Webbed Feet UK are holding free 2 hour conference style workshops helping business owners market their

websites online. As groups are kept small, there will be plenty of opportunity for participants to ask questions specific to their business.

SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS

How to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, FourSquare and Google+ to market your business.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

What you can do to help boost your ranking on search engines, without using a web developer? From keywords, to forums and blogging.

IMPROVING CONVERSIONS

Do people visit your website but not buy anything? Find out why this happens, and what improvements need to be made.

WHEN?

There are three available sessions on Thursday 31st May:

Morning: 8:30 – 10:30

Lunch: 11:30 – 13:30

Afternoon: 14:30 – 16:30

WHERE?

This free workshop is at Salisbury Playhouse (SP2 7RW), please use the public central carpark.

HOW TO BOOK

Spaces are limited, so please book in early and state which session you’d prefer and the names and email addresses of those attending.

aaron@wfuk.com  -  01722 502346  -  www.wfuk.com

How do mobile websites work?

Websites can be \'clever\' so that they automatically detect the device being used, and if it has a small screen, then a second version of the website is delivered. This is simpler, loads faster, and is specifically designed for mobile phones. This means that the user will be able to browse and find what they’re after a lot easier without having to fiddle around and zoom in. Large companies are doing this, Google, Facebook, eBay, Amazon, as well as smaller companies such as our clients New Forest Cleaning Company, and VanLocator. Notice how all of these websites are legible and easy to use on a mobile.

Search engines are also starting to favour mobile websites for users searching on their mobiles.

Are they hard to make?

A web developer shouldn\'t find this hard to do. In fact in many circumstances it’s possible for a developer to modify an existing website, even if it was made by somebody else. Generally speaking they’re much cheaper than the desktop equivalent.

Are they the same as apps?

No, mobile websites use a mobile phone’s web browser, and are essentially a stripped-down website.

Apps are generally more complex, but can also do a variety of extra tasks such as pushing a notification on the users phone.

Web-apps:

Web-apps are a good compromise between mobile websites and smart phone apps. They provide more functionality than a mobile website, and are often used when additional interactive features are required. Their main advantage is they work across nearly all smartphones and are simpler to create; therefore they cover more users at a lower cost.

Smart phone apps:

Smart phone apps are coded for a specific platform, such as Apple iPhones/iPods or Android. They offer the highest amount of features, such as utilising the phone’s GPS, and also allow distribution through Apple’s AppStore or the Android Market.

Which so I need?

That all depends on your business, what functionality you wish your clients to have, and of course budget.

Starting at the bottom end, a mobile website shouldn’t cost much, and will ensure that mobile-browsers can view your website quickly and with ease; whilst mobile or web apps are the cutting-edge way of keeping in touch with clients 24/7, sending notifications directly to their mobile phones, and providing clients with the slickest interface.

If you’re interested in knowing more, or would like to know which would benefit you, then please get in touch.

So which website should businesses choose? Well that all depends on the business of course; some businesses may require a cheap and cheerful web presence, others would be best suited to a more expensive bespoke system. Using an analogy, which make of car is best for a driver, a Kia or a BMW? Well that obviously depends on how much money the driver has to spare, and what they want to use the car for. Websites are the same and any decent web developer should advise their clients accordingly, even if it means advising them to use another company.

I know of web developers local to Salisbury charging anything between £300 and £10,000 for a standard eCommerce website, that’s a 33x difference. Looking at the websites the expensive one is better, but is it worth the additional £9,700?

A good analogy to websites would be kitchens. At the cheaper end of the scale there are Ikea kitchens, where you go to the store, select the units from a range of units of different styles, and mix and match your units. There are only a set number of designs to choose from, the quality may not be great, and they may not fit into your kitchen perfectly. But when they’re new they look reasonable, they fit their purpose and they do not cost very much.

Next there are middle of the range kitchens from places such as B&Q. Here you still select your units from a fixed selection, but may have a wider range of components and materials. In addition you will get someone who’ll measure your house and design a kitchen to suit your needs, selecting the units on your behalf to achieve the look that you want. You’ll end up paying slightly more this way, but should have a kitchen that is slightly better quality, lasts longer, and is tailored for the dimensions within your house.

