Category Archives: Web Development

Why your business needs a WordPress website

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WordPress website

If you're thinking about getting a new website built for your business, you might have heard about WordPress. We love WordPress here at Public. 99% of the websites we build for our clients use the WordPress platform.

We've used WordPress to build websites for Wiley, Greenbelt, David Downton, Lilac Rose and Nicola Jarvis Studio, among others.

WHAT IS WORDPRESS?
WordPress is an "open source" website creation tool. The framework is available for anyone to download free of charge - but you need a bit of knowledge (or ideally a web developer) to create a website from this framework. It’s the most powerful and widely-used CMS (Content Management System) around today.

WHO USES IT?
You’re in good company if you've got a WordPress website. Famous blogs like Mashable and TechCrunch both use WordPress. This WordPress showcase gives you a flavour of some of the companies and celebrities using it, and this chart shows which content management systems are currently the most popular.

WHY SHOULD I USE IT?
There are many why a WordPress website would benefit your business.

1. You have control of your own website
No more waiting for your web developer to make simple changes and updates – and paying them for every tiny change. With WordPress, you have control of many aspects of your website and can carry out simple updates yourself.

2. Easy to use
WordPress is very easy to use, even for non-technical people, because the interface is so intuitive. Adding new pages, posts, images, etc. on a regular basis can be done quickly and easily.

3. Manage your site from anywhere
Because WordPress is browser-based, you can log in and manage your website from any computer, anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection, and a little bit of knowledge.

4. No specialist software required
WordPress is a self-contained system, so you don't need to use HTML editing software such as Dreamweaver. You can create a new page or blog post, upload or edit images, and upload documents, video files, images, etc. all without the need for additional HTML or FTP software.

5. Great for SEO
Google loves WordPress! The code behind WordPress is very clean and simple, making it easy for Google to read and index. In addition, you can give each page, post and image its own keywords, description and title. You can optimise your content for specific keywords, allowing for very precise search engine optimisation. And you can update all of this yourself, without the help of a web developer.

6. Multiple users
There's no need to be the sole administrator of your website – other staff members can have their own logins. The primary administrator of a WordPress site can set up multiple users, and assign different access levels to different users.

7. Blogging is built in
WordPress started life as a blogging platform, so blogging is built in and easy to integrate. Setting up newsletter subscriptions and commenting is very simple. You can also add your most recent blog posts to other pages of your site, like your home page.

8. Increase what your website can do with plugins
"Plugins" are bits of code that allow certain things to happen on your site. They have already been written, so there's no need for your web developer to write this code from scratch. Plugins are either free or cheap to buy. There will be some configuration required – you can't just buy a plugin, press a button and go. If you're not technically-minded, your web developer will do this for you. Plugins allow your site to have features like event calendars, video galleries and Twitter feeds.

9. Large community
As the world's most popular CMS, there's a lot of free support out there. If you're not sure how to do something, you can search for it on Google. There's usually someone out there with suggestions!

10. It also does eCommerce
WordPress websites can be set up to sell your products online, using a system called WooCommerce.

 

If an easy-to-use Content Management System sounds like the kind of thing you are after, drop us a line for a no-obligation chat about your requirements.

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What colours should I use on my website?

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What colours should i use on my website

When we’re designing a new website for a business, we consider aspects such as layout, navigation and responsiveness (i.e. how content will be displayed on different devices).

Another very important consideration is colour. The colours featured in your web design can have an impact on how users feel about your business.

Choosing the best colour scheme
When we’re working on a colour scheme, we consider existing business branding. The colours must be consistent with your overall brand. If your colours don’t translate well to your web design, perhaps you should consider a re-brand.

You should also think about your audience and what colours will appeal to them. Different colours will appeal to different age groups and genders. Using customer personas may help you determine who your audiences are.

Why is colour vital?
First and foremost, colour will help to make your website visually appealing. The more attractive and user-friendly your website is, the more likely visitors are to stay there (and ultimately buy your product or service). First impressions count, so you need ensure your web design colours give customers a positive feeling about your business.

Colour can also impact the readability of information on your website. No matter how interesting your content is, if the text and background colour combinations make it difficult to read users will get frustrated and leave your site. So it’s important to use colours that are easy to focus on and make your text stand out clearly. For this reason, we usually use a dark text on a light background.

Another reason why colour is important is that it can evoke certain emotions. It may sound strange but research has found this to be true! Colours can have an impact on what people think, how they feel and what actions they take - so it’s essential that you use colours that evoke the right emotions.

Colour meanings
To give you an idea of how this works, here are the colour meanings of some of the most popular colours used in website design.

