Hiring A Professional For Website Design Services Is Like Money In The Bank

All businesses today need to have an online presence or they could be losing a huge source of income they won’t even know about. Even if they have an online presence without understanding what is involved in such things as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) again they could be losing money. Therefore, if you want to take full advantage of every possible source of income available hiring a professional company to perform your website design services makes perfect sense.

Many things go into designing a website from the title or header to what appears above the fold. The term above the fold originated from the newspaper industry. Something considered above the fold would be what appeared on the cover of the newspaper above where the newspaper folded. The reader would see this immediately without doing anything else such as opening the paper. The same when a person finds your website they will see a certain amount of information before they do anything else. What does appear here is absolutely critical since most people will make an immediate judgment on whether they will click off your page immediately or stay and investigate more.

Another critical element of your website design is how easy it is too maneuver around the website. Rarely will you have everything on one page. In fact you will most likely have pages for different services or types of information you are providing, such as, contact information, pricing, information on specific products or services, and other important information for your readers/customers. The design is important so that a person visiting your site can quickly understand what your website offers and can move to the information they are seeking quickly. Professional website design services also understand that it is very important to design that maneuverability so that it changes pages very fast. If a reader experiences too long of a delay they will click the proverbial back button losing any opportunity for a sale.

Colors can make a difference along with the positioning of your products or services. Again there is a science to how someone reads a webpage and what attracts their attention most. The types of advertisements to the size of the fonts make a big difference. As an example red will have a different impact on a reader versus black or light blue. Where an advertisement is placed on a webpage is also important. The amount of space the website takes across the screen allows more information to show but if not designed correctly may work against what you are trying to accomplish so again the design is very important.

As you consider what you want your website to accomplish it is very important that you understand like most things in business if you don’t do your research up front and offer the very best product or service it will cost you money in the end. The lost income will come as a result of a missing out on a sale you may never have known existed. Professional website design services will walk you through all the various opportunities for another income source and who can’t use that in the competitive world we now live in.

Read more at http://www.worldnz.co.nz/

Getting a website: where are the costs?

So you have made the decision to have a website built for your business, but are not sure of what is involved, and where the costs lie? It can be confusing, especially if you are not particularly Internet or PC savvy: web development, web hosting, domain names, email addresses. All of these are factors that need to be considered and costed into your project. As well as that, you’ve seen many great websites on the net, which are packed with loads of cool features, moving graphics, options to sign up for newsletters, database searches and links to other sites. Do you need all these features, and how much will all that cost? What should you have in your website, what’s the process, and how much will it all set you back?

The first step is to think of a suitable domain name. The name of your company can be a great start, so you get http://www.mybusiness.co.nz or http://www.mybusiness.com . Which do you need: dot co or dot com? I believe that a dot co domain name is OK for most New Zealand businesses, and that a dot com name still really implies an American site, although this is not a fast rule. Why not identify your business as a NZ one straight off and use dot co, which will promote our country to overseas net users? Something else to think about is whether the name lends itself to what your business does or provides. So the domain name http://www.circusanimalhire.co.nz (it doesn’t exist, I checked!) tells you pretty much what the website is all about. A name like http://www.prsmythe.co.nz doesn’t give as much information about the core business, and so users then have to actually view the site to determine what is provided. You need a lot of advertising, PR and brand marketing clout to get a name like http://www.amazon.com to be synonymous with books right? But it is possible as we know. When you’ve thought of your name, register it: $39.95 will secure you the name for a year.

What does a website cost?  A basic website can cost as little as $1000 – $2000. What do you get for that? You generally get what’s called a brochureware website. That’s one that is like what it’s name suggests: an online brochure introducing your business, products and services, and encouraging users of your site (your target market) to contact you. You can have the basic structure of three pages:

1) Home page which introduces you, your business, products and services

2) Products and/or Services page for more detail

3) Contact page, which may include location (a map!), phone numbers and email facility.

The latter may be in the form of a link, which opens up a blank email when clicked on, or may include a form, which users fill in, and this generates an email which is sent to you. The form is great way of encouraging users to give you a certain amount of required information, so that you can give the most informed response, and hopefully generate some business. A brochureware website is a great start if you want to start off small, with a good Internet presence at a reasonable price. Don’t forget you can always expand it over time once you have analysed its effectiveness, seen the benefits, and increased your confidence. This sort of site supports your existing marketing strategy and initiatives and is another facet of your marketing strategy: it’s an advertisement for your business.

