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Archive for the ‘e-commerce’ Category

Finding a Website Designer that Excels

Monday, September 28th, 2009

choosingdesigner Choosing a good supplier is never easy at the best of times, but choosing a web design company that employs a good web designer is even tougher. The fact of the matter is that your website is your company. To many people it is the only way that they will ever come face to face with your business – online; so you have to be happy that the face it shows to the public is the face that you want people to see.

Of course if you are in the process of redesigning your website, or launching a brand new one, you are well and truly in the hands of your chosen website design company and this makes it doubly important that you use a website designer from a busy web design company which should be seen as a good web designer that excels which doesn’t just meet your expectations, but that surpasses them.

I am sure that you will do your due diligence when it comes down to assessing your potential candidate companies but you cannot afford to get this one wrong. The whole balance of the success of your own business is dependent on getting your new website absolutely spot on. Finding a website designer that excels is not just desirable, it’s essential!

The actual proof of the pudding as they say is in the eating, problem being that you don’t want to end up with food poisoning! Of course, you can check out some of the other websites that your chosen web design company have designed, and yes you can arrange a meeting with the people you hope to work with to see if you’re compatible; in fact it’s essential that you do so but even if that all checks out, it still doesn’t mean to say that you’ve found a website designer that excels; you’ve merely got a good web designer who looks as if they excel, and sounds as if they do. This is your business future that we’re talking about so the final selection has to be 110% right.

The last opportunity that you have before you commit yourself and your web design company, is to talk to previous clients (see our testimonials page for more help). They will undoubtedly have a string of glowing testimonials on their own website, or will be happy to refer you to one of their satisfied clients.
Your last resort in the search for that elusive website designer that excels is to talk to some of their past clients that you alone can select at random which you may find on their website. If you don’t, ask for one. You can be totally honest as to the whys and wherefores of your questions and if a supposed good web designer won’t provide you with a list of names, there’s something wrong and you can simply short cut the final test; they are not that website designer that you need after all.

If you do get your list however, and it all checks out as you hope it will; together with all the other prerequisites that they will have fulfilled, it’s a pretty sure thing that you’ve found the company you were searching for and you’ve found your perfect choice – a good web designer that excels.

Posted in Web Design, Web Development, Web Marketing, e-commerce | No Comments »

Choosing the Right Website Designer

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

choosingdesigner Choosing the right website design company is one of the most important decisions that any business takes. Your website is in effect your shop-front and just like any conventional shop-front your window dressing needs to be top drawer in order to catch the eye of those passing window shoppers and tempt them inside. Even when people know of your site and are visiting to check out your business offer the look and feel of the site is all important, so when you are selecting the website designer to design you a professional website in addition to offering a number of optional extras like search engine optimisation (website marketing), here are a few points that you should consider.

Firstly, have a peek at their website. Does it look like a professional website? Remember that as well as being your “shop-front”, your website also represents your image, your brand, and it determines how people perceive your business. Your brand image is all important. If it looks like a professional website (neat, tidy, discrete functional, yet classy) it instils confidence in the visitor. If the website design company’s own website displays all of these characteristics, you can be sure that they fully understand these important fundamentals of website design, and that you are more likely to end up with that professional website look and be proud to conduct professional seo or website marketing on it too.

Read through their general business offer and their mission statement. Does it sound business like? Does it tell you how they go about their business? Does it tell you their ethical approach, how they interpret their client’s ideas and aspirations? Does their website carry a list of testimonials of companies that have used their services? Do they welcome you to contact those companies for performance reviews on their work? What you don’t want to see is meaningless hyperbole that has simply been reeled off as fluffy sales banter. You want to see substance, purpose, industry knowledge, industry experience, and a professional website ethic.

On the functional, practical front, how does their site perform? Does their website form up on the screen promptly when you first land on it? How does it rate on site navigation? Are the options laid out clearly? Is it easy and fast to move from page to age? Do they use latest cutting edge technology, such as video streaming? All of these points are important because this is how you want your own site to function. Your potential website designer’s website is their shop-front. They know that that is how you will judge them. Only select them if they can tick all of the boxes 100%.

Finally you also need to ascertain that they know what they are talking about. Do they understand SEO (search engine optimisation), and will they build it into your site as a matter of course. This is something that you need to discuss with them as it will not be obvious from merely visiting their website. SEO is the process by which your site is ranked by the big search engines like Google and Yahoo. Search engines use “spiders” to crawl the internet looking at sites and ranking them within their markets, so that when web “traffic” is searching for the sorts of goods or services your website fronts, your business is one of the first to be listed on the search engine reports. In theory, the higher your search engine ranking, the more visitors your site will attract. When your professional website is designed, a good website designer will build in certain compatible features that make it easy for the search engine spiders to find your site and to be able crawl all over it to extract the information that they are searching for. If your site is properly SEO’d, it will win you more business.

