I’ve had a bit of a shock. Last Friday I had a telephone conversation with a prospective new client who thinks we’re too professional for his company.

This is a person who employs 4 or 5 people in his small but successful business. He already has a website but it’s not really delivering any leads, it’s difficult to update (the original developer has long since disappeared) and it doesn’t really convey the right impression of his firm.

He wants a new website. There’s just one problem in that (in his opinion), his budget’s really small.

He came across our website but hesitated to contact us because, in his words, “you look really expensive”. When I asked what he meant he said that he got the impression that we were “too professional for my budget with project processes and terms and conditions“.

When I asked him whether or not his customers viewed him as a professional, the entire tone of the conversation changed. He agreed to let us provide a quote which we did this morning and he’s just contacted me (Monday afternoon), to commission us to design and build his new website.

He’ll get a lovely new site delivered on time and in budget that will prove the theory that his site could be working harder. Because of the way that we work, if he wants to expand the site at a later date to include, for example, an e-commerce element he can do so quickly and easily.

So again – is there such a thing as too professional? As I understand it you are either professional or not. Which would you rather your web design company were?

Ursus Media undertake web design projects of all sizes for all budgets for businesses throughout the UK. Contact us for a free, no obligation chat and let’s see if we can help you.

Why is the iPhone so great while all others lag behind?

Is that a controversial question? Yes, probably, but you see I’ve used a lot of smart phones. I’ve also worked in the digital media business for a long time. You could say that I’ve been around the block. You can take it from me (and the million or so other users in the UK), that the iPhone is great.

This is not about the device itself though. What’s great about the iPhone is that it just works. It’s intuitive and slick to use. It allows you to do some massively complex things and yet it’s easier to use than any other mobile phone there is. To give you an idea; I’m writing this blog post with my iPhone. Today I’ve also tweeted with it, done my online banking, used it as a satnav device, read both the Guardian and the Telegraph and I’ve watched the BBC Breakfast News. Oh, I’ve made some phone calls on it too. All of these tasks are possible because the iPhone makes them easy.

This is called usability. This simple word means that if you design with the user in mind, remove all possible technical barriers from their experience and create something that works effortlessly it will succeed.  The iPhone’s user interface – the way that you interact with the device (through screens or buttons), has been built strictly with the user in mind. The aesthetic design is secondary.

Usability is a core principal in web design and yet it so often gets forgotten as designers (and their clients), get hung up on what the site looks like. Don’t get me wrong – everyone wants a beautiful and elegant site for their business and rightly so but it comes last in the process. The key here is to think about what you want people to do when they arrive at your website. Do you want them to watch a video? Great put the video on the home page; up front, central, easy to see and use. Do you want them to call you? Give them your phone number; don’t make them dig for it. Do you want them to register for your newsletter? Marvelous. Give them a free newsletter without registration and in the same place let them register with a really simply form. Want them to buy something from you? …can you see where I’m going with this?

If your website isn’t really easy to use people won’t keep trying they’ll just go elsewhere. You lose.

If an action on your website requires thought, effort or imagination; throw it away and start again. Be like Steve Jobs; I’m sure the Apple engineers got sick of hearing ‘throw it away and start again’, but that’s what Mr Jobs kept saying and with this approach they got the iPhone. Out of the iPhone has come the iPad and Apple sold 300,000 of those on day one.

Ursus Media produce usable, accessible and beautiful websites and they’re all handcrafted here in sunny Swindon. Feel free to get in touch and if you’re in need of a new website take a look at our latest offer.

It’s rare that I do an unashamed plug like this in the blog. This is generally where you can come for good quality information about all things webby for your business and all you normally get dotted around my posts are subtle hints that you should be using us for your digital media projects.

Every so often though I’m going to reserve the right to tell you all about something that I think is too good to miss. This offer is for those of you who are just starting out in business or who just need a very simple website. Remember anything that we create for you will be designed and coded to the highest standard and built so that it can grow with your business.

The offer’s really simple: £495 for a 5 page website that gives you everything listed below:

• Unique professional design
• Four pages with your own content (text and images)
• One contact us page with a built in form
• A custom error page just in case
• One .co.uk domain name
• Two email addresses of your choice
• Hosting for your new site for a year
• Coding to the highest, best practice standards
• Guaranteed W3C standards compliant
• Thoroughly tested to work in all standard browsers
• Optimised for the search engines – Google here you come
• A simple CMS so that you can update your own site
• Basic site statistics
• Built to be scaleable to grow with your business in the future
• We’ll project manage things for you throughout
• If you’re in a hurry just let us know – we can be very fast
• You can talk to the project team at any time
• Peace of mind of knowing exactly what it costs: just £495!

