Grange Web Design Blog

I sat in one of the beginners tracks at WordCamp yesterday. I noticed while there that there was a wide base of experience with Wordpress and a lot of people were unclear about some of the terms being used.  I created this quick slideshare to explain what I think people new to Wordpress might not know and I hope will help them.

Let me know in the comments if you found it helpful or if there were other terms that you were a bit unclear on.  I can write additional posts in detail on these topics.

People have tons of questions about website and sites.  I do not claim to be able to answer them all but on this site I try and address the most common and pressing ones that I hear on a daily basis. I answer a mix of entry level questions and more advanced ones so that there is something for everybody.

I aim to answer them clearly with diagrams, presentations and simple instructions as often there is a lof of very poor information out there for questions like,

• What is Hosting?,
• How Do I Get a Domain Name?,
• Who Should I Get to Design my site?
• Should I design the site myself using Dreamweaver and load it up myself ?
• What is a CMS?
• How do I get on the first page of Google?

This is actually the wrong question to be asking on the phone and I usually try and steer people away from this question by asking them the following questions first.  Most people who call me have no idea about how a site is designed.  I have no idea how their business works either but I can help them deliver a website solution that will help their business.  The latter does not always apply.

• What do you want the website to do for you?  Often people only want the website to be a brochure for their business and display some simple graphics with their marketing message.  Others want ot have a full up e-commerce solution.  I really cannot answer the question properly till I understand your need.  Needs determine time and effort.
• Why do you want a websie?  If you think it will be the answer to all your business needs then this is a dangerous supposition to take.  Once you have a site in place you need to work on it to ensure that it is kept up to date and if you want to be on the front page of Google for a competitive keyword then it makes sense to invest in a medium to long term SEO engagement
• How will you help?  Designing a website needs a customer involvement either for content, graphics or even feedback on the design.  If you are only paying lip service to the activity it will not be a successful engagement and the result will ultimately disappoint.  I work hard to make sure this does not happen

Overall the costs are person hours by the detail required.  For the results that a well developed site with the right strategy.  Stragegy is everything.  Write down what you want the site to do (no not he graphic of the product – what you want it to DO).

That is what you are paying for and why it costs!

There are a host of content management systems that new websites can use.  my advice to a new customer is that unless you are updating your site more than once a month then don’t bother with one.  A solid brochure site will do the work that you want for your site and encompass all that you want to do with your product.

However if you want to keep an active regular stream of information on your company going out into the market then a CMS / Blog can help.  I have done systems using Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla for customers and they have all reaped the benefits of each.  Think however before you take one on board or pay the money to implement one.

In the early days of the internet people only developed websites to advertise their products.  The main reason was the limitations of the technology.

They were a Here I Am – Look at What we Do type of site.  In the last 20 years many technologicval changes have happened and now you can sell, demonstrate, have video, blogs and the list is pretty extensive as to how your offering can be presented.

However there is still a place for a high impact site that only shows your customer your product whether it be an actual product they can touch or a service.  Advertising sites can be as simple or as complex as you want.  With the advent of flash and jquery you can display a nifty slide show of your product portfolio with text explaining what each is.  Add a contact form and you have a useful site that can be part of your marketing portfolio.

Many businesses do not want to do e-commerce and just want you to look, see, browse and contact them either face to face or over the phone.  So the advertising can be effective for them.  They just want to show the product and say “Come on down to the Shop We are Open”

This site need not even live under your existing business name.  For instance what you see larger businesses now doing is using multiple domains for different parts of their businesses.

What do you want from your site this year?

It is possible for someone to create a website for you for under 100 Euro.  If you have shared hosting and register a domain name, the fixed costs are usually around the 50 Euro mark and the rest is profit. Yup clean fabulous profit.  So if someone offers this to you I imagine that they will be very happy with the 100 Euro (or less)  that you give them and never annoy you again and will offer excellent customer care and speedy updates to your site for years to come.

Of course this is a load of rubbish.  You won’t be happy with the product that is supplied to you in the first place and when you try and contact the person who did this for you it will be difficult to get a consistent level of customer service from them.  If you want a half decent site that promotes you, your business, and your products then you have to pay someone who will spend time with you and take your ideas and feedback on board.  They also have to be expert enough to give you feedback that your idea is not sensible and suggest viable alternatives.

So Buyer Beware and put those peanuts away – the monkeys love them.

