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Google is looking very closely now at the way that you integrate your website design with your SEO strategy.
Gone are the days where massive back linking campaigns would see your rankings rise online. SEO was built on this method and some SEO companies still practice this. The reality is that too many back links can do your site harm. Never ever agree to work with an SEO company that will promise to get you to page one of Google within 1-2 months through a large back linking campaign. Sure you may rise up quickly through the rankings, but it is only a matter of time before you are found out by the algorithm and then your website will incur a penalty. If this happens to your site it will be a long and very hard process not to mention expensive before you are released from the penalty. This could take many many months.
The trick is to look at the bigger picture when it comes to your website and search engine strategy. Make sure design, site architecture, content , and SEO are all planned from the very beginning. This will give you and your business the best possible outcome. Don’t rush in for the cheapest design and SEO option as you will most likely end up in hot water. Do your homework and always go with an experienced, seasoned web studio that has a great design and SEO track record. Most reputable companies are more than happy to sit down and go over a full web strategy with you. If they dont then give them a wide berth.
When choosing a company for your next web design project don’t make these mistakes:
1) Choose a company because they can offer you a better deal.
Sure, you might save money now – but you have to ask yourself what corners are they cutting to get the cost down for you.
2) Be certain that the web company has a strong and varied portfolio of work. Take a good hard look at their online portfolio and compare them. Often web design companies will provide templates for you and pass these off as customised design. This does not help your business as you really want to try to have a unique look and feel.
3) Is the web company offering you strategic advice, or are they just trying to make a quick sale? Are they taking the time to listen to what you are after and provide you with a complete design solution, ground up from the identity through to the website including your online marketing? If they cannot offer you this then you will end up in trouble later on down the track.
There are 5 basic things to look out for when deciding which web design company to use for your next project:
1) make sure that they have a strong and varied portfolio of work
2) make certain that they are able to offer you a time line for completion of work and a budget for the web project.
3) are they able to meet with you face to face. In the virtual world it is really a great idea if you are able to meet with the graphic design team who will be handing your project. This way you do not loose any design ideas if you have to do everything via the phone or email.
4) Ask the very important question, what are any additional expenses that may occur along the way. What other hidden costs are there.
5) Who owns the intellectual property at the end of the project?
Hopping mad designs has added a google + function to its website – why not join our network and hear more of what we have to say.
Google + is now considered the next best thing to Facebook and as a website designer I recommend that businesses get on board with this soon as Google is now considering this as part of their SEO.
In response to Google changes regarding SEO, hopping Mad Designs has now added a news feed to the home page of its website.
Google loves current, fresh content and by implementing this function we will not only be keeping clients updated with the latest HMD news but will also be helping our search engine ranking.
Hopping Mad Designs is in the process of designing and building a new website – should be up in about 3-4 weeks so keep an eye out for this.
There is little point in getting a stunning web design if no one can find you.
If you are serious about improving your new business inquiries and want to generate more sales leads from your new website then it must be found on Google. To add to this it also must be on Page 1 of Google. Getting your new website ranked on page 1 of Google is probably the most powerful marketing action you can take for business and getting there is a lot easier than you think.
Here at Hopping Mad Designs we are that confident that we can get you on Page 1 of Google within 6 months for your website that if we dont we will do the next 6 months for free.
There are NO CONTRACTS just PROVEN RESULTS :: thats our GUARANTEE.
Now that the holiday season is over and you are back at work you may want to take a good look at your online ranking.
If you find that your website is not ranking well on Google then its time to talk to us here at Hopping Mad Designs.
We will be able to turn your Google rankings around and get you on that first page of Google. Take advantage of our knowledge and expertise and let us help your business.
Ignoring a bad online ranking and hoping it will improve over time is not the answer. What is needed is a strategic , well thought out search engine optimisation marketing campaign. We will turn things around for you very quickly ALL at a reasonable cost.
So if you want to get a better Google ranking then call Steven on 02 9360 8514 for a chat and some great ideas on how best to get your business found online.
If you are contemplating starting a new online business or have a current website that you feel needs some revamping then a comprehensive and well thought out search engine marketing campaign should really be part of the mix.
