Web Design Blog brought to you by Istech Technology Services, Kilkenny, Ireland. The focus of this blog is about web design, web development, search engine optimisation (SEO) and general internet issues for small businesses.
Irish Music Legends features band information, concerts reviews, discographies, line-ups etc. and the following bands/artists are featured:
Altan, Mary Black, Frances Black, The Black Velvet Band, Danu, De Danann, Dervish, Martin Hayes, Hothouse Flowers, Horslips, In Tua Nua, Eileen Ivers, Dolores Keane, Kila, Lúnasa, Moving Hearts, Maura O’Connell, The Pogues, Sharon Shannon and The Waterboys.
Irish Music Legends
We wish Brian all the very best with his new website.
Eoin
Larchwood Lodge, currently offered for sale, is a stunning 305 sq.m (3,400 sq.feet) eco house set on 4.2 acres in the beautiful Sunny South East close to some of the country’s best beaches and all the lovely region has to offer. The house was described by Construct Ireland Magazine as ‘an eco-statement par excellence’. This should come as no major surprise having been built by Riko House, the same eco house manufacturer that won ‘Best Off-Site’ timber building in London in the 2007 Wood Awards as well as being a finalist in the 2007 ‘Grand Designs’ awards.
Larchwood Lodge Eco House
We wish John and Carol every success with their new website.
Eoin
Abstract: A look at the area call to action concepts targeted towards small businesses, organizations and sole traders.
Intended Audience: Small Business Owners/webmasters and anyone new to the world of web design and search engine optimization (SEO) particularly those working with small businesses, organizations and sole traders.
A call to action is an advertising and marketing concept. It is a request or direction to do something, usually it’s the next step that a website visitor could take toward the purchase of a product or service or make contact.
It is important that websites include a call to action not just on the home page but other pages such as the contact page. Examples of calls to actions are:
• Request a free quote today
• Sign-up for our e-newsletter
• Buy now for €19.99
Typically such calls to action are displayed as high visibility graphic images in order to catch the visitor’s attention. If your website doesn’t have some calls to action then it’s likely that its effectiveness has been greatly diminished. The majority of visitors to your website are likely to be interested in your company’s product and services and you may have missed a potential conversion opportunity by not presenting them with a clear and highly visible call to action.
Objectives that you have established for your website may include selling your products or services, document downloads, newsletter registration etc. When the visitors reach a point where they have decided your website has something that interests them you need to have the facilities to convert this interest into a possible sale, call back request etc. This is the function of a call to action, a clear step to tell visitors what you want them to do.
Every visit to your website should be considered a valuable commodity and without call to actions you may be missing precious conversion opportunities. As a first step you should compile a list of the most popular pages on your website, from a website statistics package such as Google Analytics, and plan a strategy of adding calls to action on these pages.
The following points should be considered when adding calls to action to your website.
• Distinctive: The call to action should relate to what the visitor might be looking for i.e. a call to action on a contact might feature an enquiry form entitled get in touch.
• Page Location: Calls to action should be placed towards the top of a web page, do not expect a visitor to scroll down to view your call to action. Research states that 60% to 80% of website visitors will not scroll down a web page.
• Page Availability: You should consider placing your most important call to action on as many pages as possible. It is rarely enough to place a call to action on only one web page. The number of calls to action that a web page may contain is open to some debate and will vary from business to business and some experimentation is likely to be required.
• Colour Scheme: A consistent colour scheme should be developed for call to action graphics so they can be easily distinguished by visitors.
• Language: Brief and specific language can help visitors to take action.
• Dimension: The dimensions of call to actions should be a large as possible within the constraints of your website design.
Implementing calls to action will help convert website visitors to customers.
Eoin
Abstract: A look at the area of aesthetic web design targeted towards small businesses, organizations and sole traders.
Intended Audience: Small Business Owners/webmasters and anyone new to the world of web design and search engine optimization (SEO) particularly those working with small businesses, organizations and sole traders.
A website design combines various fundamentals to make a website successful. The function of a website is to bridge the gap between an organisation and its online target audience. It takes more then one aspect of a website to produce a satisfactory online presence for potential visitors. The Internet is primarily a visual medium so the appearance of a website is a key factor in the design process.
Aesthetic web design does not have to be as convoluted or as expensive as it may seem, with a little research and some creative application a website with a high quality web design can take shape. The visuals and aesthetics of a website must be striking enough to encourage a visitor and stay and explore the website.
Small businesses, particularly those embarking on their first website project are often unsure about how to approach the design component of a website construction project. To get started a small business should:
• Find other websites belonging to other companies or organisations involved in similar business activities. It is often best to look beyond local competitors and potentially view the websites of comparable companies in other countries
• Make a list of the websites that are appealing and note the items that attractive and may be applicable in some form to your website project
• Note the use of graphics, the layout, colour scheme, navigation and the general use of the space
All of these elements combine to focus the website’s design to two basic factors; appearance and usability. Where possible you should attempt to guide your web designer in terms of appearance while they are responsible for finding the balance between aesthetics and usability.
It should always be remember that the pursuit of a visually striking web design should never be to detriment of the website’s content. The website’s content must be accessible, for the visitor, by means of a well defined navigation structure and organised content. Internet users have notoriously short attention spans so the aesthetic design, usability and content must blend together as a single entity.
The key messages of this article are that research is a pre-requisite for good web design as is a close partner type relationship with your web design organisation.
Eoin
Rytec, based in Kilkenny, are one of Ireland’s leading Suppliers of EPOS Touchscreen Systems, Cash Registers, Till Rolls, Keys, Manuals and Money Trays.
We wish Noreen and her team every success in the future.
Eoin
Drake’s Club is a website we developed for Parkford Developments (UK) to help them sell plots of land in Dinan, Brittany, France. It has a unique theme based on the English Sea Captain, Sir Francis Drake.
We wish Paul and Darren every success with their latest venture.
Eoin
The Sport Injury Surgery website is the brainchild of Dr. Breandán Long, consultant orthopaedic surgeon. The site was designed as an information resource and includes a patient information section and a sports injury blog.
http://www.sportsinjurysurgery.org/
We wish Breandán every success with his new information portal website.
Eoin
Green Energy Building Services are professional BER Assessors and Quantity Surveyors.
www.greenenergybuildingservices.org
We wish Barry every success in the future.
Wexford Diesel Services supply, repair, maintain and calibrate diesel fuel injection pumps and systems for all makes of cars, light commercials, heavy goods vehicles in addition to agricultural, marine and industrial engines.
We wish Willie and his team every success in the future.
Eoin
Our web design blog for small business contains lots of useful tips and advice to help you get the most from your website...
“Istech have provided me with a truly professional web design service customised to my needs and budget”
Dr. Sanjay Hirekodi Absolute Dental Care
www.absolutedental.ie
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