New Clients for Web Star

We've not posted for ages and the reason why is that we have been busy getting new clients and designing some fantastic new websites.   The last two months have also seen some mega interest on the optimisation front and also social media marketing.

Websites need to be promoted......I'll say it again.......websites need to be promoted and that's just what we are doing we are promoting some websites and running campaigns to target followers for social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter -  and here are some of our results:

• Facebook account - increased friends to over 1800 within a 3 month period.
• Increase in sales by 572% over a period of 3 months.
• Decrease in bounce rate over a period of 6 weeks from 62% to 28%.
• Increase in CTR (click through rate) on Adwords from less than 1% to over 8% in 4 weeks.

How did we manage to produce these amazing results?  Give us a call to find out.
Tel: 01625 821072     Mob: 07784 128016

Why use Social Media for your business?

Over the last number of weeks I’ve been coaching and advising a few people on using Social Media to promote their business. Normally when you mention Social Media people's eyes glaze over and you can see their thoughts turning to more interesting topics, such as paint drying or cleaning out the cat litter.

Because most people do not understand the energy (dare I say 'hype') and cannot for the life of them see why they would need 'online social media' to run a business - in other words Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or a blog, I believe that many are taking the “wait and see” approach and frankly hoping that it will all die a horrible death and go the way of other .com trends.

Sadly however much you resist this new sector you simply must keep up with the pace. Online communities are the prime weapon of choice for anyone under 30 and it is now seen as an acceptable and quick way to communicate to your audience. We live in an open society. Knowledge used to be power. Now sharing is power - are you sharing?

If you are still undecided then we will be posting some information about Social Networking in the next few posts to help you decide if it is right for you.......and here are a few reasons why you need to think about using social media for your business - don't get left behind because the consumer is in the driving seat here and if you don't jump on the wagon with them, someone else will.

Why use Blogs, Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn?


You need a Blog to:
• improve your search results in Google - blogs can increase search results by up to 75%
• showcase your skills, services and products
• give up-to-the-minute news and events quickly to your readers
• promote yourself as an expert in your field
• engage in conversations with visitors to your blog


A Facebook page can help you to:
• chat more informally about your services and products
• listen to your customers
• share help and advice related to your business
• drive visitors to your homepage / blog where there are calls-to-action
• learn more about your audience

It’s great to be on Twitter to:
• chat more informally with customers
• listen to what’s being said about you and your competitors
• be on the look out for news that’s related to your industry=
• drive visitors to your blog or facebook page
• share useful and helpful information in a friendly way
• show a different side of your company personality


LinkedIn can benefit you by:
• acquire new customers through online recommendations and word of mouth
• find business partners to work with
• build an industry network
• get answers quickly from people you can trust
• win new business by answering questions in your area of expertise
• share unique blog content
• keep your friends close and your competition closer


If you need some help or advice getting started then give us a call - it's free to chat and we can help you decide if Social Media would benefit your business, or if you have a question email it to us and we will get right back to you.

Call on Tel:  01625 821072    |    Mob: 07784 128016  

Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk

Strangers, Friends and Lovers - What does it mean?

Upside Down Marketing  - Because sometimes you need to turn things upside-down to see it clearly.

Say you think of your clients and potential clients in four simple categories:

• Strangers - a broad market, they don't know who you are.
• Friends - prospective clients, you've met, they know who you are, but they haven't bought from you so you're not that close yet!
• Lovers - current clients, who love you.
• Ex-lovers - ex-clients who have fallen out of love with you!

HOW TO BE CONVENTIONAL:

Most business budget their time and money as follows:

• 60%  -  Strangers
• 30%  -  Friends
• 10%  -  Lovers

They spend most of their marketing  effort focusing on people they don't really know.

NOW TURN CONVENTION UPSIDE-DOWN:

It's mad to spend most of your time and money on people who don't event know who you are.  It makes no sense at all.  If you were a betting person you'd only bet where there's the best chance of getting a result.  Yet you're betting all your time and money on getting the worst results possible.

