Walking into any branch of Starbucks is like déjà vu all over again…. The same familiar mermaid logo hangs on the wall. The layout of the room and the faces behind the counter may change, but if you’ve seen one Starbucks menu, you’ve seen them all. The drinks taste exactly the same too. The aprons,…
If you thinking of adding an 0800, 0845 or 0870
number to your website, remember that many of your customers will be using a mobile phone to
call you
You may have valid reasons for deciding on an “08” number
for your website:
My advice is, think very carefully before adding an “08”
number to your site. More often than not, your customers will be calling from a
mobile and will be paying as much as 20p/minute, even when it’s an 0800 number!
They will not appreciate having to pay inflated call rates.
We are 5 months into 2011, yet I’m amazed at the number of websites that are still displaying last year’s date. When this happens, the site appears old and outdated. Make sure
copyright dates on your site are up to date. The same is true with any
files containing dates.
When you launch your new website, have you ever thought about its purpose? What do you want to get out of it? What do you want visitors to do? I often get clients telling me: “We don’t use our website for getting business, it’s just an online brochure”. But it doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t rely on your website for new business. It’s still a vital tool for engaging with your customers. Your website should always have a call to action.
When you’re having your website designed, have you ever asked yourself the following questions:
The sad truth is, most website owners I come across don’t have answers to any of the above questions. They know they would like more enquiries through their website but have little idea how to go about it. Few website owners even know how to access their web statistics.
A website is more than just an online brochure, it’s a vital sales tool that works around the clock, advertising your business. If you do the following preparatory work before your website is designed, it will go a long way towards ensuring a successful outcome.
This summer marked the 10th anniversary of Brainstorm Design. Since 2000 we have expanded from a one-man web design agency to an internet consultancy of eight, which specialises in growing businesses online. In order to commemorate this auspicious landmark, we had a drinks evening at the White Lion Pub, East Finchley. Thank you to everyone who attended!
Can anyone shed light on the identity of this man? He appears on literally thousands of websites, and I have even seen his face on ads on the Tube? Whoever he is, I am getting rather sick of him, and he puts me off looking at any website that he appears on.
You can download him in dozens of different poses on istockphoto.com, a website that has revolutionised the web by enabling web designers to download images costing as little as £1-2 for their websites. Previously they had to pay upwards of £75 for a photo, and many web designers simply copied photos illegally from elsewhere rather than pay the price. But with low cost photos, there has also been a price to pay. Such has been the popularity of istockphoto that some photos have become ubiquitous and many websites have been cheapened in the process.
Not only do frequently used stock photos look cheesy and fake, but they make your entire site look like it has recycled content. One writer has described stock photos as being “the new clipart”.
Website designers seem to be two a penny these days. Whenever I go to networking meetings of any description, there are a few financial advisers, a few accountants and just about everyone else seems to be a website designer. If you are considering a career in website design, be aware, the jobs market is saturated with them.
It was recently reported that Google has started ranking webpages by the speed with which they load.
