Pakenham Water Mill

Written on March 1, 2010

The Pakenham Water Mill came to NECSES Webdesign with a remit to provide a low cost, user friendly website that allowed this charitable organisation to update and maintain their website quickly and easily. Key aspects of the project were to promote this unique visitor attraction to as wide an audience as possible through the versatile search engine optimisation system and provide visitors to the site with an insight to the water mill’s history, workings and products. This was achieved with the integration of a Content Management System that enabled full optimisation of the website and means the website can be fully maintained by the Water Mill’s volunteers without additional cost.

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.

DSI Ltd

Written on March 1, 2010

Design, Supply and Install Ltd (DSI Ltd) in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk required a website with an integrated content management system to allow them full control of their website content, as well as the search engine optimisation of the website, with a design and structure that promoted the many faceted aspects of their business in Civil, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering as well as their Fabrication capabilities.

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

AGR Chauffeur Services

Written on January 27, 2010

AGR Chauffeur Services in London and Essex required a re-designed website with an integrated content management system to allow them full control of their website content, as well as the search engine optimisation of the site.

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.

Template Website: The Pros and Cons

Written on October 22, 2009

While NECSES Webdesign does not build template websites we do want to give consumers all the facts about template sites so they can make an educated decision about what type of website best suits them. Below is a list of the pros and cons of template websites.

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.

British Marine Federation East Anglia

Written on October 9, 2009

The British Marine Federation’s Eastern Regional Membership base wanted a website creating that  highlights the work that they carry out for their Members, while also giving their current Membership a platform to promote their products, services and their company.

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.

Blue Sky Reflections

Written on October 9, 2009

Blue Sky Reflections wanted a website creating that  with a fresh, clean design that gave viewers a feeling that ‘anything is possible’. The site includes a content management system as standard and allows the addition of new pages and news articles, through the blog feature..

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

Keith Houghton Book-keeping Services

Written on October 9, 2009

Keith Houghton Book Keeping Services required a website that promotes his book keeping and accountancy services as well as their administrative services to as wide an audience as possible.

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.

Photogenes

Written on October 9, 2009

photogenes wanted a web design that reflected the work that they carry out. To this end our website design mimic the colours of photographs that would be in need of restoration.

The site includes a content management system, and includes e-commerce leading to a Paypal online payment facility. Two slideshows show visitors to the site before and after photographs outlining the services that photogenes offer to their customers.

As with all of NECSES Webdesign’s websites, the CMS facility allows the business owners to update their website themselves, quickly and efficiently.

Martin Sellick BSM ADI

Written on September 4, 2009

Driving instructor MB Sellick required a website that promotes the fact that he is a franchisee of the British School of Motoring (BSM) and mimics the design of the BSM’s own website. NECSES Webdesign created a website that closely resembles the BSM website and includes a content management system allowing instant updating of the website.
Other features include; Testimonial facility enabling learner drivers to add their comments (with full editorial control from MB Sellick), sidebar allowing promotional messages to be displayed, contact form, banner ad promoting special offer, and contact form.

Landing pages – can they help achieve more sales?

Written on August 27, 2009

Building a great landing page should be on top of any business’s priority list if you want your website visitors transformed into customers.

While a great looking website can grab the attention of your visitors, a strong landing page will keep them involved and get them to buy your products or services.

Wikipedia defines a landing page as:

‘The page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link. The page will usually display content that is a logical extension of the advertisement or link, and that is optimized to feature specific keywords or phrases for indexing by search engines.’

Wikipedia’s definition sums it up nicely but there is certainly more to a great landing page then relevant and keyword rich content. Here are 10 things that you should be looking at when optimizing a landing page:

Relevant Content

A landing page’s content should be directly related to organic search results, PPC campaign, anchor text in inbound links and any other targeted inbound advertising, online and offline. If people don’t get what they expect, they will be more likely to leave.

Multiple Landing Pages

A landing page shouldn’t necessarily be your homepage. In many instances a homepage is a good landing page. However, for more targeted traffic and better results, you want a landing page to be focused on a specific offering and specific call for action. To accomplish this, a given website should have multiple landing pages. Create some deep link landing pages that will focus on a specific proposition and your conversion rate will be higher.

Focus on Functionality

More and more visitors seem to judge the professionalism and credibility of a site by its design. To satisfy this, many website owners concentrate on the design aspect instead of focusing on its functionality. A well-designed landing page is essentially worthless if the prospect can’t accomplish anything. While I wouldn’t suggest skimping on the design, it shouldn’t be your priority. Focus on the exact steps you want your visitor to take and design a page with that in mind.

Call To Action

You got visitors to your landing page, now direct them to take action. Make it clear and highly noticeable without overwhelming your audience. Whether it’s a sign-up form or a “buy now” button, make it the focus of your page.

Send a Clear Message

Keep your landing page clean and clutter free so your visitors stay focused on your message. Emphasize the biggest reasons that they should carry out the applicable call to action with larger text, contrasting colors, images. Make it easier for them to scan the content by using lists and getting right to the point.

Provide Incentive

Bribing your visitors with freebies and samples is a proven method of enticing them to sign up. Provide more than your competition but don’t sell yourself short either. Provide a list of reasons why your offering is better and what exactly the visitor can expect. Provide references and testimonials.

Make Visitors Stay

Avoid sending your visitors to another page unless it is absolutely necessary. That includes any internal navigation as well as external banners. If you eliminate all distractions and limit navigation options, you stand a better chance of keeping your visitors around.

Simple is Better

Make it easy for your visitors to complete the action you want them to. Less confusion and decision making for your visitor means better conversions rate for your landing page. Don’t provide multiple choices and throw in optional extras. Focus on the pitch the page was created for.

Power of Freebies

Everyone likes free offers. They are hard to resist and can be a powerful conversion tool. Whether a call to action is free or something free is received as a result of carrying out a call to action, it certainly doesn’t hurt. If your competition charges for something and you provide it for free, you’ll win the customer. Remember, just because you make a free offer doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be quality.

Provide Guarantees

Providing a guarantee for your customers inspires confidence in your products or service. A money back guurantee or price guarantee could be the factor that sways your visitor to buy from you.
Testing

Testing various text, call to action forms, layouts will give you a true idea what produces the best results as far as conversion. With NECSES Webdesign’s content management system websites, you have control of your website and can make changes instantly, making the testing process that much easier.

Creating a successful and effective landing page takes a lot of work but should be the focus for anyone involved with a website. As a website owner you must be aware of the components that comprise a solid landing page. After all this can mean a website’s success or failure.