May 28th, 2011
tordesign
Whenever I view a potential clients website I always like to look at the positives. No matter how badly designed a website, or how poorly it is put together, at least the company or business in question have a website…right?
Well, the answer is yes and no. Sorry if this is a little confusing, but some websites are so poorly designed and constructed they perform very randomly and are very unpredictable. So even though your website may generate some enquires or serve a low priorty or had-hoc purpose, the fact is that a badly designed website may be harming your business.
Let us think for a minute about the enquires you fail to win because your website design isn’t good enough. Where do those visitors go? The answer is they go to a competitor. This fact alone should be enough to alert any business to the power of good web design. Consider the list of 20 questions below:
Q1. Is your company logo strong and appropriate?
Q2. Is your logo consistent across all platforms and media?
Q3. Is your website easy to navigate?
Q4. Does your website reflect your business and services effectively?
Q5. Is the message getting across and is it appropriate?
Q6. Do your products look inviting and are images good quality?
Q7. Are you listed on search engines?
Q8. Do you monitor visitor traffic properly with advanced web stats?
Q9. Is your website regularly submitted to search engines?
Q10. Do visitors stay on your website or do they bounce immediately?
Q11. Are your contact details up-to-date and is there a strong call to action?
Q12. Is the information on your website accurate?
Q13. Are the colours, font and graphics appropriate?
Q14. Is there a sitemap?
Q15. Are directions to your premises or showroom on your website?
Q16. Do you need an 0800 number?
Q17. Is all the legally required information on your pages?
Q18. Does your website display properly on all browsers?
Q19. Is your website W3C compliant?
Q20. Is the copy on your website well written and free from spelling mistakes?
The list of questions above is just a sample of the many questions any successful business should be constantly asking about their website. Finding a good graphic design and web consultant to help you ask and address these questions can be invaluable.
Andy Buttery is a fully qualified graphic designer and well respected web designer with many years experience within the industry.
Related – Read a recent article by Ben Hatton in the Liverpool Daily Post: Good Web Design Helps Build Relationships…
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/ldpbusiness/business-local/2011/05/23/ben-hatton-good-web-design-helps-build-relationships-92534-28742455/
February 26th, 2011
tordesign
Posters aren’t just for safety awareness or event promotion. Posters can often be an excellent way of promoting your business, products or services to potential clients both locally and nationally. Posters can be displayed (with permission), in shops, waiting rooms and public buildings and many advertisers sell poster space.
To ensure the best possible results, its always wise to employ the services of a graphic designer. But here are a few points to consider when creating a poster:
Make use of the space available, but try not to cram in the content – white space is an important part of the layout. Good use of white space can make a poster elegant and arresting and is one of the designers best tricks.
Use colour sparingly and appropriately - limited use of a few colours is more striking than a ‘rainbow’ approach (however, for some designs many colours may be appropriate). Think about why you are using certain colours and how they represent the content of the poster. Colour is especially useful for emphasis and differentiation.
Avoid colour combinations that clash (e.g. red on blue) or cause problems for people with colour-blindness (e.g. red and green in proximity). Make good use of white or muted colour background (e.g. pastel shades). This will help the content to stand out.
The flow of information should be clear from the layout; if you have to use arrows to indicate the flow, the content could probably be arranged better.
Also:
- Clearly label diagrams/drawings and provide references to them in the text where necessary.
- Again, follow the conference guidelines, which may be quite specific about paper sizes, font sizes etc.
- The title text should be readable from 6 metres away – at least 48-point text. (Note that if you are creating your poster in A4 format, to be blown up to A1 format later, the final printed font size will be approximately 3 times the size you are working with.)
- The body text should be readable from 2 metres away – at least 24-point text.
- Choose a clear font with large inner space (i.e. the space inside the loops of letters such as ‘o’, ‘d’, ‘p’). Good examples are Arial, Verdana, Georgia or Helvetica.
- Keep the word count as low as possible.
Finally, use a good quality print firm to produce your posters – if you are using a graphic designer they can usually help organise and provide the finished printed posters. This takes away some of the hassle and is more convenient for you.
February 25th, 2011
tordesign
Most of the advice given to business owners asking this question is geared towards large organisations with equally large advertising budgets and the staff resources to manage the promotions. Much of this advice seems to exclude small business owners and start-ups with limited funds, low budgets and very little time.
Calculating the Advertising Budget for a Start-Up Business
The person responsible for deciding the budget of a small business start-up should take the time to fully research all the potential costs involved. All too often, this very important consideration is thrown together last minute to meet the requirements of the business plan. Small business start-ups often get too hung up on the business idea itself, concentrate on the products or services they will be providing, and forget or fail to recognise the importance of advertising their new venture and what it will cost.
A start-up business needs to realise they actually might have to spend up to two or three times more on advertising and promotion than if they were an established business. Highly competitive markets will require an even higher start-up advertising spend. To succeed, a new business must very quickly establish a unique selling point (USP) to set it apart from the competition, and the most effective way to do this is through advertising and promotion. Word of mouth simply is not enough in today’s global economy.
So we have established that an advertising budget is essential, but how do you arrive at a figure for your business. As a rule of thumb most experts would agree, retail, consumer focused businesses should aim to spend at least 8% and up to 12% of your first years projected turn-over. Non-retail business to business outfits should be looking at a figure of 5 – 8% of their projected turnover.
