Page Titles: Why They’re Important and How to Write Them

Page titles are a part of your website that need special attention, particularly from an SEO perspective. They need to be formatted properly and written well to ensure you get maximum results. This is because page titles can help improve your rankings in Google and get more people to visit your website.

What is a Page Title?

A page title is a special type of tag on each page of your website. Web browsers, search engines, and social media networks use this tag to get the HTML title of the page.

The tag is <title>.

Importantly, page titles are not the same as the header on the page. Page titles and headers can match, but headers are a different type of tag known as a H1 tag. So, even though you have headers on the pages of your website, you still need to give special attention to page titles.

What Are Page Titles Used For?

Why is it important to write and format your page titles properly? Understanding where and what page titles are used for helps to answer this. There are four main things:

Search rankings – page titles are a ranking factor in Google. In other words, Google uses page titles to understand what your page is about and to give it a ranking in search. Page titles are by no means the only ranking factor (there are over 200, in fact), however they are among the most important.
Search engine results – Google usually uses page titles on its search results pages. It is the part of a search result that is blue. Therefore, page titles can help get people to click to your website.
In web browsers – web browsers also use page titles to label the tab which your website is displayed on.
On social media networks – when someone shares your page on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or another social media network, the social channel uses the page title in the post.

As you can see, page titles are used in lots of different ways, demonstrating their importance. How do you optimise page titles for SEO, however? Here are the main points you need to know.

Every Page on Your Website Should Have a Unique Title

The most important point is to ensure every page on your website has a unique page title. While it might take time to write unique page titles for every page, particularly if you have a large site, it’s essential you do so.

Page Titles Should be the Right Length

You won’t be penalised by Google if your page titles are too long, plus long page titles can work well when your website is shared on social media.

However, on a search results page, Google usually only displays 50-60 characters. This includes all letters, numbers, spaces, and symbols. Google cuts anything over this, replacing it with “…”.

So, if you want the full page title displayed on search results pages, keep it to 50-60 characters.

Include the Page’s Main Keyword

The main keyword of your page should be in the page title. Don’t overstuff the title with keywords, however. Using it once is enough.

Also, the closer you can get it to the start of the page title, the better.

Make the Page Title Clickable

Finally, you should write page titles for your customers. In other words, make them interesting, compelling, and clickable.

Things that can help with this include using a brand name in the page title (your brand or the brand of a product you are selling) and including your location if you are a local business.

The idea is to attract attention and get people to click.

Balancing Experience, Quality, and Cost When Choosing a Website Developer in Auckland

If you want to get a new website, you will need to choose a website developer in Auckland. Getting your decision right is important because, as you might expect, not all website developers are the same.

The key is to get the right balance between experience, quality, and cost. When you can get a website developer that delivers on all three, you have the most chance of success.

Don’t Base Your Decision Only on Cost

The starting point to achieve this goal is to ensure you don’t base your decision on the website developer that is the cheapest.

Of course, budgets are important, but cost shouldn’t be the only reason you choose a website developer. Quality and experience are equally as important, so you should get a good balance between the three.

By choosing the lowest cost option, you will probably get a developer with minimal experience.

You should avoid this as experience of website development is crucial. This is because there is much more to developing a website than simply understanding the technical parts of the process.

The website developer must also have a good relationship with you, and they must be able to communicate well. They must also understand your business, and they must understand marketing.

This knowledge comes from experience.

Getting the Specific Skills Your Website Needs

It’s also important you choose a website developer who has all the skills required to build a website that meets your objectives and delivers for your business.

If you have a website that gets a lot of traffic, for example, it’s essential you choose a website developer who has experience building websites capable of coping with lots of visitors. If you don’t, your website will first start to run slowly, then it will prevent some people from accessing it, then it will stop working altogether.

An experienced website developer will know how to mitigate these issues.

Ensuring Your Website Looks Great

Here is a secret that not many website developers and designers want you to know. The secret is about WordPress, the content management system (i.e. website development platform) that most websites in Auckland are built on.

The secret is that it is not difficult for someone comfortable with using technology to learn how to use WordPress to the point they can build a website.

Building a website that looks fantastic, fresh, and original is a completely different ball game, however. Ensuring the website is optimised for all devices, has built-in SEO features, and runs fast, takes the development process to yet another level. To get this, you need skills and experience.

Furthermore, there are some website developers marketing their services in Auckland who only use templates. You can easily spot them because they have portfolios that don’t look fresh or modern.

Only by getting the right balance between experience, quality, and cost will you get a website that looks fantastic and that properly represents your brand.

Investing Now Pays Big Returns Later

A badly designed cheap website will cost you nothing but frustration and additional money. A well-designed website built by an experienced and skilled developer for a competitive price, however, will deliver returns for your business for years.

10 Essential Elements for Your Website’s Homepage

Website homepages come in all types of design. For small businesses looking for professional website design in Auckland that delivers for their business, there are some essential elements that should be included on your homepage.

This is because your homepage must do multiple things. As a result, it is a unique page on your website. After all, other pages will have a specific focus:

Your product or services pages will talk about your products or services
Your about page will explain more about your business
Your contact page has your contact details

Your homepage, however, has to do some/all of these things and more.

It needs to introduce your business, demonstrate your capabilities, and show that others are happy with the products/services you offer, among other things.

9 Essential Elements for Website Homepages

1. Headings

You should have an attention-grabbing and informative main headline on your homepage. With the main headline, get to the point and use clear and simple language.

You should also have a sub-heading that contains more information. It should ideally focus on the pain points of your customers, not on your business.

2. Calls to Action

You should have a primary call to action high up on the homepage in a visible position.

Previous advice was to put this above the fold. However, this only applies to those people visiting your website on a computer as all your mobile visitors will still need to scroll before they get to the call to action.

