Jun
28
Feng Shui for Your Website?
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Have you ever wondered why your website just is not doing quite as well as you hoped? Some Indian web designers claim to have the answer, as CNN reports. If you were wondering why it’s so hard to attract a steady flow of visitors and achieve high rankings in the search engines, according to these web designers it could be that your web design elements are simply out of harmony with each other and this is blocking your site’s vital energy flow, resulting in disaster.
Experts say using a combination of astrology and numerology, the ancient sciences will help you choose the right colors, font, placement of graphics and navigation bar to make the perfect Web site.
Can’t decide between Courier or Verdana? The heavens hold the answer.
Now, it is easy to scoff at this new application of the ancient philosophies of vaastu shastra and Chinese feng shui in website design that is being touted by these Indian web design firms. But a very similar case of web designers pushing frivolous web design happens all the time. It generally does more harm than good. And it is called Flash!
Now Flash might look funky, but think of the last time that you sat at your computer, watching a silly bouncing ball or similar device, while waiting for a Flash website to load. What went through your mind as the interminable seconds ticked by and the progress indicator slowly filled up, pixel by pixel? Hated it? I thought so!
The chances are that, unless it happened to be a website that you really had to see, you would have clicked away within five seconds. That’s all most web surfers are ready to wait for a page to load, according to the surveys. And yet, the lure of a ‘modern’ website decked out with fancy Flash gizmos, seems to be too much for many businesses to resist.
They seem to think that having all sorts of animations and effects pop out at you from the screen will somehow make them look more professional and encourage you to do business. What they just don’t realise is that you’re probably not looking at their website at all in the first place. And they also forget that, if you are, the music they choose to blare out through your speakers could simply irritate you, or even wake up the kids.
Some of the more ‘creative’ Flash designs go as far as leaving you to try and figure out which of the tiny dots or squares or whatever you have to click on to activate the section you want to see. Many include the text as part of the flash, so that, if you happen to be using the wrong screen resolution, the writing does not scale well and you simply cannot read the information the website was set up to provide – not to mention that the search engines cannot index Flash-embedded text either.
It just seems like so many websites nowadays are all out begging you to go away. So much for simple, user-friendly web design that works to make your life easier and encourages you to stay on!
It’s not that careful and controlled use of Flash is unjustified, but many web designers continue to push extensive use of Flash as beneficial, and even prestigious – a sort of online status symbol, if you like. Why would they do so in spite of the evidence against this?
Just like Seth Godin says of the Indian ‘web astrologers’, it’s easier than concentrating on effective design that really works. And, in the case of Flash, it’s a great money spinner to boot.
Jun
23
How to Choose a Web Designer
Filed Under General Stuff | 1 Comment
Choosing the right web design company is not an easy task. It is, in fact, the most important decision you will have to make about your website. So, what points should you consider?
First of all, the web design itself is just a tiny part of your Internet marketing strategy. There is no point in having a great website if nobody visits it, and no point in receiving tons of visitors if your website does not convert them into customers.
Look for a company that has a wide range of expertise and a broad understanding of current online marketing trends and strategies. Your web design company should have a team of specialised staff that includes:
- Designers who have the skill to make your website both appealing, as well as easy to use, so that visitors quickly find what they are looking for.
- Programmers who can add functionality to your website by implementing features such as automatic customer mailing lists, online shopping and so on.
- Copywriters who write compelling texts that tell your visitors what they need to know and at the same time persuade them to do business with you.
- Search Engine Optimisation Professionals who work to make your website rank higher in the search engines, thus increasing your online visibility and attracting more traffic to your web pages.
- Pay-Per-Click Account Managers who can offer you the option of attracting even more traffic by means of Pay-Per-Click Advertising (online ads in the search engines or other websites, where you only pay for the visitors you receive).
- Online Marketing Professionals who have the expertise to oversee your overall strategy and make sure that you are getting the best return on your investment.