What if you want your website to be more than just an advertisement, and actually want it to make the sale for you right there and then online? What if you want some more features, such as a search facility, where people can enter criteria and search through your products, and maybe place an order on your site or even pay for it online? With these features you can actually secure a sale or an order while the user is still visiting your website. This dynamic functionality involves including programming and database components in your website and so will cost you more. What you want determines what it will cost you. (What you NEED may cost you less, so get advice). There are no set prices for including this sort of functionality, and the best bet is to shop around. There are options.

1) A web development company will be able to construct an online catalogue, ordering and/or payment facility for you

2) You could buy shopping facility software yourself, and have it added to your existing site

3) You can utilise one of the many providers of this functionality who actually lease or rent the facility to you.

In the latter instance your catalogue is housed on their site, you manage it yourself and it looks like your site, but it is provided by a third party.

Even if you start with a brochureware website you can of course add features over time, and it is important to plan for this from the outset if that is what you want to do. Ensure that your website is scalable, that is that it can be expanded readily, without having the whole thing reconstructed from scratch. Don’t forget to consider the size of your site and the impact that this can have on your web hosting costs. Adding a catalogue with a lot of pictures can take up more room on your website hosting company’s server, and this may cost you more if you start to exceed the storage limit that you have for your account. Credit card facilities also need to be paid for – they will generally cost you a set up fee, a yearly fee and a percentage of each transaction, but they are convenient in that revenue is collected immediately.

Don’t forget also that once a website has been constructed and launched there may need to be ongoing maintenance of the site, in terms of keeping the data in it up to date, periodic review and testing and further development work. Discuss with your web developer what might be required and what these costs might be. This should be discussed with you during the initial planning phase of your web development project. Also discuss search engine optimisation (SEO), which is the process of ensuring your site can be found on the net. Many web development companies will include this service initially as part of their development price, but will charge for an ongoing maintenance and review of your listings. There are Internet companies that supply these services specifically as well, so have a look around. SEO of your site initially and on an ongoing basis, is strongly recommended for your website, as search engines still account for over 80% of the traffic to websites.

Once your website is complete, you will need to have your website hosted, and there are many hosting company’s available which offer this service. The prices vary for these services from about $20 to $50 per month, and the value added services provided vary considerably. Options such as website stats, account size limits, number of email addresses available with each account are a consideration, as is technical support and assistance. So, a lower priced host sounds great, but they may not give you web stats or a free form script, and this may set you back if you want or need these facilities for your site. Ask the right questions, or read the available information on the hosting company’s website before you commit yourself.

So, in summary it is fair to say that the costs of owning and operating a website do not just lie in the production of the website itself, although this is the major component. You also need to consider domain name purchase, website hosting costs, domain name-based email accounts, website statistics, service/support, search engine optimisation and of course ongoing management, maintenance and development.

Source: http://www.worldnz.co.nz/blog/post/getting-a-website-where-are-the-costs

The Main Phases In Successful Website Design And Development

A successful website design and development process must be broken down into a number of phases for ease of planning. At the very first stage, the website designer takes time to gather information regarding the company which owns the website. How do they intend to use this site? The website designer will move on to the next stage after understanding the main purpose of the site, the goals the business wishes to accomplish, the audience being targeted as well as content which is going to be included in this site. Basically, the first stage of website design and development involves gathering relevant information.

After all the information regarding the business has been obtained, the next step in website design and development involves coming up with a site map. This is what will guide the designer to develop a website that is consistent and user friendly. During this designing phase, the needs of the end user must be considered.

At the third stage of website design and development, the expert will come up with a prototype design for their client. This prototype will basically showcase the look and feel of your site. At this stage, you can be able to view the design and give your opinion and any changes which you feel need to be affected. The prototype will act as a point of reference and it plays a significant role in how the final design will appear. You must make sure that this prototype matches the needs and tastes of your customers.

The next stage is now developing the actual and functional website. At this point, a lot of information has been gathered from the prototype and the designer’s work is to incorporate all these in the actual site. As a client, you should be able to view the site while it is still at the development stage. Note that, your site should be available for viewing throughout the website design and development stages. This is to help you make changes when necessary and avoid miscommunication which may cause the project to lag behind.