As more and more people are now using mobile devices when searching for products or services, having calls to action above the fold is less important.

That said, the primary call to action on your homepage should still be in a prominent position and it should stand out.

You should then have secondary calls-to-action in addition to this.

3. Use Strong images, Including the Main Image

Don’t use simple or cheesy stock images on your homepage. Instead, use your own images or stock images that get attention and that showcase your brand.

4. Benefits of Your Business, Products, and/or Services

Don’t just tell people about your business. Focus on benefits to the customer instead.

5. Well-Written Text

There is a misconception that homepages should be practically free from text to make them look clean and modern. Text is important, however, both for user experience and for search engine optimisation.

Not only that, you can still add text that keeps the homepage clean-looking. Rather than making your homepage text-free, the text should be easy to read with straightforward language.

6. White Space

You don’t need to fill every part of your homepage as whitespace can actually improve its appearance and usability.

7. Social proof

Make sure you include testimonials from real customers talking about positive experiences they have had with your business.

8. Easy to Use Menu and Navigation

This is essential to make it easy for visitors to find the information they need.

9. Newsletter Signup Form

Not everyone who visits your website will become a customer. Therefore, you should try to get as much as possible from every visitor, rather than just letting them leave.

Often the best approach to achieve this is to ask visitors to sign up to your email list to receive your newsletter by adding a form on your homepage.

A better way, though, is to offer something free in return for the visitor signing up. A report or an eBook are good examples.

By including all these elements, you will enhance your homepage and improve your website’s overall ROI.

What Is a Sitemap and Why Is It Important in Website Development?

There are lots of different elements that need to come together during the website development process. This includes everything from the design of the template to the content on the pages to the functionality of the CMS – Content Management System. One of the first and most important things you will need, however, is a sitemap.

A sitemap sets the course for the rest of the development. It can be changed at almost any stage throughout the process, but getting it right from the start will ensure you get a user-friendly website that will deliver on your objectives.

What Is a Sitemap?

A sitemap is a bit like an organisational chart. Instead of showing you the hierarchy of individuals in a company, however, a sitemap outlines the hierarchy of pages on a website. It also shows how each of those pages is connected.

So, at the top, you will have your homepage and other top-level pages, with all the pages linking from them at the level below. This continues for as many sub-levels as your website has.

Your website will likely have two different versions of a sitemap:

A manually created list the pages you want on your website, structuring them in a way that is similar to a tree diagram or organisational chart.
A dynamic, electronically created sitemap produced at the end of the website development process that gets submitted to Google.

As the latter is dynamic, it automatically updates whenever you add a new page to your website. This helps Google find all your pages as well as helping it understand how they connect together.

This blog is about the first type of sitemap, though – the one you manually create at the start of the website development process.

Why Are Sitemaps Important in Website Development?

Wherever you choose to get website development in Auckland, you should make sure the creation of a sitemap is included in the process.

Without a sitemap, the developer has no choice but to create pages in an ad hoc fashion, with no clear direction on which pages should be included and how they should connect. This results in a haphazard website that is often confusing for visitors to use.

The benefits of creating a sitemap include:

Helps you think about the overall structure of your website and the pages it will have
Ensures you don’t forget key pages
Makes it easier to identify and make changes to complex navigational structures that can be too difficult to use
Gives you an understanding of the content that will be required to complete the website development process
Helps you create an optimised visitor flow, i.e. the path you want users to take when they visit your website
Ensures there are no isolated pages

The process of creating a sitemap doesn’t take long, although the more time you can devote to it the better it will be.

How do you make sure your sitemap is as good as possible?

The most important tip is to make sure you focus on your website’s visitors:

How will they find and get to your website?
What do they want to find or learn once they are on your website?
What are the important things that should be as easy as possible for visitors to find, i.e. the things that should be in the main menu?
What should be in the sub-menus?
What are the things that are of secondary importance and can be in the footer menu?

By focusing on the above, you will create a sitemap that puts the user first.

Responsive Website Design in 2019 – What You Need to Know

Responsive websites have been around for some time now, so they are a common feature of website design in Auckland. Any good website designer creating a new website for you in 2019 will make your site responsive.

Not all responsive websites are the same, however. At the bottom end of the scale, you have websites that are technically responsive, but which don’t deliver a good user experience. At the top end of the scale, on the other hand, are optimised responsive websites.

Website design has moved on considerably since responsive websites were first introduced, so it’s no longer good enough to just have a responsive site. Instead, yours needs to be optimised.

What is Responsive Website Design?

Let’s first do a quick recap on responsive website design. A website that has a responsive design will respond to the user’s size of screen. So, when a user views your website on a desktop computer with a large screen, they will see the full-size desktop view of your website.

When users view your website on tablets or mobile devices, however, the screen dynamically resizes to fit on the smaller screen.

Why Responsive Website Design is Important for Users

For users, responsive website design is essential. This is because there is no need to pinch-to-zoom to see the content on the page.

In addition, responsive website design eliminates the need for sideways scrolling, keeping all scrolling vertical.

Why Responsive Website Design is Important for SEO

Google has been promoting responsive website design for years now, plus its been gradually moving its strategy to a mobile-first policy.

For example, Google prioritises websites that are responsive on search results pages where the searcher is using a mobile device. In addition, Google now uses mobile-first indexing. In simple terms, this means it checks for a mobile version of your website before checking for a desktop version.

Google’s focus on mobile means you could lose rankings and, ultimately, traffic if you don’t deliver a good user experience to mobile users.

