Potential Cardiff seo and web design market

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

There are a very few web design and seo companies in Cardiff, an old friend has started a web design and online marketing business in the heart of Cardiff some 3 years ago and I can see how good they are doing in the Cardiff and entire Wales market

Since the competition has been really low it has helped them save a lot on over-all marketing costs and as they are one of the best search engine optimisation and marketing company in Wales that provide customers with bespoke services on affordable price, this has helped them get loads of business from word of mouth

You can read my previous article on how to get a good customer review and a positive vote (Google review) when it comes to providing your customers with a bespoke customer service

On the other hand, I have had a chance to look in to the market over this weekend – I have personally travelled to Cardiff / Wales several times and I know the potential that lies ahead for web design and development agencies in there

For example, the friend I am talking about works with several Government organisations and top level firms based in UK and Europe including Prince’s trust, which is simply great looking at the company size (5 employees in total) and they have over 50 new clients every month which is simply great, is not it?

There is a great potential in Welsh market for a creative digital and social media marketing and web design in Cardiff and in my opinions locals from Cardiff / Wales should think of going ahead and doing their research on what they can do when it comes to establishing a business for their local and foreign customers

One thing which I like the most about Welsh companies and customers in general, if they are sold and you provide them good service at great prices; they are your customers for life! So never break your customer’s trust and always try your level best to provide them the best service you can!

Common Web Development Mistakes are Costing Companies Revenue

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

Many businesses over the last few years have taken to the web in the hopes of capturing new markets and not getting left behind as society is depending more and more on all things digital.

But simply having a website is no longer enough to secure customers online, as many businesses are finding they their website is falling victim to more efficient and appealing web designs which are better search engine optimised and more user friendly.

The most common mistake people are making is having a far too complicated website design. With more and more people of all ages and technology knowledge levels joining the masses online

And with attention spans more than halved when it comes to online activities, websites need to be simpler and easier to navigate to prevent them losing customer to better prepared competitors.

Another common complaint among internet users is compatibility. With mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets being a part of everyday life for many people in the age of digital.

It begs the question why so many websites are still using non-compatible web designs. Many business owners think the website they created years ago will stand up in today’s changing market

But the reality is websites need to be updated and adapted regularly to the advancement of technology and the evolution of the markets to ensure they continue to be a useful strategy for the company.

Many companies believe that having their website look and function in exactly the same way as their successful competitors is the key to retaining old and attracting new customers.

But the reality is that, although looking into what works well for your competitors is a good way to research your market’s needs, your website needs to be unique in its own right if you want to attract attention of new potential customers.

Ask your web developers to take a look at your competitor’s website and highlight what you like about it, and then allow them to create a design unique to your brand’s own message and personality while incorporating the aspects that worked well.

A fatal mistake make by businesses is assuming that once a website is made then people will come to it without any prompt.

There are billions of websites out there and search engines return results of thousands if not millions of website links for searches, so don’t just assume that people will find yours.

Talk to your web development company about how search engine optimised your website is, and what can be done to make it more SEO friendly. This will help your website to be found, if used in conjunction with other internet marketing tactics.

Do you know any great seo companies?

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

Normally other seo companies hardly talk about other search engine optimisation service providers but like always our focus is to help small business owners get the best out of their overall spending on their seo and web design and link building campaigns

We are therefore planning to list over 3000 SEO Companies worldwide that are both ethical, provide great service, support, ROI focused approach towards any online marketing campaigns as well as great pricing structure and wicked service to offer that helps businesses grow online

We are taking our first website directory online that lists only great web designing and seo companies worldwide based on the pricing and service and support

If you are an seo service provider or know a good company that you think should be listed, simply get in touch with us

On the other hand, our seo magazine gets circulated to over 30,000 businesses UK and Europe wide, no matter where you are based, If you wish to reach your target audience in the UK and Europe and that too for free, simply give us a call today and we will analyse your website and list if needed

Please provide below details for your listing:

Contact Person Name:

Contact Person Designation:

Phone Number

Fax Number:

Website URL:

Email:

Business Address:

A do follow link in our page rank 5 directory plus free one time insertion in our seo magazine that gets circulated across UK, Europe and on International locations (soon).

