Wednesday 17 December 2014

15 things you need to update on your website for 2015.

Here is a list of 15 things to look at editing on your website in the period just before and after the Christmas/New Year break. 



1. Homepage images - might be time to source some new images to refresh your homepage.
2. Add your opening hours over the Christmas and New Year period

3. Then, make sure you remove the holiday opening hours! 

4. The our team page. Might be time for new head shots and bios 

5. About us page – is there any dates or ‘we’ve been around for x years’? 

6. Footer details and dates (including the copyright date) 

7. Recent projects and portfolio

8. Prices and promotions – are these changing for 2015?

9. Testimonials – are there recent ones you could add?

10. Terms and conditions, returns and privacy policy pages. 

11. Contact details of your business and staff – are these all still accurate? 

12. eNewsletter template – does this need a refresh for the new year? This might be in terms of design, approach or content 

13. Featured products, testimonials, or projects – change these to refresh the site's content 

14. Any sort of ‘Merry Christmas’ references or images to be removed come January

15. Consider if there are any 'big' updates or changes you'll want on your site - is it mobile responsive? Does it need a redesign? 

Give Digerati Solutions a ring if you need any help with your website (02) 9545 2983. We'd be happy to guide you into the New Year with a fresh looking web presence.  




Wednesday 26 November 2014

17 steps you can take to improve your website

Following on from last month’s blog, we thought we’d now give you 17 ways that you can improve your website. This might be in terms of design, usability, content or search engine optimisation. If you work through each of the below, you'll be on your way to a great website that your target market will love.


1. Source better images

2. Redesign your homepage or just update a few small things to give it a fresh and modern feel

3. Speak to your web developer to see if there are ways to increase the load time of your website (don’t be fooled – your website CAN be made faster)

4. Re-write the homepage copy. Or heck, go and re-write the whole website. There is nothing better than good, fresh copy!

5. Ask new visitors to your website to find certain pieces of information. Watch them use the site – is it easy? Can they find what they need? Do you need to rename menus or pages to guide them in the right direction?

6. Investigate how to make your website mobile responsive? Put this in your budget for next year and get it done! More users than ever are browsing on a mobile and it’s important that you optimise it for them (your competitors will)!

7. Ensure all your contact details are correct and can be found. Test your contact forms – do they work?

8. Is there anything that you could make available for purchase online that would make things easier?

9. Is it clear what you do? Ask someone their feedback.

10. Ask yourself: do people call you or your office asking the same questions? Could these questions be answered on your website?

11. If you’re on social media, does your website feature this?

12. Re-read your ‘about us’ page. Could you improve this?

13. Do you have your staff on your website? This would be a nice addition, especially if you’re a small business

14. Could you condense or simplify your website, menus, content and information architecture?

15. Ask yourself if your website design is consistent. If not, work it so that all the pages and information is formatted similarly.

16. Add hyperlinks between pages and to external sites, if needed but always ensure new websites open in a new window so people never leave your website

17. Add ‘calls to action’ to your website such as “get a free quote”, “contact us”, “make a booking” or “buy now”


And if you need a hand, give us (Digerati Solutions) a buzz on (02) 9545 2983



Wednesday 29 October 2014

17 features your customers expect when they land on your website.

Do you have a website or are you looking to develop a new one?

Well here is a little check-list - 17 features that your customers are going to expect when they land on your website.


1. Great images

2. Appealing design

3. Quick to load

4. Fresh and up-to-date content

5. Easy and logical navigation

6. Usable on a mobile

7. Contact details

8. Products, prices and the ability to buy (if applicable)

9. Obvious explanation of your products and services

10. All the information possible to make a decision and take action. The customers should not need to call and ask obvious questions like ‘where is your office?’ or ‘what is your returns policy?’ or ‘what are the dimensions of this product?’

11. Social media integration and participation

12. Clear and concise About Us page

13. (If you’re a small business) An ‘Our Team’ page that has great images and staff bios

14. Simplicity

15. Consistent design and layout

16. Internal and external links where needed. But, users shouldn’t be leaving your website so have links open in a new tab.

17. A call to action ‘above the fold’ 

Digerati Solutions can help you achieve any of  this! Get in touch if you want to chat more. 
AND GOOD LUCK. 