Blue
Blue is regarded as a safe, trustworthy and reliable colour, which is why it is so commonly used in business web design. In fact we use it for our own website and branding! It’s reported to evoke feelings of calm and relaxation, highlighting the business as reliable and experienced. Just think of some of the most trusted brands: PayPal, Barclays Bank and Ford.

Red
Red is strong, dynamic and passionate. It’s often used on ‘Sale’ signs on websites as it creates a feeling of urgency and excitement. It’s thought to encourage customers to complete a call to action.

Orange
Orange is seen as warm and energising. Sainsbury’s has been using orange as its brand colour for decades. It’s considered ‘friendly’ and will invite users to complete the call to action on your website, rather than making them feel like they must do it immediately. It’s useful for highlighting call to action buttons like Subscribe and Follow.

Green
Green tends to inspire people and make them feel optimistic. Green is also an obvious colour choice for businesses needing to highlight their environmental values and credentials. See Oxfam and Waitrose as examples.

Purple
Purple has connotations of wealth and luxury, which is why it is often used by ‘high end’ businesses. It also has a slightly feminine and romantic feel, making it popular with beauty, fashion and luxury goods websites. If you’re going to use purple, it might be better to use small hints so it’s not too overpowering. Asprey and Hallmark both use hints of purple to great effect on their websites.

Using white space on your website
Colour is essential to web design but white plays a crucial role too. White space lets your content ‘breathe’ and makes it easier to read. Some people don’t like white space in their own marketing materials and web design, thinking they need to fill it with something! But white space will prevent your content from becoming cluttered and will give your website a more professional and user-friendly feel. Countless eCommerce websites use plenty of white space, like House of Fraser, the BBC and Google of course.

If you need advice or tips on best practice for website design, feel free to drop us a line.

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20 steps to help your local small business get found on Google

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Get your small business found on Google

Local SEO has grown significantly over the last few years, particularly given the rise of smartphone use.

Local SEO is focused on providing results that are relevant to a potential customer, based on their current location. For example, if someone searches for “best coffee shop” online, Google would provide the results for businesses that are nearest to them. So if your business relies on footfall from customers in a certain area, it’s essential to get your local SEO right.

Here are 20 steps you can take to help your local small business get found on Google.

1. Have a well-designed website.

2. Make sure it’s responsive, i.e. it works just as well on a mobile device as it does on a desktop computer or laptop.

3. Include a blog. Google loves words, so the more copy you have on your website, and the more up-to-date it is, the more likely you are to be found by Google and rank higher in their search results.

4. Include your business address and phone number in your website header/footer.

5. Include a customer reviews/testimonials page.

6. Add a contact page with your address, phone number and an embedded Google map showing your location.

7. Try to have original, high-quality content on every page.

8. Make sure your content is written with SEO in mind. Use a tool like Google Keyword Planner and pick keywords your target customers will be using (you’ll need to set up a Google AdWords account to access this, but it’s free if you don’t actually place any ads).

9. Make sure you have a ‘clean URL’ for every page, i.e. the web address for a page makes sense and is relevant to the content on that page.

10. Give every page a page title.

11. Write a unique description for each page using the keywords you have picked.

12. Use unique and keyword-optimised h1 and h2 heading tags (see step 20 below!).

13. Make sure every image you use has an alt-tag.

14. Link to other pages within your own website.

15. List your company on Google My Business (it’s free). Include a link to your website on the listing.

16. Set up a Facebook business page, and make sure you include your address, phone number, web address, business hours and a short description of what you do.

17. Set up your business on other local directories like Yell.com, Yelp, Foursquare, etc.

18. Open a Google Search Console account. It’s a free service that helps you monitor and maintain your website's presence in Google search results.

19. Open a Google Analytics account and track your website traffic.

20. Ask your local, friendly web developer if you need any help!

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Where am I? 10 tips for the ideal website navigation menu

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website navigation tips

Think about the last time you visited a large department store, looking for a specific item. As you walked in, the first place you probably looked is the directory on the wall. It’s the same with your website.

The most important part of your website is the navigation menu. This is the primary way your visitors will navigate your website, so making sure it’s easy to use is critical.

Why is this important? Well, most website visitors have limited time, limited patience, and a short attention span. If they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they will leave your site and go elsewhere.

So here are 10 tips for a perfect navigation menu that will help improve your website’s usability.

1. You should only have one navigation menu.
Having more than one will look messy and more importantly, it will be confusing.

2. Try not to “be different” for the sake of it.
We were recently asked to try a vertical menu, placed on the right-hand side of the page, in order to stand out from other websites.

