Entries from January 2007 ↓

As part of my break from New Media Designs, I’ve decided to re-ignite an old domain as my new portfolio Neue – Web Design Leeds (German for ‘new ‘which is quite poinyont as my lifes going in new directions) At the moment it just contains some recent new media work, but as time goes on it will blossom into a feast of my creations, past and present.

1. NOT UPDATING YOUR WEBSITE
   I see it every day and I understand that your website may not be at the top of your list of priorities when you’re meeting new clients, creating new widgets etc, but having news thats 3 months out of date (or more) is inexcusable! And this issue has been around for many years… c’mon guys. if you’re investing £x,000 in a website then why not spend 10 minutes updating it.
    
2. NOT CREATING AN EMAIL LIST
   And im especially talking to the ecommerce site owners out there… theres no better way of increasing your revenue that by selling more to customers who already trust your website and products! Ask your web designers how your users can be prompted to give away their email addresses etc.
    
3. UPDATING TO A CSS BASED DESIGN WITHOUT REALLY KNOWING WHY
   Yes CSS is kewl, and your designers probably talked you around by telling you the benefits but is your website really available across platforms (MOBILE / Accessible etc) or is it just the same as a table based design only done in CSS? (This is one of my major gripes)
    
4. HAVING AN INACCESSIBLE WEBSITE
   The accessibility issue has been around for ages. and despite what you may have been told, you can have an accessible version of your website for a relatively low price… simply ask your web designers to investigate text only versions of your existing site. It is the law after all.
    
5. HAVING A RE-DESIGN THAT MIMICS A COMPETITOR’S WEBSITE
   Im often shown websites by prospective clients that are ‘good’ just because they have similar information on them… My usual answer to this is to get clients to look at different industries because after all, an existing website is already OLD!
    
6. RELYING ON YOUR WEBSITE TOO MUCH
   Again i see this all the time. A website is never going to be up and at them 100% of the time, as no hosting company guarantees 100% uptime and when this happens your opportunity to make money halts… and this is just a one off symptom of a larger issue. If you have a website thats working for you, great! just remember to plough some of the profit back into other methods of marketing your business. Keep releasing press releases, mail shotting customers, email marketing and having an annual brochure as in the long run these too will help to increase your profitability.
    
7. RELYING ON ADWORDS
   Adwords is great at attracting new custom but this is a simple and costly solution to something that can be rectified. Invest in search engine marketing and have your website appear in the natural listings (left hand side)… and after 6 months or so you should be able to turn off adwords and keep more profit.
    
8. NOT USING YOUR WEBSITE AS AN INTEGRATED MARKETING TOOL
   As everyone has Internet access it makes sense for you to use your website in the day to day marketing of your business, when you’re out and about. Why not upload presentations to your website, have special services and sales aids or retain up to the minute financial presentations displayable via your website… I do it all the time and its great!
    
9. NO BLOG
   Blogging is great because its informal. You dont have to worry about pleasing everyone as theyre intended to be your personal opinion. Blogging is quick and enables you to react quickly to news, posting your own version of events and establishing you as a trusted expert in your respective industries.
    
10. THINKING BIG AND BEING IMPERFECT WHEN BEING SMALL IS BETTER
    We’ve taken on a number of projects in the last 12 months where the client wants an all encompassing solution which has a lot off issues (too many to go into here) where we have advised on the development of a small solution that focuses on generating money and adding value for the users. So when you’ve got the next MYSPACE concept, first think, how small can i make this project in order to reduce overheads and make more money.