Verulam Web Design

Google adds a personal touch to search results

Nigel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:14:36 +0000

Earlier this month Google moved a step closer to bringing social media and internet search results together. An update called ‘Search plus Your World’ effectively integrate Google+ and search results, so that Google+ circles, photos, posts and more will be integrated into search results to create a more personal and tailored experience. Google is effectively bringing users into a single world, much like Facebook has done, but to am greater degree. Now the whole web can be personalised to preferrentially find content created by your connections. Like it or not, Google+ is becoming ever more important in engagement between friends and businesses. This video will help explain what it means for you and your web presence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9TTBxarbs

Mark Ballett

Nigel — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:49:47 +0000

Mark Ballett, an experienced business coach, asked us to create a blog-based website for him to demonstrate his business knowledge and provide advice and updates to his clients and subscribers. we chose our favourite content management system, WordPress, as the perfect choice for these requirements. The website allows people to subscribe to his newsletter and receive a free e-book. We will be working with Mark to improve his web presence over the coming months.

Website load time and why it matters

Nigel — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:33:54 +0000

No one likes to be left waiting. Everyone is busy these days and the internet, with the enormous number of websites and information available at the click of a mouse (or movement of a finger!) is the most time-critical of all. Ten years ago, before we all had broadband, it was normal to wait a few seconds for pages to load. But now we can download movies and songs in seconds, we expect websites to load almost instantaneously. It is well known that if pages load slowly users have a worse experience and are more likely to move onto sites that load more quickly. Google actually conducted an experiment to try to quantify the effect, the results can be found here. Google has also indicated that site speed may be an important factor in organic search rankings. Okay, it’s not as critical as having relevant and topical content or frequently updated content, but it is a factor.

The Google Caffeine update first started to consider page load time as a factor for organic search rankings and there are now many tools available to allow you to measure your page load time, such as Google webmaster tools or web page analyser. So what factors will impact the load time?

1 – Large images that are not optimised for the web

2 – Excessive use of background images in website design. Good practice now is to use css3 and html5 to create gradients, rounded corners etc within the browser.

3 – Poor coding standards – for example numerous database queries or browser load requests.

4 – Low quality shared hosting – many large hosting companies overload their servers, leading to slow response times and therefore slow page loads.

So if your website is loading slowly ask us or another web professional to review the situation for you. You could be losing business!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbaU-p2UnkA

Reshape Building Services

Nigel — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:12:48 +0000

A local building services company approached Verulam Web Design to redesign and code a search-engine friendly website to promote their domestic and commercial building services. We used WordPress, because of its SEO friendly coding, structure and range of plugins. The website has a clean design, with quality images and concise copy.

WottleDo

Nigel — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:23:20 +0000

We have provided project management and design and development services for an exciting new business referral and interactive directory website – WottleDo. This project has taken 18 months from initial brainstorming and wireframes to launch, requiring a large team with graphic design, website design, software development, copywriting, testing and user experience skillsets. Verulam Web Design have coordinated the whole project and delivered the finished website.

Why creating a website is like buying a car

Nigel — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:12:06 +0000

I like cars, I also like websites (duh!). I suppose I’m a bit of a petrol head. I rode motorcycles for 10 years before getting my first car (an old Datsun 120Y for £50). Since then I’ve had several cars, upping my budget each time till, in my late forties, I bougth a 2004 Mazda RX-8. I’ve always liked them and realised I could actually afford one and it does what I need. I still have it and use it day to day.

Well, people often ask me ‘How much does it cost for a website?’ and I like to answer ‘Same as it costs for a car!’. This tends to throw people a bit, but think about it. My first car cost £50, the most recent cost nearly £5,000. Very different beasts, that fulfil the same basic function, but very different in terms of build quality, efficiency, design and user experience.

So it’s the same with websites. You can pay £50 for a very basically designed page to be created by someone, somewhere. You can pay tens of thousands for a bespoke, hand-crafted, performance website that requires a lot of maintenance, but delivers a huge amount of functionality and a great user experience. And of course, for most of us, we will choose something inbetween. But, whatever the budget, a website or car has to do what is required by the owner.

I’m not going to try to take the analogy too far, but if you want to get the most out of your website, like a car, you have to look after it. New content – pages, blog posts, social media integration. It needs to give a good user experience to visitors and perform well.

We create performance websites, well coded and structured, attractive, fast and functional. I wouldn’t say we create a Ferrari equivalent, but at least a Mazda or BMW. So if your website isn’t a Mazda or a BMW, give us a call….

FREE web presence review

Nigel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:21:29 +0000

At Verulam Web Design we are passionate about improving our clients’ web presence. Many businesses come to us because they get little or no business from their website and wonder why. So we are now offering a FREE half-hour web presence review for anyone interested in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their online presence. This will cover not just the website, but also other, increasingly important, aspects of getting noticed on the web. So call 01727537130 now or email enquiries and arrange a time to come into our St. Albans offices and let us help you to make the most of the web.

Hunter Sourcing

Nigel — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:47:24 +0000

A local design agency approached us to create a bespoke WordPress-based website for Hunter Sourcing in Harpenden. Hunter develop custom-made luxury packaging and promotional products from concept to delivery. The website was created from supplied designs that reflect the beautiful packaging created for many top brands. This custom-coded website has a JQuery image fade on the homepage and highlights several key case studies.

DJ Virtual

Nigel — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 15:53:03 +0000

Clean and crisp styling was used for this wordpress website for a local DJ that wants to begin selling compilations online. We worked with them to develop their branding via a new logo and colour scheme. The website has a 7 page form with progress bar to allow clients to order music compilations and pay via Paypal.

Business Issue Solutions

Nigel — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:55:51 +0000

A local business consultancy asked Verulam Web Design to re-design their current website, re-develop it using WordPress and improve their web visibility. The design reflects their existing branding, but they now have the power of the WordPress CMS to allow them to update and create new content and access a large range of new functionality. We conducted a keyword review and provided competitor analysis, which was used to optimise the website content.;