Key Factors to Consider

You might be thinking you already have a responsive website, so what’s the big concern. As mentioned above, having an optimised responsive website is crucial in 2019. This means going beyond ensuring the content displays on the screen properly. You also need to look at a range of other factors, the most important of which include:

Site structure – is the structure of your website confusing for mobile users with multiple layers of navigation and sub-menu options?
Menu design – is the menu on your website when viewed on a mobile device easy to use?
Content – is the content on your pages easy to read on a mobile device? The text font and size are important in this regard, but the structure and layout of the text is important too. For example, do your pages have large paragraphs or chunks of text? This can be off-putting to users on mobile devices.
Functionality – do all the functions on your website work, or are some of the features only available to desktop users?
Links and buttons – people visiting your website on a phone or tablet will navigate it using their fingers. This is quite a bit different to using a mouse and a mouse pointer on the screen. Are your links and buttons easy to tap using a finger which is much less precise?
Speed – there is a greater chance that mobile users will access your website on a slower internet connection, so mobile page load speeds are incredibly important. Does your website load fast enough?

If you have concerns with any of the points above, you should prioritise getting them sorted.

Top 9 Mistakes When Choosing a Web Developer

You have a vision, you have a plan to make that vision into a reality, and you’re ready to invest in your very own custom-built website by getting a web developer in Auckland. This is a huge step for your growing business, one that is absolutely necessary for you to compete in today’s digital marketplace.

But you’ve heard horror stories about others who hired web developers only to get a site that crashes, bugs out, or that never stands a chance of ranking on Google.

How can you make sure this doesn’t happen to you? How can you guarantee you’re going to get a high-quality website that will give you a good ROI?

We’re here to help. We’ve gathered a list of the top nine mistakes to watch out for when looking for a web developer in Auckland. By being aware of these pitfalls and knowing how to avoid them, you’ll be well on your way to your perfect website.

1. Paying Upfront

If your prospective developer asks you to pay for the entire project upfront, watch out. Once they’ve got your money, there’s no telling what they’ll do next – whether they’ll skimp out on the quality, take forever and a day to finish, or even completely blow you off.

A reputable developer will take a deposit at the beginning, usually between 25 percent and 50 percent. They will then make payments on a pre-agreed schedule for the remainder of the project.

2. Not Getting Referrals

Sure, that developer might have plenty of anonymous testimonials on their website, but the only way you can truly confirm the quality of their work is by getting in touch with their past clients. If the developer refuses to give you their contact info, then you’re probably better off with someone else.

It is even better if you already know any of the companies the website developer lists on their portfolio page. Get in touch with them to get their opinion on the experience.

3. Not Ensuring Mobile and Tablet Capability

Some web developers in Auckland will focus their efforts on creating a website that works for desktop computers. Sometimes, this is all they will build, ignoring mobile and tablet users completely. This is a no-go if you want to be successful on today’s internet.

To reach as many visitors and potential customers as possible, you need to make sure your visitors can access your site on all their devices. Therefore, check to make sure your developer gives enough attention to the mobile version of your website. In many situations, focusing on mobile first is the best approach.

4. No Background in SEO

Your developer doesn’t need to be an SEO wizard. That said, if you want the chance of ranking as high as possible, potentially reaching the front page of Google, then your developer should at least have a working knowledge.

After all, search engines are one of the main ways you’re going to generate traffic to your website. So, don’t shell out before you can guarantee your developer is up to snuff when it comes to SEO.

Of course, the ideal situation is to get a website developer who also offers SEO services. This is an indication they truly understand what is involved in making a website rank highly.

5. Going for the First Option

Hiring a web developer in Auckland is a big deal. Would you buy the first car or house that you came across? The same principle applies here: you need to get quotes from at least three web developers in Auckland before you decide to hire one.

This will allow you to compare their services, their expertise, their turnaround times, and their prices.

It can be hard to know what to expect before you start, so approach a variety of developers with your project. Let them know exactly what you are looking for and get as many details as you can from them, so you can make an informed decision.

6. Not Using a Content Management System (CMS)

A content management system, or CMS, will allow you to easily make changes to the website with a straightforward user interface. This means you’ll be able to keep your site up to date without having to hire another web developer.

Therefore, make sure the web developer you choose plans to build your website using a CMS.

The most popular and powerful CMS in use today is WordPress. It has an interface that is easy to use for the average person. This means you don’t have to be a tech person to run your website on a day-to-day basis.

7. Paying Too Little or Too Much

The adage “you get what you pay for” definitely applies when hiring a web developer. If you go for the cheapest available option, you can’t expect your site to work the way you want, especially if it attracts high volumes of traffic.

Think of it like buying a watch. Sure, you don’t need a Rolex to have a reliable wristwatch, but if you buy the cheapest piece of junk around then it’s going to break in no time.

The same is true for a web developer. Good web developers in Auckland charge a fair price for the level of skill, knowledge, and expertise that will go into developing your new website. It doesn’t need to cost the earth, but to get the best results, avoid cheap alternatives as they will always cost you in the long run.

8. Not Guaranteeing Volume

One big issue we hear about time and time again is a new website crashing because of traffic volumes. The client will then call their developer, who quickly starts to blame the hosting company. They do this because it can be difficult and time-consuming for the average business owner to prove the problem is actually with the developer.

Therefore, this point follows on from the previous one – you need to get a website developer who knows what they’re doing. Good website developers in Auckland will ensure your website is capable of handling whatever traffic you need, they will discuss this with you in advance, and they won’t shirk their responsibilities.

9. Finding a Deal that’s Too Good to be True

This is especially true if you’re hiring a developer over the internet, although it is always an essential point to remember. Therefore, go with your gut and if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Also, watch out for scammers and always make sure you choose a reputable developer.

By keeping these tips in mind, you will have a much greater chance of getting the right web developer in Auckland.