The catch? Well there is no catch. You do have to order your swanky new site before 1 May 2010 and some terms apply but that’s it. Read more about the offer.

Related items:

• 10 Reasons your business needs a website
• 7 Questions to ask your web developer

I was recently asked by a client ‘what’s the difference between you and them?’ and they referred me to one of these big ‘off the shelf’, design shop websites.

Good question. This big design shop had lot’s of lovely looking sites in it’s portfolio, a very slick website (not to my taste but pretty slick) and some very, very good offers. They even gave away lots of free stuff with every commission. If you’re in the market for a new website this kind of thing is hugely attractive.

I know from experience that there’s almost always something hiding behind a shiny website with unbeatable offers that means money for old rope to the people that invest in their ‘expertise’. A little investigation proved me right.

But rather than pointing fingers and criticizing I’m going to give you the tools to find out exactly what you get for your money. This is just a list of questions that you can ask anyone in the digital media industry whether they’re multi-million pound digital media agencies or pimply faced youths beavering away in their bedrooms (and some of them are very good).

So 7 questions to ask before you commission a web designer:

1. Are your sites made with ‘tables’?
   Tables are part of the code that a website is made from. They’re fine for things like price lists or time-tables and once upon a time most sites were made this way. Now though it’s bad practice and usually means that search engines like Google can struggle to see the content of the page. This is fundamental to a websites performance in search results. Generally developers creating websites using tables are cutting corners. It’s like buying a lovely new car with no engine – there’s no disputing it’s a car but let’s be honest: it’s performance is going to be limited.
2. Are your websites standards compliant?
   This leads on from question one and frankly if that doesn’t set of alarm bells this one will. There are industry standards for website design and development and every organisation developing and designing websites should aim to comply. The risk is that you will end up with a site that may not be indexed by Google and may not be available to all of your potential customers. At worst you could find yourself in hot water with the law as there are moves afoot in the UK to ensure that all websites are accessible to a minimum standard. At the very least ask if they:
   - Use CSS to seperate code and content
   - Validate their sites with the relevant tools
   At the bottom of our website you’ll see two little icons with ticks next to them. This means that our site validates for both code and CSS.
3. What do you mean by SEO?
   Search Engine Optimisation is a process by which the performance of a website on search engines such as Google is improved. This is a gradual and ongoing process that will push a site up the rankings with measured and careful changes to the code and content of your website. Some people will claim to provide free SEO with a new website – make sure you know exactly what this means. We optimise every site that we build so that it can be quickly and easily indexed by all of the search engines and we see this as simple best practice.
4. Is that really free?
   Let’s get one thing straight – there is no such thing as free. Sorry but that’s just the way it is. What free really means is ‘included’. That’s ok. It’s marketing speak. We’re all used to it. If things are included or ‘free’ that’s fine but you should find out where they’ve made savings. We occasionally run package offers and include lots of things in the price but we don’t work for free. We will build down to a price but we won’t sacrifice our standards so what it means is that some features and functionality that you might want right now will have to wait until your budget catches up with your ambitions – which brings me to next question.
5. Is it scaleable?
   If you’re a new business your budget will be limited – for now. Before you commission a new website ask if it can grow with your business. Can your web designer add additional pages and functionality to the site that they make for you without having to start again or make huge changes to your existing site? Can they refresh the overall look and feel of your site regularly so that it’s the best shop front your business can possibly have now and into the future.
6. What secondary services do you offer?
   It’s important to know whether or not your web developer has the necessary skills and resources available to help you make the most of your online presence. Find out if they can provide some or all of the following:
   - Support
   - Online marketing
   - Social media marketing
   - Training
   - Search Engine Optimisation
   - Copywriting
   You may not need these additional services now but the chances are you will in the future. Discussing these things will also give a good feel for the overall skillset of the company you’re talking to.
7. How will you ensure that my site is delivered on time?
   How do they manage projects? If the company you’re talking to can’t deliver work to you on time they’re no use to you. It doesn’t matter how cheap they are. For example we use an agile project management process call Scrum. This means that we deliver projects on time and communicate with you regularly. You’ll know exactly what’s going on every step of the way and when we need something from you (images or text perhaps), we’ll prompt you.

I hope this doesn’t sound too much like some sort of ‘infommercial’. There are many great companies out there creating stunning websites but at the same time there people who give a great first impression that just doesn’t stack up when they’ve got your money. Shop around, ask these questions, decide whether or not you like the person you’re dealing with and only when you’re completely happy should you commission them.