Now, putting your website design in the hands of a freelancer or a small ‘mom and pop’ web design company might seem like a great way to cut costs. But, when you consider all the different skills necessary to make your online presence a success, you would probably end up with a ‘Jack of all trades’ and master of not much at all. That could turn out to be an expensive mistake in terms of lost revenue from your website!
Also, keep in mind that putting up a website is not a fire-and-forget affair. Your site will require ongoing web marketing to make sure it remains effective. Periodically, you might need to deploy new software to add features to your website or simply to keep abreast with changing online trends and standards. And, of course, you will want to update the information on your website to reflect changes, new products, special offers and so on. What do you do when you need an urgent twenty or thirty pages added about a new product line you’re launching and your freelancer is up to his neck in work for the next three months – or worse, has gone on holiday to the Bahamas?
You also want to have the peace of mind that, should your website go ‘down’ in an emergency, you have the backing of a team that will respond quickly and get everything up and running again as soon as possible – at any time of the day or night, public holidays included. This is something most small companies cannot offer because of their limited resources – or even something they have no control over because they host your website on third party web servers.
When you consider that your website is bound to become a critical part of the way you do business, you need to choose a company that can guarantee stability and ongoing quality customer service. At Sorted Sites, we have heard too many horror stories of freelance web designers who suddenly go AWOL, leaving their clients without access to data that is theirs and that is vital for their day-to-day business operation. We have already had five cases this year of distraught website owners who were left high and dry by freelancers and came to us seeking a solution. In some cases the web designers went out of business, in others they just vanished into thin air, and one even ended up in jail!
Think carefully before you choose your web designer. After all, it’s your business, your passwords, your e-mails and possibly even your confidential communications and inside information that you are entrusting them with.
Here are a few interesting links where you can find more information on what to look for in a web design company:
How should I choose a web designer?
5 tips for choosing a web designer
And if you want to get into the more technical issues to look out for see this page:
Jun
8
Sorted Sites Launches Pay Per Click Manager
Filed Under General Stuff, Pay Per Click | Leave a Comment
In early 2004 Sorted Sites started offering clients Pay Per Click (PPC) Campaign Advertising. So successful has this part of our business been that we have decided to market our Pay Per Click services via a separate website that will purely focus on providing a better service to our present and new clients. We hope that this new site will help educate and dispel some of the myths about Pay Per click Advertising. Please feel free to give us any comments on the new site: Pay Per Click Management
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Jun
7
F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content
Filed Under Content Copy Writting, General Stuff | Leave a Comment
Here is an article I found recently that studied the eyetracking movement of 100’s of users online. Read the article online http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html Â
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Jun
2
Search Engine Ranking
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After years of our own web site www.sortedsites.com being in the search engine abyss, we finally got round to practicing what we preach and getting our own site up in the rankings, with some surprisingly good results!!!
Here are some of our search results on www.google.com for the following keywords:
- search engine marketing in spain we are Number 2&3 on page 1
- web site design in spain we are Number 6&7 on page 1
- website hosting in spain we Number 10 on page 1
- search Engine Optimisation in Spain we Number 2 on page 1
- email Marketing in Spain we are Number 1&2 on page 1
- Pay Per Click Advertising in Spain we are Number 1 on page 1
These are just a few of the search terms driving traffic to our site. Well done to Aaron Smith and all his hard work in getting us into this position 
Jun
1
Palm Mar -Tenerife
Filed Under Web Design Portfolio | Leave a Comment
Specialing in Palm Mar properties, Centro Inmobiliario are the registered Estate Agents with a portfolio of new developments and off plan properties. Palm Mar -Tenerife
Jun
1
Cape Verde Property for Sale with Redmountain- Property
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As specialists in new developments and properties in Cape Verde it was a delight to work on this website. We wish all at Red Mountain every success in this emerging market.
Cape Verde Property for Sale with Redmountain- Property
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