Features within the site include a slideshow, News Blog, Gallery, Google Location Map and contact form. Hosting serviices and free e-mail addresses are provided.

Features within the site include a built in slide-show, on-line booking form, a Google location map and breadcrumbs for easier navigation.

The site has a built in slide-show, on-line booking form, and blog section. Additionally, the site includes a news service for London and an Events Calendar detailing events taking place within the company’s radius. The site is currently placed 1^st for Chauffeur Services Essex in Google.

I’ve had a lot of people asking about this web metric recently. So just to clarify a few things on what it is and isn’t. The bounce rate is the amount of people who leave your site immediately on first arrival. A high bounce rate can be indicative of a number of things, but can also be influenced by a number of things.

Here’s a brief break down of a few of those:

1) Your content isn’t what they expected

So you turn up on a search for “bananas” when you are selling “apples”. Nothing much you can do about that, but don’t expect visitors to wait around. You may want to perhaps start growing a potential banana business by providing a page on your site about where they can find them.

2) Your site design isn’t professional

We make judgement calls on people’s appearances within 30 seconds of seeing someone. Unfortunately the same is true online. If we are in “buyer mode” then it is all the more important to make first impressions count. A poorly thought out navigation system, or an ugly site banner, could be enough to put people off.

3) Where you’ve been linked from

If you have been linked to from a highly trusted resource, the chances are your visitors will stay longer than if you get a link from say comments in a blog.

Think of it this way.

If you are stumbling on the web, and are in what I call the “bored browser” mindset, you will be fickle. If you have ever used StumbleUpon – you’ll know what I mean by this. If however you are in the “ready to learn” mindset you examine web pages more carefully, you read around the subject you are researching.

4) The speed of your site

If you are running on a slow server, people aren’t going to stick around. Better to invest in a lightning quick hosting package than to have visitors leave because they are waiting for pages to load.

5) Audience profile

Lets say for the sake of argument you are a retailer selling shoes. If your traffic is coming from young and hip social networks such as Bebo or Myspace or Facebook – you need to analyse how many of these people are bouncing. Adding additional tracking metrics can help you determine if your online stock is appealing to younger audiences, and can actually help shape your buying decisions. Remember that age can influence how fickle an audience potentially is.

1. Brochures – Brochures are a great marketing tool because you can provide a lot of information about you and your business. Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and other businesses to see if you can put out your brochures.

2. Newspaper Ads – Run classified ads in some local or not so local newspapers. Remember these points when writing your ads:

• You must get the reader’s attention.
• Once you get their attention, you must keep them interested.
• Turn their interest in desire for your products.
• Give them a call to action!

3. Radio Ads – Check with popular radio stations to see what they charge for a short ad and make the ad pop as much as possible.

4. Promotional Items – Have your URL printed on caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. and give them to as many people as you can to wear. This can be very effective in getting your business known.

5. Postcards – Postcards are very cost effective and versatile. You can announce new items, offer special deals, promote a special business event or announce your website and what types of products/services you offer.

6. Offline Networking – Join your local Chamber of Commerce. Get involved in business clubs and groups and talk about your business whenever possible.

7. Car Signs – These are great products because they allow you to advertise your business wherever you go – family outings, running errands, visiting family, etc!

8. Business Cards – Design your business card wisely. They are no longer just for listing your name and address! Have your business card double as a coupon or gift certificate. Hand them out whenever the opportunity becomes available.

9. Flyers – Distributing flyers is a very affordable way to market your online business. Be sure to specify what service/product you offer and use incentives to get people to ACT NOW. You can also encourage people to pass the word if your products/services can help anyone they know. Parades and other public events are great opportunities for handing out your flyers.

10. TV Ads – TV ads are a bit more expensive but if you have the budget it would definitely be worth looking into.

11. Coupons – Print out coupons and hand them out wherever and whenever you can. Offer special deals, sales discounts, etc. This can lead to many sales and a larger customer base.

12. Freebies and Samples – People love getting things for free. Offer small items as free samples. You have seen grocery stores do this many times. Give a free sample of a good product and you will get more sales!