Wednesday 24 September 2014

Creating a website that grows with you and works for you.


Imagine opening a new retail store. You've paid your rent, fitted it out with amazing signs and added your products in.

Your doors open, and the customers start to stream in. They love perusing your product ranges, and want to buy. They come up to the counter but you have no capacity to process their order.

OR you present them with a paper form to fill in and ask that they write you a cheque.

OR maybe your shop doesn't have any products on display at all – wouldn't that be a missed opportunity?

These might seem like crazy scenarios, but your website could feel a little like this to your customers. Most websites act like a brochure, giving a bit of information and your contact details. This is a great start but these days, in 2014, you really need more than ‘just a website’.

Customers like to browse, enquire and purchase online.

In 2013, Australians spent $37.1 billion dollars online, with the average per person spend doubling since 2006. (Data from: http://www.powerretail.com.au/research-and-intelligence/infographic-australian-e-commerce/)

People like to buy online because:
  • They get more choice, with access to shops and retailers all over Australia (and the world)
  • Most people think they are getting a good price when they buy online
  • Products are delivered straight to your door 

The amazing thing about a website, verses a bricks-and-mortar store, is that it can be easily edited, expanded, revamped, given a face-lift and process orders faster, smarter and cheaper! In short, your website can grow with your business and can be expanded to handle the growth and changes.

So how could your website work FOR you, save you time and be expanded?
  • Adding the ability for people to order and pay online
  • Including a comprehensive enquire form, that asks exactly what you need to know
  • An instant quote feature, so people can quickly see services and prices 
  • Turning PDF forms into online forms to save double handing and data entry
  • Website made mobile-ready and responsive to make for easy browsing on mobile devices 
  • Member/Customer log in to see orders, re-order or to access custom pricing or confidential information?
  • Automated emails when people order online, when a product is shipped or in response to an enquiry 
  • Ability to take bookings online and notify staff 

This is just a starter list to get you thinking… We understand business is not a static thing and that you want to grow and evolve over time. So why not consider how your website can be part of this process and create a great experience for your staff and your customers.

We can help by giving you an obligation free quote! Contact us today on (02) 9545 2983



Wednesday 27 August 2014

Could your website save you time?

I want you to have a think about something – what do you spend your time doing at work? Think of all the tasks and activities that leave you at 4pm saying “where did the day go??” Do you write and reply to lots of generic emails? Do you send forms to your customers? Do you process order forms and take RSVPs? Do you do much data entry? Do you invoice?



In this day and age and era of technology, there is actually a lot of tasks and processes that can be streamlined and simplified online.

At Digerati, we have worked with many different businesses and organisation to take their paper flow online.

  • We’ve worked with schools to ensure that their information is delivered straight to the end user. To eliminate their paper permission slips and eliminate the need to re-enter data into a spreadsheet.
  • We’ve worked with tradesmen to ensure that when the trade-work-day is done that they don’t need to spend their evening invoicing for all the jobs.
  • We’ve worked with not-for-profits to make a one-stop-shop donation form on their website, processing payments quickly and simply.
  • We’ve worked with small retail and wholesale businesses to ensure they can sell their products online, manage customers and track orders.
  • We’ve built member layers into website for correspondence within a business and/or organisation, with forums and easy RSVP functions.
  • We’ve enabled our clients to play more golf, surf, enjoy their family time and rid their office of paper! This is what we love.


Get in touch with us today if you’d like to save yourself some time and rid yourself of the tedious jobs!




Monday 28 July 2014

So, it's probably time we talked about Google+ !

If you were anything like me, when Google announced they were jumping into the social media sphere with Google+, you rolled your eyes, groaned or felt a level of stress at the prospect of managing yet another social account.

So 2 years ago, in walked Google+ and initially, it seemed like a pretty empty landscape. Perhaps you were an early adopter, signed up for an account because you had a Gmail email and then sat there as the tumble weed rolled by.

That was me.

All I was thinking was that Google is Google, they pretty much own the internet, and therefore, this thing is going to explode. But it didn’t seem to. There were limited people on there, the content was uninspiring and frankly, if I’m going to kill some time, I’d rather spend time with my friends and customers who are hanging out “over there” (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.).