What about this for a mad idea?  Spend your time and money like this:

• 10%  -  Strangers
• 30%  -  Friends
• 60%  -  Lovers

The greatest effort with the people who already think that you are great - they already love you, and by spending more time and money with them they will spread the word.  They will act as your ambassadors, your 'raving fans'.  They know your strengths and weaknesses; they can help by spreading the word or giving you warm referrals.

Top Tip:  Spend a little time considering this piece of upside-down thinking - in the right business this process will increase your marketing effectiveness tremendously - GUARANTEED! 

What's new at Your Web Star

Its' ages since we posted but we've been so busy which is great.  We've got some new clients and have uploaded some great websites.....so what's been happening?

Sale Domestic Appliances contacted us and need a website in a hurry. Their previous site had gone down and they had no web presence.  Sale Domestic Applicances sell, repair and install all kinds of domestic applicaces. The brief was to provide a simple website that would be able to develop into internet selling in the future. 

They wanted to be able to update the website themselves and add new images and information when it suited them so we provided a really simple CMS that they found really easy to use.
 
Visit their website and if you would like a website like this for your business.  Call us on 01625 821072 or email michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk

Bambooo Childcare contacted us and asked for advice on how to optimise their website.  We suggested adding a blog because blog posts get optimised and can get quick results without much expense.

We added a blog to their existing website and the cost was just £150.00.  After a few months they have reported that they are now appearing on the first page of google organically when you type in ‘nanny agency Manchester’ or childcare agency Manchester’. 

Visit bamboo childcare at:  http://www.bamboochildcare.co.uk/ and take a look at their blog.

If you would like to talk to us about providing a blog to your existing website call us on 01625 821072 or email michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk

Special People North works exclusively with children and young people with a wide variety of special needs.  They first approached us last year to optimise their website.  After looking at all the options they decided to develop a new site and update their image.

It was important to keep the logo,  but we changed the colour slightly to fit into their new design.

The easy CMS systems means they can update their website whenever they like and saving costly designer fees and a blog lets them pass on important information to the public, their visitors and their clients.

A tight budget meant we prioritised the work they needed doing immediately from development work which could be staged over the next year.

Their new site has been a hit with their target audience and early feedback has been good in addition their visitors are up by 33%. 

Visit their website at http://www.specialpeoplenorth.org.uk/ and if you would like to talk to us about a website like this for your business call us on 01625 821072 or email michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk.

Race for Life - 4th July Cheltenham

I raced for life with my Sister-In-Law Julie for Doreen our Mother-In-Law much loved and still missed since 17th April 2007.

We were proud to race with 4,000 other women and raise funds to fight cancer.  Thank you everyone who sponsored us.

See our tribute here....


                 

Meet Google in Manchester - 27th May

ECommerce Expo North 2010 is THE industry event for ecommerce professionals in the North of England. Showcasing over 50 exhibting companies and a FREE to attend conference running from 9am - 5pm, it is the place to come to learn about what is new in Ecommerce.
The show is for everyone and anyone interested in doing business online, whether you have just started or are a major online retailer. ECommerce Expo can show you the latest innovations in the market, help you update your current systems or simply let you network with your industry.

Plenty of seating is available at the Google University. This year, Google will be running 2 sessions covering:

Analytics - find out how your website is performing and also find out more about Adwords - learn how to drive relevant traffic to your site.

A show not to be missed get your FREE ticket at http://www.ecommerceexponorth.co.uk/

Marketing for the Web - Brilliantly

So far we have looked at how to make a website work and how to turn theory into reality. This month we will be looking specifically about digital marketing and how to do this brilliantly. Why do you need to bother with digital marketing? Because it is increasingly the most important marketing you will ever do.

It allows you to reach people on the move, to interact and engage with your audience and digital is now the prime weapon of choice for anyone under 30. In addition to web sites digital now includes mobile, marketing sites through search engines and the use of chatrooms and communities like facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Brilliant Tip : Because the sector is moving so fast and has so many different opportunities it's really smart to spend some time with someone who knows what's going on and whom you can understand.

Step 1: Keeping up with the pace.

