Website Design Northampton & Website Designers Northants

Web Designer in Desborough, Northampton

Website Designers Northants Menu

website design northants

How to choose your domain name

by

What is a domain name?

A domain name is the string of characters which are used to identify websites on the internet. The name is typed in to the address bar of the browser for example tjdesign.uk or google.co.uk.

Best practices

Your domain name should be relatively short, simple, reflect your business and be easy to say out loud.

If the domain name is not too long, you may also add keywords to help with the search engines for example the location of your business or one of the core services you provide.

Domain name types

There are many different domain types and the part at the end is called a top-level domain (TLD). If you are a business trading within the UK, it’s always good practice to choose a TLD which ends in uk as it’s considered more trustworthy and identifies your location.

Here is a list of the most popular domain name types..

.co.uk – Designated for the United Kingdom
.com – Commercial businesses
.org – Organizations (generally charitable)
.net – Network organizations
.gov – U.S. government agencies
.mil – Military
.edu – Educational facilities like universities

How to find out if your chosen domain name is available

Visit DomainTools and enter your potential domain name to find out if it’s available to be registered.

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk

Choosing a website design company

by

Introduction

There are thousands of website designers & agencies around the globe, and often it can be an difficult task choosing one that offers value as well as competency. It’s important that you try to gain a basic understanding of the website design process before committing to a company.

Shortlisting

Firstly, speak with friends, business acquaintances and family. Have they had a website built? Do they know a web designer or design firm?

Personal recommendations can be an excellent way of getting to know a web design company, even if it’s only letting you know who to avoid!

Try and find at least 5 web design companies to compare, if you cannot reach this target by referrals, try your local newspaper, design publications or the internet. Local companies can prove advantageous, but don’t fear companies based at the other end of the country, at the end of the day you’ll be looking to choose the website design company best suited to your needs, wherever they may be.

Your own research

In order to narrow your shortlist further, it’s a good idea to visit your potential web designer’s websites to see what they’re capable of. It’s crucial that your website is accurate, and created with attention to detail and care. This is the primary requirement of your shortlisted company’s web sites.

Have a browse around their own website, do you find the navigation easy and structured well? Is the site easy to follow, uncluttered and well designed?

If it’s likely that the company will also provide hosting for your web site, does their own web site load quickly?

Check out the portfolio of the company, do they offer a variety of different looking websites and have they got any reviews you can read?

Approach the company

Hopefully, you’ve now managed to get your shortlist down further, which means now is the time to begin contacting the web design companies, and requesting quotes. You shouldn’t find much resistance or hardship at this point, most companies will jump at the chance of pitching their company, and discussing your needs.

You should already have a good understanding of the types of websites they have designed in the past and whether or not they’ve undertaken work similar to your requirements. Ask them to discuss any similar projects and don’t be afraid to ask for contact details so that you can request a referral.

Conclusion

Following your discussions with your shortlist, and upon receiving their initial quotes, you should have a fair idea as to which web design company you are likely to partner with. If you feel like you need to speak to each company once more, do so, as you’re likely to be making a serious financial investment and it’s crucial that you make the right decision.

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk

Beware of spam SEO emails

by

A client of mine recently received the following email entitled ‘professional analysis of kandtfootwear.co.uk’ and asked me to comment. I have seen an increase in these types of long SEO spam emails which contains inaccurate and false information misleading clients in to believing their web site is under-performing and need to pay a so called ‘expert’ to increase their visibility in the search engines. I have commented below on the email received.

Hi,

My name is [Removed name]. I’m a senior search consultant at Top 10 Guaranteed [A bit of research shows that they used to send exactly the same emails as a company called SEO Doctors and they are also known as The Web Clinic]. We are part of an IT Group that has been established for over 10 years as a leading specialist in all aspects of online sales and marketing.

Excuse the unusual approach, however I am writing to inform you that I recently visited your website, kandtfootwear.co.uk, during a routine survey of web sites which would be capable of achieving higher search engine performance. Obviously resulting in an increase in online sales or the generation of high volumes of additional sales leads. [hmmm.. debatable having looked at your own web site(s) top10guaranteed.co.uk has a page ranking of 0/10]

I am confident that this information will be of use to you, but if I have caused offence in any way through my approach I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused. I’m hoping this will arouse your curiosity, since you are obviously attempting to gain new business through your website.

From my initial observations, your website is underperforming in at least one of the major search engines such as – Google, Yahoo, and Bing. You probably are aware that most people don’t look past the first page of search results. [The web site is actually no. 1 for targeted keywords. Try a search for ‘agricultural footwear‘] I struggled to find you in the first couple of pages for highly relevant keyphrases, which means that you could be losing out on a significant amount of business. As such I did a bit more digging… [You conveniently haven’t listed the highly relevant ‘keyphrases’ mentioned and you don’t know what is being targeted]

I ran a back-link check on kandtfootwear.co.uk first. Back-links are the number of times your site is linked to through another website. Your website has 5 back-links. [This is inaccurate – if you had researched this, you will find that the web site actually has 148 back-links!]