There were rumours that Google+ was going to begin to edit and filter what you then saw when you searched on Google, but it didn’t seem too.

That was until recently.

I challenge you to do an experiment: Google something. A question, a brand or better yet, your own business and start to see what comes up.

Here is my example:



Yes – that big box on the right had side with the photos and map is linked to the Digerati Google+ page.

You may also notice that Google+ posts, people and bloggers come up in search results with an image next to them – making them stand out over and above the others.

You might not want to hear this, but Google+ is in full swing now and it’s really starting to define what you see in Google search results. More importantly, Google+ is going to affect the way your business is displayed and ranks in Google.

I can more than understand that people probably don’t want to manage ANOTHER social media platform however, if you are in need of a little google-boost (as probably 90% of our clients are) then you really need to put this on the to do list!!!

So, how can you go about this?
  1. Get a Google+ personal page set up – and fill in all the sections so the profile is full and complete
  2. Follow as many people and businesses as you can that relate to you, your industry or your business contacts
  3. Create your Google+ Business listing (http://www.google.com.au/business/). Fill it in as much as possible to ensure you have links to your website, your other social media, and add some images.
  4. Follow relevant businesses, or people from your business Google+ page
  5. Begin to post from both your personal page and from your business’ page. If you are concerned about managing multiple accounts, just commit to post on Google+ every time you post on one of your other media. You can also link other profiles to your Google+ and it will pull in your posts.
  6. Think about your keywords – if you want to rank on Google for certain keywords or content, use these in your posts and profiles.
  7. Use hashtags. Like most other social media, Google+ uses Hashtags and they are a great way to get noticed. If you aren’t in the habit of using them, #startpracticing #modeloffothers #usethem #itsfun  
  8. Keep in mind: Google+ at its best is public. Unlike your personal Facebook page, where you can add photos of you and your cat eating dinner in your pyjamas, we really don’t recommend this here. If people search your name, your Google+ profile will come up and so we advise you to use your personal Google+ Profile as an extension of your business page and keep it pretty professional. As per Google’s help, “The only information you can’t hide is your name, profile photo, and cover photo. Your tagline will also be public if you add one, as well as your YouTube channel if it’s linked to your account”. So yes, you can make aspects of your profile private, but you’ll lose some of its capacity in regards to search results.   
Give it a go and keep and eye on it. Hopefully you'll see it helps you be profiled more comprehensively by Google in it's organic results.

And, as always, Digerati is here to help if you have questions. 






Wednesday 25 June 2014

Web Design Tips - the insider word!

Following on from last months blog post about the current trends in web design, we thought we would give some tips 'from the inside' about designing or redesigning your website.

Thanks to our resident design guru 'loz' for helping us get these tips together... She's a star!



        Colour meanings
The choice of the colour scheme you want to use in your site is important. Different colours have specific meanings and associations, and it is worthwhile doing a little research into colour effects if you really want your website to reflect what your brand represents. It is interesting to take note that colours meanings can have vastly differing associations across various cultures, so consider where your target market is based in the world and make sure your design colour schemes relate to their culture!

•         Who is your target market?
I can’t emphasise enough how important is it to realise early on who your target market it. If you can define what kind of people will be visiting your site, this will save you a lot of trouble in the future and also guide all other design choices along the way. Knowing your target market will help you choose imagery, colour palettes, how to organise content, whether mobile-ready versions are a major priority, the list goes on. Is your site for a doctor who caters for the elderly? This means your site needs to have bold graphics, a muted colour palette for readability yet also convey a trustworthy feeling. However, if your site is for all ages and demographics then you’ll need to define a way to ensure your design elements something universal! A good way to figure out who is your target market is to describe the traits of a typical visitor as if you were describing a well-known friend to someone.

•         Character!
Infusing your site with the personality of your brand can help define what your brand stands for. (like the digerati site!)  How can you bring personality to a design? Through textures, colours, imagery, illustrations and the tone of voice in your content, you can start bringing a character to your site. Once you’ve established some character of your brand, you can start considering what emotions or feeling you want people to experience and therefore associate with your brand.  A website is a really important point of contact with your business, so ensuring your website conveys what your brand stands for will ensure your brand is represented with more than just a logo.