13. Letterheads – Have your business name and URL on everything that gets mailed out of your office/home. You never know who will be reading it and if they might take an interest in your products/services/opportunity.

14. Catalogs – If possible, have catalogs made and distribute them as much as possible. Use direct mail as well, if you can. Offer x amount of dollars off their first order or a free gift with first order.

15. The Yellow Pages – Get listed in the Yellow Pages so more people can find out who you are and what you offer!

16. Billboards/Signs – We all notice billboards and signs and they can be very effective in increasing your business.

17. Job Fairs – If you offer a good business opportunity, make it known by participating in job fairs and career days.

18. Print Magazines – Purchase advertising or try submitting articles to various print magazines. Getting an article published can do a lot for your online business.

19. Greeting Cards – Send personal greeting cards or even thank you notes to all your customers as well as people who expressed an interest in what you offer. This is guaranteed to make a lasting impression!

20. Gift Certificates – Print out gift certificates and distribute them as much as possible. Put them in mailings both personal and business. Work with other businesses to distribute each other’s certificates (complementary not competing businesses).

21. Community Involvement – Getting involved in your community events and activities can be one of the most effective ways to get your business noticed. Volunteer for school activities, work for charities, attend social functions, etc.

That’s very much a question that’s open to debate, depending on who you ask, you could expect to hear a whole range of answers. Networking has become ingrained in the Internet marketer’s psyche, building relationships while interacting with your fellow professionals and consumers. But can it really compete with building an impressive linking infrastructure when it comes to marketing your website online?

Let’s start with the positives…

Both techniques work in very different ways. You build links by making requests, payments (only to the right people – directories and the sort) and creating content that causes a stir. Networking can of course help this process. When you get noticed by more people, they may be inclined to link to you; there’s no certainty of course, but social media is a way of raising a profile and showing off your expertise to the world – prime link bait conditions.

There are easy ways to get links and hard ways. Even if you create a fantastic blog, a great new piece of shareware or a stunning design, there’s no assurance that people will find you. Quality links are often those that happen organically, the kind of thing that you can’t force. Article submission and press releases will assure you of at least one (sometimes more) link back to your site; while the every little bit helps strategy is a good one, that link can take time to gain and time is precious, particularly when the outcome doesn’t quite justify the means.

Of course the main reason most people create an article or release, at least in an SEO capacity, is to get it picked up and syndicated across a number of sites. The dream ticket is a major news agency picking up a story on their newswire and sending it global; this, of course, is extremely rare. For this to happen, it needs to be relevant, it needs to be interesting and it needs to provide something new. Regurgitating the same stuff over and over again may save time, but that could well prove to be a false economy.

But once again we’re thrust back into the realms of Web 2.0. If you want to get people talking about your content, you may first need to start shouting about it. Herein lies the weakness though of social media.

…Now for the negatives

There is still a cloud of mysticism that hangs over the social side of the Internet. Just how effective is it? If you have the time to dedicate to interact with the wider community day in day out, then the benefits can’t be argued. Normal people have become celebrities, while the celebrities themselves have been out there growing legions of new fans. All very positive. But what is the value of a follower or a friend? Commenting on blogs, reciprocating tweets and conversing offers a fantastic community spirit; allowing users worldwide to get involved in a continuous conversation.

What all this won’t do, necessarily, is improve your site and its strength. You might get traffic, in fact you will almost certainly get traffic, but if this comes from the same basic group of people, none of whom have the slightest interest in using your business or buying your products, is it really worth the investment of time? Friends and followers aren’t just an ego trip; it shows a level of influence and provides a wider sphere of influence. A strong linking strategy though goes further.

Every link you earn will join a wider group of inbound pointers. Google likes websites that people like pointing to. Therefore, Google likes nothing more than a site with links going to all pages, coming from a variety of sources and in a natural fashion. While there are dangerous links out there, toxic ones that will cause more damage than good, these can be avoided and banished if need be.

Whether it’s on a directory, bolted onto an article or has come from a respected source organically, the power of the link is hard to question. Aside from a permanent new gateway for targeted traffíc to find you, it adds vital strength to your website’s overall profile. PageRank maybe all but defunct, but that doesn’t mean that links are treading the same path.

