Web Design by Gaynor Tilley

What is an ebook?

2009-06-10T13:37:00.005+01:00

Quite simply put an ebook is a document you can download onto your PC or hand-held device. It provides you with instant access to the material, whether is a training manual or novel that you want to read. There are many ebooks available across the internet covering as wide a range of subjects as you can imagine.

One of my SEO clients is relaunching his ebook Can You Manage? which is available to buy online if you follow the link. It offers essential management skills for busy managers and the download includes a personal development plan for you to use.

Website Promotion - Progress Talk and Thinking

2009-05-25T10:14:00.003+01:00

This new website www.progresstalk.co.uk is currently being promoted through search engine optimisation, directory submission and links.

The design of the site is very simple but the purpose is to generate business. Interested people can sign up to receive a free e-book with hints and tips for personal development and business coaching. They will also receive a free monthly newsletter. In return, Progress talk and thinking as a business will build an email list of potential leads. This is all achieved with an email marketing package called iContact.

Rob also uses a blog, which has been integrated into the main site. This helps to show potential customers that the content of the site is fresh. People may choose to follow this blog. This part of the site uses Blogger from Google.

Email marketing software

2009-04-27T21:31:00.004+01:00

If you want your website to help build a list of potential customers' emails, consider using iContact or AWeber for your email marketing. You can build lists, create newsletters, schedule a series of emails and survey your customers easily.

I can help integrate sign up forms into your website and ensure the branding of your email marketing matches your website. Call now to discuss your requirements further.

Making Sure Your Website Is Right For Your Business

2009-04-15T14:06:00.001+01:00

With the UK ecommerce market set to hit the £68.4 billion mark in 2009, it's fair to say that the age of technology has been a very welcome one for retailers. But as we journey deeper into a recession, it seems that hardly a day passes by without at least one well-known and seemingly "safe" business falls into administration or liquidation and the high streets are starting to look much emptier than they once were.

With this in mind, it makes sense that all businesses try to improve and expand their profiles and get those much needed customers to spend, spend, spend.. The internet provides a new face for any business and reaches out to customers on an international level.

Read more...

Create a 3D view from your photos.

2009-03-27T20:01:00.003Z

This mini video was created using Photosynth

The images show a garden which was designed and created by Contours Landscapes.Visit their website at www.contourslandscapes.co.uk

Online Competitions

2009-03-12T11:20:00.003Z

If you are looking to generate a mailing list or collect emails of people interested in your products, one way to do this would be an online competition.

PotteryPainters came up with their idea and I created the online version of the competition entry form which they are also printing and distributing offline.

They looked around online, found other similar competitions and adapted the format to suit their business, including all the terms and conditions.

Why not have a go and see if you can win a pottery painting party for the kids!
Online Entry Form

Alternatively if you would like to create something similar for your website, contact me.

A Company Presentation on YouTube

2009-03-02T16:28:00.003Z

The increasing popularity of YouTube means that more companies are beginning to place adverts online. You may not have the resources to create video ads but an easier solution is to convert a PowerPoint presentation, set some background music and let YouTube advertise your business, products or services.

Follow this link to see the QMUK Company Presentation about ISO Standards

If you are interested in marketing your business via YouTube, contact Web Design by Gaynor Tilley

Internet Browsers

2009-02-04T17:48:00.003Z

I was astonished to read that Internet Explorer and Firefox had an equal share of the market when it came to browsers used on the internet. I tried to verify these statistics and came across another set of figures which showed that IE (Internet Explorer) is the more popular web browser with a 68% share of the market and Firefox accounts for 21%.

Whichever version is the more realistic, it clearly shows that your website must be tested across different internet browsers to ensure it displays and functions correctly. Otherwise, you will lose potential customers.

Other internet browsers worth a mention here are Safari, Chrome and Opera which account for about 10% of the market between them.

If you have built your own website or have an older site, it may not be viewable in all web browsers and you could be losing customers.

Contact me today for a free review of your site, I can either reassure you that your site is fine or help you to improve it.

The best way to start your own internet business

2009-01-23T10:09:00.002Z

Read this article from Business Link. Click here

They discuss the latest research figures which indicate that online shopping is up almost 50% despite the current climate and they take you through the initial steps for setting up your own internet business.

Websites obviously play a crucial role within this. E-commerce sites vary enourmously but I charge very competitive rates, from £600. Talk to me about your ideas and I will give you a free no obligation quote.

Should I Display an Email Address on My Site or Use a Contact Form?

2009-01-06T13:57:00.003Z

Christopher Heng at thesitewizard.com writes an interesting article as to whether you should have a contact form on your website.

Read article

I would add to this.
When I include an email address on a website, I do so using code which makes it harder for spammers to harvest the email address.

The inconvenience of not receiving all the relevant information from a customer when they send you an email (e.g. they forget to include a contact telephone number) is, in my opinion, much better than the problems which are often encountered with contact forms.

