JMC Website Design2010-09-06T04:27:12ZJason McCopyright 2010, Jason McSPHPBLOGProfit from a Membership Website An example: Fictional website motorbikeeuropeantours.com is a website which provides its users with THE best places to visit by bike, and provides all the resources of the best routes to ride and where to go whilst on the road. Users can register to gain access to a sample of information available. The website owner can manage which content is available to these users, as well as the content available to premium members. He can display 'teaser' information to tempt regular users to register for premium membership - which unlocks the information.
The website owner can add as many membership levels as he likes, and has complete control of what information each member type has access to.With a membership website, the only obstacle is investment of time to add new content and manage users. Setting up the website is a snap, but if you're having trouble with this, JMC provides a set up service to quickly get your membership website up and running. Contact Us for more information.
Membership subscription can be managed however you wish, if you can user member ship to be ongoing - or expire after a month. It's entirely up to you. Using a membership based website can also benefit the office environment. Maybe you need a site which has the following access levels: management, accounting, general staff.
For more information on membership websites, you can Contact JMC Website Design or visit www.member.wishlistproducts.com]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100626-0311062010-06-26T00:00:00Z2010-06-26T00:00:00ZGet More Website Traffic, Improve Conversions & Sales - Search Engine Paid Advertising Pay per Impression/Pay per Click This is ad space which you can buy in certain networks. One of the largest by far is google Adwords. In the search results of google, you will normally see 'sponsored results' at the top of the page. Your link will also appear in other networks affiliated with google advertising. Using Adwords is out of the scope of this newsletter, so here are the highlights:
- you pay google a small amount each time a user clicks or views your link (you choose) - the amount you pay is dictated by your budget - you choose which search phrases you want the ad to appear on - the ads are instantaneous, and appear as soon as you submit - you should expect to pay more for popular phrases or keywords - the success of your ads will depend on your conversion pages (more about this below!)
Some other providers include Yahoo! Search Marketing and Microsoft AdCenter. Facebook is also another platform for paid advertising. But remember that users are there for socialising and don't want to be sold to, so keep the tone casual and informative if you feel that Facebook advertising would benefit your website.
Conversion Pages This is the page that 'converts' a viewer to a potential customer. It's your main sales pitch and includes information usually in the following format:
- enticing headline to create interest - information about your product/service(including demonstrations/images/video if appropriate) - testimonials from satisfied customers - call to action (a contact form, a telephone no etc)
What you write on this page is very important. I'm no expert in Marketing but from my experience people buy from people. Remember that when you write your marketing copy. Clearly state the benefits your business gives to your customer. Give proof of value! If you have the budget hire a copywriter!
If you are interested in finding out more about successful marketing, drop me an email and I'll point you towards some marketing resources I've found useful.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100514-0243442010-05-14T00:00:00Z2010-05-14T00:00:00ZA one page website - a quick, effective and extremely affordable website solution - It extremely affordable - So it's great for those on a small budget - They're very quick to design and publish online - It's a good temporary solution for newly purchased domains - They can be used as a straight forward 'sales' page with a call to action - They are useful for those who wish to sell a range of specific products or services - You want to convert a printed brochure to a digital format (html) - Add multiple interactive elements - link to your ebay listings, youtube videos and twitter feeds
The sales page, sometimes known as a conversion page or squeeze page, is aimed at generating interest from visitors.
It should have well written, sales driven copy, and should have a call to action such as a contact form or pay now link. These kind of web pages are also well used with pay per click campaigns such as with google.
One page websites can be used with online marketing strategies. Maybe you have a dozen or so different domain names associated with your business, and need a page for each to help boost your online advertising. These domain names can be linked with each other to build your presence on the web. Each of your web pages can be tailored to fit each sector of your customer market.
When you decide to invest in some kind of website, sometimes its tricky to figure out what you really need. You have just bought a domain name - the perfect one! - and you just need to pull something together for the website. And that's where the head scratching can start when deciding on the right content. Having a one page website first gets the ball rolling quickly. Websites are of course dynamic in nature and can be built over time.