Distinguishing yourself from your competitors is essential in marketing, but your website’s navigation is not the way to do this. Users expect a certain layout, and will not stay on your website if they can’t find what they want quickly.

3. The ideal navigation menu should be horizontal.

We’re not opposed to vertical menus. But website visitors will expect a horizontal menu, and you want to make things as easy and intuitive as possible.

4. Make it stand out.
The navigation menu should stand out from the rest of the page, while still working with the overall colour scheme.

5. Try not to have more than seven menu items.
People like to move fast while on the web. If they are faced with 10 or more menu options, they will have to read them all first to find what they’re looking for. You want a menu that users can process with a fast scan of the page. If you can trim seven down to six or five, even better.

6. Organise links in a hierarchical structure.
If you have lots of menu items, the best way to achieve a clear structure is with drop-down menus. This allows website users to process large amounts of information quickly by breaking it down into smaller chunks.

Some website developers aren’t big fans of drop-down menus, saying they can be frustrating for users and possibly harder for Google to ‘crawl’ (see our blog post on SEO for an explanation of this). But if you have a lot of website content to point to, the best option is to use drop-downs.

7. Never go more than three levels deep.
One of the rules of website usability design is to have all the information available within three clicks from the homepage.

If you bury a piece of information under a multitude of pages, not only will you make it difficult to find, but your visitors are unlikely to dig deeper than three clicks to reach it.

8. Use descriptive titles in your navigation menu.
The language you use in your menu should be natural and easy to understand. For example, the menu item “Team” can be changed to “Meet Our Team”, so the user knows exactly what to expect when they visit this page.

This is not just helpful for users. With more descriptive menu items, Google bots can better understand your page as they crawl through the website reading its content. So think first about the words your customers are looking for, and secondly, think of Google and search engine optimisation.

9. Think about the order of your navigation items.
Order matters in website navigation. User experience studies have shown that website visitors tend to remember links on either end of the navigation most vividly. So put your most important items at the beginning of the navigation and the least important items in the middle. “Contact” should be the last item on the list, putting it at the far right in top-level horizontal navigation - a standard location.

10. Your logo should always navigate to the home page.
This isn’t strictly related to your navigation menu but we think it’s worth mentioning. A common mistake is to have your logo exist merely as an image on the homepage. Visitors generally expect to be taken back to the homepage when they click on a company logo, so make sure yours does this.

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Search Engine Optimisation: an A to Z (part 2)

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SEO a to z

OK so we've covered the letters A to M.

This time let's take a look at N to Z, starting with...

 

Natural / organic search results

Search engine results which are not sponsored or paid for.

 

Nofollow tag

The nofollow tag is a way website owners can tell search engines not to count some of their links to other pages as 'votes' in favour of that content. This can help to inform search engines that you're not involved in any schemes deemed as unacceptable SEO practices, such as link farms. A form of 'Link condom'.

 

Noindex

Noindex code does exactly what it suggests - it tells search engines NOT to index the page, so that it cannot be found in searches. Noindex is used by website developers on any page that they don’t want users to find otherwise. For example, a link from an email giving recipients a special offer.

 

Non-reciprocal links

One-way inbound links to your website that originate from other sites. Search engines give more value to these one-way links as they are less likely to be the result of collusion between websites.

 

Organic links

Organic links are published to add value for users of your website, and are therefore good SEO practise. They are more likely to appear in a context relevant to the subject of the website.

 

PageRank

A value between 0 and 1 assigned by the Google algorithm, which quantifies link popularity and trust (among other factors). PageRank is a way of measuring the importance of website pages. It works by counting the number and quality of links to a page to determine a rough estimate of how important the website is. The underlying assumption is that more important websites are likely to receive more links from other sites.

 

Portal

A web service which offers a wide range of features to encourage users to make the portal their 'home page' on the internet, for example Google, MSN, BBC.

 

Pay Per Action (PPA)

Similar to Pay Per Click (see below) except advertisers only pay when click-throughs result in conversions.

 

Pay Per Click (PPC)

An advertising method where the advertisers only pay when a user clicks on their ad. Google Adwords is the most widely-used brand of PPC advertising.

 

Redirect

A way of changing the address of a landing page, for example when a website is moved to a new domain.

 

Return On Investment (ROI)

Widely used in business; in an online context software such as Google Analytics is used to measure ROI and therefore the cost vs benefit of different online marketing methods.

 

Search engine

A programme which searches web pages for relevant matches of keywords/phrases, and returns a list of the most relevant matches. The most widely-used is Google, followed by Bing and Yahoo.