3 Reasons Why WordPress Is Such a Popular Platform for Building Websites

A simple Google search for the best website platforms will return names like Shopify, WIX, Weebly, WordPress, and more. However, if you’re looking for a list ordered by popularity, WordPress will always come on top.

As it turns out, 23 percent of the top 10,000 websites in the world use WordPress. In addition, more and more businesses consider it every day as the go-to platform for their needs.

So, how did a blogging platform become the number one choice for business websites in New Zealand and elsewhere in the world? Let’s have a look at why WordPress is so popular.

1. It’s Free and Constantly Updated

Despite being one of the most popular CMS (Content Management Systems) out there, the WordPress platform is free to download. In addition, all WordPress users get full access to feature and security updates.

Furthermore, WordPress is open-source. This means developers from all over the world can work on improving the platform, plus there is a strong community supporting the entire project. This gives users access to plenty of information, tools, tutorials, and other valuable elements that you can’t find for free (or at all) with other platforms.

There are also tens of thousands of WordPress plugins available to enhance the functionality of your website, as well as themes to customise the appearance.

What does this all mean to you? After all, most of the above is more relevant to your website developer than you.

The above is important, however, as it means your website developer doesn’t have to code the website from scratch. Instead, they use WordPress as the basis for the code, plus they can also customise plugins and themes. This reduces development times and costs.

In addition, the strength of the WordPress CMS and community means it is a robust platform to build your website on.

2. The Platform is Highly Flexible

Back in 2003, when WordPress was first released, it was a blogging platform. However, the CMS evolved in the last 15 years and, nowadays, is a fully-grown online system that allows users to create any type of website they want.

For instance, WordPress can be used for business brochure websites, portfolio sites, e-commerce websites, membership websites, business presentation pages, galleries, blogs, personal sites, and a lot more.

One of the secrets to its success is the clean, easy to use, and simple interface that can then be transformed using themes and plugins.

3: You Are in Control

There’s nothing more frustrating than working with a framework that doesn’t allow full freedom. This is one of the reasons why the WordPress platform is more popular than website builders such as WIX, Squarespace, or Weebly.

Plus, while a lot of website builders claim to be free, most are not. For example, many offer a built-in eCommerce system while not allowing in-depth customisation or expansion unless you buy expensive plugins (and sometimes not at all). Also, many have fixed hosting, which may not be the best option for your needs.

There’s also the problem of code editing with website builders as you don’t have access to all the files.

Speaking of code, website builders don’t all use the standard combination of HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, and/or PHP. Some platforms use unique languages instead, that can only be understood by someone specialised in working with the platform. This is yet another example of website builders being difficult to customise.

You have none of these problems with WordPress, however.

In Conclusion

Overall, WordPress is a platform that gives you and your website developer in Auckland the freedom to create any type of site. It will also give you the foundation you need to get your website launched and improve your online reach.

The Benefits of Owning a Website Built Using WordPress

There are lots of reasons why website developers in Auckland like using WordPress. There are also benefits to you of getting a website built on the WordPress platform. In terms of the latter, those benefits include shorter development times and lower costs.

What happens when the website developer finishes and gives the site to you? Are there any benefits to owning a website built using the WordPress platform? Or will it present you with challenges?

The answer is most definitely the former – there are benefits to owning a WordPress website. Here are the four main ones.

1. Anyone Can Use It

According to a 2017 W3Tech survey, WordPress holds 59 percent of the market share and is used by 31.9 percent of all websites. This makes it the most popular CMS on the market.

The main reason for this popularity is its ease of use.

Of course, it takes a high level of technical expertise to properly develop and design a good WordPress website. Once your developer hands the website over to you, however, the platform is easy to use.

In fact, you don’t have to be tech savvy at all to understand the user-friendly interface, plus there are lots of manuals and tutorials (written and video) if you need pointers.

2. Low Maintenance Costs

When compared to other open-source platforms such as Joomla or Drupal, customisation and maintenance costs are significantly lower on WordPress websites. Also, WordPress is a reliable platform and there are plenty of developers continuously working to solve any issues that may show up in testing.

Even more important, there are lots of WordPress developers in Auckland and elsewhere, which reduces the costs of customisation. In other words, you don’t have to go back to the developer who originally built your website if you want to give it a new look or add new functionality. Instead, you simply need a website developer in Auckland who understands WordPress, which most do.

3. It’s Easy to Create Content

Whether you need to create blog articles for SEO, presentation pages for your sales team, landing pages for your AdWords campaigns, or galleries for your portfolio page, WordPress has everything laid out.

The tools available for content creation are among the most powerful and elegant on the market right now and they provide help for both beginner and advanced users.

For instance, as the admin of a WordPress website, you can setup multiple users as contributors or editors. Also, posts can be scheduled in advance, which allows you to work on a long-term content strategy.

Finally, the formatting and media tools available in WordPress make creating a post as easy as writing a Word document, i.e. no coding skills are necessary!

4. Built-in SEO

Another feature that makes WordPress so popular is the built-in SEO. The CMS automatically generates title tags, for example, which are useful in the race for a better place on search results pages.

In addition, WordPress also offers access to a wide range of tools and plugins (free and paid) that take SEO several steps further. Plugins and tools like Yoast SEO, Schema, or Broken Link Checker are great for optimising your website and helping you stay ahead of the competition.

Summary

As you can see, WordPress is not just a website development tool. It is also a powerful platform that makes owning and updating a website easy, plus it helps make your digital marketing efforts a success.

Achieving Website Development Success – Part 3 – The Build Process

This is the final instalment of our three-part series explaining the website development process. In previous blogs, we explained what you need to do to plan for a new website, as well as how to find, select, and engage a website developer.

In this blog, we’ll look at the build process.

Of course, much of this part of the process will be looked after by your website developer. It is important, however, that you understand key elements of the process, as well as the elements you will need to be involved in.