Finally there are companies who will design, manufacture and build a bespoke kitchen specifically to suit your every need. You’ll pay a premium for this, but the kitchen will be of a very high quality, last a long time, and will be completely tailored to your requirements. This is obviously the best kitchen out of the three, but costs a lot more and unnecessary to many home owners.

So how do kitchens relate to websites? Well different web developers produce different websites for different prices. At the cheaper end of the scale there are websites made from templates; they all look similar, the options are limited, they may not do everything that owners want, and there is little room for expansion. They ‘do the job’, but may not rank quite as highly on search engines, and may not convert visitors into paying customers as efficiently.

Then you get the middle of the range websites that use pre built systems and plug in modules. They offer more customisation, and do a lot more, but can still be restrictive. They can be a good compromise as their cost is often lower than bespoke systems.

Finally bespoke websites can do everything that is required of them and more, they are future proof, expandable, generally load faster, and usually provide the best overall result. But of course they usually carry a premium and may be out of most people’s budgets.

So which kind of website is best? Well that all depends on the business, the target audience and of course budget. The main piece of advice I could give would be not to compare websites on price, unless they are like-for-like, but to look at what they offer. Any decent web developer should explain in plain English what they are making, and answer any questions that you may ask. This is why it’s good to use a web developer that you can trust, perhaps one that has been recommended. Don’t be afraid to compare quotes and tell the web developers if you think their quote is too expensive, or is lacking features. Most web developers can be flexible and work out a different solution.

So where do Webbed Feet ^UK stand? Well we generally cover the bespoke angle producing the best results; but have written our code in such a way that we are very competitive, usually charging the same as a middle of the range website. Then our clients don’t need to pay through the roof, yet get a bespoke system that works.

Furthermore, if we do not think we offer the best service, we’ll tell our clients. We’d rather walk away from a project and ensure a client has the best website for their needs.

So if you’re after a truly bespoke website, for a fair price; then call us on 01722 502346 and we’ll let you know if we can offer you the most cost effective solution.

Following most meetings I like to ‘process’ all business cards, by adding them into our system, and more recently connecting to the contacts via social media. Some people make this easy, but for others it is almost impossible to find their profiles; in the modern day and age this is similar to missing a phone number or email address. If I want to follow their company, and can’t find their Twitter profile, I can’t.

If there is a Twitter logo on a business card, it should be accompanied by a Twitter address (ours is @WebbedFeetUK). If there is a logo in an email signature or website, then this should link to the Twitter profile. There are so many people out there who obviously care about their Twitter profile as they have the logo, but it links to the Twitter home page, and in many instances the profile name is not obvious.

Furthermore, some people use social networking, but do not mention this on their business card, website or email signature. If you use these, and want to gain followers then you’ll need to let everyone know.

You wouldn’t tell someone to “call me” without providing a phone number.

If you don’t tweet or update your profile then this article may not apply. However if you do, and you’re wondering why people aren’t following you, then I would suggest having a good look at your printed and online advertising and check that there is a clear route to each of your social networks.

Once you have your followers, you need to decide what to write, how to customise your profile, and how to start converting followers into customers, and that’s where we come in...

In a shop people often like to browse and take their time, but on the Internet they need instant results, and if you do not deliver they’ll move on. Users are often impatient and fickle. They will look at your website and decide in literally a few seconds whether it is what they are after, so be sure that it is immediately obvious what you do. For example on our strap line we wouldn’t say “Online solutions for local businesses”, we’d spell it out with something like “Web development and website design in Wiltshire”. Then there is no confusion.

2. Call to action

On each page have clear prompts to engage the user. If you are selling products you need a “buy now” or “add to cart” button, if you have a service you need “find out more”. It is even better if you can use an incentive such as “sign up for a free sample”.

3. Clear contact details

So you’ve convinced someone to buy your product or use your service; you now need to ensure that they can get in touch. Do not hide your contact details on your contact page, make them clear and concise, preferably putting the phone and email at the top of each page.

4. Capture user information

If you are giving something away, try and get something in return. If you have a competition, ensure that you capture a user’s email address or phone number, that way you can use them for future marketing campaigns.

5. Be proud of social media

So many people put Twitter icons on their business cards, yet have no reference of how to find them. We are @WebbedFeetUK, but we could easily be @SalisburyWebDesign or @WebDevelopmentWiltshire. So if you don’t put these details on you card, ensure that the icons are prominent on your home page, and make sure that they link through to your profile. How can people follow you if they don’t know where to look?