In order to be able to compete you first need to understand, how dramatic web sites vary from a standard middle of the road site. How people use website and why or how they work, or more importantly why or how they don't work.

We live in an open society. Knowledge used to be power. Now sharing is power. Unless you really understand the concept of sharing you won't understand digital marketing. Read The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom.

Step 2: What's changed?

The numbers have changed dramatically. But they are only part of the story.

FACT: Advertising spend on the web now exceeds advertising spend on TV in the UK.

FACT: 60% of business owners are looking to increase their natural and paid-for-search budgets in the next 12 months.

FACT: Digital is the future, but if this is so you need to make sure you are in brilliant control.

FACT: The way we use email is changing. 18-35 year olds use email about half as much as +35 year olds, chatrooms and social networking and instant messaging are the choice of the 18-35's. This means the role of email as a marketing tool is changing.

Step 3: Questions to ask and things you should do.

1. Does your email marketing support your brand claims.

2. Email lists need to be tightly controlled and segmentated. Spending time in this area is a wise investment of time and so often overlooked. Are you making sure that your news, events and offers are reaching an ever-larger group of people?

3. The average number of friends on Facebook is 102, so if an email recipient adds something from your email or website to their Facebook page, all those friends are mailed an alert automatically telling them what content has been added and by whom, a chance to covert to a sale and a personal intro/endorsement as a bonus. Are you using Facebook to introduce you to new people?

4. Think forward into change. Plan out how you can combine web site, text, blogs, social networks, e-newsletters and viral advertising to create real momentum. Use all these mediums together in a structured bid to market your brand.

5. Get the best help you can on search engine marketing, do not be tempted to try this yourself. This is where the smart money is.

6. Have Fun. How can you customise your message? Find a conversational as opposed to a corporate tone of voice.

7. Get a fresh view of what you do. Make a list of the major aspects of your business. For each aspect write down what would be the opposite. For each opposite, brainstorm what might be a practical interpretation of the reversal. When you've generated lots of ideas go through them and find the ones that are worth considering.

In Summary:

Don't ignore Facebook, LinkedIn or other new technology because you don't understand it, it has grown 600% in the last 12 months, be part of that growth and use it to your own advantage. The internet is going to change marketing before it changes anything else....don't get left behind.

Marketing is all about balancing left and right brain, gauging performance, measuring results as well as developing a sense of intuition, but it is a discipline based around 'return on investment' too which you must learn. The world is changing and we have to change with it. You must know your market and what will work for you and your business.

Marketing for the web lies in getting 3 areas absolutely right.

1. Being Relevant. Get on your customers/clients radar screen.
2. Being Accessible. Be their kind of people, connect and engage with them.
3. Being Different. We seek innovation the whole time, don't be ordinary - be extraordinary.

The art of creative thinking - turning brilliance into reality

Do you think that you are not creative? Do you think that only artists and designers are creative? The fact is that we all start out being creative - does anyone know a 5 year old that's not creative and doesn't have a great imagination. Sadly we lose it along the way, it's deadened by well intentioned parents who fear that we'll be dreamers and by a society that discourages people from asking too many questions.

For most people (and companies), creativity remains an abstract notion: Yes they'd like to have more of it, but they're not sure how to get it, or what to do with it once they have it. Well step right this way, we're going to get creative.

What is Creativity? It's simply the art of making people think in a different way. How simple is that.

Brilliant marketing is about creating momentum, giving people a sense of change, at the most basic level it changes the minds of your customers. Does your website have the power to change the minds of your customers?

Brilliant Tip: Always listen to your inner voice - trust it and believe in it

Why is Creativity Important? Because it is there to facilitate and drive change and is vital if you want to market brilliantly:

* Get noticed
* Change opinion
* Strengthen opinion
* Provoke action

How can you get in the creative zone?

1. Creative identity - think about how you introduce yourself the safe way or the dramatic way. Which one is best?(....and it's not the first one). Does your website have the WOW factor immediately?