        Think below the fold.
Complimenting Ainsley’s last blog about the latest trends in design as being all about scrolling , I think it’s important to talk further about why websites are commonly now displaying information ‘below the fold’. The term comes from newspapers, where important headlines need to be above the fold of the newspaper to capture the attention of passers by. In website design, it has always been a tradition to keep everything you want to say for a user upon immediate arrival, ‘above the fold’ so without any scrolling needed. Keeping the key values, messages, and imagery of your business as the only elements “above the fold” can be a really effective way of immediately communicating what your business is all about. It is a good way to introduce some character to your site, by having a quirky callout about what your business offering is, and asking people to scroll down to find out more! I think the breakaway from designs that are above the fold is not just a passing trend of 2014 but an efficient and clever way to quickly get people’s attention and tell what your business is all about!

•         Future proof your new design!
By now everybody knows that mobile technology is a fast paced and ever growing industry! Since the introduction of tablets and smart phone, so much has already evolved, and responsive design is crucial right now in keeping up with the pack. Even if you don’t see the need for your target market using mobile devices today, there’s no telling what could happen in the coming years, and you want your design to out-stand this! It is also worthwhile to think about how easily your information is to navigate on mobile devices. Less clicking, the better in the mobile environment, so try not to have lots of complicated dropdowns and small buttons that people need to use their pinky finger to try and tap.

And of course, you'll need to find yourself a great web development team to work with you to bring this all to life. Digerati Solutions has experience designing and building hundreds of websites for clients in all types of industries - big business and small!

Get in touch and start bringing those dreams to life!



Wednesday 28 May 2014

Modern website design trends - what's everyone doing at the moment?

No-one wants to be stuck in the naughties – so I thought I’d give you the TOP 3 recent web design trends strutting the internet’s catwalk. Just like with clothes, there are the pioneers and early adopters and then slowly the pack follows. Here are some of the trends that have been around for a few years now but are being adopted by the vast majority at the moment. Every website I land on at the moment that has had a re-design has adopted these three trends.

1. It’s all about being wide and long…
Historically, web design was all about being ‘above the fold’. The aim was to get all the information needed into the space before the bottom of the typical screen, because “nobody likes to scroll”. Now however, with the mass adoption of smart phones, tablets and all the ‘i’ devices, scrolling is by far preferred over clicking. If you think about it, it is much easier to flick your thumb up and down to see different sections of information rather than to go on a click-journey and burrowing your way into a website’s content. 
  
And because websites are smarter than ever, they can now dynamically ‘fill the screen’ – and so they can go as wide as the screen they are being viewed on. This means modern websites will be ‘full screen’, usually with a big image taking up the majority of the viewable area.

2. Scrolling through various zones…
The homepage of a modern website will scroll through various ‘zones’. This is to help you to visually see the different sections of information and still get what you need quickly. These will usually be distinguished by blocks of colour, and each section will likely be a summary and link you through to the area you want to go. It means that the majority of key information is now on the homepage without it feeling cluttered and confusing.

Like with the new Digerati website, to help visitors to remain engaged and centre on the right pieces of information, as you scroll down some content will dynamically load or be animated to draw you eye.

See these well-known brands and how they have adopted points 1 and 2 above:

3. From mobile versions to responsive…
We’ve harped on about this for a while at Digerati, but let me reiterate – modern websites are responsive. This means there isn’t a separate mobile design, instead the website design will ‘respond’ and change depending on the screen size – from the largest desktop screen, to laptops, through the various tablet devices, and down to the different sized mobiles. The website design should be optimised to work on all these scales to keep the user happy. Keep in mind, some people hold their tablet upright (as in portrait orientation) and some hold them landscape. Some people have teeny-laptops that they work on all day and others sit behind a screen that should really be classed as a TV. Web designers want happy users – and the only way to please everyone is to change the display of a website depending on the screen-size.  



At Digerati, we love these new trends because they are simple, professional and user friendly. They allow for good design and exciting new technology to be utilised simultaneously. It brings together our love for making things user friendly and client focused, without it needing to be ugly.