6. Use bullet points not block text

Back to my earlier point, people need instant results when browsing websites, so they are unlikely to read paragraphs of text. Use bullet points or small blocks of text to get your points across. If you must have blocks of text, make key words and phrases bold so that they grab the user’s attention.

7. Check your content carefully

On your home page especially, ensure that you are saying the right thing. People fall into the trap of putting their company history on the home page. It can often be useful information, but in the first instant a user is unlikely to care about when your company was founded and the history of its owners.  Keep it short and snappy, and ensure that only the key information is seen first.

8. Divide your content

If you have different kinds of users, it is likely that each one would only be interested in a particular area of your business. So make it clear on the home page what these areas are, and divide them so that a user only sees what they are after. A good example here is a school; here you could divide the website into “Prospective pupils”, “Current pupils”, “News & events” and “The school”. That way prospective pupils could see information relevant only to them, and current pupils and parents wanting to check on the date of the next AGM could easily find it. A series of buttons or boxes on the home page would allow users to move to the appropriate section quickly and easily.

9. Promote feeds and blogs

If you have a blog or news page, or if you regularly use Facebook or Twitter, include one or more of these on your home page. It will demonstrate to visitors that your site is kept up to date, plus of course it’s a great way of showing the personal side behind your business.

10. Put important information first

People view websites on different devices; some on desktop PCs with large monitors, other on smart phones or PDAs with small displays. For this reason users may not see all of your home page in one go, they will only see the top. Therefore put the important information first as this may be the only information that a user sees before clicking away to the next site.

11. User testing

I said there will be 10 tips but have included this final one as it brings the others together. After your home page is complete, print it out (landscape if possible) in colour, and if it overspills onto several pages only keep the first. Then go to some friends and family (or even strangers), without explaining what you do and ask them to look at it. After 5 seconds take it away, whether they have finished reading it or not. Then ask them a pre determined set of questions, asking perhaps for the name of the company, what they do, where they are located, and how you could get in touch. Their answer should be something like “The company was Webbed Feet UK, they are web developers in Salisbury, and I would get in touch by the phone number or Twitter icon on the left”. If they reply with anything less, then rethink your strategy!

But why would a business want a blog? Well there are several reasons:

It’s a way of showing people that you’re an expert in your field. An article that may seem common sense to you may be full of invaluable information to others.

It builds trust and good working relationships; after all you are giving people useful information for free, and at the top of every article is your company name and logo.

It helps your website with search engine optimisation. If your blog is set up correctly your articles will be sent out across the Internet to various directories, and all of these will provide a link back to your website making it appear more important.

It’s a great way to add content and keywords to your website. If you have a particular set of keywords that you want on your website that don’t fit in to the main site, then a blog is a great way of adding them. This is especially relevant if your website is minimal but you want to include text somehow, or if you want to draw attention to a smaller area of your business or a gap in the market.

It shows that your company is modern and dynamic. There is little worse than arriving at a website that was last updated several months ago. By having an up-to-date blog your website is continually updated and demonstrates that your company is fresh and dynamic.

It’s a great gateway to social media; it’s a way of providing content that you can (and should) promote via social networks.

It generates traffic. Providing you have useful and relevant content, and providing you promote it using social networks, search engines and other media, your blog should get its own traffic, which will in turn give your website more hits and therefore leads.

To promote your company. Your blog can contain mostly useful articles, but there is no reason why it can’t showcase your new products and services from time to time.

You can educate your customers, letting them know the benefits of your products and services without actually selling to them. That way they’ll have an understanding of them before you get in touch.

You can let your audience know that there is a face behind the business. Websites can be very clinical, whilst blogs give authors the chance to express themselves. People buy from people, so this allows customers to see a more personal side.

There are many reasons to have a blog, and few reasons not to. It only takes a few minutes of your time and can be an invaluable resource in establishing your business’ website online. If you’re reading this, then blogs DO work, so get creative and start thinking about what you can write.

Aaron Whiffin, blog writing in Salisbury Wiltshire

This worked well, but these days the web is not static. Many websites are content managed, have blogs that are frequently updates and in the last couple of years social media has meant that the web is now about what is happening now, not last week. What happened a while ago is old news, and Google have now updated Analytics to include Analytics Real Time to enable us to monitor changes as they happen.