The Key Stages of a Website Build

Discovery – this involves a meeting with you to decide on the scope and specification documents. This includes outlining the specific functionality you want the website to have so the developer can ensure it meets your expectations.
Content strategy and sitemap creation – you will be involved in approving both, although your website developer will create them.
Wireframes presentation – you will be expected to provide feedback on the wireframes and proposed website design.
Revised designs – you will need to give your approval before the website developer can move to the next stage.
Frontend development – this will typically involve creating a bespoke template that will deliver the look, feel, and functionality of your new website.
Content creation – this happens in tandem with frontend development and involves writing the website’s content as well as creating other assets like images and video.
CMS setup and third-party integrations – this involves coding the administration elements and backend of the website.
Upload content – with the CMS in place, it will be possible to upload the content.
Test – the developer will then test everything on the website before recommending it is ready to launch.
Launch – this involves moving the website from the development platform to your server, live on the internet.

Key Roles at You Website Developer

Depending on the size of website developer, you may speak to several different people as part of the development process. This includes:

Project manager – who has overall responsibility for the delivery of the project
Content manager – this could be the project manager and it usually involves an element of SEO
Copywriter – the person responsible for writing the content on your website
Website designer – this person is involved in creating the website’s visual appearance
Website developer – this involves using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and your CMS to create the website’s functionality.

Other Things You Need to Know

Sitemaps – sitemaps outline the navigational structure of your website. In other words, the sitemap determines how visitors to your website will find information. The importance of getting this part of the process right cannot be understated.
WordPress – WordPress is undoubtedly the biggest and most widely used CMS in the world. It also offers significant advantages. If your website developer proposes not using WordPress, make sure you understand and agree with the reasons why.
Content – content includes images and video as well as text. Text should always be written from the perspective of your website visitors, not from your company’s perspective. You should also consider video if it is within your budget, and images should be relevant and unique.
SEO – your website developer should build in SEO features to your website from the start.
Responsive website design – your developer will probably use a responsive website design. This will ensure your website looks right regardless of the size of screen. When you are reviewing the website, make sure you think about how it looks on mobile as well as a computer. This is because the developer might include design features aimed at mobile users.

Finally, you will need to have a post-launch plan for things like maintenance, website backup, and visitor acquisition. This will ensure you maximise return on investment from the website development.

Achieving Website Development Success – Part 2 – Getting Started with a Developer

This three-part blog series explains the various stages of a website development process so that you:

Know what the stages are
Understand what you can do to help it be a success
Know what you can expect from your developer

This is part 2 of the series. In this blog, we’ll look at getting quotes from developers, selecting a developer, and then getting the project started.

Of course, the exact process you will experience will depend on the type of website you are developing as well as the developer’s internal processes. This blog will, however, outline the key points and stages as well as highlighting things you should consider.

Think Carefully About the Proposals Process Before Seeking Quotes from Developers

You will probably need to get quotes from website developers, so you can select one to build your new website. Before beginning this process, however, think carefully about what you are asking the developers to do.

Asking them to plan the website out, give you an idea of the structure, and/or create a specification document, could be viewed as asking for free work.

If you can’t provide this information to developers so they can prepare a proposal, and the developer can’t cost the job without the information, you should consider investing in a needs analysis process. This involves putting together information the developer will require so they properly understand what you want to achieve.

If the website you are planning is relatively standard and you have a rough idea of the pages, content, and functionality you want, you may be able to obtain quotes without getting a needs analysis.

Select a Developer

You should now be at the point of choosing and appointing a website developer. Here are some things you should find out and understand:

The proposed timeframe and schedule
The developer’s skills, including the skills of the individuals who will be working on your project
What is the developer’s track record? Have you read their testimonials and case studies?
How much will the project cost?
Is everything included in that cost?
What are the arrangements for post-sales support and website maintenance?
What platform does the developer plan to use to build the website?
Does the developer build bespoke websites or use template designs?
Do you get a good feeling about the developer? Do you think you can work with the team, and are you happy they are committed to making your website a success?

First Things the Developer Will Need

Once you appoint a developer, it’s worthwhile considering the following points. Your developer is likely to ask them, probably in your first meeting. Your answers will help the developer better understand your business.

The things your developer will want to know includes:

The company mission statement
How you want your business to be perceived
What do visitors to your website want to achieve?
What is the most important message on the website?
Who is the target audience?
Who is your competition?
Why do customers choose you instead of the competition?
Websites you like and why
Websites you don’t like and why
How you will measure success

The Next Stages

In the third and final part of this blog series, we’ll look at the steps involved in the build process – what you can expect, what the developer will do, and how you might be involved.

Achieving Website Development Success – Part 1 – Initial Planning

Many people become frustrated with website development projects. For others, the process might be smooth, but the result doesn’t live up to expectations. These situations occur when you fail to properly plan for a new website design project.

Now, before going on, you might be thinking it is up to the website designer to plan the project for you. Of course, they need a plan too, but there are also things you need to do, think about, and/or be aware of. By doing these things, you will end up with a better and more successful website.

Three Important Things to Remember Before You Start

Your website is about users, not you – try not to design the website for you or from the perspective of your business. Instead, make it about the users by focusing on why they will want to visit your website and what they want to achieve by doing so.
The website you get at the end of the development process is not static. In fact, you should never consider your website as being finished. A good website should be a dynamic tool that changes and adapts according to the needs of your business.
The value of your website should not be underestimated. After all, it is one of the first experiences people will have with your company.

Understand that Website Development is a Marketing Function

Website development is often mistaken as being a technical task, but it’s not. Instead, website development is a marketing function. After all, your website is a marketing tool, so the process of getting a new website developed should be led by your marketing team.

