Bloggertone updates

The Good The Bad And The Truly Ugly Of Web Design

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 11:50 PM PDT

The famous Clint Eastwood film has been used as a reference to describe various degrees of competence and ability in many different disciplines. And web design is no different. An hour or two surfing the web will leave you in no doubt as to the varying abilities of web designers and the difference in priority some companies have in relation to how important they view their websites. Our question to you … is…are you doing everything possible to make sure your site not only wins beauty pageants but works well for your target audience too?

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder

What looks great to you and your web designer may not please everyone. And the chances are, you'll never make everyone happy. Visitors to your site will make snap judgements in a matter of seconds and your site's job is to convince them it's worth staying around a bit longer to have a more detailed look.

Does your website reflect your brand's personality?

From colours and shades to navigation and accessibility, your website will say much about your business. Make sure your branding is clear and consistent with its offline presentation. The same people may well be looking at your site and signage in both online and offline contexts. Consistency is crucial.

The degree of professionalism exhibited on your site is also very important. Crisp, clear images taken by a professional photographer is definitely the way to go. When planning layout and images, always be wary of trying to do too much on one page. This will result in your site appearing a bit 'busy'. This can be very distracting and will detract focus from your main message.

Links need to stand out

If you want your links to be clicked upon make them clear. It is a good idea to use different colours and make sure the links in question are underlined. As a link is technically a call to action, be wary of asking your visitors to do too much. So, positioning several links close by in a sentence may result in people clicking on the least important one.

Old, tired sites are found throughout the web and a website that cost a lot five years ago may not be quite up to scratch today. The Internet is a dynamic industry and every year there seems to be a new trend or facility that is a real tell-tale sign of the age of a website. Another aspect that needs to be managed is content. Out-of-date content is a real giveaway. Not long ago, I noticed an SME's site talk about special offers for September 2010! If you don't take your site seriously, neither will your clients.

In the current multi-platform era, don't forget to test your site and see how it works in browsers and on mobile platforms. A good website is consistent with your brand in the offline world. But it is something that needs to be worked on and maintained at every opportunity. Work closely with your designers and produce a site that does the business for you.

I hope you found these suggestions helpful. Do you have any too?

Did you like this article? Sign up for our RSS, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter

Image: "web design concept and other related words"/Shutterstock"

When A Blog Becomes A Business: Hunters Lodge Living

Posted: 20 Aug 2012 03:56 AM PDT

I love hearing about small businesses that have been formed from hobbies recorded on a blog. There seem to be more and more industrious people who start off by writing about their hobby in a blog and once they garner some good traffic, they start to see how it can become a business.

Hunters Lodge provides self sufficiency courses in poultry keeping as well as other small farm animals. Having read Fiona Dillon's blog and now also her columns in a national magazine, and listening to her on local radio shows about how effective a blog can be in marketing your business, I decided to interview her.

Fiona, can you describe your business for us please?

My business is all about growing and rearing food in your garden. I run classes here at Hunters Lodge during the Summer. I am a freelance writer, am hired for self-sufficiency consultancy work and I give talks to groups, garden centres and pet stores.

Fiona, I keep seeing your lovely picture on various magazines and hearing your dulcet tones on local radio - how did these opportunities come about because of your blog?

One word – chickens! Both these opportunities were created because of my poultry-keeping experience. Let me explain…not long into my blogging career, I got a call from the Farmers Journal asking could they feature me in Irish Country Living (the lifestyle supplement in the Farmers Journal). You can imagine my surprise (and delight) to hear that the editor was a fan of my blog! I went from being featured in Irish Country Living to being a feature writer in Irish Country Magazine. KCLR96fm also found my blog and I got a call to answer a question on poultry-keeping on air, over the phone. Now I have a regular slot on The Sue Nunn Show, talking about all aspects of life at Hunters Lodge.

When you started your blog was it to record your sustainable way of living or did you start it as a business blog?

For many years I was without doubt, the quintessential career girl. I worked insane hours and had four children so life was hectic to say the least. In January 2009 I got very ill and the future looked like a blur of consultants and medication. After some soul-searching, the business suits were swapped for wellies and within three months of being diagnosed with Graves Disease, I was in remission and medication free.

Losing the stress of life in the corporate world meant that I went from hurtling towards a thyroid storm to being the picture of health. As my new life unfolded, my friends were intrigued with my goal to produce dinners for my family solely from garden produce. So my blog started for my friends and family.

I see your daughter Ruth is being featured on television - did this come about as an indirect use of your blog too?

Yes! I got a call from Buckshee TV asking would I know of any 8 or 9 years that might have attended my Keeping Chickens class. They were looking for someone of that age to present an RTE programme about chickens. So you would think that immediately I said "yes, my daughter is 9 years old and a poultry-keeper" but initially I didn't even think of her! In my head I was going through all the youngsters that had attended my classes with their parents and then it dawned on me – Ruth was exactly what they were looking for.

What about other social media -which platforms have promoted your business well?

Over the years I had learned the hard way that an advertising budget can become a bottomless pit very easily, often with negligible results. The decision to go from simply being an online diary to a small business was made on the premise that the transition would be as stress free as possible. My health was my priority, and there would be no major advertising campaigns or promotions, no loans, no overdrafts. Instead, I used Facebook and Twitter to convey my message. A combination of my blog, Facebook and Twitter has allowed me to run a stress-free, successful small business.

Do you know which blog post has brought you the most business?

Actually no. I think it's a combination of a lot of posts. There are so many aspects to this lifestyle and I think it's a combination of these that appeal to people. So I have readers that follow some or all aspects of what I do e.g chickens & baking, pigs & veg growing or indeed, all aspects.

In your opinion, is social media about growing brand awareness, creating relationships or what else?

For me, social media is THE most cost-effective way for me to promote my business. People learn to trust you and engage with you and these social media relationships are the cornerstone of my business.

Have you any tips for other fledging businesses regarding using social media?

Well I don't consider myself to be in the least bit "techie" but I love to write and share all ups and downs of life at Hunters Lodge. I highly recommend blogging, but you must be committed. Readers don't want to visit my blog to find that my last post was weeks ago. I always remind myself of the texts from my friends before I started blogging that said "what are you doing now"?

Social media allows me to keep my readers updated with what I am doing now. It can be time consuming but consistency is the key. Having said that, don't ever blog just for the sake of it. Readers aren't stupid and if you are not passionate when you write, it will be immediately evident. But if like me, you love to write, commitment will be easy…

Do check out Fiona's blog at Hunters Lodge Living - living proof that a blog can become a very successful, small and thriving business.

Did you like this article? Sign up for our RSS, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

id33b1

marți, 21 august 2012