 

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Researching, submitting and positioning a website within search engines to achieve maximum exposure. SEM includes things such as SEO, paid listings and other search-engine related services to increase traffic to your website.

 

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

So here it is! SEO is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a website by achieving a high rank in the search results of a search engine. The higher the search rankings, the greater the chance that users will visit the site. Most people won't look past the first few pages of search results, therefore a high rank in SERPs is essential for obtaining traffic.

 

SERP

Search Engine Results Page.

 

Site map

A page or group of pages which link to every page on a website. The site map can help users to navigate their way around a website, particularly a large and complex one. In terms of SEO, a site map helps spiders to find and then index all of the pages.

 

Spamdexing

Another Black Hat SEO technique. It's the practice of changing or creating web pages to increase the chance of them being placed close to the beginning of search engine results, or to influence the category to which the page is assigned in a dishonest manner. Many search engines check for instances of spamdexing and will remove suspect pages from their indexes.

 

Spider

See Bot above.

 

Splash page

Often animated graphics pages without much text. Splash pages are intended to look appealing to humans. However search engine spiders only navigate through text and may therefore ignore splash pages. So in terms of SEO, they're best avoided.

 

Static page

Web pages that consist only of HTML and images. Static pages are good for SEO in that they are friendly to search engine spiders.

 

Sticky content

Content published on a website which has the purpose of getting a user to return to that particular website or hold their attention and get them to spend longer periods of time there. Examples of 'sticky' websites are forums, news sites and blogs.

 

Supplemental results

Pages with very low PageRank, which are still relevant to a search query, often appear in the search engine results page with a label of 'Supplemental Result'.

 

Time on page

The amount of time that a user spends on one page before leaving. It's therefore an indication of quality and relevance.

 

URL

Uniform Resource Locator - or your web address.

 

User Generated Content (UGC)

Any form of website content such as text, video, blogs, images, audio files etc., created by people and publicly available to others. Social media sites, wikis, and blogs rely heavily on UGC.

 

White Hat SEO techniques

These techniques conform to best practice guidelines and do not attempt to unscrupulously manipulate SERPs.

 

So that's it for now. There's a lot more to SEO than first meets the eye, and we're sure there's even more that could be added to this list.

If you're now more confused than ever, or are interested in hearing more about how we can help with your website's SEO, get in touch.

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Search Engine Optimisation: an A to Z (part 1)

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SEO a to z

Don't know your Algorithm from your Index? Don't worry, you're not alone.

Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is basically a way of helping your website to appear as near to the top of search rankings as possible. It can be a bewildering area for the beginner. There are numerous concepts to get your head round, and that's before you start trying to understand all the associated jargon.

Perhaps you're taking the first steps in improving your own website's SEO, or are considering getting an expert to help you.

Either way, we thought we'd help by offering an A to Z guide to SEO, starting with the letters A to M. Oh, and we've thrown in some other web and online advertising-related jargon that might help too...

 

Algorithm

A programme used by search engines (like Google or Yahoo) to determine what web pages to suggest for a given search query.

 

Alt text

A description of a graphic element or picture on a website. Not usually visible to the end user, but used by search engines.

 

Analytics

A programme which assists in gathering and analysing data about website usage. Google Analytics is a popular free analytics programme (but you might need some help from your web developer to get started).

 

Anchor text

The blue, underlined text of a link on a search results page. It's the clickable link that takes you to the web page. Good SEO practice is to ensure that your anchor text is relevant to the content of the page.

 

Authority / Trust

The amount of trust that a website is credited with for a particular search term. Authority comes from related links coming in from other trusted sites. The BBC, for example, is an 'authority site' partly due to the huge number of web links it contains from other trusted websites.

 

Backlink

Any link into a page or website from any other page or website.

 

'Black Hat' SEO techniques

Techniques that do not abide by best practises like Google Webmaster Guidelines. Black Hat techniques are frowned upon by Google. If discovered your website could be blacklisted and won't appear on any search results - so make sure you don't use them!

 

Bot (robot, spider, crawler)

A programme used by search engines to look around the web, find web pages, and add them to their search indexes.

 

Bounce rate

The number of users, expressed as a percentage, who enter a website and then leave it without visiting any other pages.

 

Breadcrumbs

Website navigation in a horizontal bar above the main content. It helps the user to understand where they are on the website, and navigate back to the main menu or sub-menus.

 

Click fraud

'Fake' clicks on a Pay Per Click advert, for the purpose of gaining revenue for the publisher.

