Just a quick message to wish everyone a fantastic Christmas! I hope you all have a great Christmas break and get the chance to spend time with family and friends.
Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I have had the busiest few months since I became self employed over two years ago! I have been working on several great projects that I can’t wait to share with you soon…
I recently helped to create a website for UK Stress Management company StressCHECK Training Ltd. StressCHECK Training showed a keen interest all stages of the website’s development and it was a real pleasure to work with them. I have always said that good communication is the key to the creation of a great website. I think the outcome of this website is a shining example!
The website design is completely bespoke with a content management system to allow the StressCHECK Training staff to update the content themselves. The website features ‘call to action’ contact forms, latest news blog, examples of client feedback, case studies, RSS Feed and more.
StressCHECK Training were kind enough to provide the following testimonial:
“I would highly recommend Mark Langdale. I had specific ideas about the style of my website and Mark’s patience, flexibility and technical skill brought these ideas to life. I’m really pleased with the service and intend to use Mark again in the future.”
Estelle Penrose – Director StressCHECK Training
To visit the website please visit www.stresschecktraining.com
Last month I helped to put together a small website for Airedale Boat Club. Airedale Boat Club has been located above the renowned Bingley Five Rise locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal since 1959.
The website is designed to act as a communicative portal for prospective and existing members with newsletters, a gallery of photographs, map and more.
Airedale Boat Club were great to work with and supplied some fantastic photography for use on the website. It made sense to try and incorporate as much photography as possible into the design and it really brings the website to life.
Click here to visit the website.
I often get asked the question, “How much is a website?”. There really is no answer to this, it’s a bit like asking “How much is a car?”. Just as cars can be big, small, fast, reliable, luxury, classic or rusty old bangers – websites too come in all shapes and sizes.
Whether you buy a Ferrari, a Volvo or a Range Rover depends on your needs and budget. Similarly, the creation process of a website must also be tailored to your requirements. After a brief discussion, a good web designer will be able to get a feel for what you are looking for and create something that’s right for you.
Look out for the dodgy dealers in both the car and web industry. You don’t want your wheel falling off as you pull away from the car dealership, or a website that doesn’t work!
You wouldn’t show up to a client meeting in a car that’s chugging along with smoke pouring out of the exhaust. You wouldn’t show up to a client meeting in a car with pink and orange multicoloured doors (I hope!).
First impressions count, and it’s very important that your website looks professional and functions well. If a website looks ugly or doesn’t work it reflects badly upon you and could cost you business.
A car helps you to broaden your horizons. A website helps you reach a larger market. Even the most basic website can act as a great shop window for your company. It’s a marketing tool that’s live 24/7 so you never know who might stumble across it.
More and more people use search engines to find the things they need. Hundreds of millions of searches are made on Google per day, so make sure you have a web presence otherwise you might be losing out on customers.
Without petrol a car won’t go anywhere, unless you fancy pushing it. Without fresh content a website starts to look unloved. I once read this summarised very succinctly – “A website is never finished, only abandoned”.
New content keeps your website dynamic and gives your visitors a reason to come back. Furthermore, the major search engines prefer websites with fresh, unique content and give them priority in their rankings.
Whether it’s an article, some research, pieces of advice or just the latest company news, it all helps to keep your site current.
Before any car is released it goes through rigorous safety testing. A website must also be tested in a variety of different environments. For example, it needs to display correctly on all of the most common internet browsers and it must be accessible for people who use text only browsers and screen readers. It must also be user tested by other people to make sure the navigation is clear and easy to use.
Need a website? Please get in touch and I would be very happy to discuss it further.
I recently helped to create a website for Leeds based IT & EPoS Support providers XR Solutions. XR Solutions are a growing company who take pride in providing fast, expert support for customers with IT and electronic point of sale issues. Established last year, they have already amassed a large number of satisfied customers, some of whom have been willing to provide testimonials.
Their content managed website is designed to be clean and easy to navigate, with a homepage featuring the latest news about the company. Please visit www.xrsolutions.co.uk for more information.