pretty easily making this a very easy task to complete.  There are many websites that allow guest posting.  Promote an article idea to other website owners and if interested you will be able to link back to your website in the article.  The more knowledgeable a writer is the more followers they will get checking out their website. Quality Nobody wants to read rubbish content.  This will only turn people to go elsewhere for their answers instead of staying on the website.  All content must be of high quality and read through a couple of times checking for errors before making it live.  Content plays a big part in whether visitors can trust what you say or not.  Also search engines love quality, unique content so just this alone can have a huge impact on traffic. Pinging Any time something new is added to a website, it must be pinged in order to let the search engines know that something new has happened to your website.  This will help to get the new content indexed much faster than if you manually submit it to the search engines. Ask Questions People love...

Share A website will never get visitors if it never gets promoted. Promotion is a key decider in to whether a website is going to succeed or fail. There are literally hundreds of ways that a website could be promoted both online and offline. Different methods work for different styles of websites. We are going to cover the most valuable promotion methods that every website owner should know. photo credit: opportplanet Search Engines Search engines are what is going to bring in the most traffic to any website. They crawl web pages in order to index them. If they can’t crawl a website then the website simply won’t get indexed. There are a few ways that any website owner can ensure they get indexed as fast as possible. 1. Meta Tags – These are the first thing that a search engine will crawl. Without these being properly used the website can’t be indexed. The meta tags that need to be filled are the keyword and description tags for every page. 2. Headers – Keywords should be used in all headers of the web pages. 3. Content – Just like the headers, the keywords should be placed throughout any content on the page. It is very important not to overdo this as the search engines may penalise a website for doing so. Directories Look around for website directories that have a higher page rank than your website. Search engines see these kind of links as strong links. A good place to get listed is DMOZ.com. Forums There are thousands of forums and online communities for every imaginable niche. Sign up at any that are related to the websites content and make some useful posts. Forums allow the members to posts links to their websites in to the signature file so that any time a user reads a post you have made, they will see a link to your website. Bookmarks Bookmraking web pages has become a very popular way of promoting a website. Addthis.com offers a very useful widget to make this even easier allowing all visitors to bookmark and share the...

Share If your business provides a service to customers it is likely online reviews are impacting on the buying decisions of your potential customers. Review sites like Qype and Yelp are an important source of information for people looking to go for a meal, book a hotel or even buy a car. However, more often than not companies don’t have in place a system for managing what is an increasingly important factor for their busness. Here are 6 easily implementable tips to help your company manage your online reviews. 1. Monitor Reviews Set up searches in Google Alerts for mentions of your business name (using quotation marks) and check them every day (you can set the alerts to be sent to your email address). Reviews of your business will be picked up. If someone has posted a positive review why not thank them? If there is a negative review maybe you can address the complaint and seek to resolve it. 2. Dealing with Negative Reviews Negative reviews can be hurtful especially if the review is unfair. Don’t react emotionally. If there is an issue which you can address, try to resolve the situation with a view to getting the review removed on resolution. If the negative comments are inaccurate, give your side of the story. Perhaps some of your customers might also come to your defence (this is where a strong online network can be important). Don’t start an argument, there is nothing worse than washing dirty linen in public and it may attract undue attention. 3. Encourage Positive Reviews There may be circumstances where you need to encourage some positive reviews. For example if a negative review has recently been posted you might want to ask a loyal customer to post an honest positive review. This will mean that potential customers will be met by a positive rather than a negative review on the review site listings. 4. Encourage More Reviews There are a number of benefits to having many reviews being posted about your company. It shows you are busy, your...

Share Warren Phillips Web Design is proud to announce that a new service will be added to our hosting solutions.   From next month we will be offering VPS  (Virtual Private Servers) at a great monthly rate to all customers old and new.   The way this is going to work is we will be offering this on a shared basis, basically there will be no more than 5 websites per VPS as not to clog up or slow down the performance.  Right now all clients are on a shared hosting that could be with millions of other users on the system, the new system will make your site Quicker. More Stable. Less chance of things going wrong. The price is going to be £9.99 per month per client. I will be in control of it and will require no skills from yourself. Will be the same as usual but just better   If you are interested please contact...