2. Choose creativity -Think about a product, any product, it could be your product or a product that you really like. On a pad write down as many different marketing ideas that might increase sales on the web, be really wacky, totally mad and do not think about the outcome. Then spend some time picking the best ones, that you think have promise. This exercise is designed to get your creative juices flowing not to produce a great marketing campaign. It's designed to answer the question "Can you create stuff?" - bet the answers yes, it doesn't matter if it's not great stuff yet, it's just stuff for now - greatness comes later and the more you produce ideas - in general - the better they will get.

3. Fast forward creativity - This is maybe the most creative thing you can do. Get a series of people together, not just people - your consumers, people who would use your product or you would like to use your products. Have a conversation with them, maybe over a beer or a glass of wine, find out all about them, find out what they like, now they think, why would they buy your product, why wouldn't they buy your product, what would make them buy more of it?

Brilliant Tip: You will never be brilliant at marketing unless you really get to know your consumers. It's about what they want, not about what you want.

Example of being creative - Planting the seeds of success:

THE PROBLEM: OM Scott, a retailer of seeds and lawn care products wanted to sell more. Sadly their products although good were no better than their competitors. So they needed to differentiate themselves.

THE STRATEGY: They went to their customer and asked them what problems did they have with lawn care. The main problem was customers being able to plant seeds in a controlled way and spread the seeds around for better coverage. Scott decided they needed to help their customers solve this problem.

They came up with the Scott Spreader a device that spread seeds equally along the ground and could be adjusted to control the flow of seeds.

THE OUTCOME: OM Scott made millions and the company became the market leader in their field.

THE LESSON: They did this by looking at what they wanted to achieve (more sales) but then shifted their view to that of their customer. By solving their customers problem they also solved their own. They were creative and looked outside the box.

Image what would have happened had they not spoken to their customers to find out the problems they wanted solving - win customers by solving their problems, if you do this on their first visit to your website they will be engaged and come back for more.

Ask yourself these questions:

Have I considered what my customers need on my website?
Have I asked them what they would like to see on my website?
Do I know what their concerns are, can I address these concerns through my website?
What problems do they have in relation to my business?
Can I help them solve these problems, how can I make things easier for them?

How to be Creative:

Be aware of your customers problems.
Focus on how these can be solved.
Brainstorm lots of possible solutions.
Consider how these can relate to your business.

Other examples of being creative:

Prius put solar panels in their car roofs. Why? Because they found out that a lot of their owners liked to have a snooze in their car at lunchtime and wanted the air-con on but didn't want to leave their engine running. Brilliant.

Pret a Porter at the Berkley Hotel discovered that ladies who lunched wanted to stay and have tea but cucumber sandwiches were soooo not it. So they created designer fashion biscuits, inviting designers to contribute to the shape and colour of their own range. Brilliant.

M&S realised that the really big problem with men's trousers was that their change always fell out of their pocket, so they came up with a range of 'coin catcher' trousers which have pockets that are designed to stop your change from falling out. Brilliant.

Let me know how you get on being creative and brilliant, I'd love to hear from you or just post a comment.

Next time:

Have you got the right stuff to be a brilliant marketer?

Strengths that you need to have.
Right/Left brain - which side are you on?
Feel the buzz.
How to be outstanding and how to put it all together.
What do David Bowie and Madonna have in common?
Brainstorming - how to do it properly.

Does your website work? Here's how you can become brilliant at marketing your website.

"If you build it, they will come" does not apply to Web sites. Marketing your Web site is as important if not more important as designing it . An easy question to ask but a hard question to answer about your website is:- DOES MY WEBSITE WORK FOR MY BUSINESS?

Most companies have a website, but very few of them use their website to their fullest potential. What is the fullest potential? - Brilliance.

Most people think they are too busy to even try and be brilliant at marketing, but if we need to be more creative we have to find the time. They think they don't have the skills to market their business or website, but it's not about skill, it's a mindset thing. All you need to do is find ways of maximising the stimuli to create brilliance. By creating brilliance you will gain the attention of all your distracted and over stimulated consumers.