Back-links also contribute towards your Google Pagerank score. Pagerank is Google telling us how trustworthy your site is. A higher score = higher search rankings. Right now your website has a Google Pagerank score of 3/10, [3/10 is pretty reasonable for a small to medium sized business] which, when compared to other high ranking competitor websites, may be restricting your rankings. This can be down to many reasons which we can help resolve. The next check I applied on your website was page indexing. Search engines like Google scan the information on your website and feed it back to their database. The Google formula is then applied to the data to determine where your website should rank. As such the more pages your website has indexed with quality unique content, the higher you can rank with Google. Right now, your site has 14 pages indexed with Google [Google actually has 15 pages indexed – i’m not sure what methods you are using to gain this information or if you are even doing any research?], and Google is regarding some of that content as poor. This can be down to many reasons which we can help resolve. Finally I also identified that there could be a number of structural issues with your website which may be having a negative impact on your search rankings.

So, here’s a recap of my findings of gdock.co.uk [gdock.co.uk?!] :

– Your Google Pagerank is 3/10
– You have 5 back-links [Incorrect]
– Your website has 14 pages indexed [Incorrect]
– There are issues with content and site structure [Incorrect]

I have only scratched the surface of the factors impacting on your rankings [This is very true!!]. Unlike some of our competitors, I wanted to do some initial work to identify that it would be worthwhile for you to talk to us before contacting you with my proposal. The best way to deal with any problem is to first apply a thorough diagnosis. It would, therefore, be a sensible next step for us to apply a more thorough diagnosis of why your website may not be ranking well before discussing with you what could be done about it.

What we have to offer could prove to be the most value for money investment you could make for your business this year. In an economic climate that is difficult, to say the least, all businesses must invest in areas that will deliver maximum returns with minimal investment. [Again true ..but why would i invest in a company that sends spam emails with false information?] Only strong search engine listings offer real growth opportunities as consumer trends change.

So what do we have to offer? Many factors now impact on how and where you will appear on the search engines. Unfortunately, most business people overlook the things that prevent them from performing well in the search engines and throw good money behind advertising without understanding what their web site really needs.

Good SEO firms assess the needs of sites individually and address these by working on sites month on month. A one off fix just doesn’t work. As such we offer two approaches for you to consider.

We can produce a detailed 30-40 page Diagnostic Report for your site together with a personal telephone consultation with one of our SEO experts. Consultations explain the technicalities in our report in an easy to understand manner. Our normal price for this service is £499.00. If you are prepared to act this week we are prepared to offer this at a reduced one-off fee of £299.00. Following this consultation we can discuss how best to rectify the situation.

Alternatively we could provide this detailed Diagnostic Report for your site completely free [With accurate results?]. For this you would need to commit to take up our 12 month optimisation and consultancy service prior to our work commencing. The service is based around promotion of specific agreed keyphrases after discussing how to put right all issues highlighted in our report. We can deliver first page search results in the major search engines. For this we charge as little as £35 per keyphrase, per month, dependent upon the competitiveness of that keyphrase. Furthermore, we guarantee to refund your money should we fail to put you in the first page for the keyphrases once all changes have been implemented.

The reason why I’m so confident about our capabilities is because we have done it so many times before. To name a few examples: Maternity Clothes, Dubai Properties, Gravel, Health Store, Van Hire, Fire Extinguishers, Financial Advisers UK, Coffee Machines, Swimwear, Limo Hire, Mortgage Advisers UK, and more – all are on the first page of Google and all highly competitive keyphrases. We put them there. [There is no mention in your email about keyword analysis, this is extremely important as you may get the web site to no.1 but if nobody is searching for that keyword, there is absolutely no point in wasting your efforts]

Our own group website is in the first page of Google for Website Marketing Company and Internet marketing companies [You are currently on pg 3 for ‘Internet marketing companies’]. You will see our site listed as The Web Clinic [So are you The Web Clinic or Top 10 Guaranteed? – Confusing]. To satisfy you even further we can also provide you with comparative existing client’s contact details to serve as references for the quality of our work.

If you are genuinely serious about improving your online revenues and want professional website marketing for a low flat monthly fee or a one-off detailed report, please visit our service website at www.top10guaranteed.co.uk which provides more details about our excellent service and a call back form. See a selection of our excellent testimonials and example results achieved recently on behalf of our clients. Alternatively, if you prefer to discuss your requirements over the phone, then please don’t hesitate to contact me on 0844 7404951 and press Option 1 or simply reply to this mail with a convenient time to call you. [No, Thanks]

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

[Name & phone no removed]
Senior Search Consultant
Top 10 Guaranteed

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk

Five steps to creating successful web sites

by

1) Planning and preparation

a) Ascertain the main purpose of the web site and your key demographic.

b) Analyse your main competitors, do they employ similar tactics? Are they making any critical mistakes? How can you improve on their web presence?

c) Carefully plan the structure and navigation of your web site, remembering that ideally, no page will be more than 3 clicks away at any point, with your key content web pages easily indexable by major search engines and spiders.

d) Think about the appearance and style of your web site. Pick 3 appropriate web sites you like, and 3 you dislike, focusing on the web site design. List exactly which aspects you would like to incorporate onto your own web site. Think about which colours suit your business, if you have branding in place, think about colours that do not contrast with this.