Details can be submitted on below contacts:

Email: support@drawpictures.co.uk

How a user friendly website generates more business?

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

It is far from difficult to create a user friendly website, and the benefits in doing so for your business are endless.

Stuck for what a user friendly site should be like? Just consider some of the sites you enjoy using, and then consider some that you don’t enjoy so much. The reason you enjoy using the first sites is because they are far more user friendly than the latter.

Obviously you are more likely to spend time using the sites you feel comfortable with and enjoy navigating, and you want your potential customers to get the same feeling from your site.

What makes a user-friendly website?

Simplicity is the key: For your site to have a user friendly web design, everything should be nicely spaced, not too busy, and simple to find your way around.

Don’t Overdo It With Graphics: Your site should tantalise the eyes with SOME graphics rather than being a full on assault of Flash and other forms of web graphics cluttering every inch of the page and that draw attention away from the main purpose of the site.

Easy To Navigate: If people can find exactly what they are looking for in a minimum number of clicks then your site is easy to navigate, and this will please users.

The most valuable navigation tool is the search box, as it allows people to go directly to what they want, or the area in which they are likely to find what they want. If however you have off putting extras such as ‘doorway’ pages, things become far less simple and it puts people off.

Allow Movement Back and Forth: There is nothing worse than realising you clicked the wrong thing and has to go right back to the start. Offer users a way to go back to where they previously were in a convenient fashion.

‘Breadcrumb trails’ are popular as they show users where they are and have been, and can easily take steps back, e.g. Home > SEO > Why choose us as your SEO Company?

Structure: Ensuring the most popular or attention grabbing site content is available at first glance, such as best sellers or current offers, will lead to more sales.

Having basic information about your company and contact information in a prominent place on your homepage is reassuring to browsers in an age where internet scams are everywhere.

Testing, 1,2, Testing: Ensure you test your website for functionality and appearance on all popular browsers and devices. Does you website work on Internet Explorer, Safari and Chrome?

Is you site mobile and tablet friendly? All these things must be tested regularly as devices and internet browsers are constantly updating and changing.

Keep Up To Date: People don’t want to see out of date information and offers on your site, so make sure you are regularly giving your site a spring clean to ensure its kept fresh and up to the minute.

Not only will this help keep customers happy, but it keeps your web design search engine friendly.

Be Clear: Be clear about costs, whether they include VAT, how much delivery will cost, any all other relevant information regarding your products and services.

Also be clear on policies such as shipping, returns and refunds, etc. If information is ambiguous and unclear then people will instantly be put off.

Design to Impress: When having a company site made, it needs to look 110% professional, and so it is advisable to call in some web design experts.

Give them a briefing on your target audience and brand, and they will be able to provide you with a professional design that is aimed to attract and impress your target customers and let your brand shine through in all areas.

Responsive web design, your visa to seo and social media marketing buzz

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

There is a lot going on when it comes to digital marketing and social media marketing, some people are saying, social media marketing signals are far more useful than the link building, while the others are still stuck in meta keywords and page rank, but you will hardly see those so called seo experts talking about creative and responsive web design that is the heart of everything

A lot has been written on this blog about search engine friendly web design however the statements change each time when there is a Google update or new rules are implemented when it comes to online marketing

Someone in the United States of America was earlier talking about ranking any websites that have been affected by Google’s January 2016 update, while others are talking about next level link building from top ranked blogs, fair enough, but what is wrong with those articles, press releases and directory sites which have always worked in previous years?

The answer is very simple – Those website’s that do not accommodate spam, gambling and casino websites and porn and so on still help in your search engine rankings increase, especially traffic but many seo specialists are now talking about Twitter, Google+, YouTube and even Facebook likes,

It is all good but at the same time there is nothing wrong with the link building when it comes to building backlinks in order to help your website visitors find yourself not the search engine’s friend yourself

Looking at the other side of the digital marketing and even social media optimisation strategy, 80% or more websites still lack search engine’s compatibility and there is hardly no or any focus at all,

there are very few online marketing companies that suggest customers to get their websites modified, all they want is money flowing in their bank accounts and they hardly care with what should have been done before starting the seo, social media and online marketing segments of any websites

What is really your point when you wish to spend thousands and millions of pounds to decorate 300 years old house? It is ridiculous, it definitely is, until unless you are not serious about your money and where it is going, those social media marketing and seo companies end up building stupid backlinks and keep sending you reports every-month and you are more than a happy man as they show traffic increase, why do you need the traffic increase if it’s not converting?