Working out how to get your target market to do and think something they otherwise wouldn't have thought about or done is simple and brilliant, how do you do this? By looking at your website through your customers' eyes, As the saying goes, if you want to understand a Red Indian, spend a day walking in their moccasins. Always make sure that you have answered the question, What's in it for my customer?

The trouble is it's often hard to distance yourself, we get totally pre-occupied with the product (i.e. the feature). We often forget that our customers are far more interested in the benefits - people buy benefits and not features. Work out how you can demonstrate those benefits through your website and you're winning all the way to the bank.

Typically I see a lot of websites that don't work. The owners think that they do work, in fact they are usually extremely proud of their website, they like the way it looks, they like the way it sounds and they like what it has to say about their business. The trouble is they are not buying their products or services, their customers are and their prospects and these are the people who are important. Your customers are the people who need to like your website and understand it's message. If I asked you "How's your website working for your business?" would you know the answer? Would it surprise you to know that 95% of people would not know the answer to that question.

Marketing a website has never been more important because business has never been so competitive, especially now in these uncertain economic times, but it's a task that's so often overlooked, forgotten or just too big to take on, especially if you're a small business or working alone.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be posting some articles about how to be brilliant at marketing a website. It's not about employing someone to market your website. It's not about how much money it will take to market a website. It's not about a theory. It's about giving you the tools so that you can learn how to be brilliant, why internet marketing is changing and most of all about understanding your customers and how consumers use the internet.

If you'd like to receive email updates when I post these articles, just let me know by emailing me at michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk and as every if you need any advice, call me - it's free to chat.
Telephone: 01625 821072

Email Marketing - Is it worth the trouble?

A business can't afford to ignore the internet- it offers up so many opportunities for free or very cheap marketing as well as many advantages over traditional forms of marketing that you'd be a fool not to consider it as a marketing tool.

But more so than ever before, business have to watch their costs and climbing your way up through the recession means that marketing budgets are going to be even more tightly squeezed than ever. So here's how you can reach a wider audience with your messages for very little money, though that's not to say it won't take some time and careful planning.

If you have a message that you want to communicate or products that you would like to promote then think about direct marketing through email. Email marketing continues to bring the best results for the least amount of investment. It has been proven to be easier to drive consumers from your email campaign to a purchase, because they can simply click on a link and be taken straight to a purchase online or to your website.

Offering exclusive deals for email customers can really catch people's eye and often they will forward these emails onto friends which means you reach even more potential customers. Eye catching designs can make all the difference and this is where we can really help. We can design you templates that are guaranteed to catch the attention of your email prospects.

To give you some idea of the power of these emails here is a real case scenario:

We designed an email template for a business who sell Prom Dresses. They sent their email out to 356 people, they offered them a discount on dresses if they purchased a dress by Feb 28th 2010 (within a month of sending the email. They achieved a 38% opening rate which meant in real numbers that 135 people opened the email. 25% of those people clicked on a link to the website which means that 33 people visited their website. 18 people called the shop and made appointments to view dresses. In addition they received over 20 phone calls from people whose friends had forwarded the email to them. In total this resulted in sales of £3,560. The cost to send the emails was less than £40.00

We can provide an easy system to send out emails to customers and clients in a regular basis starting at £10.00 delivery charge and 2pence per email. As always with any marketing activity, close monitoring of results is essential to make sure you're focusing your efforts in the right places and our systems provide reports and ideas to help you make the most of your email campaigns.

If you want to dip your toes into the world of email marketing give us a call and find out more about how we could help you to increase your sales in 2010.

Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Tel: 01625 821 072
Mob: 07784 128 016

Mobile Web - Fad or Trend? You Decide

The mobile Web grew 110 percent in the U.S. last year and 148 percent worldwide as measured by growth in pageviews, according to a new Quantcast Mobile Trends report.

It's an easy call to predict that mobile web usage will continue to grow in 2010 and beyond but the big questions are by how much? And is it worth businesses clicking onto the trend or dismissing it as a fad and hoping that it will fade away like Pogs eventually did.

The analysis of long-term success for web mobile is based on the classic marketing distinction between a “trend” and “fad.”

What does a trend look like?

