The Final Day of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today, we wrap up what we've learned over the last 11 blogs.

Always remember to keep it simple!

So, we've come to the end of the 11 day blog! I hope you've enjoyed reading my hints and tips, and that you've learnt something from what I've been saying.

If you take nothing else from the blog however, remember this;

If people can’t read your webpage because they can’t see the text against the background or it’s all jumbled together because you haven’t spaced it out properly, then they won’t bother looking at your page. And that means they won’t bother with you! Try reading your content yourself. Can you read it without straining your eyes? Does it make sense? If you can read it, then everyone else can as well.

Make sure that, not only can people read what you’ve written, but that all the information they need is within reach. Anymore than 3 clicks, and visitors will lose interest. The best web pages give people all the information they need, and the rest leads on from there. Try and find an item in your online shop, or a piece of information that your customers want to find out. Can you get there in 3 clicks? Is everything on your site accessible, no hidden terms and conditions or security information.

Be open and approachable. Tell customers what you've been up to! A blog like this, is a brilliant way to reach out to visitors. Maintain a professional air, but ensure that customers can reach you and tell you what they think.

Don't be afraid to improve your website. You'll probably need to every couple of months anyway. Look at it as a form of 'Spring Cleaning' and a chance to improve and challenge your company. Monitor your competitors and see what they're doing, to keep one step ahead of them all the time.

It sounds easier said then done, but no matter how tempting it is to modify things, keep it simple. Pictures and videos can provide so much information, and look a lot better than huge chunks of text. Look at the websites I've recommended. You may think they have nothing to do with you, but if you use them as your inspiration then you're sure to develop something really spectacular!

Good luck to you, and remember if you need any help or advice don't hesitate to call Living Media Liverpool on 0845 077 2820.

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Day 10 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website A Success

 

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today's blog is all about making the most of your site, and being ruthless when things aren't working.

Check your site, and get rid of low quality pages!

The last thing you want is for customers to come to your site and click straight back to Google. It’s better to have a few really good pages, then loads of truly awful ones! ‘Wow’ visitors to your site immediately and they’ll want to come back again and again! If a page just isn’t working then get rid of it, or it will drag the rest of your site down with it.

I know that your website has become extremely important to you, and you know it isn't working but you can't bear to see it shut down. Well, I'm afraid that attitude is going to get you nowhere.

Sometimes, you have to be ruthless in business and the best place to start is with a website that just isn't pulling it's weight. Make sure that all your content is good content. Combined with good keywords, this will really boost your rankings with search engines like Google.

But how do you write good content for a web page? It really is easy, once you know how. Here's a quick guide!

• Get to the point quickly - Don't waffle. Say what it is your company does within the opening sentence, if possible. This may sound easy, but we saw it happen on the Apprentice a few weeks ago. I was sat with my head in my hands whilst the boys droned on about some sort of App thingy. Make the customer know they're in the right place immediately!
• Use action words - Don't be afraid to order people about. You want them to look at your shop don't you? So tell them too!
• Use lists - Like I'm doing here! A list is a lot easier to remember, and is much easier on the eye. Limit it to 7 items, that way it's easier to take in.
• Remember - People scan websites, they don't read them, so do whatever you can to get them to look at key parts of your web page!

If you have long rambling pages on your website, now is the time to get rid of them otherwise they'll bring your website down.

If you feel like you need to start from scratch, then come and see us! We're here to offer you help and advice on how to make your website work for you, not the other way around!

Remember, it's ok to admit defeat and start again. Don't be afraid to prune your webpage.

Tags: website content, website design, website tips, website advice

Day 9 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website A Success

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. In today's blog, we warn you about the oldest trick in the book; cheating!

Don’t duplicate content from another site!

Good artists borrow, great artists steal! It's believed that those were the words of Pablo Picasso. At Living Media, we don't agree! We believe that looking at what the competition is doing is fine. It helps to keep you on your toes, and keeps you creative. Stealing their ideas however, is never right.

There are a number of programmes which you can download to help you monitor what the competition is doing. My favourite is the SEO Powersuite. The Powersuite is a brilliant little tool which allows you to monitor your competitors websites, find out what their keywords are and then compare your site with theirs. You can even download it for free, which is really helpful!

Once you've found out the best keywords, you can use them on your own site, and improve it for the Google rankings system. You're not stealing your competitors content, but modifying it and improving on it for your own site. You want customers to come to your site, and not one of your competitors, so you need to ensure you appear higher on the Google rankings then they do. If this is all a bit confusing, have a look at the SEO section on the Living Media website.