A good search engine optimisation company should always check the website compatibility with current search engine algorithms and online marketing strategy and how responsive your website is with today’s trends in mind, online marketing world is constantly changing after Google’ s serious attention towards kicking those which are still using the black hat seo strategies

Most businesses that are affected by this Google’s January 2016 update, they can simply get their website modified and get a responsive website and then write useful and descriptive title tags and that should be it – One of UK’s leading transportation have been effected by this update,

They were more than worried as the SEO Company hardly knew what to do and they end up saying, they cannot optimise their website anymore, but that’s not the solution, you have to find the problem and fix it

We have gone through their entire website and found no seo computability, they are big enough and have thousands people visiting their website but suddenly their website has lost its rankings, like everyone else and a brand-new, responsive website has helped them get their search engine rankings recovered

I am not saying just having a creative and responsive website will help, you have to get the bad-backlinks removed using Google disavow tool (link removal tool) and perform other checks and balances and its all good

Do not get sold if someone is suggesting you to handover your seo campaign to someone really freshy in search engine optimisation and marketing industry based in America or India, find a local seo company, ask questions like, if your website is good at all?

Do not throw your money on those cheeky and dodgy seo specialists which have entered in internet marketing industry for less than 3 years, chances are you would hardly get your search engine rankings recovered

Do not simply work with someone that tells you they have achieved these rankings or that, until unless you speak to their customers, check their own rankings, and find out, if the keywords that are ranking on Google are actually bringing any ROI at all?

You can easily and freely use Google keyword suggestion tool in order to find the rest or simply get in touch with me and I would be happily helping you find out if the seo company you are looking to hire is any good at all?

If your website is hard for your website visitors that is causing the main trouble to your online search engine rankings and conversions and ROI, get it sorted and you are a happy wo/man!

If you need any information or help with your seo and web design, simply use below contact details to reach our seo specialists and they will be more than glad to help you get to know what is causing trouble and that too for free:

Skype:      seocompany
Email:      support@drawpictures.co.uk
Phone:    +44 07375 320305
Online:    http://www.drawpictures.co.uk/contact-us/

Google’s Penguin update is most “human” yet, calling for businesses to assess whether their web design remains SEO friendly

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

With the release of Google’s recent Penguin update, now more than ever has been the vital time to assess websites for their compatibility with search engines, as the new update is said to be the biggest step in artificial intelligence for search yet.

Google’s Senior Vice President says in a blog about the latest step towards being more human, “This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.

We’ve always believed that the perfect search engine should understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want.”

The updates includes the addition of ‘The Knowledge Graph’, a feature designed by Google to make their search bots think more like humans, and they hope it will enable them to deliver even more accurate results for ambiguous search terms based on user intent.

Jack Menzei, Google’s product management director told CNN “The web pages we [currently] return for the search ‘kings,’ they’re all good.

You, as a human, associate those words with their real-world meaning but, for a computer, they’re just a random string of characters. [The Knowledge Graph] hones your search results right in on the task that you’re after.”

And with many companies still favouring more ‘traditional’ creative web design features such as Flash and over enthusiastic graphics with little focus on content and text, what will this change mean for their websites?

They will have to begin to look at things in a whole new light, through the eye of the searcher as Google has begun to.

Many businesses are already enlisting the help of web design companies in the UK to avoid losing revenue and web traffic due to the changes and to try to keep up with Google’s preferences.

Now focusing on the quality of text and content on websites, many will have to revamp the entire structure and overall image of their sites as well as quickly assess and add to their content to ensure it meets the high quality standards.

With the bar constantly being set higher, SEO web design is no easy task for even the professionals, but the key to success is keeping up with the fluctuating and ever more intelligent “thoughts” of the search engine.

Why an SEO friendly website is a must have for businesses in 2016

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

SEO, or search engine optimisation, is a method of analysis and constructing your website page by page so that it can be easily catalogued by the search bots of major search engines such as Google or Bing.