So what does Google Real-Time show us? Well, first of all a running counter of how many people are viewing the website at any time, and even more useful are the statistics of how many people are viewing each page.

You can review the statistics from the past in 5 minute intervals, meaning that you can immediately see whether your blogs or social networks are working. This allows you to easily analyse which of your Tweets or status updates are working most effectively, and at what time of day people are most responsive to you sending them. You can also see when your Tweets stop working, and therefore when you should Tweet again.

So how do you get started? They are in the new version of Google Analytics, just click the “New Version” link on the top right.

Google have also released Analytics Premium, another enhance to their service with a whole host of advanced features. The only set back is this costs $150,000 and so is obviously aimed at larger companies. For now stick with Google Analytics and Google Analytics Real-Time. They are both free to use and are exceptionally comprehensive.

We offer Google Analytics training if you want to analyse your traffic in more depth.

Aaron Whiffin, Webbed Feet UK, Website statistics in Salisbury

However yesterday they released new functionality so that businesses can now create pages. These have a similar look and feel to a personal profile, and don’t seem to offer any new functionality.

They are useful because now you can represent your company. For example we have created a page for +WebbedFeetUK (note that the + is new terminology, similar to the ‘@’ in Twitter). Google say that searching for “+WebbedFeetUK” would return our business page. When you are logged in as your business, all of your posts will originate from the business and not your personal account. This is similar to the way that Facebook currently do their business pages.

At the moment there is no obvious way of moving people from your personal circles into your business circles, other than adding them one by one.

To create a Google+ page go to your Google+ homepage, and there is a link on the bottom left called “Create a Google+ page”, alternatively visit an existing Google+ page such as ours +WebbedFeetUK and click the button on the bottom left. This will take you here.

One annoyance is that after you have created your business page, you will be logged in as your business, in my case +WebbedFeetUK. You can edit and adjust your profile fairly easily. However, when you’re finished and you log out, and back in as your personal profile, there is no obvious way of editing your business page again! I’m sure this is either a glitch, or it’s possible and hidden away someplace, but it is certainly a problem.

EDIT - To the right of your profile pic (top left) there is your name. Below this in light grey it says \"1 page v\". Click this to edit your page. Hidden away!

So great news that Google+ has allowed business pages, but a bit annoying that there are bugs and it doesn’t seem finished.

So, should you create a business page? Well I’d say that if you have a Google+ account then you may as well, it only takes 20 minutes to setup and personalise, just make sure you get it correct before you log out! Ensure that you take full advantage and link to your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. If you do not have Google+ yet, at the current time, I wouldn’t bother.

Webbed Feet UK are a team web developers in Salisbury. We have a variety of services one of which is online marketing including social media.

Get started by looking our Google+ profile +WebbedFeetUK ...

Traditional websites are formatted for a larger computer screen meaning that when viewed from a smaller mobile screen the text is either unreadable (if you’re zoomed out) or you need to scroll horizontally (if you’re zoomed in); coupled with the fact that larger images may take longer to download, this does not give a good user experience.

Mobile websites are dedicated websites that are optimised for smaller screens. They are simplified, have a lower width and smaller images. This means that mobile users can read and navigate the mobile version far easier and quicker.

You often find that mobile versions have a different address and are prefixed with “m.” or “mobile.” rather than “www.”. Mobile versions should automatically detect the device that the user is using, and send you to the appropriate website version.

Case study: Consider the website www.vanlocator.co.uk, and also look at the mobile version m.vanlocator.co.uk (on a mobile device). The desktop site is a very large and complex example which doesn’t work well on mobile devices. The text is either small or requires a lot of horizontal scrolling. The mobile version on the other hand is far more streamline. The screenshots below are taken from an iPhone 3GS.

Webbed Feet UK make mobile websites in Salisbury and other areas in addition to smart phone apps.

They don’t cost as much as most people think, in fact they are usually far less than their desktop versions.

If you want to know more please do not hesitate in contacting Webbed Feet UK, mobile web developers in Salisbury.

Aaron Whiffin, Alex Hopson, Andy Payne, Chris Bratherton and Tom Green will all be taking part and sporting their facial hair all month.

Our initial target is £500, so please help us support this worthwhile cause via our JustGiving page.