Essentially, anything that has staying power is a trend, it may start off small but a trend will grow and develop, it won't happen overnight but after a while you'll see it all over the place. Trends have deep cultural roots, they evolve but never stop growing. Increasing usage of the Internet is a trend, couples having their first child after 30 is a trend, exercise and healthy living is a trend.

A fad is the exact opposite.

Fads represent limited potential rather than unlimited opportunities. Fads come and go, they may enjoy brief popularity before quickly fading into near oblivion. For example in hairdressing terms a bob is a trend, a mullet was a fad. Fads have at most 1-2 years of popularity if that, and so have to be exploited quickly and as frequently as possible. Think Teletubbies, girl power, Tamagotchi and ringtones. A fad won't last and will weaken as soon as they become mainstream.

The boundary between mobile and PC is blurring and web access on the go will be pushed to new levels in the future.
The market for mobile applications, or apps, will become "as big as the internet", peaking at 10 million apps by 2020.

2020 seems like a long time away - what about now in 2010?

Apps will become more personal and practical as their numbers grow,
they will peak at around 100,000 by the end of the year. That will be a tipping point and after that there will be a gradual fall in the rate of development.
Within ten years mobile apps will be as popular as websites are today with consumers and, as accessible with prices for apps reducing year on year.

A developing market.

While developers rush to cash in on this growing marketplace, the warnings are that many are simply doomed to fail. The reality is that this space is only so big and only able to support so many people. The ratio of those developers who will fail is about 90%; they will simply not make a return on their investment. Unfortunately the overhype that goes with [Apple's] App Store is what has driven so many to rush to develop for the market. It is fashionable to do apps and every media outlet tells you apps are cool, but do they really pay?


What are the true economics of mobile apps?

Well they are a very different story and the days of the app store are doomed according to Google. The App Store is flawed with lack of relevance. Who really wants an app where a candle flickers in different colours. Users will need to see more relevant applications that will enrich your life in some way, image sharing, social networking or quicker business communication.

To date, Apple runs the most popular application store with over 65,000 applications. Last week it notched up another milestone with 1.5 billion downloads. But the popularity of Apple's App store is also its Achilles heel because it caters to the "one hit wonder" model. The key for the future is making sure that the app fits your business and their users as a single entity.

Is this trend right for you and your business?

To test if you are on-trend (or if it's right for you and your business), apply the Rule of Three. Aristotle wrote about it in his book Rhetoric. Put simply it is that people tend to remember 3 things, it's a simple rule but it works. So ask yourself do three or more trends apply, otherwise you may be picking up on a fad. Indeed it can be as simple as a Google search to demonstrate that this trend could be relevant to your business.

In Conclusion:

While Web innovation is unpredictable, what is clear is that businesses who want to stay in the marketplace cannot afford to ignore the mobile market in it's entirety. Mobile Web may not be applicable to every business model but certain elements will increase profitability and gain competitive advantages IF it can offer their consumers these services first for example mobile payment solutions, real-time technology and GPS solutions to put shoppers in touch with retailers faster.

Mobile internet users reached a critical mass this year, offering a large and diverse enough base of users to support large-scale mobile marketing efforts and it can only get bigger and better.

Send us your comments about Mobile Web we'd love to hear what you think.

E: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
T: 01625 821072
M: 07784 128016

Resources:

Quantcast mobile trends report 2009:
Maggie Shiels - Technology reporter, BBC News, Silicon Valley
BBC News - Technology

New Clients for Web Star

We've got some new client and we can't wait to tell everyone about them. It's been a busy time and news from the web world is that web designers are going to be even busier during 2010 with businesses using their websites to help get them out of the recession and back on track.

Sale Domestic Appliances contacted us and need a website in a hurry. Their previous site had gone down and they now have no web presence. We'll make sure they have a construction page in a few days whilst we develop their new website.

Sale Domestic Applicances sell, repair and install all kinds of domestic applicaces from washing machines to vacs, in addition they carry spare parts for many machines which they want to sell on the web. We're looking forward to developing their website for them over the next few weeks, watch this space!