If you’d like a homepage that grabs people visually within seconds AND keeps them because it answers their key questions, then chat to the Digerati team about bringing your website into 2014! 




Wednesday 16 April 2014

SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS PART 2 - Let's Get Practical

In last month’s blog we discussed how it is you can determine the type of presence you’ll have online by first considering the ‘personality’ of your business.

So now you have a strategy and you’ve determined the platform(s) you’ll utilize – where to from here?

Well, put simply, post! This might seem obvious but it is very easy to forget and not prioritise social media in the midst of life in business. However, if you have determined to be online, you’ll need to be consistent and regular.

Here are some very practical tips on what to post, when to post and how to engage with your audience:
  • Use images to grab attention in the busy news feed
  • Share, like and comment on other posts and threads. This means you need to first go on the hunt and find businesses or pages that compliment what you do, and might give you some great content to share with those connected with you
  • Post things that will interest people – behind the scenes images, How To articles, advice, special offers, interesting articles
  • Grow your audience through advertising (on the platforms that allow this like Facebook)
  • Use a link to your website or to a blog/article to encourage those wanting more information to click through. This naturally brings the opportunity for more traffic to your website
  • Support other businesses or individuals
  • Use each platform as it was intended – try to avoid posting the same content across all your different accounts
  • Ask for engagement. Rather than saying ‘look, we launched a new product today!’ try saying ‘look at our amazing new products. Which is your favourite?’

We want you to get the most out of your social media presence and we hope this is a good starting point.
I will finish on this though – obviously, you want your social media to work FOR you and of course, get you more sales! BUT, we are encouraging you to have a long term view on this.

Build your presence, grow your following, give to those connected with you and we do believe that if you are consistent enough, then you will see growth in your business too. In the back of your mind should always be that all these people are potentially future clients, customers OR they might refer you to someone key. Social Media is another way of networking to increase your word of mouth marketing but it might just be slower to see results in the business bank account. We feel like that’s OK – the more people that know of you and your offerings, the better it will be!

Hang in there and good luck! 




Wednesday 26 March 2014

Social Media Success Part 1 - Grab a drink and enjoy the party

Have you ever thought to yourself - how sociable is my business? 

Is he the life of the party, working the room with a drink in hand, igniting eruptions of laughter in every group he joins. Or is she the conversationalist, giving undivided attention to a few people making them feel heard and appreciated. Is my business the quirky one with the bizarre facts and left field anecdotes? Or does he hide in the kitchen, washing up and helping backstage?

Do you remember the Mac versus PC ad from a while ago? Two men, dressed very differently, introducing themselves as "Hi, I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC". The idea for this ad was to represent their brand as a person - how would this brand dress, act, speak etc. Obviously, it was done to promote one brand over the other, but it stands as a good example of brand personification. 

In the past, some companies - usually with a marketing team and ample resources - would work hard at defining their brand's personality and ensuring everything worked in line with this. It's good practice, but for many people who are busting their gut running their own small business, spending time doing this sort of task would seem pointless. Especially, when you're already working 12 hour days to ensure you can put food on the table and keep afloat. 

But times have changed - we are told by everyone around us that we need to have a Facebook page, a blog, a twitter account, hang out in Pinterest, post to Instagram and update our Linked In profile. This is the new normal! I was looking at a food's label the other day to get recipe information, and of course, I see the 'Like us on Facebook' link. They are everywhere! 

So the question about your company's social life and personality is actually more relevant now than ever before because when you start a Facebook page or a Twitter account under the guise of your brand, you are essentially giving your business a voice. So it's a really important question to ask - who is my business? What sort of conversations will I be having in this social media world?

It's important that you don't end up being a salesperson who crashes a birthday party. All the guests have come to let their hair down, have fun, relax and take their mind off things. You really don't want to be the one that brings up the topic of 'work', or tries to sell them something. Grab a drink, change into your party clothes and join in on the conversations that are happening around you. 

Practically, this means that when you set up a business page on Facebook or open an Instagram account under your company's brand, you need to consider who you'll be and therefore what sort of posts will work well for you.