Decide on the Website’s Main Objectives

What do you want your business to achieve by getting a new website? This could be any one or a combination of the following common objectives:

Enhance the profile of your brand
Make sales directly on the website (if it’s an eCommerce website)
Generate leads
Get potential customers to phone or email your business
Encourage people to visit your physical location
Register
Click on ads

Being clear about the objectives of your website is essential before you can move on.

What Do You Want the Website to Do?

You should also decide on the functionality you want the website to have. You don’t have to make a final list at this stage as the website developer you choose can help you with this part of the process. If there are things you want, however, list them out.

Remember as well, you might not be able to get all the functionality on your wish list. After all, you probably have a set budget that you must stay within, which may restrict the features you can have.

Two Additional Points to Consider at this Stage

Brand – many small businesses don’t have a brand when they decide to get a new website. If this applies in your situation, you will need to get a brand either as part of the website development process (if the developer has designers with branding and logo creation skills) or separate to it. You should factor this into your budget.
Domain name – if you don’t already have one, you will also need a domain name.

The Next Stages

In part 2 of this series, we’ll look at the process of selecting and beginning work with a developer.

How Much Does Website Design Cost?

How Much Does Website Design Cost?

You probably won’t be surprised to hear there is no simple answer to the question how much does website design cost. It’s a bit like asking how much does a car cost. After all, you could probably get a car for a couple of hundred dollars if you wanted to. It will get you from A to B but it won’t look very good and it will probably break down a lot. Equally, you could buy a car that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, but for most people that is complete overkill.

The same applies when considering website design costs, i.e. it depends on what you want and how you get your website designed. At the bottom end of the scale, you can get a website that will cost you almost nothing if you build it yourself. If you want a professionally designed website, however, you can expect the cost to be in the thousands of dollars’ range.

As most SMEs in New Zealand will need a professionally designed website, this article focuses on professional, custom website design costs.

Website Design Auckland: Cost

The average cost of website design in Auckland is $1,000 – $10,000+ for a custom website built by a professional website design company.

The things that will affect the cost include the functionality you need and the services you want from the website designer. The website designer’s skills and experience also impact the price you pay.

As with most things in life, not all designers work to the same standards, with high-quality workmanship demanding a premium.

What Your Money Gets You

There are five main elements of website design, all of which influence the cost. This is what you can expect from your website design agency for its fee:

Server setup – the configuration of your website’s server, implementing a CDN, installing an SSL certificate, setting up email on the domain, installing a CMS, and more.
Website design including UX – this part of the process involves designing the layout of the website. This usually means customising an existing template or creating a fully customised option. UX is important too. This involves looking at the navigation, user flow, and ease of use to ensure the user experience is as good as possible.
Adding functionality and custom code – this is where your website designer works on the website’s engine adding the functionality you need. This can be anything from web forms to shopping carts and checkouts to integrations with your existing systems.
Content creation – your website needs text and images. Your website designer will coordinate this part of the process and may also provide copywriting and graphic design services.
Ongoing maintenance – a website is never fully finished as it requires ongoing maintenance and updating. This will be included in the price you pay for the website for a fixed period of time. You will need a maintenance contract once this time expires.

The Cost of Your Website

As mentioned above, you can get a website online for next to nothing if you want to. Why, then, should you invest several thousand dollars in a website design? Firstly, nothing is really free. There are costs involved even if you build the website yourself, plus you will need to spend time learning how to do it – as your time is money, there is a cost associated with this too.

The main reason for getting a professionally designed website at the above design costs, however, is results. Your website will look better and it will function better when it is professionally designed. This will help ensure your website achieves its objectives.

Launching a Website Without a Brand or Money

Successfully Launching a Website Without a Brand or Money to Promote It

So, you’ve got a great idea for a website or business, but have no money to promote it. You can make it a success, so long as you adopt the right strategy. Here’s how to successfully launch a website without a brand or money to promote it.

What You Shouldn’t Worry About

There are two things you shouldn’t worry about and the first is SEO. Of course, you should make your website SEO friendly and you should follow good SEO practice, but SEO should not be a priority in your marketing strategy. The reality is you simply won’t be able to beat the main websites in Google searches for your products or services. In fact, you probably wouldn’t be able to beat them even if you had a big budget. So, do the basics, but at the start don’t worry about SEO.

Secondly, don’t worry about advertising either. Sure, if you’ve got the money to allocate to a campaign and the time to learn how to make it work, advertising is a great way to generate new leads and sales for your business. If you don’t have money or time to allocate, forget about advertising.

How to Launch a Website with No Money or Brand

Right, let’s get onto what you should do. There are three broad strategies you should adopt:

Get referrals
Become an industry expert
Meet real people

Let’s look at each in more detail.

Get Referrals

Getting referrals is a tactic that businesses have used for decades – long before the introduction of the internet. In fact, most successful salespeople have a referral strategy. With a bit of thought, you can implement a referral strategy for your website that won’t cost you anything.

Here are two techniques you can use to achieve this:

List your products on marketplaces or listing websites – this normally only applies if you sell products rather than services, but it’s an excellent way to get instant visibility when you’re unknown. The most well-known marketplace is Amazon and eBay is one of the most popular listing sites. The downsides include the marketplace taking a cut from your sales and the fact the transaction takes place on its website, not yours. That said, you’ll get sales you might not otherwise get plus you’ll increase the exposure of your brand, including in Google.
Offer an incentive – this can take many forms, but it usually involves offering existing customers an incentive to refer your brand to their friends and family. This incentive could, for example, be in the form of a discount.

Become an Industry Expert

The next zero-cost strategy you can use is to enhance your reputation as an expert in your industry. You can do this by having an active presence on social media, participating in discussion groups, and offering help on questions and answers websites. These will all help, but the best approach is through guest blogging.