Here are some examples of existing one page websites designed by JMC Website Design:
1 - What is my website for? (E.g Advertising? Selling? Entertainment? Information?) 2 - Do I have a marketing plan for my new website? 3 - Do I have all the appropriate graphics and text content? 4 - Will I have a reliable point of contact for any future website issues? 5 - How much should I budget for my website?
The last point depends on the old analogy of 'how long is a piece of string'. Depending on what you would like your website to do relies on the budget you have in place. A new 'brochure' website is just that. It contains only basic interactivity (a navigation menu) which is a source of information online. They are usually best used to supplement offline advertising such as newpaper ads and business card distribution.
After you have figured out what you have for your new website, you need to take a bold leap and find out what you want that website of yours to do. Here's a generalised list of websites you may require (the lowest typically priced first):
1-Brochure Website Is used primarily presentation and showing off, through galleries, advertising pages and basic contact forms.
2-Information Website You will need a good hosting provider and a secure database for informational websites. These type of websites tend to have a lot of data behind the scenes which is usually searchable via some kind of search page. An example of this type of website is wikipedia.
3-User Login Website Some websites have a login feature, so visitors can access further (locked) information. Sometimes this can be subscription based. This is also interchangable with...
4-E-commerce Website This has a built in shopping cart, a store database of products, and a checkout facility where customers can make purchases. Only really suitable for website owners who have a lot of categories of products/services to sell.
5-Content Management based Website Fits into most categories of new websites. Allows website owners to update information themselves, with minimal technical knowledge. Prices can vary depending on how complex the system needs to be
6-Community/Social Networking Website Okay so this encompasses a large area, from facebook to twitter. Most of the content is dynamic and generated by the end user. By far the most expensive type of website.
This list is by no means exhaustive and websites can (and usually do) feature more than one of the types listed. Don't forget that websites are organic, so you don't need to put all your budget into it from the start. Get a one page website to start with, market it well and see where you go from there.
More information on what to have in your new website.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100222-1735002010-02-22T00:00:00Z2010-02-22T00:00:00ZOnline Copyright Theft - Is somebody stealing your website content? Copyscape - This does a reverse text search based on the content of a specified web page Tineye - A very cool website which can recognise if an image is used on another website, even if the image has been altered!
Unfortunately there is no foolproof way to prevent people from stealing images from your website, they can just use the Prnt Scrn button which copies whatever is displayed on screen onto their clipboard. If you really need to copyright images the only real way to put people off stealing is to watermark your images, or put them in a password protected area which only your privileged users can access.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100202-1437442010-02-02T00:00:00Z2010-02-02T00:00:00ZEssential Technology - Flash - What is it and what is it used for? It is used for:
- Interactive Banner Advertising - Animation - Streaming Video (as used on youtube.com) - games (as used on facebook.com) - Offline presentations - Website applications (mp3 players, photo galleries etc) - Simple 3D animation
Websites can be built entirely in Flash. The only downside to Flash is that it's currently not very Search Engine Friendly. The best approach to using Flash is to use it to complement your web pages. If you really want a full Flash website, provide a text alternative. Not only will this keep your website performing well in search engines, but will also be accessible for visitors who need screen readers to navigate websites.
You can usually tell if something is made in flash by right-clicking on an object you think is Flash in your browser. If the object is Flash, the dropdown menu should read 'About Flash Player(version)...' at the bottom. However this does not always work, depending on how the flash object has been placed onto the page.
It is estimated that around 97% of internet users already have Flash installed on their internet browser.
As I have mentioned, Flash is used on some well known websites (youtube). If you don't have Flash installed, the browser will normally tell you and the download size is very small. Flash has also spread (like the internet) to mobile formats including the Ipod.