If you want to provide people with entertainment, post funny images, memes, quotes and jokes. 
If you want to inform, find relevant articles, give away free tips, offer to answer people's questions. 
If you want to help others, share from other people's pages, profile your clients, promote good causes. 

To decide on who you'll be, start by asking yourself the following questions:
- What does my business already do?
- Who are my clients and typically, why would they be on social media? If you can answer this, WHAT social media are my clients and potential clients on?
- Who am I - what sort of posts do I like, share, re-tweet and re-gram naturally?
- Other than more sales, why would/should I use social media for my business?        

From here you should be able to get an idea of the 'person' your business is and therefore, how you'll socialise online. Use this then as the framework to decide which social media platforms you'll use, how frequently you'll post, what you'll post and how you will engage with people. 



Grab a drink and enjoy the party!  




Friday 28 February 2014

Get Mobile - Your Customers Are!

Whilst we avoid writing technical content we thought it was timely to share the facts about why we are so passionate about building great websites.

Did you know…
  • 15.5 million Australians access the internet
  • 35 years and above account for 57.7% of the online population
  • On average, Australians spend nearly 24 hours per week on the internet

These figures speak for themselves.  More and more mature aged Australians are active online, they often rely heavily on the internet to research products and services they are looking for.

With advances in technology, people’s habits are changing.  Where and how they use the internet has evolved.

Did you know…
  • 77% of Australians don’t leave their home without having their smart phone on them
  • 78% of smart phone users access the internet from their phone
  • When they access the internet on their phone, they:
  • connected with the business (64%)
  • visited the business via website or in store (67%)
  • made a purchase either online or in store (41%) 

This shows Australians are on the move with accessing the internet.  They are using their mobile to find the answer they need – on the spot.

The way a website appears on a desktop computer is very different to how it appears on a mobile phone.  This is because of the reduced screen-size, meaning there’s less real-estate for the website to sit on, making parts of the website un-readable. However a responsively designed website, adapts and scales itself automatically to fit perfectly within screens of all sizes. This means collapsing menu’s to hide beneath buttons, changing the structure of pages, and moving certain buttons to prominent areas to make sure all ‘calls-to-action’ aren’t missed.

In short, responsively designed websites always display optimally depending on the device they are viewed on. Not only this, but Google shows plenty of love to websites that are built responsively, so they are a great help for SEO. It’s like the invention of the iPod compared to the cassette player. It’s only a matter of time until all websites are built responsively.

But Adam, I have a mobile website, does this mean I’m in the clear?

It’s an ‘A’ for effort, but a B- for execution. Don’t get me wrong, having a mobile website and a standard website is better than just a standard website, or no website at all for that matter. But there are a few key differences between responsively designed websites, and mobile websites:

Mobile Website
  • Has a separate CMS that needs to be updated independently
  • Information and features are culled to fit on a mobile screen
  • Is only useful on mobile devices
Responsive Website
  • It is the one website, with the one CMS so only has to be updated the once
  • Almost no features are culled, just re-arranged nicely
  • Fits perfectly on mobile, desktop and tablet devices

Ensuring your business has a website that works well in today’s rapidly changing technology environment is critical to the success of your business.  If a user finds you online and change 




Friday 31 January 2014

Redesigning Your Website

Often your website is the first impression of your business. This can be based exclusively on your website…therefore we know redesigning your website isn’t a task that your take lightly. It requires a good deal of thought, time, and potentially money, but the upside can be enormous.

It’s important to note here that "redesign" doesn’t necessarily mean you need to change every single element on your website. In fact, redesigns can just mean making functional modifications that help your website work better and assist you in reaching your marketing and sales goals. After all, your website is one of the foundational elements of your business strategy.

There are a few steps in redesigning and some considerations, but the benefits can be rewarding for your brand and business.

Dye Your Hair Colour, or Get A Full Make-Over?
Sometimes, websites only need a few minimal changes to make it look modern. Just a tweak here, and a tweak there and you’d be surprised the difference it can make! But you may be looking to include some new features, or maybe your website has aged like a sun-tanning enthusiast and needs a transformation that would rival most Reality TV Make-Over shows. This all really depends on what you’re trying to achieve and what shape your website is currently in. it may just need a change in colour, and an engaging function like a homepage rotator, and some websites will need to start from scratch as there isn’t worth salvaging anything.