As a web design company Hopping Mad Designs can offer stunning website design for your new business venture but we can also offer you a targeted SEO campaign. If you have a look at our own Google rankings you will see that we are extremely well raked for the following keywords: web design and graphic design. These are extremely competitive keywords and through our SEO knowledge we have managed to attain this coveted position and managed to stay there.
We would like to be able to do this for you as well. Think about it carefully, we can apply the same SEO tactics that have been so successful to our own business for you and help you get on the first page of Google.
A lot of companies will offer this service but people should be very wary of statements like this and not be fooled and only engage companies that can show you a successful SEO ranking for their own business as we have done here at Hopping Mad Designs. We are on Page 1 for ALL our major keywords.
This is great news for anyone thinking about a website as we can handle everything her. Not only can we offer a unique web design service but we can also get you found on Google with an awesome ranking.
If you would like more information on this please call me anytime on 02 9360 8514 as I would be happy to go over this with you in more detail.
Google has launched Google Instant, which it says builds on the search-as-you-type idea which was previously implemented.
The concept of search-before-you-type is based on the notion that people type slowly, but read quickly and are capable of scanning a results page while typing.
According to a description of the service on the Google Blog, “Instant takes what you have typed already, predicts the most likely completion and streams results in real-time for those predictions.”
Google’s indicates the benefits of Instant to advertisers is that users can be directed to applicable content more accurately without having to complete the full search term or pressing ‘search’.
The service also reduces search time, albeit minimally. According to the search giant, it takes an average of nine seconds for users to type in a search, but Instant cuts searching time down to two to five seconds due to search predictions being immediately displayed.
If you would like more information or would like to discuss your new web design please give Steve a call on 02 9360 8514
Except for the social networking sites, the days of browsing the web for fun are mostly over. prospects today visit the web with a specific purpose in mind and if your web design sydney site does not deliver, you are wasting their time. They are after valuable information on a product or service and do not want to be searching throughout the site for pointless information. In our case people looking for website design sydney will immediately see our graphics and want to know more.
Why are they visiting your site? The main reason is that they want to be better informed, so that they can make better decisions about their health, holidays, shopping, investments etc. They want to find their way to the information they need quickly and easily. And they also enjoy being in control of the decision making process –able to decide at the click of the mouse whether to stay on your site or leave.
What makes a web site work? Like leading web designers sydney around the world, we recognise that there are three basic rules of good web design sydney that should never be broken.
Make sure your website design sydney gives the prospect the information he or she wants fast – otherwise he or she will just click onto the next site.
Having gimmicks and features for their own sake can do more harm than good. Complicated landing pages, slow and over-elaborate flash graphics and unnecessary video clips turn prospects off because they slow the information flow down. The web design sydney graphics can be fun and different which is a good thing. Again only a professional website design sydney like Hopping Mad Designs will be able to design and implement this strategy in a user friendly, SEO friendly manner.
Fresh, high impact graphic design sydney and informative text are vital. When a prospect clicks onto your home page , he or she decides in less than 2 seconds whether to stay stray on your site or click to the next search engine result.
At Hopping Mad Designs, all our graphic and writing skills and specialist IT knowledge is geared to follow these rules to deliver a web design site that not only looks terrific, but also sells your business, products and services.
I am a member of a forum that is for the business community and acts as a sort of place where people can throw around ideas and discuss issues.
Ive just been on the site and there is a web design company who has just written an article about what should be done to attract more business online through your website. Im afraid that his information on website design was totally wrong and I worry that business owners who are on this forum and who take his advice on website design will be making some critical errors.
In the rush to find content for websites some webmasters will allow anyone to write an article and because this article was commissioned by the web owner people think that the article is gospel and will implement web design changes as per his recommendations.
My advice to businesses out there who are on forums and who are reading information about website design tips and techniques is to do your research but look deeper into things and make your own judgements and conclusions.
For all you website owners looking to advertise your new web design be really careful where you put your advertising dollars as there are just far too many online advertising options out there.
For example I had a Yellow Pages sales rep come into my office and show me how wonderful yellow pages online was for advertising our website in the classification of website design. They were throwing figures and charts at me saying that most people went to the yellow pages first when looking for a product or service. I was amazed , I thought that this was fantastic and it was going to drive a whole lot of traffic through to our website. I then asked the sales rep for the actual statistics ( hit rate) for the term web design sydney and he proudly came out with a rate of around 400 site hits for the month of March . I was then stunned as our website was actually getting around 400 hits per day for the search term website design sydney.