We’ll publish some more articles in this series in the coming days that will give you more information on choosing your website design agency.

Posted in Company Information, Internet, Web Design, Web Development, e-commerce | No Comments »

Web Based Order Management and Stock Control Systems

Friday, February 20th, 2009

More and more ecommerce websites – online shopping sites – are using new integrated software to fully manage all areas of their business. Web based order management systems are fast becoming the best time saving methods to use and businesses are now finding out much more about dealing efficiently with their online business using integrated software that is both efficient and money-saving.

As well as web based sales software that not only manages customer orders but also converts into an ingenious marketing tool (email, invoicing, sms), businesses are opting to merge new stock control and order management software into their current technology, making for a powerful tool that both helps the business and assists the employees working it.

The order and stock control systems now promoted through ecommerce developers uses web based applications in order that multiple users have access. In place of the older ASP versions which were hosted on third party servers, web based stock and order management software is hugely flexible and allows those users to access via their own desktop pc.

Some good features of this kind of system are:

The ability to manage multiple orders placed on a website at the same time
Options to create picking lists, invoicing slips and split orders that can’t be completely fulfilled at one time
Orders can be edited once they have been placed – a great way if a customer contacts you after a purchase
Billing methods can be updated and copy orders can be created easily for repeat customers
Email and text marketing campaigns can be created straight from the software
Invoices can be designed and branded and sent to the customer by email, instantly

In straight forward terms, web based order management systems are professional applications that can be used in one of the most important aspects of your business and can be personally branded to suit the business. They can be adapted to suit too, allowing natural and organic growth and development of online business.

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Finding an Ecommerce Web Designer

Monday, November 24th, 2008

If you have recently set out to find an ecommerce web designer, you might have struggled with not the choice on offer – there are hundreds out there – but exactly how to pinpoint the best company for your business.

Whats on Offer?
If you are setting up a stall, a shopping website that you will use as a brand then your site will need alternative solutions to that of an informational site. You may be a retailer or wholesaler, whichever category your business fits into you need to research just to find a specialized ecommerce web designer.

A good all rounder will be able to provide you with not just web design they will have experience with content management, ecommerce and other software that makes it easier for a website owner. They will also offer search engine marketing solutions and going a step up they may offer you offline marketing and branding services too.

Let’s focus on the design. Services and benefits you should see offered on any good designers list are:

Cutting edge graphics design software and/or digital photography solutions
Creative design, start to finish (and in-between!) plus marketing assistance
Ecommerce systems
Payment processing
Stock control systems / warehouse management
Mail order
Marketing ability (campaigns, software)

With the experience of website ecommerce, your selected web design team can create or transform your website into one which enables business growth, has an online presence to envy your competitors, and can enhance your business brand.

Choosing a design and additional features can ensure that your website can be well managed, easy to maintain and can maximise revenues through its improved efficiency. The after sales service and support is important too, not forgetting the price is within your business budget.

In summary, finding ecommerce web designers takes time and can be costly, however making the right choices at the start can help your business increase revenues with an on-trend functional website which manages transactions and can provide shopper enjoyment.

Get in touch via our contact us page to find out more information abotu how we can help you with your online website shop project.

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Functional ecommerce websites

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Recognising the importance of having a functional ecommerce website that works is important and choosing the right product for your site is imperative to gaining and retaining the right shoppers.

The trend in ecommerce and online trading is becoming fast apparent in the UK, with even the likes of the building and packaging trades jumping on the bandwagon – not something to be sniffed at then? Well, the answer is no – listen to the news today about how UK shoppers aren’t spending as much money on the high street anymore – they’re still spending it, and it’s becoming obvious where despite the negatives surrounding the credit crunch.

Bespoke or Basic Ecommerce?
Any website should have a great search feature, itself containing good features like individual product search, filters and even stock recording and administration – so your shopper can find the product they want and you can grow your customer base, as well as maintain records and stocks easily.

Ideally, bespoke ecommerce websites built specifically for your business or sector often work better than basic ecommerce software, but everyone understands budget limitations so seeking the best within your range is important so whilst this decision is yours, try not to make too light of it and ensure it works for your UK business.

Being in the fortunate position of your sector and improving sales, not being static, is difficult right now, but the basics of ecommerce and current trends are an important factor in the success of your website.

And, whilst ecommerce and complex features are all very appealing, they should be considered equally along with the design of your site. Both hugely important factors in building a successful site that tempts the shoppers in – read our previous article on ecommerce website trends for more info.

The result? A functional ecommerce website that works for you and your business.

Posted in Web Design, Web Marketing, e-commerce | Comments Off