416 Studios » Musings http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal Web design Articles, Tips and Musings Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:12:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Are SME’s harming their business with shoddy websites? http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2011/are-sme%e2%80%99s-harming-their-business-with-shoddy-websites http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2011/are-sme%e2%80%99s-harming-their-business-with-shoddy-websites#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:07:09 +0000 Michael http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/?p=249 According to research carried out by OnePoll, on behalf of BaseKit, 70 per cent of people claim they would not buy from a company with a badly designed website, yet many small businesses enterprises(SME) seem to think that any old website will do. Even worse is the misconception that their business can not benefit from a website.

It is vital that you represent you company professionally online. In this Internet age companies are expected to have a well thought out online presence and it is crucial that a website gives the correct impression of a business.

When you consider that the first stop to find a product or services is Google. Can SME’s really afford not to have an appropriate site when it’s so easy to go back to Google and choose a different company, one that has a better looking site?

The ease of finding businesses online means it is also very easy to find a business that’s not yours. Where you business is located is not as important as how it looks online. A website is the first impression a potential customer gets of a business, and a judgement on whether or not to use the services is usually made in a few seconds. In those few seconds aesthetics is the most influential factor in making that decision

The website is now the digital expression of the business. It is essential to marketing and sales, communications, branding and reputation, and customer service and support.

By allowing their business to be represented by a shoddy website, SME’s are running the risk of:

  • Losing market share to competitors who have recognised the value of a good website, and have acquired a better site.
  • Damage to reputation and brand caused by the association of a bad website to the brand
  • Harming customer relationship when customers have difficulty completing tasks, caused by bad planning and design
  • Financial loss associated with customers turning away from your business, caused by poor web execution.

SME’s must stop throwing away money, turning away customers, and damaging their reputation, paying more attention to their oft neglected website. In these austere times can we really afford to be represented by a bad website?

]]> http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2011/are-sme%e2%80%99s-harming-their-business-with-shoddy-websites/feed 1 Top 5 web annoyances http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2010/top-5-web-annoyances http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2010/top-5-web-annoyances#comments Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:52:08 +0000 Margot http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/?p=193 If you spend any amount of time browsing the web, then you will from time to time come across a few things that are plain irritating. Having had one too many of those annoying pop ups recently, I thought I’d share my pet peeves here.

Those stupid Flash ads that expand over content

It’s not enough for some ads to be flashy and irritating but just as you start reading the article they have to expand and cover what you were reading.

What do those people think? The only way I’d click you ad is accidentally, maybe that’s the point. Getting in my way is not the best way to endear me to your product.

What’s even worse are those with no immediately discernible close button aarrgh! In that case I close the window and vow never to return to that site again.

Snap-shots.

I hate snapshots, whoever came up with that idea should be shot. You see the link, you make the effort to move your mouse over it and… it’s not a link. What irritates me even more is when I use the middle button to scroll the pointer will inadvertently move over one of these dastardly things.

Why oh why use snap? It sucks resources, increases page loading time and has all that advertising that your visitors don’t really want.

Speaking of useless unnecessary ads

What’s with those disgusting teeth whitening ads

You know the one, yes that one with the mouth full of nasty rotten teeth. The funny thing is that I mostly see that particular ad when visiting Food blogs. Not what I want to see next to pictures of food.

At the very least make sure the ads are relevant to your site’s niche.

Comment systems.

Why do comments have to open a new window?

Why do I have to sign in with a twitter, facebook, openID, Disquss account? Suppose I don’t have or want one.

Why is the Last comment first?

I understand the need for pagination, but every 10 comments? Seriously what are you trying to pull?

Having have to scroll back up to the top of the post to leave a comment.

You are kind enough to put the full posts on your front page, and I really appreciate that. However after reading your well written article don’t let me scroll all the way back to the top to leave a comment. A link to the comments at the bottom of the post would be lovely.

Have more?

I know I’ve missed out some —share yours.

]]> http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2010/top-5-web-annoyances/feed 0 URL ABC http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2009/url-abc http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/2009/url-abc#comments Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:55:48 +0000 Michael http://www.416studios.co.uk/journal/?p=98 A simple game from Tim van Damme Go to the address bar in your favorite browser, and type one letter. Start with “a”, end with “z”. What did you get?

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