We can help you stay ahead of your competition, without resorting to stealing their ideas.

Remember, be original, be creative, be yourself! It's your website after all. Your originality will have customers coming back again and again. Don't be afraid to use your own voice, but make sure customers can hear it with a good SEO focussed package.

 

 

Tags: SEO Powersuite, SEO, website advice, website design, website tips

Day 8 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. In this post, we tell you how you can effectively connect with your customer using social networking sites.

Use Social Networks!

In the last post, we discussed how important it is to ensure your customer trusts your company with their private details. Today we are going to talk a little about how you can connect with your customer on another level, and engage with them in a way you never have before.

Firstly, open up to the customer; let them know that they’re valued. If that means putting photos of you and your team sitting in a bath of baked beans for Red Nose Day then so be it! You might sit in an office all day, wearing a shirt and tie but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a creative and dynamic organisation. Take this example from Blue Sky Resumes in New York. This is a great way to introduce yourself to your customer and it can simply slot into the About Us page of your website.

Creatively showcasing yourself, and your team, to potential cutomers is one thing but you can also use social networking sites to really connect with your audience. Nowadays, you'd be hard pushed to find someone who didn't have either a Twitter or a Facebook account. By setting up an account for your business on one of these sites, you are tapping into a valuable resource. You can use Tweets and Facebook updates to inform customers about new deals and special offers that you have on, as well as keeping in touch with members of staff.

Check out Living Media's Twitter and Facebook accounts for inspiration, and whilst you're there start following us!

If using social networks sounds like a good idea, but you're a bit daunted by the day to day managing of such a site, then don't panic! Living Media can set up social network accounts and manage them as part of our internet marketing packages.

Remember, that if you open yourself up to your customers, they'll feel more comfortable with your company and will want to return again and again. By having a website, you're already promoting yourself in the public domain. Don't be afraid to get out there and start selling yourself further!

Tags: twitter, facebook, social networks, website advice, website design, website tips

Day 7 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website A Success

Your website is your shop window and used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today we look at how important it is to protect your customer.

Protect your customers!

If you’re running an online shop, then customers want to know that the service you’re providing is safe and secure. After all, it’s their credit card details that they’re typing in! You can put their minds at ease by including credit card logos, secure shopping logos and any professional accreditations you may have on your homepage. Any legal details, terms and conditions and company policy should be somewhere where everyone can see them. That way, both customer and company know their rights.

If we look at some of the larger, more well known online stores we can see how this applies. Play.com is a popular online store, selling DVDs, CDs, books and computer games. Notice how at the foot of the page the website lists the credit cards that the site accepts. This is located next to the Terms and Conditions, meaning that customers can check their rights and ensure that their card will be accepted.

Smaller companies also make the effort to show their customers that they can be just as reliable as their larger competitors. The online clothing retailer, Joe Browns, has a section at the foot of their homepage informing customers that their details will be safe thanks to various online defense systems.

At Living Media we want the websites we design to be safe for customers to use. Here's an example of our work!

We can see that at the bottom of the Fishlock's Flowers website, not only do we have a selection of the credit cards accepted as payment by Fishlocks, we also have a link to the full terms and conditions and details about the online safety measures that are built into the site.

By making sure your website is fully protected, you are instantly making the customer feel more at ease. Tell the customer how secure your website is! If you want them to buy from you, then first they have to trust you.

Remember, your customer is the most important part of your business and it's your responsibility to make sure that their money is safe.

Tags: website advice, website design, website tips, online protection

Day 6 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today we look at how keeping all your content on a few pages means you'll keep your customers coming back to your site.

Limit the number of clicks!

Nothing annoys visitors to your site more than when they’re reading something and they have to go onto another page to find out more. Ok, it gets you more hits but it’s a cynical way of doing it. People appreciate having all the information they need to hand, without having to go through page after page of website content.

I guess what I'm trying to say here, is if you have a website with a shop attached then it's a good idea to make sure that everything is organised so that it all appears on one page. Nobody likes to have to go looking for information. It's a well known fact that if visitors can't find what they're looking for in 3 clicks, then they'll give up and look somewhere else.

This is something that we at Living Media take very seriously, and the websites we produce are all designed with this in mind. Take this site we built for Liverpool florist, Fishlock's Flowers. The initial homepage tells you everything you need to know about Fishlocks, and with one click you can find what you're looking for in the left-hand shop column.

Here's another example of our work, which shows the importance of having good website navigation. Fire Products Limited, sells high quality fire safety products at great value prices. Again, the initial homepage tells you everything you need to know, and within one click you have access to everything you need.