To be able to create a search engine friendly website you must know a lot not only about web design but also about how search engines work, what they look for and how they carefully select the pages that reach the top of their search results.

So why SEO friendly web design is a must this year? Here are just a few of the many reasons why it would greatly benefit your business:

Improved Brand Awareness

This is probably the most obvious benefit of SEO, as the higher up your website ranks on search engines, the more people will see and are likely to click on your company’s website link.

The meta descriptions used to help search bots pick up on what your site’s purpose is are also useful when it comes to the person searching determining if a link or company is going to be useful to them or not, so ensuring you have a brief and clear description of your company’s main purpose in the meta description plays a big part in improving brand awareness.

Increased Traffic and Online Sales

Naturally you want to increase your company’s sales by any means possible. Therefore driving traffic to your website is the first step to increasing sales, and the best way to drive traffic is through higher search engine rankings.

As mentioned in relation brand awareness, the higher your website is ranking on search engines, the more footfall you will have on your website.

Once you have this increased footfall, you then need to ensure you’re website is optimised for the process of converting visitors into customers. Which brings us to the next benefit…

User friendly and SEO friendly Go Hand In Hand

A cluttered, graphic heavy and hard to navigate site will not only put potential customers off, it will also deter search engine bots scouring your site for useful information.

If you have very little quality text, or if its hidden under far too many graphics and too much Flash, the search bots won’t find much of use and will move on to another site.

Your site needs to be well structured, uncluttered and full of quality SEO and user friendly information and content. There is nothing wrong with images and graphics, a site with none would be boring. But there can be too much of a good thing.

If In Doubt, Ask For Help

The best way to ensure you have an SEO friendly website design is to enlist the help of some experts. Web designers who specialise in business web design will look into your brand and your target audiences, and pair this information with what the search engines want to create an SEO friendly web design that shows your brand’s personality and is both search engine and user friendly.

What makes a search engine (SEO) friendly website?

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

Your website is the main online medium that connects you and your potential customers, but for them to discover your website, it must be discoverable by search engines.

There are key factors that search engines will look for to determine the quality and relation of websites to the search a person has just performed, which is how it determines the order in which search results are brought up.

In this article we will highlight the main factors that help a website to be become search engine friendly.

Web Graphics

Web graphics are not recognisable by search engines, text is. And a common mistake made in website creation is hiding good strong text with graphics. Think of your website like a meal on a plate.

The main dish is the quality text, links and images (with strong descriptive alt tags) on the website, and the web graphics make up the garnish on the side, which is more for show than to actually eat.

Fresh, High Quality Content

The content is not only where your potential customers will find information about your company, products and services. It is where search engines will look for clues to the quality of your website as well as the subject field.

Therefore the content must be well written and to the point, with accurate spelling and grammar, and should be regularly refreshed and updated, as search engines will not keep bringing up the same content that has remained unchanged for years at a time.

If content goes unchanged, the search engines begin to think that the website is dormant and bring up active and changing websites in your place.

Attractive URLs

Page URLs are scrutinised by search engines during their decision process and the shorter and more relevant they are to the search, the easier it is for the search engine to identify your page.

Using the most common keywords for your industry/subject field in your URLs will improve the attractiveness of your URL to search engines.

Keyword-rich Tags & Meta Data

A common error made by novice seo web designers is using a company name or website name as the title tag for everything on the website.

These title tags and meta descriptions are another aspect of the website that will be scoured by the search engine, and unless someone has searched the exact name of the company then your website pages will not relevant to the search.

The best title tags are keyword rich, with both common and uncommon keywords relevant to the content of the page. E.g. when someone searches ‘experienced web designers’ then if your H1, H2 and H3 tags were ‘web design’, ‘web designers’ and ‘experienced web designers’ then your website would be far more likely to be picked up than if your title tags all read ‘Spider Web Services’.

There is much more involved in fully optimising a website to be search engine friendly, and it is advisable to consult a company who offers SEO friendly web designing to help you with your website.

The 7 questions you should ask your web design company before hiring them

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Bob Sanderson

First impressions are everything, which means designing your company’s website is a big task that will have a huge impact on your business’s online presence, and should not be a job that is handed out lightly.

