Keep up to date with the world of Webfuel, web design and all things web

17/04/2012 | Web Design | Website Tips

Designing an effective website landing page will increase the number of site visitors that take the desired action. Below we discuss the web design and content factors which make a good landing page.

It's worth first quickly defining what we mean by a web landing page:

From  the standpoint of the website owner, it is a web page that asks the user to perform a specific task, such as making a purchase or subscribing to an email newsletter.

From the users perspective it's a web page that ...

03/04/2012 | Website Tips

The web is going Pinterest crazy at the moment. Pinterest is the latest thing in social media, and since its launch in 2010 has been the fastest growing social site ever.

Unlike other social media sites Pinterest is based on visuals, pinning images to your own personal 'pin board' and sharing these images with others.  It's a beautifully built site and people can spend hours browsing through images and 're-pinning' the ones they like to their own boards.

Like all good social media sites Pinterest offers web-developers the ...

22/03/2012 | Website Launch

Nottingham based Dishwashers direct approached Webfuel with a requirement for a website design and refresh for an information based commercial dishwashers website that was looking a little dated.

We gave the website a bright new professional design and also put the website into our bespoke content management sytem Sitebuilder.

The company were impressed with our responsiveness and speed throughout the project. Having used a few content management systems the feedback was that Sitebuilder was incredibly easy to navigate and use in comparison.

view the website >>

05/03/2012 | Web Design | Webfuel Company News

Nominet is to roll out multi-year registration periods for .uk domain names. This means that from 1st May 2012 anyone looking to register or renew a .uk domain name will have the option to extend the registration for up to a maximun of 10 years.

Until now it has only been possible to register a .uk domain for a two year period. The change will give businesses and consumers the opportunity to lock in their domains for up to 10 years, giving them security of tenure and a longer ...

28/02/2012 | Website Tips

We should all be using Google Analytics to track visitors to our websites.  It's as simple as registering with Google and pasting a short piece of tracking code into the header of your web page.

This simple step then gives you access to an enourmous wealth of information on your visitors.  Which pages are they looking at, how long are they staying on your site, what country are they from, what browser are they using, are they new visitors or returning visitors and so on.

However many sites ...

25/02/2012 | Website Tips

The issue of web privacy has been generating a lot of press attention recently, mostly due to stories of companies leaking or selling personal browsing information which can then be used to target advertising to web visitors.

It's not uncommon for websites to track the behaviour of their own visitors and customise the content they display accordingly. When sites such as Facebook or Amazon adopt this strategy they can sell much more accurately targeted advertising to their customers based on the significant amount of information these companies can gain ...

21/02/2012 | Website Tips

Flash has been in terminal decline for some time now. Ever since the decision by Apple not to support Flash in their mobile devices, and more recently by Microsoft to limit support for it in the next version of Windows. For a while people wondered what would replace Flash to allow us to produce interactive animations within web pages.  

For a short while there was some suggestion that a new Microsoft technology called Silverlight might become prevelant, but in reality there was no chance of Apple ever integrating ...

14/02/2012 | Website Tips

Back in November Google announced another major change to the way it ranks web pages. The search giant updated its algorithms to give greater priority to "fresh" content.  The rationale behind this change is that people are generally seeking news and information on the latest developments or current events. 

The changes don't impact all searches, for example someone searching on William Shakespeare isn't looking for the most up to date information.  The Google algorithms are clever enough to take the context of the search into account, but Google estimate ...

11/02/2012

You will often meet members of Webfuel out and about on the networking circuit. The next event we'll be attending is Love Business East Midlands. 

Love Business East Midlands is a strategic alliance of 'like minded' businesses and organisations. Working together, whose aim is to inspire the business community and highlight the many successes within the East Midlands region.

Who is it for: Individuals from all size businesses in the East Midlands
When: Tuesday, 14th February 2012
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Where: Donington Park Race Circuit, Paddock Suite

http://www.lovebusinesseastmidlands.com/

07/02/2012 | Web Design | Website Tips

Does your website take advantage of Google's latest trend, the +1?  If you have a website and you want to maximise your traffic you might want to start thinking about whether you should be implementing the +1.  Since Google came out with the concept it makes sense that it may eventually be given consideration in regards to Google rankings.