A contact form sometimes just stops working....but you don't realise until a customer actually tells you...how many other customers were lost as they just clicked away onto another site?
Your webhost may change parameters on the server to limit spam mail, but this may result in you receiving some but not all of the enquiries via your contact form. How can you check this...only by regularly sending yourself half a dozen test enquiries from your website and making sure you receive them all.
Internet "bots" can hijack contact forms which are not well protected, they then use them to send spam emails to others....but it looks like it is coming from your site. You could get blacklisted. Again, you often have no idea that it is even happening.
Internet "bots" can send spam to you via a contact form on your site which does not have proper validation on all the content entered.

My advice is to use contact forms when you need to collect specific information from potential customers but be aware of the problems I have mentioned above.

Call me if you have further questions about the contact form on your website.

Promoting your website

2009-01-06T10:48:00.003Z

The following article appears on www.bytestart.co.uk If you need help to achieve any of the points below, please call me.

5 ways to promote your website online
These days a website is a must for the vast majority of businesses. But there's no point in having a great looking website if nobody can find it, so here are 5 tips to help you to promote your website online and get visitors to your website;
1. Get more links to your website
Forget all the "quick fixes" to building links that you see advertised, the best thing to do is build up a bank of links yourself over time. You should look to exchange links with other relevant websites. Also, take part in business forums, visit relevant blogs and add comments. Add some value to the website you are contributing to and make sure you always have a link to your website in your signature.
2. Write articles
One of the best ways to display your knowledge is to write articles on subjects that you have an expertise in. If you write good quality articles, there are a host of websites that accept original content from experts. You will be spreading the word about your website and getting another link.
3. Use email marketing
When visitors come to your site give them the opportunity to leave their name and email address. The option to sign up to a regular email newsletter is a popular way to do this, as it's an excellent way to encourage repeat visits.
4. Add a blog
If you have a fair bit to say, why not add a blog to your website. By including social media tags for aggregators like del.icio.us, Technorati and Digg you can make it easy for people to spread the word about your blog.
5. Pay per click advertising
If you need visitors right away – the only guaranteed way to do that is to buy traffic by advertising online. Pay Per Click (PPC), advertising is popular with lots of small businesses because you can target your advert very specifically and you only pay when someone clicks on your advert.

For the original article and other useful information about this topic, please follow this link http://www.bytestart.co.uk/content/news/1_14/business121-newsletter-144.shtml

Merry Christmas to all my customers

2008-12-16T12:52:00.002Z

Search Engine Optimisation Project

2008-11-13T13:03:00.006Z

A recent project was to rewrite the web copy on the home page of an established site, http://www.resolvehr.co.uk/

There were two goals to this project

To optimise the site for the search engines
To bring the content more up to date

To achieve the first objective, the main body of the site was updated adding key phrases such as HR Consultancy and HR Solutions. The target geographical area for this business was also repeated throughout the content of the page.

To bring the content more up to date, the article within the right column was completely rewritten to include a Managing Redundancies section which is relevant to the current economic climate.

If you would like a free review of your site, simply email the website address to me.

News Page / Blog / Noticeboard

2008-11-04T11:14:00.004Z

You may not want to manage the content of your entire website, but would like a page where you could add information, post notices or write articles.

There are lots tools on the internet which offer this service, many of them are free, such as Google's Blogger, CuteNews, Microsoft's LiveSpaces or LiveJournal.

You can add text, images, even videos or attach documents to keep your customers informed. I can work with you to integrate the News Pages or Blog into your own website ensuring the design is consistent with your site and then train you on how to update it. Prices start from just £75. Contact me for a free, no obligation quote.

For examples, have a look at the following sites
http://www.tanner-tilley.co.uk/ look at the NEWS page
http://www.bournemouthmassage.co.uk/ - look at the NEWS page
http://www.betweenthesticks.co.uk/ - look at the NOTICEBOARD
http://www.robrave.com/
http://www.gtilley.co.uk/ - look under ARTICLES
http://www.relaxretreat.co.uk/ - look at the NEWS page

Charity Websites

2008-10-21T21:51:00.004+01:00

If you are trying to raise money for a good cause, use the JustGiving website and you can email all your friends and make life easier for yourself by letting the online service collect all the money for you.

So if you want to support my friend Carmel, she is running the London Marathon and wants to raise money for Shelter to help the homeless, visit her webpage for further details.

New website coming soon...

2008-10-03T12:39:00.004+01:00

Look out for my latest website launching this month www.contourslandscapes.co.uk. This is a simple, low cost brochure website advertising a landscape gardening service across Bournemouth, Poole, Christchurch and The New Forest.

I designed the logo and the website using a very simple leaf shape. This image also works well as a favicon - have a look at the site and you'll understand what I mean.

What is a favicon?

2008-09-23T15:50:00.002+01:00

Simply put it is the little picture that appears next to the title of the website whether you have it bookmarked or are just entering the domain name into your browser.

So how do you get one?

There is a great site http://www.chami.com/html-kit/services/favicon/ where you can create your own favourite icon just by uploading your logo or a favourite picture.

To link this to your site you will need to add a line of code to your home page and also upload the .ico file to your webserver.