Ultimately that old chestnut still rings true: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If you need any help with your web project please feel free to get in touch with us. Whatever your plans we’ll provide you with a free, no obligation quote.

Even in this, the internet age, is it a given that every business needs a website?
The simple answer is yes. Sorry; were you expecting something else?

I suppose that you want me to quantify my answer with good clear reasons. After all someone from a company that designs and develops websites is bound to say that.

1. The internet is a global shop window
   Unless you’re very lucky you’re facing competition from all directions. A good website can extend your reach to anyone with a computer, anywhere in the world, immediately. They can see who you are, what you do and how you do it instantly. They can then make contact and interact with you all the while marvelling at how you’re absolutely the right people for the job.
2. Communicate with your customers and clients
   I guarantee that most of your customers are already online. Perhaps they do business online, their banking perhaps; how many people do you know that have book a holiday online or ordered Christmas presents from Amazon? The web is an easy way to communicate effortlessly with your customers. Encourage them to get in touch with you. Get them to talk to you.
3. Open yourself up to new opportunities
   You can open up your business to opportunities that you didn’t know existed until you got online and your shiny new customers from around the world got in touch. £3.8bn is spent online in Britain alone every month and some of that could be yours.
4. Learn from the people on your site
   At the risk of making myself sound incredibly dull, I love the data that websites can provide. You can get an understanding of what people want and need, not just from what they say but from what they do. The data that you can gather from users of your website is empirical. You can adapt your website quickly and cost effectively based on real evidence as opposed to ‘gut feelings’. I know of a very famous online DVD rental company that increased sales by 10% overnight by changing two simple things on its website. The decision to do that was based on good hard data.
5. Catch up with your competition
   Not a good enough reason on its own but I bet the competition are online. If they use their website effectively they’ll be picking up business from your potential clients. Don’t let them get away with it. Remember too that the web levels the playing field – you get the same access to the same clients as anyone else online.
6. Work around the clock every day of the year
   Your website will work hard for you (at least it will if we build it), long after every other member of staff has gone home. If you sell online you can look forward to coming into work in the mornings and flicking though a pile of orders from around the world as you enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee.
7. Save lots of money
   I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The web is the most cost effective way of marketing and selling that there is. Do it properly and your website will make far more for you than it will cost. Don’t cut corners though or it’ll just be a white elephant with the name of your business painted on the side. The internet is complex and clever so hire a professional whose job it is to deliver value for money.
8. Free advertising
   Your website is the perfect place to advertise. If you have a good flow of traffic you can tell people about new products and services, sales and special offers. You can even let them send information to their friends directly from your website. Remember your reach is global and constant so make the most of it.
9. Portray the perfect image for your business all the time
   Keep your website up to date (little and often is the key here) and you can update your image and develop your brand continuously. The web is by far the most cost effective way to show people who you are and what you stand for.
10. If you think you’re so great – prove it
    Show people how great you are. Show them why your cheese is better than Sainsbury’s, why you can deliver better service than the other dry cleaners up the road, why your widget costs twice as much as your competitors. Sometimes you need to show what goes on behind the scenes in order to make people appreciate just what a great company you are. Make people comfortable with who you are and tell them exactly why they should buy your product or service and they probably will.

So there you are: 10 good reasons why you need a website. And 10 equally good reasons to give us a call and get our help to grow your business online.

Related items:

• 7 Questions to ask your web developer
• Special offer

We at Ursus Media love the internet. It’s what we do for a living. We make new stuff for the web, we make old stuff on the web better and we pay attention like a bunch of eager puppies when something shiny and new comes along. And then we make it work for business.

One of the coolest things about the web is the sharing side of it: sharing stories, sharing clever applications, sharing photos and sharing information. This blog is where you’ll find us sharing information: the stuff we know and the funky new stuff that we find out about. It’s not entirely frivolous though. We want to help you make your business, whatever that might be, thrive online.

So, what are we going to talk about here? Some upcoming subjects, not necessarily in order (just be grateful – this is free*), are:

• Writing for the web
• Web Analytics
• Web design best practice
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Twitter
• Social media marketing

So if you want to follow the Ursus Media blog and learn about the best ways to make the web work for you, you might want to subscribe using the RSS feed.

Remember if you have a project coming up: anything from a new website to some help with a social media strategy, we’d love to help and it costs nothing to contact us.

*And Swindon’s more expensive than it looks.

Related items:

• Special offer
• Services