The process involves finding relevant blogs and industry websites that publish guest posts. You then need to reach out to them to become a contributor, usually offering an idea for a post. Once published, you’ll get referral traffic to your website plus you’ll raise your profile online.

Meet Real People

The final step involves getting away from the computer as you can get more traffic to your website and grow it faster by meeting more people. This includes attending industry events, local business events, networking events, and more. The connections you make today can turn into sales in the future.

Making a new website successful involves thinking outside the box and using strategies that have a track record of success. The above will get you off to a good start.

Here is How to Generate Leads from Your Website

It doesn’t matter how good your website looks or how much traffic it attracts if you don’t get any leads. The fact is, leads won’t come in on their own. You need to take steps and include features on your website that encourage people to give you their information.

Once you start successfully collecting leads you can begin optimising to ensure you get as many as possible. You can also work on your conversion rate to turn more of those leads into sales and profits. It all starts with getting leads, though.

The Lead Magnet

If you don’t give your visitors a compelling reason to give you their contact information, they won’t. One of the best methods of getting leads on a website is by using lead magnets.

Lead magnets are something that you offer the visitor in exchange for their contact information, which is usually their email address. Examples of lead magnets include:

eBook
Report
Resource, such as “100 best…” or “50 tips to…”
Free trial if your product or service is suitable
Video such as a video tutorial
Discount
Free analysis or assessment such as “free analysis of your business Facebook page…”

To make lead magnets work, they must be targeted at your customers and they must be genuinely valuable. In other words, they must be worth the exchange of contact information.

Lead magnets are beneficial for several reasons:

They generate leads
The leads they generate are from people at all stages in the buying cycle
They help to build your reputation as an expert in your industry
They allow you to start a conversation with the potential customer

Essential Website Elements for Getting Leads

There are lots of things your website should have that will help you get more leads. The two most important are:

Well placed buttons – you should have “Free Quote” or “Free Consultation” buttons in prominent positions on each page of your website. In addition, the button should be big and should have a design that gets attention.
Exit overlay – an exit overlay displays a popover when the user’s browser detects they are about to leave your website. It gives you one last chance to offer the visitor something in return for their contact information. This can be your main lead magnet or something additional that will get their attention.

Additional Tips to Get Leads from Your Website

The above tips are the most important elements to increase the number of leads you get from your website, but there are other steps you can take. This includes:

Live chat – adding a live chat feature to your website lets visitors quickly and easily ask you questions or find information. It is unobtrusive and the user is in control, so it doesn’t put visitors off, plus it’s effective at getting leads.
Social proof – adding testimonials to your website increases confidence and trust levels. This will encourage visitors to give you their contact details as it shows you have a proven track record.
Add trust signals – other trust signals you can add include details of awards you’ve won or certifications you have.
Call to action – it is also important to include calls to action on your website. If you don’t ask your users to give you their contact details or request a quote, they won’t.
Blog – blogging improves your reputation and level of authority which can also generate leads.

The final tip is to work with a website developer that understands lead generation, keeping in mind that not all do. At Kiwi Website Design, we specialise in lead generating websites and have a long track record of success. To find out more, contact us today.

Who Owns The Website After Project Is Finished?

Here is a scenario: you meet a web design company, they give you a proposal, you pay them, they make a website to match your requirements, and they provide you with administrator access. Now the question is: who owns your website? You are thinking it’s you, however, it’s not that simple.

Let’s look at some of the components of a website to understand what you can and can’t own:

What You Don’t Own

Domain name:
You don’t actually own your domain name. You rent it which gives you exclusive rights to it, but you don’t completely own it. It is the same situation as your phone number. That said, your domain name is your property even if it’s registered by your website company. According to Wikipedia: “Domain name registration with a registrar does not confer any legal ownership of the domain name, only an exclusive right of use.”

Hosting:
The same situation applies to hosting as to your domain name. With website hosting, you usually rent a full server or share a space on a server. You do, however, have control to switch hosting if you would like to move your website to another location.

CMS:
A CMS is a web application that is used to manage the administration of content on your website. Examples include WordPress, Drupal, and Mighty-Site. You don’t own the CMS web platform, however, unless you write the source code.

What You Own

Design and Visuals:
The logo, colour, interfaces, typography, and images are typically owned by the creator unless they are created by a web design company and then licensed to you.

Content:
You can own all the text content on your website plus the photography, images, and videos. Stock photography, however, is licensed to your company. This allows you to use the photographs on your website, but you don’t own them.

HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are the building blocks of any website. The website creator should provide an agreement that transfers ownership of the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to you on completion of the website. Unless you or your employees author the code, it is owned by the website creator and is licensed to you.

Conclusion
You never legally own the domain name, web server, CMS, web platform, database software, or the language used to build your website. Only if you author the website yourself or have a “work for hire” agreement will you own the website source code. Furthermore, if you author your own content, create the design, and create your own graphics, you will own the website’s visual design and content. Most importantly, when you hire a web design company, make sure they are transparent about their terms and conditions.

Top Tips for Successful Website Project

Are you ready for your first website but don’t know how to get started?

Having a professional and good-looking website is important for every new business. That said, starting a new website can be exciting and intimidating at the same time. Here are tips for building your first website.

Purpose of your website
Think about what your website is for. Why will people want to visit your site? What do you want them to do once they are on it? If these things are clear then everything else becomes much simpler.

Choose WordPress

Getting a new website involves choosing the right platform. You should invest in a CMS platform like WordPress as it is the most popular choice worldwide. Stats provided by VentureBeat show that approximately one-quarter of new websites globally are built on WordPress. That many people just can’t be wrong.