Marketing Bites are a new marketing company with huge amounts of expertise. Specialising in the technical sector of the market, they aim to provide strategic marketing advice to businesses in ‘bite-sized chunks’. Their clients believe they have taken away the "black art of marketing" and are making it more understandable and accessible to more businesses.

Marketing Bites provides an alternative approach so that even the smallest of businesses can now benefit from marketing expertise. Most agencies are focused on the design and creative work; and even those interested in developing the right messages, will struggle to understand the high tech sector.

We're so excited to be developing not only a website but an identity for this new company. Watch out for more news soon!

Want to contact us to discuss your website. Call us now, it's free to chat.

Email \\ michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Tel \\ 01625 821 072
Mob \\ 07784 128 016

Website Launch for Walk The Coast

Back in December 2009 (seems like ages ago) we announced a new client for Web Star. Walk The Coast a Dorset based company were planning to start a business providing weekend guided walking holidays along the beautiful Dorset coastline. They asked us to design a website for them and we thought you'd like to see the results.

The original brief was to design a website that would immediately enthuse visitors and promote the dorset coastline as a "cool" place to visit. In order to engage visitors immedately we used a dynamic landing page with images of areas they will be visiting along the walk. With only images and no text to read, users immediately click through to find out more about this new business.

Using the 3 bucket theory on the first page is always a winner. Firstly the eye catching colours attract the eye and then visitors can use these as an easy way to navigate the site, to take them to the most interesting parts of the website. Having 3 options is good, we can consume this amount of information with ease, but having 10 options is overwhelming. This gives users with little time the opportunity to scan a site and they immediately know what you want them to do, so they do it.

Walk the Coast were delighted with their finished website, they had opted to have a CMS system added onto the site so they can update it and keep it fresh and lively and have purchased a blog so they can tell people all about the wonderful places and areas they will be visiting.

A new business with no previous web experience they soon found they were in safe hands, because we helped them make the right decisions from start to finish by explaning all the options along the way, in simple language without lots of tech Jargon.

If you would like some advice or are thinking about starting a new business we can help you get your first website off the ground. We make websites better. It's what we do.

Email \\ michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk Tel \\ 01625 821 072 Mob \\ 07784 128 016

Hot Trends in Web Design for 2010

It's always tough to predict the future and that's all the more true when talking about the web. The internet continues to race along at a faster pace than ever before and businesses need to keep up with the newest trends and hotest designs to engage users who are increasingly looking for more sophistication and greater wow factors in the web.


Overall the trend is towards simpler, minimalistic sites with greater attention to fonts and typography. Forget about stock imagery showing globes, lightbulbs or faceless people sitting at desks and make way for hand drawn sketches that define originality or icon style sites that get noticed quickly and are a delight to the user.


While Web innovation is unpredictable, some clear trends are becoming apparent. Expect the following 10 themes to define the Web this year. Why these particular themes? Simply because they are eye catching and deliver messages in a more concise way.

1. Typography


Started in 2009 it will continue to lead the way in web design purely because the typography becomes an integral part of the overall design rather than a liability. Designers will be using larger, more exciting fonts in place of boring text. In short a website that utilizes Typography as its main design element will be more interesting to a reader than overloading the same site with tons of photos.

2. Minimalist
Forget the old school minimal websites. Websites of 2010 will continue to feature lots of white space but with bold typology and surprising color schemes. Not all minimal websites will agree with the notion of black and white simplicity. Although minimalism is by nature muted, it will also showcase fresh colors. Minimalism isn’t cold, it’s warm and too the point.

3. Sketchy - Hand Drawn


These designs are not exactly headed to an art museum, but they do convey a sense of whimsy, and blur the line between cold web and personal interaction– the ultimate goal of the internet. Sketch in 2010 will become more elemental, and not as much the main focus of a web design. It will be used to personalize standard web copy in new and exciting ways. Love it or hate it, these sites stand out from traditional graphics and give a site a unique, personalised look.

4. Magazine Layout


Many sites will be gearing towards this look in 2010, with short concise articles that are easy to read with sharp concise information. This trend will be especially stong within the blogosphere. Expect this trend to grow and continue to evolve.