Share Over the past few years we have been using many different printing companies, some have been good and some have been terrible. But that is about to change…   We have teamed up with Rictauk.com who are a local printing company in Hyde. I met Eric the owner while on a networking expedition and we hit it off from the beginning. It is a great feeling when you meet someone like  Eric and just know he is as passionate about clients happiness as I am. We sat down and worked out a great deal for new business in the area. This is a great package and will help you quickly get the business running without the worry of getting stationary. We will now be offering great Web Design packages and will be able to offer all your printing needs at the same time as always at affordable prices. Till next...

Share If you are a web designer who is struggling to get his blog heard (erm, read), then it is time to start blogging about things that people want to know. Web designers have the advantage of knowing the internet like no one else, and can also give great pointers on great design. Great web design site traffic comes with great blogging, so it’s best to blog frequently in order to get the most credibility for your business. Stuck on what to blog about this week? Use these 5 topics as a good starting point for brainstorming.   1. The Worst Design Flaws of Bloggers – Blogging can be done in a beautiful, sleek blog. It can be eyecatching, it can be visually stunning, and it can also be easy to load. Then, there is that one blog that everyone has tried to read regularly that loads slowly, is filled with terrible design flaws, and has a cheesy MIDI from 1995 as its theme music. It is your duty as a web designer to warn people against these web design flaws. Also, it can be a very funny rant blog.   2. The Design Aspects Everyone Forgets – Ever notice how many people don’t seem to realize that whitespace is their friend? Or, how few people seem to notice that page balance matters just as much as page content? Tell them that these aspects matter, and watch them thank you for your valuable advice.   3. The Most Innovative Web Design of the Year – Have you recently seen a website that was so innovative, so amazingly simple, that it’s worthy of a blog post? If you have seen a great example of what a site should be, make an effort to commend that person’s work. A true professional is not afraid to say that there are some who are better than him.   4. Simple Tricks To SEO - Search Engine Optimization is the trendiest thing that has been buzzing around internet marketers. Tell your fans how to search engine optimize their web page in a series of blogs. You’ll be shocked how many people will hang on to your every word when you write...

Share I was talking to my friend Jordan about the advantages of having a website. Before I could say anything, he told me that he sold one of his websites for £5000. He has been working on that website for around six months and hardly invested anything except his precious time. That day I kept thinking about the fast-changing world. The internet has changed the world in many ways. Almost all the people have profiles on social-networking websites like Facebook and twitter. It was then that I came with the idea for this post. I always knew that websites are worth much more than they cost and in my opinion, everyone should have one. Here, I try to explain why:- 1. Virtualy property: A website is like a virtual property. You start building it from scratch. You can customize it to look the way you want it to be. Most importantly it grows with your efforts and time. The more you work on it the better it’ll get. 2. Freedom of Expression: one can feel free and write anything that he would want to talk about on his website. There are no limitations on that. People can talk about their favourite ideas and issues. It gives you a platform to express your point of view and your thoughts. 3. Make money with a website: There are unlimited ways to make money from your website, and it only depends on how creative you are and how much work you are ready to put into all this. There are people who have one or two websites, and they don’t need to do any work except maintaining the websites they have. 4. Get more exposure for your business: A website can get more exposure for your business in less time and effort than it would take to advertise it offline. Advertising your company online is much cheaper than marketing a business offline. 5. Minimal Investment: Setting up a website will require the minimum amount of money that it takes to set up a business. For around £500 one can own and host a website for a year. 6. Be up-to-date with the modern world: Remember...

Share With the proliferation of Hacking attacks being reported these days, its easy to forget that the biggest threat to businesses as far as theft of critical information goes is its staff! An employee that falls short morally or financially in their lives may easily become more of a direct threat than your most active of competitor. The largest threat always come from the employee with the most information access, for most small businesses that can mean the contractor (or Company) that develops and maintains their website. Although most would not even consider this person or organisation as a viable area or concern. So lets look at the facts: Webdesigner: 1. Has access to all web based communications. 2. Has access to all website files, including; a. Passwords b. Web Financials c. Customer Details This information in essence gives the web designer access to most of a business’s critical information. So much so that hostile attackers such as organised criminals, Foreign Intelligence Services (FIS) and other individuals with motive, will directly target web designers in order to recruit them for their own intelligence gathering purposes. Lets look at a scenario: John Smith is a web designer for a big web design agency, running the account of ‘Big Money Wealth Management Ltd’ amongst others. John is a 36 year old guy, recently divorced for the 2nd time with a flat in Chelsea and a love of socialising with his friends and an eye for the ladies (hence the second divorce!).  The web design agency he works for (Acme Web) takes no notice of who he is, as long as he turns up and delivers the deadlines. Big Money Wealth Management Ltd hired Acme Web because their designs met their requirement and they got them for a knock down price. After the launch of their site, they mostly forgot about Acme Web and just let them get on with general maintenance of the site at their request. A year later…. John Smith is feeling the heat financially from...