The moral of this is to be extremely careful where you put your advertising dollars. There are so many places that you can advertise but in my opinion the best way to go is through a targeted , well thought out SEO campaign that will get your website ranked well on Google. Anything else is really just an addition and may help you with your Google ranking but at the end of the day Google is where you want your business to be. Without a Google listing your business will be missing out valuable online inquiries.
Things to look out for when deciding on your next graphic design or web design project.
Has the company taken a proper brief from you. This is paramount in determining what design is needed for your business and how that graphic design sydney will communicate this clearly to your clients.
Has the company you are going to appoint been in business for a long time. Is there are trading history and do they have a strong design portfolio. If not then what design work have they done in the past and can they provide any client testimonials on previous website design work that they have done. They should be able to send you some links of sites.
Will you be dealing with an account manager or the web designer directly. Its a lot easier if you deal with a designer rather than an account manager to avoid the Chinese whispers problems that can arise. If you are in direct communication with your designer that end result will be far better.
Has the company given you a time frame and a set of deliverables or is it up in the air. Try to set out a time line and ensure that all milestones are met and are achievable. Setting realistic targets is always better than pressuring designers to complete work. remember its the quality of the design and if you have to wait a couple of extra days it will be worth it in the long run.
Hopping Mad Designs is often asked to design a colouful, stunning web design for clients. They want flash animation, rotating testimonials and pop up windows that scream at you. Thats fine and thats ok to do, we are happy to create a website design that is extremely visual and one that stands out from their competition. But nowadays you cannot just go-ahead and design a website without taking Search Engine Optimisation into account and how your website will be indexed by Google. Its so important to look at a whole range of SEO techniques like:
Optimizing keywords, Source codes, Keyword density, title pages, content for the website , the list goes on and on. You really have to take so many variables into account when designing your website that will be search friendly for Google. For a company like us, a really important keyword would be Sydney Website Design – so if we were to design a website for us this is a keyword that we would have to keep very much front of mind. This word would have to be peppered throughout the content so when the Google spider is indexing your site, this word is picked up. Its small things like this that do make a big difference when it comes to producing a website.
One can only pay more attention to what Google is doing and it’s constantly changing algorithms, to stay one step ahead of the competition. Remember you can have a stunning website designed but it makes it alot more attractive if you can be found on Google.
A potential client rang me up yesterday, (and I must say she was a lovely lady!) but her first and only question was “how much do you charge? She then told me that she had rung a few other agencies and they had been extremely helpful. In fact, there was one girl who was going to design a website, help her with all the SEO (search engine optimisation), write copy for the site, and submit press release articles – all for a grand total of $500.00. I had to sit back and ask myself – how is this possible? Can this actually be done? What will the end product look like and how will it reflect on her business? The answer is simple. Yes it can be done – but it might not do the best job possible and could even damage your business. On the pricing side alone – the time it takes to consider, research and address each of these items is extensive. So whoever is working on this job is not placing much value on their time. Which is fine, it’s their time. But if they don’t value it, then why should the client? Potentially it will be either be handled by:
1) a junior freelancer designer portraying themselves as a web design company rather than a one man band, and therefore no resources or true experience but desperate to get the work in.
2) outsourced to India. They take a brief and shoot if off to a design company (if you can call it that) to Bangalore, Bombay or some other city where your designs are handled in a sweat shop environment with no concern given to design quality or brand maintence.
3) a freelance designer here on holiday, working to get enough money to continue to travel who really doesnt understand your business nor taken the time to understand the brief. A design is spewed out in 2 hours and if you want any changes then big penalty rates apply OR even worse you can contact then, phone is always engaged or goes to voice mail.
4) a design company desperate for the work and will quote extremely low in the first instance to secure your business and once you have paid the deposit then they start charging you like a wounded bull for any minor design amend or variation to the brief. Fights and frustration follow and they end up out of pocket, frayed nerves and a mistrust of design companies.
The list goes on and on and on ….so the moral here is… well i guess you can work that out for your self.