2) Design

Following the preparation stage, you should be in a position to give your web site designer their first brief. In this, you’ll have laid out clear instructions as to which demographic they’re designing for, how you would like your web site design to look, and which functionality it should contain (e.g. if you’re having an ecommerce system built, you may wish to have account handling and shopping cart functions).

The web designer will usually then create a series of mock-up web designs, in which you’ll be asked to carefully consider each one and comment. You may fall in love with the first one you see, you may dislike all of them, or you find a separate piece of each web design you like, don’t be afraid to give an opinion!

3) Development

Once the web design is signed off, a process usually required to be confirmed in writing or via a contract, the actual creation of the web site begins. Dynamic content, such as animation, ecommerce, a message board or general web pages controlled by a content management system will be created.

4) Test, test and test again

Upon completion of your web site, and after your designer has placed your web site on a suitable testing server, it is crucial that at the very least you and your designer test the web site thoroughly, placing particular attention to the critical functions of your web site. If you’re running an ecommerce system, does the shopping cart work? If your website is a message board, can visitors of all security levels post to it?

Asking family, friends or work colleagues to have a look is often advisable, this will allow you to see how the website is used by a vast array of personalities and competencies.

Once you’re happy with the site’s functionality, it is ready to place it live!

5) Final Analysis

Give yourself 2 to 4 weeks after the web site’s live date, to analyse it’s performance. Are there any sections over or under performing? Would your business benefit by some minor adjustments to the structure?

Remember, your web site will ideally last you a long period of time, and it’s critical that it not only does it’s job, but it performs to the best of it’s ability.

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk

Does my website need to be responsive?

by

With the long awaited changes from Google coming in to effect from May onwards earlier this year, I thought a post on mobile friendly websites was definitely overdue. The new change meant that non-responsive websites (websites which are not optimised for phones, tablets and other smaller devices) could see an impact in search listings.

If you are not yet using a responsive design for your website, there is no need to panic but you do need to think about this especially if your site receives many mobile visitors and looks poor on a smart phone.

Use this mobile friendly test tool from Google to find out how your current website performs and search for your website using a phone to find out how you currently rank on mobiles.

If you don’t receive many mobile visitors at the moment, this is very likely to change in the near future so it is wise to start thinking about a design for your website which adapts to the viewing environment resulting in higher conversion rates and with no impact on your search listings.

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk

Unique web design: your first and last online impression

by

Web design is the most vital part on an online marketing plan. It has become increasingly necessary to provide your own website if you own a business. Today you’ve probably observed that every business card is printed with the log-in to a company’s business website. So if your business is primarily run from home, all you have to do is promote your business on the Internet to attract a lot of customers. The majority of people rely on search engines to find providers of the services they need, so if you have a website, they may be able to locate your business online. This is the best way to advertise your product and services.

Whether your business involves selling homemade baked goods, pest management services or cleaning services, you must have a web presence. Therefore, you understand why it is important to have a website. Now you need to know how to create one.

In addition to this, you need to do more than simply put up a page that merely describes the services that you will be providing. It is essential to attract your audience’s interest and persuade them to log onto your website. Beyond this, you need to ensure that the user doesn’t just fly right past your website. It is essential that they are persuaded into clicking on the ‘accept’ button too.

First of all, your web site should have an FAQ page and simple and exact answers for each question. This needs to be integrated and clearly visible to your audience. If they can get answers to all their questions from your website without having to contact you, they are likely to trust you to provide service to them.

Once this has been completed, you must make sure that all your Internet pages and links are accessible and operate correctly. If users encounter links on your site that result in server errors or other types of errors, they may give up on your site and do their shopping elsewhere. This can cause you to lose potential customers, and if your existing customers come across these kinds of errors, they may take their business elsewhere too.

This is why it’s important to heed the old saying, “first impressions are lasting.” After you have gotten your website set up, you can add some unique content that is interesting to your visitors. For companies with goods or services that may be displayed on the web, be sure to post pertinent footage too. This could assist them in choosing appropriately.

Remember that making your website user-friendly and easy to navigate with headers and footers can help you obtain customers and may make it possible for your business to expand before you know it.

Finally, your users will be able to see that your services are used by other people and that you are doing a good job. That is why you should ask a customer to provide a testimonial if they enjoyed your work. You should position testimonials so they get the audience’s attention, which will encourage them to make a purchase.

Got a project in mind?

01536 391 745 hello@tjdesign.uk