It is advisable to get to know a web design company before hiring them, so here are some important questions to ask to aid you in making the decision of whether or not they are right for the job:

1. Will the design be bespoke?
Many web design companies who will offer websites for lower budgets, which usually come in the form of a readymade template. And as the saying goes, you do only get what you pay for. Although templates seem like a good deal and it is easy to take the lower priced option with the thought of saving some money, but a bespoke designed website will make a far better first impression.

2. Do you have separate design and development teams?
Many web design companies will have teams who take on both design and development of websites, however in many professional opinions these two aspects of website creation require two very different skill sets and when one team attempts both it can leave the quality in one area or another lacking.

3. Will the site have a content management system (CMS)?
A content management system (CMS) allows you to update your own website with content, without needing to mess with the coding and design or having to ask the web design team every time you need to change something. A good CMS allows you to upload and edit text, images and files as well as add new pages.

4. Where do you source your images from?
If they answer ‘stock photo sites’ then you are on to a winner, which is more often than not the case. However, some unprofessional web designers may get around having to pay for the images by simply Google searching them, and you could end up with a legal case on your hands for copyright infringement!

5. How long will it take to complete?
Although there are likely to be delays and there will need to be a certain amount of design, feedback, and redesign involved in the creation process, most web design in the UK can be done to timescale if needed.

6. Who owns the website upon completion?
If the web design company say YOU, then all is well, however there are some cases where web designers have retained full ownership of the website in an attempt to prevent companies from being able to go elsewhere in the future. If they do not stipulate that you will have full ownership upon completion it is advisable to look elsewhere for a web designer.

7. Who will host the website?
Many web design companies will offer hosting packages, which can be more convenient as they know about hosting set up and are experienced in hosting sites. However it will most likely be cheaper to find alternative hosting if you know enough about it.

In house web design vs web design outsourcing

Posted on November 26, 2015 by Bob Sanderson

After the recession, the outsourcing trend has been increasing. Many outsourcing companies followed this trend and created the different models to outsource business activities.

Costs and innovation are two main contributors of failing different businesses, therefore individuals and companies look for different techniques for the survival of businesses.

Outsourcing manages all the challenges of businesses by providing innovative and affordable solutions. There are many kinds of services offered by web design outsourcing company is also included in these services.

When you want to complete a web design project but you have no expertise in-house. You have two options, first you do web designing on your own or you give an ad for hiring an in-house web designer to complete this project and second outsource the web design project to any outsourcing web design company. For making the right decision, you need to see all the aspects of both.

In-house v/s outsourcing web design

Need to learn programming languages or coding

Tough a website can be designed easily, with the help of HTML language, but the website you may require for your company might not be static, definitely you would like many features such as, flash texts, interactivity, security, right picture placement, interface, content, inquiry forms, databases, graphics, images, etc.

In your web design, you need to place content, information, layouts, and designs properly. You do not want coding errors to look the layouts funny and misaligned when your visitors and clients log in.

Therefore, it is necessary for you and your in-house web designer have complete knowledge of AJAX, ASP.NET, PHP or other coding, and programming languages, which can help you both to make a website.

Already have complete knowledge of languages or coding

Whereas, the professionals and specialists of outsourcing web design companies have complete knowledge of these languages already. They are well aware of the tones, which can give a competitive verge to your site over the others.

These companies have a large team of web design experts and professionals and team leaders.

Every designer is given a job of designing a specific page or part. The developers develop the pages and host them via secure FTP (file transfer protocols).

These outsourcing companies are well equipped with the software, manpower and knowledge. They make compatible and easily navigable web pages with the browsers.

Conclusion

For in-house web design you will have to hire any web designer to complete your project. May be, you will have to train him further. But the outsourcing company has already hired experts who are highly experienced and skilled.

These experts may also suggest other benefits like innovative ideas, which might not have been considered already. They optimise your web for different search engines. So, outsourcing web design is better than you or in-house web designer.

Draw Pictures Ltd is a London, UK based web design company specialising in online marketing, digital and internet media marketing, social media optimisation and web designing and web development, content creation and more.