For so many people their first question in their search for finding a web design company to create a new site for them will be ‘ Do you have any web design packages?’ When I’m asked this question and tell them ‘No we don’t operate that way’, I can hear the frustration in their voice. Usually they have rung 10 or so other web companies they’ve found on Google who all offer some sort of package deal in an effort to compete. There is nothing wrong with offering a package but thorough and proper web design should not be bundled up and sold like a cheap holiday package to Bali or the snow. Websites need to be properly briefed in and the project needs to be scoped out. Marketing advice and website usability needs to be incorporated, competition analysed and target market identified before any design can begin. All of these factors are critical and are overlooked by the mass of web companies who tout their $395 for a full web design package. These guys are out for the quick buck, a churn and burn, production line mentality that will take your money and run. You will be treated like a number, not as a valued client, never have calls returned and be totally dissatisfied with the end product: a web template that does not address your business needs.
I cannot emphasise this enough before you choose a web design company to work with you PLEASE have a very close look at their portfolio of work and ask your self these questions:
1) What does their website look like? Does it have a personality, a brand? Or is a simple showcase of work to make a sale?
2) What is the portfolio of work like? Do all the sites look relatively the same but with a different logo and colour scheme? If this is so, how are they going to treat your site and how will it stand out from your competitors??
2) Do the sites they have on their portfolio link to real businesses and live sites? Sometimes examples of work can be designs, but not for REAL clients. Lack of experience in dealing with the actual business world and the driving needs of any business can effect the end results.
3) Does the site include a video? Be wary of web companies that use the same actor on several different sites. This screams of formula solutions – the quick and easy approach rather than custom and unique. It’s one thing to be sold a package, but it’s imperative that the solution works for your business.
5) Does the company have a physical office and can they be contacted? If they have only have a 1800 number and an email enquiry form then customer service is not necessarily a priority. They may be hard to get in touch with or perhaps not even running a full time business.
So hopefully all this makes sense and will help you in deciding what web company to use when embarking on what is a very important decision: a website for your business.
If you would like any other information or would like to chat about anything I have written here please call me (Steve) on 02 9360 8514 .
Before you go ahead and choose a website design studio its critical to do a thorough due diligence before you engage the website design company to design and build your company website.I would really look for the following attributes about the company before making any decision:
1) how long have they been in business and do they have a physical address – be wary of companies that only provide communication via email
2) are there any testimonials/referees you can call
3) are they too cheap, are they buying your business. This will only lead to problems in work ethic on your website design later on.
4) have you looked at their portfolio to see their variety of work
5) are they more programmers as opposed to designers , if their design skills are somewhat limited your website might not truely reflect your business
6) have they got the capability to complete your work on time and to deadline. In some cases they may be too busy to work on your website and your launch date will get pushed further and further away.
7) will the company stick to their original quote or will they reel you in to get the business and then start charging for little extras
are their websites template driven – be really careful here as many companies will offer unique website design but in fact all their sites have are based on pre-designed templates. Ok for some businesses but for the majority this is a big mistake
9) do they offer a search engine optimisation service
10) check their payment terms
11) see if must host with them
12) who owns the intellectual property once the project is finished
Who is Hopping Mad ?
Web design can take a long time from the initial briefing stage through to uploading the final website design . An example of this is a website we have just completed for an Occupational Health company. I remember taking the brief about 18 months ago and we just uploaded the site yesterday. It was no ones fault just a long process where staff were on holidays, decision makers were away and of course there were the design changes. But in the end we did get there and managed to complete and upload a new site for them. In some cases its just a matter of patience and perseverance. Some clients are very quick , some are very needy and some just take their time. Its a skill we have learnt here at Hopping Mad and refined, we know how to deal with clients and their time frames. we never rush people and always encourage them to take their time and make sure that they are 100% happy with the designs, whether graphic design or web design.
Running a small business is hard work and it doesn’t matter if you’re managing an online store or a small consultancy, the smaller the business, the more work you need to do! Small businesses need web sites to promote their products and services and we can help. If you’re an entrepreneur hungry for business success then hiring a professional web developer is a very important investment decision. Here at Hopping Mad Designs ( www.hoppingmad.com.au) we provide small business web site design services custom built to the specific needs of Australian business. All our websites are customed designed to suit your business and business needs. We take the time to understand what you are really after and work out ways a website will attract clients and generate revenue for you. PLUS our website designs look stunning.