Think of your online shop, like any other shop. If customers walked into a high street store and had to walk through room after room of products then they'd soon get fed up and walk out.

Don't be afraid to limit the number of pages you use! At the end of the day, you're making it more convenient for the customer, and they'll appreciate it!

Tags: website navigation, webpage navigation, website advice, website design, website tips

Day 5 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today we look at how you can use ads effectively.

Don’t have too many Ads!

Most websites carry ads. That’s fine! What isn’t fine however is when those ads distract customers from what you’re trying to sell. Make sure that any adverts you have on your site are:

A) relevant to your company. So if you’re selling flowers, why not have a link to a site that organises weddings. Don’t have an ad for Joe’s Rib Shack or something! Google has a handy tool for this kind of thing. Make sure if you have ads on your site, that they appeal to your target audience. Here's a good example from Arsenal FC's official homepage. Most football fans checking Arsenal's website, are men who enjoy a pint during or after the game. So Arsenal have an advert for Carlsberg lager, which when clicked on takes you straight through to the Carlsberg site. It's a clever way of linking your content to your demographic.

B) Unobtrusive. An ad should fill space and look pretty. If it’s eating into your text, or blaring garishly over a video then it needs to go. Lets have a look at Liverpool's very own Radio City website. As you can see, Radio City have just 2 ads on their site; one for Microsoft Internet Explorer and another for Panorama kitchens. Although both can be seen at first glance, neither is obstructing the actual content of the site.

And finally, C) is neat. Having ads all over the place makes your webpage look confused and untidy. A few here and there is much better than all over the place. Take this example from Empire Magazine. At the moment, Empire magazine are promoting the new Compass Jeep. Instead of having a number of untidy Jeep ads littering the site, they have managed to tie the ad in with the overall site theme, making it look neat and professional whilst at the same time promoting the product.

There are a number of sites that allow you to place ads on your webpage. Probably one of the best is Simply.com. This is a site which allows you to upload your website details, and then have ads recommended to you. Be warned however, that these kind of sites will cost you money, so do your research before you do anything.

Remember, it's ok to have ads. It shows that you are aware of what's happening in your industry, but don't let them clog up your website or you'll have customers running rather than buying from you.

Tags: website tips, website design, website advice, website background, webpage adverts, banner adverts, website adverts

Day 4 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today we look at how spelling and grammar can make an impact on your web views.

Spelling and Grammar is important!

Wot's rong with this sentance den? Just about everything really! We all struggle with spelling and grammar from time to time. I bet I’ve even made some mistakes writing this! You can get away with the little ones, but people will notice the big mistakes and they won’t be impressed. If you’re not sure, ask someone who is or buy a dictionary. Trust me, it makes a big difference.

Nowadays, it's very easy to make spelling and grammar mistakes without even realising it. We've become so used to 'Text Speak' that we often take shortcuts when it comes to spelling, punctuation and grammar which can be extremely damaging to our website.

Really bad spelling can affect your search ratings on Google. If you have spelt key words wrong on your site, then I'm afraid you are not going to see the returns you deserve. It's worth proofreading your content a few times to make sure you haven't made any silly mistakes.

Grammar is harder to correct. Things like apostrophes, commas and semi-colons are an absolute minefield. You could spend a lifetime studying grammar and still make stupid mistakes! We know it's not easy, so here's a quick guide to help you out!

• Its and It's - Only use "it's" when you want to say "it is." E.g It's our mission to provide great service for our customers.
• Apostrophes - You should only use an apostrophe for 2 reasons. 1) When the word is a contraction of two words e.g. This toat's burnt (meaning "this toast is burnt") 2) To show ownership of something e.g. Betty's Cupcakes. DO NOT use an apostrophe to indicate a plural e.g. CDs should not be written as CD's
• There, they're, their - There means a location e.g. Over there! They're means 'they are' e.g. they're our main competitiors. Their means belonging to someone e.g. It's their business.
• Alot - This is not a word. Use 'a lot' instead.

This is not a definitive guide, but I hope it has been some use! Remember, if you're in trouble, look it up!

Research shows that visitors to websites are instantly put off by bad spelling and grammar. Don't let this happen to you! Make sure your spelling and grammar is as close to perfect as you can make it.

Tags: spelling and grammar advice, spelling and grammar guide, spelling and grammar tips, website tips, website design, website advice

Day 3 of Living Media's 11 Tips to Make Your Website a Success

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Today we look at how videos, music and photos can keep customers coming back to your website.