As soon as your actual website is complete, the next stage is to test it just to ensure that everything is running as expected. At the testing phase, the site must be examined for compatibility issues. The designer must make sure that your website can be viewed in all major web browsers. The site must be in line with the current website design and development standards. As soon as all this is assured, the site will then be launched and the public can view it online.

Even after the website design and development is complete, your site needs to be well maintained. You need to update your website as regularly as recommended. You can choose to hire an expert to perform maintenance and updates on a regular basis. You can also choose to optimize your website in order to gain more visibility online. Creating your site is the first process and you will need to invest more time and money to receive that brand recognition online.

Read more about web design at Worldnz

The Impact of Social Media on SEO Gold Coast

One of the top factors which affect SEO Gold Coast is social media. This can be attributed to the fact that social media involves a lot of linking. For instance, if your web content has a lot of social shares and likes, search engines will assume that this information is very relevant because it has drawn the attention of many users. The search engine will give your site a higher ranking because of this. There are many other ways in which social media affects SEO Gold Coast. Understanding each one of them will help you to launch an effective SEO campaign.

To begin with, social media affects search engine results. If two users type in similar search terms when looking for information, the search results obtained by both can be completely different depending on their location among other factors. One of these ‘other factors’ that influences your search results is the social media pages you are signed in to. For instance, if you are signed in to Facebook, your search results on Bing will be given depending on what your Facebook friends have liked. Why do search engines do this? Search engines doctor your search results to what appears to be most relevant to you. That is, they try and incorporate information which your friends or followers have recommended. This is a good way to explain how social media affects SEO Gold Coast.

Social media will also affect your ranking in that, content and links which are often shared will be considered more relevant. If you ensure that all the content on your website is shared, you will increase your chances of getting a high ranking. You can give users an opportunity to share your content on social media by placing sharing buttons on all your web pages where you post interesting content. These shares and likes will improve your site ranking considerably.

In the long run, SEO Gold Coast is not just affected by social media. There are many other factors that will affect your website ranking. For this reason, you must employ social media strategies which will boost your ranking. For instance, you should always participate in various conversations on social media. Interact with your customers and let them know more about your company and products. You should try and establish a good relationship with your clients on social media.

In order to make SEO Gold Coast succeed using social media, avoid using this avenue strictly for advertising purposes. Instead of posting about your products and services on a daily basis, you can try posting some photos of a company dinner or luncheon showing different members of staff having fan. Use social media to interact with your customers better and do not concentrate too much on marketing your products. Social media users grow tired of leading long advertisement posts day in day out so make your posts more interesting. Use social media to build links from a variety of sources. This will ensure that SEO Gold Coast works well for your website.

Optimization SEO: Topic, Purpose And Timing

Optimization SEO has numerous facets to it. For starters, you have to be sure about the message type that the page passes on. If you do not have a clue about the message that the page should pass, then it would be wise to call it quits at this stage. In order for a particular page to add value to your website, it has to be about something. Optimization SEO requires that all content in a particular page follow a particular theme.

Once you have this figured out, you need to put your content into context. This entails getting the purpose of your page right. It may be a news page, blog post, press release, sales piece or even an educational post. The goals of the page need to be very clear. A press release for instance seeks to convey information about a certain topic. If a certain company was attending a trade expo in another town, a press release detailing that it would be at the event as well as its flagship products or services would be in order.

Content timing is the period that the author anticipates the content to remain relevant. It is an important consideration in optimization SEO. Educational pieces remain relevant for a long time. As such, the content should have the ability to interest readers for a long time.  A product explanation on the other hand only requires remaining relevant until the release of the next version. The rule of thumb is that a different SEO strategy is required for news item or content that will remain relevant for a long time to come.

Optimization SEO requires that you use relevant keywords in your content. Keywords help direct traffic to your site and content and increase conversions. Credible links to authority content are also ideal for SEO especially when used correctly. The heading, title or description of your site should also describe your content aptly. These parts of your content require top-notch optimization if they are to improve the ratings of your content and site. In most cases, a one-size-fits-all technique rarely works for optimizing content. Keywords are critical for as far as optimization SEO is concerned. However, in some instances, keywords are not even necessary. All you need to hit the jackpot might be a few credible and well-optimized links. Trust your guts and common sense on this.

Simplicity is key as far as optimization is concerned. You do not want to go complex and end up having readers who do not understand a single word of your content. For instance, if you are writing a press release for a company that is about to unveil a new product at an expo, linking not more than two phrases to the mother website might be all you need to achieve record hits. Great content optimization is all about making decisions based on what your target users would prefer.

