Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Alex in
Design A Great way to boost user interactivity and to enhance your website is by including video. People say pictures tell a thousand words; well if that is the case then a thousand moving pictures tell a million words.
An embedded video can be a great way to advertise a product, or to get a message across to the viewer without them having to scroll through pages of text. Sound and moving objects will attract the user’s attention and keep them interested and entertained, especially if they been trawling the internet for hours looking at nothing but text over the last several sites.
Using video is becoming increasingly popular throughout the internet with big corporate companies such as Audi, Nike, Adidas and Levi’s all using video on their home pages. The effect is stunning integrating the video with the rest of the page gives the site a whole new dynamic and certainly separates them from their competitors.
The examples above use video in a very bold way to advertise a product, but video can be used more subtly just to enhance the look of your site. This can be done by using a Flash animated banner or company logo. Animating these elements should make them stick in the viewers mind.
Just before you start thinking that you want a completely animated site with all the bells and whistles, be warned there are a couple potential problems. Video and animation are not entirely browser friendly and additional software called plug-ins must be installed before the browser can display the video. You could potentially loose a huge chunk of your target audience by including too much video and animation for this reason.
My tip with video and animation is that less is more. Don’t saturate your site with them as that will increase page load times and deter potential viewers. Use it subtly and integrate it with the rest of the site to create an improved user experience.
Every company should list its company registration number, place of registration and registered office address on its website as a result of an update to the legislation of 1985. The information, which must be in legible characters, should also appear on order forms and in emails. Such information is already required on ‘business letters’ but the duty is being extended to websites, order forms and electronic documents (including email).
The new legislation came into force last January and requires:
- The name, geographic address and email address of the service provider. The name of the organisation with which the customer is contracting must be given. This might differ from the trading name. Any such difference should be explained – e.g. “XYZ.com is the trading name of XYZ Enterprises Limited.”
It is not sufficient to include a ‘contact us’ form without also providing an email address and geographic address somewhere easily accessible on the site. A PO Box is unlikely to suffice as a geographic address; but a registered office address would. If the business is a company, the registered office address must be included.
- If a company, the company’s registration number should be given and, under the Companies Act, the place of registration should be stated (e.g. “XYZ Enterprises Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with company number 1234567″)
- If the business is a member of a trade or professional association, membership details, including any registration number, should be provided.
- If the business has a VAT number, it should be stated – even if the website is not being used for e-commerce transactions.
- Prices on the website must be clear and unambiguous. Also, state whether prices are inclusive of tax and delivery costs.
‘Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.’ Mark Twain
That well-worn phrase ‘less is more’ could have been invented for writing websites. Short, sharp, succinct and to the point – that’s the kind of copy your users want to read. And, be honest, that’s the kind of stuff you want to find when you visit a site, isn’t it? Not reams of padding.
But the finely honed phrase doesn’t just appear from nowhere. You have to work at it. So here’s my simple, Five-Step Technique for getting the results you want:
1 Open a new page and just write. Anything, everything – get it all out and say what you want.
2 Read it over carefully; get it in order so that the story flows.
3 Now – be prepared to delete. Cut out anything you don’t need: long-winded sentences; vague filler content; repetitions. Check words like ‘that’ and ‘very’ – see Mark Twain’s advice above. If it doesn’t add anything – delete!
4 Re-write wordy cliches like ‘on a weekly basis’, ‘in a position to’ or ‘for the purpose of’.
5 Leave for at least 30 mins (overnight is even better). Then re-read – preferably out loud and with feeling. Tighten up the copy where needed. (Repeat Step 5 if necessary.)
Et voila! You’ll have a lean, mean fighting piece of copy that really does the business.
Remember, you just can’t bore people into buying.
Posted on January 14th, 2008 by Adam in
Branding A brand (or graphic) designer creates brand logos and other imagery for use on business stationery, promotional literature, signage and websites. Your leaflets, advertisements and stationery provide an important representation of your corporate image to customers, so it is important to have these designed professionally.
Well-designed marketing materials and stationery can convey the impression of a dynamic, successful and trustworthy business, while badly designed literature can say exactly the opposite.
Choosing a brand designer who is right for your business is a critical decision, so make sure you Make the right choice!
I am confident that at some point you have received an email offering to submit your website to thousands of search engines for the low low cost of £79. The value may change but the message doesn’t - we can get you more traffic for very little money.
So what’s the problem?
You simply don’t need to be listed in a thousand search engines. Most people 99.9% in the UK use around 50 search engines between them. Out of that top 50 Google, Yahoo any MSN receive 85% of the searches. Knowing that where would you invest your time?
In addition some of the less scupulous mass submission services simply take your money and then generate spam email, which will give you know benefit and kill off your inbox!
Want better advice?
Have a look at this post search engine submission
Customers will invariably find your website through using a Search Engine, such as Google, MSN, or Yahoo. Submission is basically the process of getting your website listed in such search engines.
Google, Yahoo and MSN account for over 85% of the searches in the UK – with Google taking around 50%. If a listed website links to your website then your website will be found automatically… eventually. By entering your website URL (the full address including the http://) into the submission page you can speed that process up greatly. Simple eh?
For more information, take a look at
Google.co.uk - http://www.google.com/addurl/
MSN.co.uk - http://search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx
Yahoo.co.uk - http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
What else can I do?
Submit your website to the Open Directory Project http://www.dmoz.org. This not only improves your ranking in Google but feeds many other search engines and directories although you must be careful not to submit to the ODP too often (every 3 months at the most), as this may actually impact on your listing.
Warrington based ICU Group have launched their new website www.icugroup.com
ICU Group specialises in providing Consultancy and Support for Microsoft Computer Networks and developing Business Management Software Solutions, using core Microsoft technologies.
Bad Robot created a high quality professional website at a very competitive price. The staff were friendly and helpful throughout the project and I would have no hesitation in recommending their services to others.Tony Walker, MD
Pilkington owned Alexandra Business have launched their new website www.alexandrapark.co.uk
Set in 22 acres of landscaped grounds, this major business campus offers the support and services you need, without the premium price tag.
When we were looking to develop a website to promote Alexandra Business Park we had to look no further than one of our own tenants - Bad Robot Limited, and we’re glad we did.
Not only did Bad Robot provide a website design service but they were also able to provide much of the photography and graphics as well as design an electronic brochure for us. I was pleased and impressed to see our site listed in Google - on the First page!
Overall, a helpful and professional service
John Bracken, Pilkington Group
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