We wouldn’t ever discourage people from using social media; it has fantastic potential and is evolving all the time. But if website promotion and search engine marketing is what you’re looking to do, the tried and trusted link may well prove a more constructive use of your time. It maybe a quieter way of going about things, anti-social even, but links get you seen on search engines and search engines get you seen by consumers.

Your online profile may ebb and flow, your popularity wane, but when you build a strong link profile you create stability and open the door to continued development. They are the foundation to any successful site; so while it’s always nice to have flighty friends, the stability and long-term benefit of a link is still very much the method of choice for most.

Pros of Template Websites

Template websites are a less expensive method of making websites. Template websites are a lot easier and take less time to create than custom websites which is what the site cost should reflect. While template websites should be cheaper than custom websites, that is not always the case. Many website design companies say they build custom websites but in reality they build template websites and charge clients for a custom website.

So how can you avoid paying too much for a template website? Get a quote from a custom website design company and compare it to the price of a template website company. Since template websites require a lot less work than custom websites, the price of a template website should be significantly lower than that of a custom website. If the custom website is close or lower in price than a template website than just go for the custom website.

Template websites are usually simple designs that take less time to build than custom websites. Template websites are less complex and have less functionality than custom websites thus taking less time to build and get running. Companies that are looking to get an online presence up immediately may decide to go with a template website.

It seems as though there are many more website design companies that offer template websites than custom websites. That being said, it could be easier for a business to find a template website company than a custom website company. More availability could make it that much quicker to find a website design company to build a template website than a custom website.

Cons of Template Websites

While template websites usually offer simple and clean designs, they can be very limiting. With a template you get what you see. Template websites are very limited in the changes that can be made to the design and functionalities that can be added. For many companies paying less money for a website is not worth the limitations offered by template websites. Companies should not build websites around a template but websites should be built around a company. Custom websites properly reflect who a company is and what they do, while template websites most of the time do not properly reflect this.

The simplicity of template websites does not let companies stand apart from others. Custom websites stand out from template sites because many template websites look similar and don’t offer much distinction. While template websites are very similar and plain, you can design custom websites any way you want allowing businesses to have a more professional unique appearance.

Most template websites are not search engine optimized. If a website is not search engine optimized it is likely to not be found in search results. What good is a website if it cannot be found? One of the reasons NECSES Webdesign builds custom websites is so that they are search engine optimized. If you want a website to show up higher in search engines then a template website is not the way to go.

Many smaller companies may be fine with having a limited amount of website functionality but larger companies especially require more functionality than template websites offer. Template websites are premade so they are not built to suit any particular company. Larger companies should choose a custom website design company to work with rather than a template company so that the website will be built around all of their needs.

Template websites are quick and easy to build because they work from a pre-made design and structure. Premade designs work for some companies, but they limit what can be done to the site. As a business grows their website should grow with them. Template websites cannot be built scalable so as a business grows and changes their website will not work for them.

With all of the cons associated with template websites, why would any company use a template site? Template websites may save companies money initially, but will cost more money and cause problems in the long run. Custom websites are the perfect solution for nearly every business. Contact NECSES Webdesign to discuss how a custom search engine optimized website can help your business.

The site includes a content management system as standard and allows the addition of new Members and also includes a Membership database that can be broken down into the many categories of the organisation.

We also implemented a Noticeboard allowing Members to advertise their products and services to a wider audience as well as a News section that enables Members to be updated of the latest developments within the organisation.

NECSES Webdesign also designed a logo for the site in keeping with the design of the parent organisation.

NECSES Webdesign also designed a logo for the website and the company as a whole, with business stationary also being produced by NECSES Webdesign.

NECSES Webdesign created a website that mirrored the company’s existing image of mainly black and white logos and added a touch of colour to the clean design. A content management system allows K H Book Keeping to update their website, whilst also allowing them to keep their clients informed of the latest changes to financial management through the News pages as well as linking to important websites. A customised contact form was also included in the website.

The brief also required NECSES Webdesign to re-design existing logos that would enable the company to retain theirprevious image and create logos more pertinent to the websites overall image.