As far as optimization SEO is concerned, always go with purpose, topic and timing, and you will never be wrong.

How to Secure a Cheap Web Design

Websites for promoting an online presence for your business need not be costly to design and launch. Most people tend to think that website design is cost prohibitive. On the contrary, cheap web design is now a reality. You can get a professionally done website cheaply. However, it is imperative that even as you go looking for a cheap website, ensure that you do not end up with a website that takes forever to load. This a critical tenet of modern website designs. It is very possible to get a high quality website at an unbelievably low price. In order to strike that critical balance between quality and cost, you have to invest some time looking for a god website designer. Ultimately, a good quality web design ensures that your website generates sales leads and conversions. You do not want other websites to be an authority in your chosen field.

For you to get good deals for cheap web design, you have to carry out an intensive research on the internet for professional web designers. However, how will you know the right one when you eventually make a short list of the best web designers? Here is how to pinpoint a reputable and competent web designer.

The first factor to consider is the price. The cost factor is probably the biggest decision that you have to take into account when looking for a cheap web design. Narrow the list of possible web designers by remaining with those that have a price range that suits your budget and eliminate the rest. Your parameters should be wide enough to allow for at least 20 web designers that fall within your budget range. This might be tedious in the short haul but will eventually pay off in the end. When interviewing potential web designers, do not forget to enquire the exact reason why their web designs are expensive or cheap. This way, you get to know the kind of offers they have.

A portfolio research is an excellent way of ending up with a good web designer. Every reputable web designer should have a portfolio to his/her name. The portfolio should be online so that potential clients can easily access the same. A portfolio contains previous designs that the designer may have worked on. It gives you a real life idea and glimpse into their design work. Go through the list of web designers and get to see samples of their portfolio. Many web designers usually have a certain work pattern. See if their design pattern suits your personal taste and business needs. If they do not have a portfolio, then they are not worth your time.

Technology is an important aspect of cheap web design. Just because you are looking for a cheap design does not mean that you do a technology trade off. There are different technological features and aspects to consider depending on the purpose of the website. It is important tom know beforehand whether your chosen web designer has the requisite skills to carry out cheap web design.

Read more about web design at http://www.worldnz.co.nz/

SEO Optimisation – Effective Marketing Tool

With the level of competition being witnessed today, you need to be ahead of your competitors at all fronts. If you venture online to market your business or products, you should learn ways in which you can make your website superior for maximum marketing endeavors.

People find that online business opens up many opportunities. An online presence must however, utilize SEO optimisation techniques for it to be effective in achieving your marketing goals. Such techniques will help to increase your website’s visibility on the Internet. Web users will easily see your website on search engine results and they will be directed to your site within seconds.

Consequently, your website will experience an increase in web traffic. You can compare this to the number of people visiting your store. Many of those that visit will purchase something or come back and buy another day. If they like something about your store, they could tell their friends who will also visit your store. SEO optimisation is therefore an effective marketing tool that works like magic.

However, the process of find your website is not automatic. You must be able to utilize various techniques and features of your website to enable the search engines to find your website. SEO optimisation involves employing various strategies to improve the page ranking of your website during a search. Unlike traditional marketing where you had to use a lot of energy to attract attention to your site, search engine optimization is silent. Once you have put the necessary features in place, the process is set in motion. You can then wait for the traffic to start building.

You can gain from SEO optimisation in other ways when your website receives more traffic. Other people will notice the popularity of your website and they will want to advertise their products on it. This will bring in more revenue for you.

Nevertheless, the greater amount of revenue will be reflected in the high traffic in your website. Your website should be an extension of your business. Your optimised website will serve as an advertising platform where you can sell anything. You can use the website as a convenient place for customers to make orders. You can also use it to inform customers about your various products.

The various search engines will scrutinize the quality of content that you use to provide that information. If the quality is high, the search engines will rank your web pages high in the results. You can improve the quality of your content by using relevant keywords of the right density.

The quality of your website content should not be obtained by utilizing practices that go against the guidelines of the various search engines. Search engines can penalize your website for breaching their terms and conditions. SEO optimisation involves knowing how to use legal means to improve your page ranking.

You can find an SEO optimisation company to optimise your website for you using legal means. Make sure you are informed and you understand every process used to optimise your website.