New Website just launched

2008-09-09T14:11:00.005+01:00

Check out this funky new website for Carmen Beaumont Massage Therapies. I love the colours on this site and designing the layout was a challenge! There is a different design on the internal pages too.

Although an established business, Carmen wanted a logo which she could also use on T-shirts and clothing for her business.

FREE Review of your website

2008-08-14T12:40:00.002+01:00

For a limited period, I am offering free reviews of websites.

I will look at your site and assess

whether the coding needs to be brought in line with current World Wide Web Consortium Standards
how the site is performing in Google, Yahoo and MSN and whether the content could be optimised for the search engines
whether the pages are displayed correctly across different browsers and screen resolutions
whether your contact details are causing you to receive spam emails
if your site meets the legal requirement for accessiblity

Interested? Then send me your website address.

Website Maintenance

2008-07-06T14:13:00.003+01:00

All websites should be regularly updated. Customers like to see fresh content and search engines give higher priority to sites that have been recently updated.

If you have a brochure website you can pay a web designer to update the site for you. I charge £25 per hour for website maintenance. If you are concerned as to how much this would add up to - just ask. I can always discuss your options and fix a price to fit your budget.

The real benefits however are less obvious.

With my knowledge and experience I can ensure the updates to your site are written with the search engines in mind.
I can easily change the images or graphics on your site without causing the pages to "slow down".
Similarly, I can run a health check on your site to see if the coding for your site will continue to meet current W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) standards.

If your site is starting to show its age and you need help, contact me now for a free, no obligation quote.

Joining an Associate Scheme

2008-06-10T14:02:00.004+01:00

There are so many affiliate and associate schemes on the internet but it may be worth your while to consider using them to earn a little extra.

For example, Amazon have an associate scheme where you can sell their products via your website and earn some commission.

I have created a "bookshelf" within my website which advertises Amazon books and they would process the orders, check the payments and dispatch the products. Your website acts as an advertisement for them but to the customer this is a seamless process.

From the customer perspective, they are still within your website, have looked at products which you have either recommended or which are tailored to the typical audience for your site. If they click through from your site and purchase an item, you will be awarded up to 10% commission on that item.

Contact Gaynor now to discuss this in more detail. Typically I would charge around £50 to add this or a similar scheme to an existing website.

Domain names

2008-05-28T15:26:00.004+01:00

What's in a name?

Did you spend a long time on a name for your business? If so, you should consider the domain name for your business too?

I prefer domain names that do not include hyphens "-" or full stops "." these can be so easy to overlook when you are typing in your web browser.

Some domain names can seem too long-winded e.g. http://www.individualityswimmingandfitness.co.uk/ which is a client of mine. But stop and think for a minute. Individuality is the business name but it makes sense to include the swimming and fitness part to claify the purpose of the business.

Although people are likely to mis-spell this domain name if they have to type the full address, this website ranks well in the search engines so is often found that way. One of the reasons it ranks well in the search engines is because the key words are used in the domain name. Similarly with another client of mine http://www.wirralflooringandcarpets.co.uk/

My domain name on the other hand is short and easy to remember http://www.gtilley.co.uk/ but hindsight is a wonderful thing and if I was starting out again I would choose differently. In fact, try entering http://www.webdesignbygaynortilley.co.uk/ into your browser and you will see that it redirects you to my site. That's right - you can buy more than one domain name and have them all redirected to your website.

Some people advise using colours as part of your business name as they are easily remembered. I would say, try out a few names on your friends and family first to see if your business name really does conjure up the right picture in people's minds. I'm also happy to help, contact enquiries@gtilley.co.uk for more information.

Simple brochure website just launched

2008-05-02T11:53:00.003+01:00

Sue Uwins is setting up business as a Lifestyle Trainer. She has written a book which gives handy tips on fitness, exercise, managing stress, personal development and weight management - it is called A-Z Healthy Lifestyle Choices.

The brochure website launched this week advertises her business and her book.

Follow this link to view the site www.a-zhealthylifestylechoices.co.uk

New Website for a start-up business

2008-04-22T11:14:00.003+01:00

Launching this week is www.potterypainters.co.uk. This is an e-commerce solution using ZenCart open source software which I have configured and set up allowing this business to sell bespoke celebration plates online and offer a mobile pottery party service which can also be booked online.

If you would like a website for your business, please contact me.

Small business websites

2008-03-14T09:43:00.004Z

"Did you know that half of all small businesses do not have a Web site? That is an amazing and sad statistic. If this describes you, the first thing you must do NOW is go get a Web site."

If this applies to you, have a look at the pricing for my web design and development, prices start from just £125.

The above quote comes from a recent article written by Steve Strauss, who writes online advice for small businesses. He goes on to stress that if you do have a website, you need to market it.

How effective is your website?

Do you know how well it ranks in the search engines against your top keywords?

Do you know how many hits you get each day/week/month? And by that I mean unique users not just the spider bots that trawl the internet looking for information.

Contact me now for a free, no obligation appraisal of your website.