Flash is great to add some extra 'juice' and interactivity to your website. However I'd think long and hard about building a full website based on the technology.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100115-1848542010-01-15T00:00:00Z2010-01-15T00:00:00ZLogo Design - What I've been working onBespoke Pools & Spas Preston who needs a new website. As part of his package, I'm helping him with his branding and logo. These are some of the final designs I came up with:
I evolved from being a Graphic Designer doing this type of work, but that was a long time ago, so my logo skills are a bit rusty! I tried to follow the best advice I learned from college about logo design.
-Keep it simple -Keep it legible -Make it easily transferrable (printable in black and white, smaller fonts etc)
And for you folk who are curious, Lee chose design number 2! Next phase for me is to create some web page layouts incorporating Lees new logo...]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry091223-1233122009-12-23T00:00:00Z2009-12-23T00:00:00ZWhat's a CMS? A short guide to content management systems, and some alternatives Usually a CMS is build into a preset template page, meaning you will add pages based on that template. So in that sense its not a way to 'build websites' from the ground up.
There are certain requirements to setting up a CMS. In most (if not all) cases you will need a web host which uses PHP. To find this out, you can contact your webmaster or hosting provider. In many cases you'll also need a MySQL database. This holds all your information including administration login, your content for the pages etc. Again, ask your webmaster or hosting provider if this is available.
But do you really need a CMS?
Most Content Managed Systems are built on the basis of creating a website from scratch, customising an existing preset template. If you already have a website and want to implement a CMS system into it, you may need a custom CMS system built specifically for your website. You need to justify the reasons why you would need a content management system.
What are the alternatives?
Say you only need a CMS for certain pages. For example you need a Content Management System for your latest news. A better option would be to link to a blog with your latest updates and news, or use an online website such as twitter. This also can be beneficial to your online presence, as it spreads your business out more on the web.
If you need an updateble photo or video gallery, the most affordable option would be to:
-Open a youtube/flickr account -Link your own webpage to an RSS feed of your youtube/flickr account -Everytime you add or change your youtube/flickr account, the changes will automatically be reflected on your webpage.
What's an RSS feed? It's kind of a cheating (but ethical!) way to get fresh dynamic content on your website. Promise i'll explain it fully in a future post, as it's slightly off topic here!
CMS systems are best used for huge expansive websites that demand a lot of changes to different pages regularly. Examples would be Content Driven websites such as wikipedia, large community websites and company intranet resources. Content Managed System Admin areas avoid most technical knowledge requirements and so is ideal if you want to give your website updating job to your admin staff. In the past I worked in a few civil service roles which made use of huge Content Managed Systems for managing all their online content. Like I said CMS is extremely good for editing content, but there are other avenues to look into (such as the RSS feeds) before making a decision. Depending on your requirements, a custom CMS on your existing website might prove to be a much more expensive option.
So are you sure you're sure you want full CMS?
Places to start looking for CMS :
opensource CMS This website has lots of demos of different available systems. Opensource means they are free to use. Some might be more difficult to set up than others.
XML Based CMS Content Managed Systems which don't use MySQL. Not really recommended if you have heavy traffic updating your website all at once.
There are also other opensource options such as wordpress(mainly for blogs) and joomla, which are heavy duty Content Managed Systems. Some Technical knowhow preferred!]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry091217-1405122009-12-17T00:00:00Z2009-12-17T00:00:00ZGive links to your website more value web design blackpool
This is especially effective for niche websites or if you are aiming for a certain geographic area.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry091209-1322582009-12-09T00:00:00Z2009-12-09T00:00:00Z5 ways to improve your search engine page position 2. Make sure your pages, links and domain name work. Anything broken or not working can lower your rankings over time.
3. Expand your online presence. Get links to your website on other websites (that are relevant to yours), maintain a blog, post (useful!) posts on forums. If appropriate, use social marketing such as twitter and facebook. Be creative. Want to know who is linking to you right now? Use the yahoo site explorer.
4. Submit your company to the google business listing. You'd be surprised how many businesses don't do this!
5. Make sure your website can be navigated without javascript enabled. Search engines prefer indexing plain old html.]]>http://www.jmc-website-design.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry091208-1319052009-12-08T00:00:00Z2009-12-08T00:00:00Z
