webb-pages blog

Well it’s 2011 and about time the blog was updated…

I’m not really one for new year’s resolutions but I’m going to be trying to post more on here and build up some interest in the company as a whole.

2010 was a busy year but the plans are to make 2011 even more successful. We have plans for babytoms to expand and are working hard on building up the leaflet side of the business.

We also have a couple of exciting current projects including a bespoke design for The Halliwell Roundhouse, updates to Edwardis and a couple of others still at the development stage.

So stay tuned for more regular updates!

webb-pages.com is currently on v2, but I was never really happy with either v1 or v2.

It’s no good being a web design company (or whatever we are) if our site doesn’t impress people on first visit.

So whilst on holiday I drew up the basics of what I want the new site to be. To be honest we do a lot more than web design and our site doesn’t reflect what we really have to offer to small and medium businesses.

So with the new site comes a new strapline too…Affordable SOLUTIONS for small and medium businesses.

It’s web design, print design, consultancy and it support all in one handy package!

We might even update the blog more regularly as well!

Didn’t realise it was so long since I blogged, guess I’m too busy with too little time.

I’m sure I made a New Years Resolution to keep the blog up to date but I must have failed…so what’s been going on.

Well…A few more sites created, issue 4 of Little Lever Local just completed, I’ve learnt more about InDesign, had a holiday and that’s about it.

So time for some plugging…

www.themorrisdancers.co.uk is done following completion of www.newinnatlittlelever.co.uk and a couple more to come hopefully

www.cocobolton.co.uk is complete as is www.dmak.co.uk

A few still in the pipeline as well but always ready for new and challenging work!

I’ve never had an issue getting indexed by google before…in fact my issues have been my development sites getting indexed before they were ready (oh the joy of robots.txt) but google is being very slow at indexing one of my new sites (which shall remain nameless) for some reason.

I’ve added the url, I’ve added it to Google Webmaster Tools I’ve checked meta-tags etc etc but while googlebot comes and looks, it’s just not appearing in the listings. I’m not quite at my wits end but I’m close!

I’m currently thinking Digg, Mixx, reddit and propeller but these seem more aimed at blogs than websites…and it reminds me that I need to get mootube set up asap to promote my sites.

More later depending how well I do!

I think I mentioned elsewhere that I have become involved in a group called Love Little Lever.

As part of this, and tying in with www.littleleverlocal.co.uk I agreed to design a leaflet promoting local businesses which also promotes the website.

I emailed around a few different printers and found what I considered to be a good price, and using an Adobe InDesign template I started work.

Well almost…I tried InDesign, didn’t like it so started over in Photoshop. Then Nick from Henighans gave me a quick 10 mins on using InDesign and I was away.

Well almost (again)…bleed, gutter, margin…all new and weird terms to a beginners but with a lot of help from Ibraheem at Secure Prints we finally got a working version we could go to print with.

To call it a steep learning curve is a slight understatement! But next time I’m better prepared for using Indesign, understanding bleed and gutters, and the use of black.

Another few months have passed without an update, but it doesn’t mean we’ve been lazy, quite the opposite, there’s a lot going on!

Firstly, we’ve registered as a limited company with some help from my good friend Steve at www.coachhouse-consulting.co.uk.  Hopefully this means we get to keep more of the money we earn, but it’s also a useful umbrella for all the different things we do…websites, forum, directory etc

In terms of other work, www.aerials-bolton.co.uk is up and running and we’re working hard to get google to index it (more of that elsewhere!), a couple of other sites for local companies are in development and we have started on an e-cards site for Excellent Development, a charity which works with community self-help groups in Africa to improve their livelihoods, health and incomes.  The e-cards site will help to increase the visibility of the charity and potentially raise some money.

We’ve also been hard at work on a leaflet (again more elsewhere!) to promote www.littleleverlocal.co.uk.  We’ve printed 10,000 copies and distribution to local homes is scheduled for 8/9 October.  Will be interesting to see how much traffic is generated to the website.  We have hopes of making the leaflet a quarterly publication so let’s hope it’s a success.

It’s been a while since the last blog post so what has been going on?

A couple of site launches…

www.dbcomms.net has launched after a lot of hard work and weighs in at 24 pages!

www.style-room.co.uk is an example of a basic webpage design

Initial design work has been done for Henighans, a new pub in Little Lever…a holding page can be viewed at www.henighans.com

I’ve bcome involved in the Bolton Bazaar, via a recommendation from the owner of The Cotton Tree initially to produce a website, but it’s gradually grown into much more…more details can be found at www.boltonbazaar.co.uk

We are also working hard as part of the Love Little Lever group and looking to launch our new localised directory Little Lever Local soon

And last but not least we’ve updated the webb-pages website

so we’ve been far from idle!! 

Does your business need a website is a hard question to answer as there is no straight yes or no answer.

You know your customers better than we do.  Do you have a low level of recurring custom?  Are you in an expanding market?  Do you operate in an area with a high turnover of residents (ie students)?  Do you have little passing trade?

If you answer Yes to any of these then a website is likely to benefit your company.

However, even if you answer No to these questions a website may help you.

Why?  Because, as the internet becomes more entwined in people’s lives they are moving away from traditional methods of finding information and searching the internet for it instead.

So even a basic one page website with your contact details and opening hours can be enough to put people in touch with your business.

As always we are happy to discuss your requirements on an individual basis.

A quick intro about how we work with you to build your website.

Firstly, where possible, we like to have a face-to-face meeting with you to discuss in detail your requirements.  This involves discussions around colours, logos, domain names, number of pages and some indication of content.  At this stage we may also take some preliminary photos (unless you wish to provide these yourself).

From this meeting we will usually produce a rough design of your index page for your comments or approval.  From here we can tweak the design until you are happy with it and this becomes the basis of your site.

In terms of search engines, the most important aspect of your website is words.  If you can provide us with pre-written content then that is great, and we will advise you of any recommended amendments for clarity and Search Engine Optimisation.  Alternatively, we are happy to produce the written content for your site based on details you provide and advise on key information which should be provided.

We will also register your chosen domain at this stage, and produce a simple ‘holding page’ announcing your new site coming soon.

Once we have formatted your information we will send you a link to the website for your approval, and any final amendments can be done.

Once this is complete you site is live.

How much does a website cost?  Cost vary widely from company to company and personally I price each job individually based on a number of different factors.

Some things are standard….a domain (www.webb-pages.com for example) costs around £7 for a .uk and around £10 for a .com.

Hosting is also relatively standard.  You could get enough space for your company’s website for around £5 per month.

So what you are actually paying for is our time.  And to a large extent our skills and talent.

A good-looking, tidy, optimised website can take weeks of work.  Adjusting and resizing one image so it is perfect can take 30 minutes, longer if corrections need to be made, or imperfections fixed.

Coding and testing a website takes time, as does Search Engine Optimisation and submission to Google, Yahoo etc

All these small things add up and take time….