 

Cloaking

When a website delivers different content to the search engine spider than that seen by the user. The aim of cloaking is to deceive search engines so they display the page when it would not otherwise be displayed. It's a Black Hat SEO technique that should be avoided.

 

Code swapping

Submitting a text-only version of a web page in order to gain high rankings for that page. Once the desired positions within the search engines are achieved, the text page is swapped for a page of content and images designed for human viewers. Another Black Hat SEO technique to be avoided - and the spiders will eventually return and catch up with you.

 

Comment spam

Posting blog comments for the sole purpose of generating a link to your site. Many blogs use a 'link condom' to prevent this (we're not making this up!).

 

Content

The text or copy in a website. Advertising, branding and navigation are not usually considered to be content.

 

Content Management System (CMS)

Programmes like WordPress, which allow non-technical users to easily update their own website without the need for a web developer. See some of ours here.

 

Contextual advert

Advertising which is related to the content of the website.

 

Conversion

The achievement of a measurable goal on a website, for example a sale, newsletter sign-up or software download.

 

Conversion rate

The percentage of users who convert (see above). This can be difficult to measure offline, for example a purchase at a bricks and mortar shop following a website visit.

 

Cost Pr Click (CPC)

The rate that an online advertiser pays for every click through from their advert.

 

CPM

Metric used by Google AdWords to quantify the average cost of PPC (Pay Per Click) adverts – M meaning one thousand.

 

Directory

A website devoted to directory pages, for example the Yahoo directory.

 

Directory page

A page of links to other web pages.

 

Doorway page (or gateway)

A web page that is designed to attract traffic from a search engine and then redirect it to another page. Doorway pages that redirect visitors without their knowledge are another form of Black Hat SEO.

 

Feed

Frequently updated content which is delivered to users. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.

 

Frames

A web page where two or more documents appear on the same screen, each within its own frame. Good web designers avoid using frames; they are bad for SEO because they can confuse spiders. Frames are often disliked by human users too, as they can be difficult to read.

 

HTML

Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. HTML is the main language for creating web pages, and is therefore the 'mother tongue' of search engines. The content of your website's HTML code will bring benefits for your website’s usability and SEO.

 

Impression

One user's view of a web page on one occasion. Also known as Page View.

 

Keywords

One or more words typed into a search engine by a user describing what they are looking for. For example, “Book shop Leamington Spa” or “Cheap villa holidays.” Keywords are an important part of SEO, but should be used along with a number of other SEO practices for optimum search ranking.

 

Keyword cannibalisation

The excessive use of the same keyword on too many pages within the same website. So multiple pages specifically target the same content, to the point where the search engine struggles to determine which page is most relevant for the search query.

 

Keyword density

The percentage of particular keywords on a web page. If this percentage is unnaturally high, this is known as 'keyword stuffing' and your web page may be penalised. You should aim to make your content readable to a human, not full of contrived sentences.

 

Keyword research

Determining which keywords are appropriate for your business to target.

 

Keyword stuffing

(See Keyword density above). The act of filling your web content with keywords to the detriment of clear and appealing copy.

 

Landing page

The website page that a user arrives at when they click on a link to your website.

 

Link

An element on a web page that can be clicked to go to another page.

 

Link bait

A web page designed to attract incoming links, often via social media.

 

Link building

Actively cultivating incoming links to a website.

 

Link exchange

A reciprocal linking scheme. Link exchanges can allow links to poor quality websites, such as directories. Large link exchange schemes or networks can be detected algorithmically, so you'll end up being penalised by Google sooner or later. Good quality directories are usually edited by humans for quality assurance.

 

Link farm

A group of websites which all link to each other. Link farms are only intended for spiders and have little value to human users. Therefore link farms are often counted as Black Hat SEO, and are ignored or penalised by search engines.

 

Link popularity

The measure of the value of a website based on the number – but more importantly the quality – of websites that link to it.

 

Link spam

Similar to Comment spam (see above). Unwanted links posted on your website, for example in your blog's comments section.

 

Long tail search

A search term that a user types into a search engine, containing three or more words. For example “Cheap villa holidays in Greece with swimming pool” rather than “Villa holidays.” If you use long tail search keywords in your SEO, the traffic your website receives will be better quality.

 

Meta tags

Statements within the HEAD section of an HTML page which provide information about the page. Meta information may be shown in the search engine results page but is not visible on the web page. It's vital to have unique and accurate meta title and description tags, because they are likely to be the information that the search engines use to determine what the page is about. Also, they are the first impression that users get about your website on the results page.

 

OK so that's A to M dealt with. Keep your eyes peeled for our next blog post, which will cover the letters N to Z.

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