5. Huge Images


Nothing delivers a message quite like this trend. It creates a visual impact that is so strong it's doubful that the visitor will forget you. Tipped to be the top mainstream trend during 2010 you can guarantee that a site using this design will have no difficulties engaging users.

6. One page layout


One pay layouts challenge you to edit away what’s unnecessary. In 2010, this trend will move away from the quirky navigation and become more minimal in its approach. Think of these websites as business cards rather than websites.

7. Retro


Retro designs are here to stay but retro can be hard to use, it needs to incorporate three key elements, colour, photography (preferably old) and typefaces that fit in with the overall design. Get all three elements right and you have a winner, get it wrong and you have a disaster. In 2010, retro design will be expanded as designers find new ways to honor vintage art.

8. Icons


Icons can communicate lots of information in the simplest way, so it's no wonder that they will remain so popular in 2010. The web is an environment filled with impatience, wandering eyes and easy distractions. Icons show users where to go for what they need. Quickly scanning images is far simpler than scanning text. Icons cut through visual clutter and guide visitors to the content they are most interested in.

9. Massive Footers


So often it's an area that's overlooked by designers, a place where a few random legal links are dumped and forgotten about. In fact footers for most sites serve no purpose at all beyond framing a page. That's a real shame because footers can be put to good use. 2010 will see footers being exagerated even more than last year, making them less of an afterthought and more of an integral part of the site.

10. Giant Type


If you need to beat the user over the head with a message then use this trend. Using giant type employs the natural and organic beauty of typefaces and provides a megaphone with which to speak. The jumbo-sized type will become the focus of the page if you make use of the style, all you need to do it make sure you say something important!

The key to all of this is, of course finding a style that suits the personality of your business and the overall objective of the website. That's here we come in....we'll take the time to find a style that defines your business, your personality and your products....so you can be a winner on the web.

Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk
Tel: 01625 821072
Mob: 07784 128016

Resources: WebStar did not design all these examples of trends. They were sourced from various articles and websites.

Google Analytics - Don't Miss Out

Question: Are you using your analytics to full potential? Are you even using Analytics? Do you know what it is?

Answer: Google analytics is a free programme provided by our friends at Google that can show you who is using your website and how they use it.

Using Analytics you an get instant information about:
The number of peope who use your website
What they do when they are on your website
Where they go and how they surf your website

You can then use this information to optimise your website and define internet marketing objectives.

Some of the most critical data that you can analyse with Analytics are:

How many people visit your website per month, week, day & hour.

What pages have these people viewed in order of popularity.

How did people find your website, search engine, a referring site or a direct request using your domain name.

What keywords / key-phrases did these people use to find your website.

What length if time did each of your visitors spend on your website.

What page acted as the entrance for these people and what page did they exit on.

You can extract a lot of technical data, what operating system are they using, what web browser are they using, what screen resolution are your visitors using.

You can easily see the value that this type of data will afford your business. You can start to use this data to make simple changes to your website that will make it more profitable.

You can create links to cross promote services and products, you can position offers and deals on popular exit pages to retain your visitors etc.

Your analytics are the most integral element of continued success on the internet. So what are you waiting for......

If you need some help or advice call us now.....it's free to chat!

Tel: 01625 821072
Email: michelle@yourwebstar.co.uk

Get a FREE listing on Google @ Local Business Centre

Did you know about the FREE service from Google that allows you to make sure that your local business listing can be found on Google. If you're not using this simple and FREE tool then you're really missing a trick. Here's how to get set up and why you should start using it today:

1. Visit http://www.google.com/lbc. Create a google account if you don't have one, or sign in to your account.

2. Enter information about your business. You can even add photos of your logo and business or products and add coupons that will give visitors to your site via google with discounts.

3. Vertify that you own or run the business. Follow the instructions and enter a PIN code when you receive it to complete the process.

4. Now you're all set. You can log in daily to see how your business listings perform on Google, including how many times people found it and what actions they took.

Don't miss out on this excellent and very simple tool to see who visits your website.