Share As an online business owner, you know how important it is to find the right online solutions. This means not only a great domain name and a great web design, but also a great web hosting company. With a bricks and mortar business, location is everything – with an online business, choosing the right web hosting solution is just as crucial. If this is your first online business venture, finding a local web hosting company can be an even better solution. There are thousands of companies all over the world, so finding one that is local to you shouldn’t be an issue. For example, if you are located in Manchester, you could search for ‘web hosting Manchester,” or “web hosting solutions Manchester.”   Regardless of where you are located or whether you want to go local or not, there are certain criteria you must look at in order to make an informed, educated decision. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when looking for web hosting companies.   Technical Support: You can test this out easily enough by sending them a message or chatting with their online help. How quickly do they get back to you? Were they knowledgeable in answering your questions? Do they provide support 24/7 365 days a year? Murphy’s Law dictates that if anything goes wrong with your site, it will be FTP Access/Control Panel: You will want to have the authority and access to modify and upload your own website pages. Having to rely on their tech support team will just frustrate you and waste a lot of time. Luckily, most companies do provide this feature. Reliability Guarantee: A reputable web hosting company will guarantee at least 99% up time. This means that your customers can be assured that will always get to your site, without annoying ‘this page cannot be displayed’ messages. Bandwidth: This is the amount of bytes that get transferred when visitors come and browse your site. The hosting companies usually...

Share As a business owner, you no doubt understand the importance of having a great website that is appealing to your customers and your clients. You understand how a good web design is an integral part of your overall business and how choosing the right web designer is critical to your success. You also surely understand that finding a local web designer for your e-commerce business can help reduce delivery time and eliminate misunderstandings and miscommunication. No matter where in the world you live, chances are there are dozens of local web design companies that can help you. For example, if you live in Manchester, use your favourite search engine to type in “Web Design Manchester” to find all of the local companies in your area.   There are other considerations, however, than just finding someone local to you. Quality, reputation, service, price, other services and timelines are also extremely important and will go a long way to providing you with a pleasant overall experience.   Quality: Ask about the companies past clients and ask about their direct experience with your industry. For example, if you are selling health food products, have they designed websites in this industry before? Ask to look at their portfolio.   Reputation. Ask about their past customers and do some online research to find out what past clients have said and rate their satisfaction level. How long have they been in business? Are they on the first page of your favourite search engine? If not, they may not be as experienced as you think.   Service: Are they courteous and friendly? Do they truly understand your requirements? Are they committed to helping your business become an online success? Or are you just another customer to add to their year-end profits?   Price: Expect to pay for a good web designer, but don’t feel that you have to blow your budget. The price ranges vary greatly but you should be able to find a quality designer for a...

Share If you own an online business or are about to start one, you know the importance of choosing the right web hosting and web design company. Choosing the wrong one can be detrimental for your business and have you closing your virtual doors before you even get started. There are many ways to look for local web design and web hosting companies. For example, if you live in Manchester can use your favourite search engine to look for “Manchester web design” or “Web design Manchester.” This will give you a list of all web designers in Manchester. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when looking for the right fit in regards to web design, ecommerce and web hosting.   Reliability: If the web hosting company does not guarantee at least 99% availability, look elsewhere. Technical Support: Do they provide tech support ? Experience: You want a web design company and a web designer that has experience not only on a general level but in your specific area of expertise. Portfolio: What else has the web designer done? What other companies have they worked with? Location: While it is not absolutely necessary to have a local web designer, it does make things easier to meet with them in person to discuss your needs and make sure that there are no misunderstandings in your design. Secure (SSL) Shopping Cart: If you are going to be selling products from your site and accepting credit cards, you’ll need a secure shopping cart. This could be included in your web hosting package, or you could purchase it separately. Your web designer may be able to make some recommendations on what is best for you. Price: Prices vary greatly among web designers and web hosting companies. Don’t feel that you have to choose the most expensive, but don’t go for the cheapest either. Remember that in most cases you get what you pay for. Reputation: When you are searching for a web design company do some research and find out...