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too
Have a bit of a look in to your website, and think about what features have been successful. Maybe you have been great at getting people on to your website and browsing information, but just haven’t quite been able to land many catches and have them leaving contact details for you to follow them up. In this case, you want to change the design to make your call to action (Sign up, free quote etc.) more prominent and easier for the user to fill out. It might not have anything to do with placement at all, but merely a dauntingly long contact form.

Once you have figured out what features have worked, and what hasn’t you can determine what features you can keep, and what needs tweaking to be successful on the new website. Now we combine these ingredients with new features that are being released, as well as features that were previously non-existent. Now we’re on to a winner!

Have Objectives
If your objective is ‘to make the website look nice’, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s all well and good having a ‘nice’ looking website, but it needs to be an effective website if you want to see a return on your investment. Don’t get me wrong, a ‘nice’ looking website in most cases will help in creating an effective website. But you need to delve further, don’t just go skin deep. Create objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART), as these will help you analyse how successful the project was.

Let’s look at an effective objective:

“I will increase my conversion rate on website leads to attain contact details by an average of 15% within 6 months of launching my new website.”

Now let’s break it down:
  • Specific: this objective is concerning increasing their conversions on leads. In this sense they want to capture more contact details to follow up with, or use in marketing promotions.
  • Measurable: the results can be measured as you can track these and use numbers to make assessments. They have also stated a desired percentage increase to judge the results.
  • Achievable: 15% is a respectable increase. It’s motivating in that it is a significant improvement, but it is not an increase that is too difficult to attain that it is de-motivating and counter-productive – you want to dangle the carrot far in enough in front so you think you can reach it, but you still have to work hard to get there.
  • Relevant: The objective is relevant in that achieving this, will improve the profitability of the business.
  • Time-bound: a time-limit has been set in which the objective needs to be achieved, as this helps make the objective measurable and assessable.

It’s also important to have multiple objectives, relating to the different parts of the business you want to improve. You could have an objective for website hits, another for conversions, another for sales etc.

Does this Website Help Complete the Puzzle?
Marketers often refer to your overall marketing strategy as a puzzle. All the different channels and mediums help create a big picture of how you are perceived and positioned in the market. Your website is obviously one of your most important pieces of this marketing puzzle, as it is one of the most frequently used touch-points for your customers, and is used to base many consumer decisions, so it’s important that your website fits well into your marketing puzzle. Does it accurately reflect your business and your branding? Does it help you achieve your business goals? All in all, is it working consistently and complimenting your other marketing efforts?

Consider Market Needs and Trends
It’s something that business owners should constantly be doing, but they’re particularly important in the ever-evolving world of websites.  You firstly must need to consider the needs of your target market, to make the user experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible. For instance, if your target market is young children for an educational website, you will need to factor in how easy the website is to use and navigate. Think big, bright buttons, minimal text, and a very easy-to-follow structure and workflow.

Now think about a business like a Marketing Firm, and what information their customers would want. The high priority information they are after are: Their reputation, their services and some case studies. So this information needs to be prominent and accessible!

Now let’s think about the evolving world of technology and websites. It’s common knowledge that websites date quite quickly because of all of the changes in technology, so it’s important you know where the world of websites is heading, so get ahead of the curve and make sure your website is valid for as long as possible.
Right now there are two major trends: Responsive Design and parallax scrolling.

Responsive design is all about having the one website scale and adjust depending on the screen being used to view the website, to make sure it works optimally. Then there’s the parallax scrolling feature, this is all about design.

We’ve Rebuilt your House, Now we Need to Furnish it!
The biggest mistake you can make, is to invest time and money into getting a brand new website that looks amazing and has all the bells and whistles you need on it, but the images and text just don’t add anything. This is more obvious in terms of images, I mean it’s so easy to make a website look nice with high-quality, relevant images, and it’s so easy to ruin a web design with poor ones.

Take a bit of extra time to consider your content and images, because you will see unimaginable results!


This concludes our series on rebranding; often a very daunting task but it can also be a very rewarding one also when done correctly. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help you along the way, and remember, we’re always here to chat and give advice when needed!