Give People something to look at!

A solid block of text is all well and good, but in today’s modern society people are used to looking at lots of different sources to gain their information. Videos, photos and audio files can express your message and are interesting enough to encourage people to come back.

Photos and Videos are used again and again on some of the UK's best known websites. News outlets and magazine websites are the most likely culprits, as they allow them to pack alot of information into a relatively small space. Take this example from BBC Radio 1. In the bottom left hand corner of the page, you'll see a list of videos which you can click on. If the BBC were to type all this information, the page would go on forever! Video allows them to showcase what's happening on Radio 1, without taking up too much space and at the same time making the viewer want to find out more.

The Daily Mirror homepage is made up of lots of photos, which when clicked on link back to a main story. Again, this allows the Mirror to publish alot of information without taking up too much space. Using photos as links to other parts of your website, is a great idea because it's alot more visually interesting than simple plain text.

Be careful though – if a picture or video doesn’t make sense or is irrelevant to what you’re trying to say then leave it out. Sometimes it’s ok to have a blank space! Don't fill up your site with loads of noisy videos, which go on forever. Keep them short, snappy, entertaining and above all relevant! Chances are, customers will enjoy watching them and come back for another look at your site.

If you don’t have anything to go on your webpage, then come see Living Media! We can help you with photos, video and audio to go on your site. We have our own studio and editing facilities, so we can provide you with great video footage to go on your website.

Remember, great looking websites have great looking content and videos and photos are some of the best ways to make your website stand out from the rest of the crowd!

Tags: video, photography, corporate photography, corporate video, website advice, website design, website tips

Day 2 of Living Media's Series of Blogs on how to Improve Your website

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of. Here is the second of Living Media's tips on how to improve your website.

Background Colour is Important!

Just like when you’re selling a house, neutral colours encourage a positive response. Bright colours are harsh on the eyes whilst text gets lost when paired with dark colours. Use simple block colours like pastel blues and greens. If your company logo has a colour scheme, then make sure it’s not too garish otherwise you’ll be sending customers away!

You might think that I'm being overly critical here, but I'm not the only person who thinks using the wrong colour scheme can seriously damage your web image. Check out this blog from Design Spike Inc.

Avoid obvious mistakes like using bright colours, unless you really are trying to make a statement. Here's a few examples that show where colours can be an asset to your site. Emotions by Mike is a website created by a freelance web designer. You can see that although Mike hasn't got alot on his web page, the tasteful use of green makes his page look really professional.

I've no idea what is going on, on this Slovenian site, but their background is perfect! Ustvarjalko means 'creative', and with a nice clean, background that's also easy on the eye, this website is certainly that!

Don't be afraid of using colour, but be wary about using anything too bright or garish. The Living Media is a good example of this. We've avoided a purely white background, with a few splashes of warm colours like yellow, purple and orange.

Pick the right colour scheme, and your customers will keep coming back time and time again!

Tags: website background, background colours, website design, website advice, website tips

Over the next 11 days, Living Media are bringing you 11 great tips to make your website something you can be really proud of! Today is the first tip!!

Your website is your shop window and if used effectively it can be a real asset to your company, business or organisation. But if used badly it can be an embarrassing nuisance hanging around your neck and weighing your company down.

At Living Media Liverpool, we want to help make your website something that you can be proud of.

This tip focuses on the types of font you're using on your website.

Watch the font you're using!

Let's start at the beginning. It sounds so basic but you’d be amazed at the number of websites that get this wrong. The wrong type of font can make your page hard to read and turn people off straight away. The right type of font, Verdana for example, is perfect for reading online and encourages visitors to your site to read more. And never ever use Comic Sans...only idiots use Comic Sans.

Here's what the Living Media website looks like in Comic Sans. Looks awful doesn't it?

There are numerous websites that provide web developers with a variety of fonts which are perfect for use on your webpage. Font Squirrel is a free to use website, that has a variety of fonts and typefaces for you to use. All you need to do is download your chosen font, and believe me there are some really great ones on there. It's more for design than writing text on the web, but it still gives you some interesting ideas about the different types of fonts that are out there.

Another site which we find comes in handy is Cufon. It's a bit more complicated than Font Squirrel, but it's still worth a look. Cufon takes already written text and converts it into the font of your choosing.

The third option is to actually pay for a wider variety of fonts, with Typekit.

You don't have to limit yourself to the basic fonts that people associate with web design. Using these websites, allows you to expand the amount of fonts that you have access to, and make your website both really professional and really interesting.

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