Your Homepage is important
According to HubSpot, it takes less than 15 seconds for people to decide whether to stay on your website or leave. So, your homepage design is the most important page of your website. Don’t bombard visitors with text and annoying information. Instead, keep your homepage simple and user-friendly.

High-Quality Content
The content on your website plays an important role in reaching your business goals. High-quality content helps retain visitors as well as giving you a higher ranking with search engines.

Blogging
Most people underestimate the power of a blog. However, it is a proven and powerful tool to increase income and generate business growth. According to a recent study, websites with blogs get 67 percent more leads than those that don’t. A blog can also enhance SEO when you use good keywords in articles that help Google match your site to user searches. In addition, a blog provides a platform to build a strong relationship and establish trust with your customers.

Feedback
Like every other business, feedback from your website is important. Feedback provides you with insights that you can use to improve your business, products, and overall customer experience.

Responsive design

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly which usually means having a responsive website design. According to The Verge, more than half of searches are now done through mobile. If your website is not mobile-friendly, Google will push your website back in the rankings.

Sticky Navigation
Navigation with good design and the right words can boost the likelihood of a return visit in the future. For example, when a visitor accesses your website to search for something, the first thing they will look for is the navigation. If your navigation is not clear, the visitor will leave. Therefore, effective navigation can make a visit to your website productive. On the other hand, ineffective navigation can be a disaster for your business.

Enquiry Forms
Enquiry forms are an integral part of most websites. They allow customers to reach you by completing a simple form if, for example, they want you to provide them with your services. Therefore, designing the right enquiry form is very important to encourage visitors to get in touch.

Lead Capture
Lead capture usually includes a form and an incentive. The customer gets the incentive in return for information like an email address. Common incentives include free eBooks or weekly newsletters. In fact, for some websites, getting visitors to complete a lead capture form is the main goal as completed forms become leads you can follow up to make a sale.

Choosing A Platform For Your Website Project

Picking a platform for your website is an important decision for the online presence of your business. With vendors providing countless options, it can be difficult to choose the right one. The important factors you need to consider are functionality, ease of use, and reasonable pricing.

Over a decade ago, there were only HTML-based websites that were built from scratch by writing code in a plain text editor. Technology has progressed a long way since then and now there are a wide variety of solutions available, including Content Management Systems (CMS).

Nowadays, the big web development shops in New Zealand offer custom CMS platforms with promises of glory and expensive price tags. Instead of listening to a sales person, we recommended that, in the first instance, you ask yourself what you are looking for and then decide.

We are going to compare some of the popular platforms to help give you an idea of what you should pick.

Content Management Systems

What is a content management system?
A CMS is an application that allows you to create and run your website. You will get an interface where you can create and update pages, posts, and other types of content including images, videos, and more. You can also organise the content however you want to.

In addition, you can change the design of the website through the admin panel. You perform these actions by clicking buttons or by drag and drop.

There are two types of CMS: open source CMS, and custom or proprietary CMS.

Open Source CMS
An open source CMS is a platform built using code that is readily available to anyone to use, copy, edit, or redistribute. Some of the most popular open source CMS platforms are WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

Using an open source CMS is simple – you buy your own domain, set up website hosting, and install the open source CMS on your web server. You then choose a theme for your website, add plugins for advanced functionality, and create the content.

An open source CMS allows you great control of your website. In addition, you can create and update your website without any knowledge of coding languages. According to Yoast, the most popular open source CMS platform is WordPress. It is used on over 70 million websites around the world.

With WordPress, you can easily add pages, images, blog posts, and much more. Moreover, there are a vast number of plugins to help you easily add functionality to your website.

There are countless advantages of using the WordPress platform too. Firstly, you can create any type website – static websites, blogs, e-commerce websites, forums, membership sites, and more. Secondly, you get full ownership of your website so you can change your hosting company without losing the site. Last but not least, WordPress is fully customisable unlike custom CMS platforms and website builders.

If you are looking for a solution that is highly customised as well as being affordable without the hassle of monthly billing, you should consider this route as a proprietary CMS may not be dynamic enough for your needs.

Proprietary CMS

A propriety CMS, or custom CMS, is a platform built and maintained by a single company. This means the source code cannot be modified and you do not own the website. This type of platform is used by web companies who develop their own CMS for their clients. They typically charge a monthly fee and provide support.

Furthermore, these websites are not flexible or easily expandable. The addition of more features to your website, for example, will require manual programming by the CMS owner as you will not have access to the source code. The worst part is that you cannot migrate to any other vendor without losing your website.

As stated by GadgeTopia, we strongly discourage websites which are developed on custom CMS platforms as it is similar to renting a website rather than owning one. In addition, this option is usually expensive in long run.

Website Builders

Website builders allow you to create websites using a drag and drop interface. You simply choose a template and customise the content. A few examples of common website builders are Wix, Weebly, Shopify, and Squarespace.

One of the best things about website builders is that your website and hosting are provided with one simple package that usually includes a free domain name. Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about coding, software maintenance, or other technical aspects of owning a website.

The worst part of website builders is that you only have limited templates to choose from. The customisation options are also limited.

Ecommerce Platforms

If you want to create an online store, an e-commerce platform will be the right choice for your business. Some of the popular e-commerce platforms are Shopify, BigCommerce, and PrestaShop. These platforms allow you to quickly setup an online store without any coding experience.

One of the perks with hosted e-commerce platforms like the examples above is that you don’t have to worry about website hosting or payment processing. In addition, you get 24/7 support and transaction security. However, these platforms are extremely expensive and you cannot fully customise your website.

HTML website

If you want to go for an old-school static website which requires design and code from scratch, then you should consider this option. Simple HTML websites are good for small businesses as they are fast and user-friendly.

Pick this option if you don’t have to change your content very often. If the website requires regular maintenance or frequent content changes, you will have difficulties.