What is Google +1?

The +1 is similar to what Google buzz used to be.  It's a way that users can recommend content to others who are looking for ...

02/02/2012 | Website Tips

As smart phones are becoming more ubiquitous you may be wondering how your website fares when potential clients look you up on their mobile. The new website from Google - www.howtogomo.com may be able to provide an insight into your website's performance in the mobile sector.

HowToGoMo is a website which Google have created in order to help business owners evaluate the performance of their websites on mobile devices. A virtual mobile device is simulated, displaying your website on its screen. However HowToGoMo  does more than simply ...

27/01/2012 | Web Design | Website Tips

Usually the first question we get asked when we go to see a potential client  is "how much will my website cost?" The easy answer to this is - the larger your budget the more time we can spend on your website design and build, and the better the final web site will be.

However, as we all know funds aren't limitless and in current times budgets are tight. When we first meet with you we will ask several questions one of which will be, 'what is your budget ...

24/01/2012 | Web Design | Website Tips

If you want your website to be valuable to your customers and generate a consistent stream of good leads for your business what do you need to focus on? The design can often become the focus, but if you want your website to fulfil its potential then the content matters just as much.

It's a mistake to see your web site's content purely as filler,  a rushed job to be got through at the end of the web development project. Your web site content is vital: your words ARE ...

12/01/2012 | Website Tips | Webfuel Company News

Happy 2012 everyone!

When looking at what's in store for us in 2012 we'd rather ignore the woeful cries of more euro zone troubles or a double dip recession and instead throw ourselves into the ever expanding possibilities that the web has to offer us!

We're talented in many fields of expertise but we haven't quite yet mastered the art of fortune telling, however based on current shifts and emerging trends here are some of our predictions:

1. Responsive web design

With the increase in mobile ...

11/01/2012 | Webfuel Campaign Manager

Many clients have found our Campaign Manager software an invaluable tool for keeping in touch with their suppliers, contacts and leads.  Here we share some of our tips on producing an effective newsletter campaign.

1. The Subject Line and Sender

All email browsers will display the email subject line and sender. If these aren't right then your carefully crafted campaign could be sent straight into Deleted Items! It's important to grab the attention of the recipient without appearing too much like a hard sales pitch.

Successful subject ...

11/01/2012 | Webfuel Sitebuilder | Webfuel Company News | Content Management

24/11/2011 | Website Tips

There have been a range of stories in the press recently announcing the 'death' of Microsoft's much derided browser, Internet Explorer 6. Like all web professionals we are very happy to see the back of this browser. The browser is now 10 years old, and not compatible with most modern website development techniques.

The main problem with IE6 was not that it was based on old technology, it is old technology so this can be forgiven. The problem was that many companies, particularly in the public sector got stuck ...

15/08/2011 | Website Launch | Content Management | Web Design

Poseidon Charters has been providing yacht charter, flotilla sailing and yachting holidays globally for over 15 years. With so much data required for each holiday type, destination, yacht and route the challenge was to provide a well structured website that was easy to navigate and displayed this content in a user friendly fashion.

As our CMS system is built in-house we were able to ensure that we designed the content management interface around Poseidon's specific data structures, making it incredibly easy for them to update their own website. All ...

01/04/2011 | Website Launch | Web Design | Content Management

Redcastle, a software company based in Nottingham offer a wide range of Customer Relationship Management and Business Management applications. They were looking at a complete overhaul of their brand including a logo and new webdesign to tie in with this. The design is clean and professional and the website has been a success with both new and existing clients.

The website includes a comprehensive news system that visitors can subscribe to (either via RSS or via signup to a regular newsletter). This helps Redcastle keep their customers up-to-date on ...

24/03/2011 | Website Launch | Web Design | Content Management

FERAA is the body that represents the local residents associations in the London borough of Enfield. They approached Webfuel seeking a brand new website, not only for themselves but also as a platform for the smaller associations that didn't have the time or money to implement a website of their own.

Webfuel built a website the included content management, news and forums for FERAA, as well as a separate area where member organisations could be granted access to update and edit pages on their own sub-sites.  

The ...