Disclaimer:  The author eats peanuts but does not create websites for them.  The author does not won a monkey nor has he monkeys working for / with or behind him.

Haggle Like Harvey Norman!!
Post Update:  I got some feedback from people on this post and here is the summary.

Robber

Do ya think we came down in the last shower Kieran?

120 Euro for that – feck off!!

So in the spirit of Harvey Norman – if you want to haggle drop me a line and we can negotiate a price that you think is worthwhile for the offer below.  Worse case is that you will get a free report!!

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Apple fans are  buzzing with expectation for the new Apple Tablet and I want one really badly.  So you can help.

If you have a website and think is needs updating or improvement or you think it isn’t working for you I will do a website report for you for FREE, you can read it and I will make any suggested changes for 120 Euro.  Here is what the report will cover.

• Site layout and structure – how it could be improved for better impact.
• Speed of site.
• On page SEO audit of site to improve it for searchability
• Analysis of text and content on site. Specific updates to ensure that you have a better chance of being found by Google.
• Google Local Business addition
• Implementation of Google Analytics code if not already in place.

If when you read the report you don’t think it is worth 120 Euro then no problem no charge.  If interested drop me an e-mail at kieran@grangewebdesign.com with your website address and what your specific concerns.

Take a long hard look at your existing web site and ask yourself the following 5 questions and implement actions if you are not happy with the answers

Can People Find My Contact Details Quickly?

People go around the internet aggressively these days they are less and less patient and hit tht back button faster than you can imagine.  You may say of course they can I have a contact page.  This is not the right answer – sorry – read on.

You want people to find the information that they are looking for quickly and make contact with you.  Sometimes this  may only be a phone number that they can call you on.  If I were to pick 10 websites at random today and went to them I bet you that it would take you 20-30 seconds to find their contact details.  This is too long.  Don’t hide them in a lower level page called Contact.  It drives me bonkers when I see that this click is needed and if you look at your page stats you will see people probably don’t go there too often.

There is a web term called bounce rate which defines how long people spend on your web page after actually landing on it.  High bounce rate means that they pretty quickly hit the back button.  This may mean they have found what they are looking for but it more often mean they they could not find what they were looking for and just went on to the next site.  Place an e-mail and contact number prominently.  Keep the contact page but have it for more detailed contact information.

What do you want your customers to do?

You may not want to take multiple phone calls so often a simple e-mail contact form or a link to an e-mail will help.

I have never seen someone put in a statement along the lines of ” Please do call my number but due to work pressures I may not always answer straight away. I prefer to get e-mails in place of phone calls but will generally answer your e-mail within 12-24 hours. “. 

No matter what you need some call to action.  If you are having a sale of product or a special offer make sure it stands out and that it makes the person who lands on the page want to act whetehr it be purchase an item or read more and again contact you?

A Map

View Larger Map
It is so simple to have a map to your business.  Do you get a lot of calls asking where your business is?  You can point people to a Google Map that is on your site to help them find you.  Write the step by step directions on the same page and people will appreciate it.  Put a picture of your business in as well or some landmarks along the way so people can print them and understand the location.

Last 5 Questions
Think of the last 5 Questions that people asked you about your product and business and put that information on your site.  I know what the most frequent questions for my business are an I have put this information on my blog.

• What features do I get for a basic website
• How much will this cost me
• How do I get my website on the first page of Google
• Can you make me a website like www.example.com
• Can you make some updates to my existing website and how much will it cost?

Do You Know Your Most Popular Pages?

If you don’t know what the most popular pages are on your website then you should be taken outside and shot.  These are the pages that customers are interested in.  you may have written a fascinating biographical article on how you climbed Mount Everest without Oxygen and then started the mountain climbing supplies store, but I bet that people are most probably clicking on the products page.  Sorry send me the link to the article I will definitely read it.

The picture of the clown here is here for a reason and is more of a joke than a statement. Don’t clown around with your web plan for the year ahead

Too many people worry about setting up a web site for their business and keep on putting it off because of either price or lack of understanding or not speaking to the right people. But if there is one thing that you should do this year is register your business domain name.

It doesn’t cost a lot and even if you do nothing with it today it at least makes sure that nobody else takes it.  It takes less than 10 minutes and is step one of your web plan for the year ahead.

SEO on site 101.

Change your <TITLE> today to your top search term for every page.  Short and simple do it today no excuse.  Now back to the TV.