Alright, you’ve got a business in Cardiff, have you? Top-notch! Now, let’s talk about how our nifty advice can help you boost your SEO and put your business on the digital map, faster than you can say ‘Tidy!’.

First things first, a domain name. It’s not just a digital address for your business, it’s the foundation stone of your online presence, like a virtual signpost. So, choosing the right one is a bit like choosing the right outfit for a first date. You want something that represents you well, something memorable, something that sets the right impression.

When picking a domain, aim for something that’s a close match to your business name or the services you offer. That’ll make it easier for potential customers to find you, plus it helps Google understand what your business is all about. For example, if you’re running a bakery in Cardiff, something like ‘CardiffBakes.com’ is as clear as a bell. This is your first step in improving your SEO.

Now let’s talk about your content. You see, Google’s a bit of a bookworm; it loves high-quality, original content. Regularly updating your website with relevant information about your business and industry will have Google coming back for more. This could be in the form of blog posts, customer testimonials, or updates on your services. And don’t forget to use keywords related to your business and location (like ‘bakery’, ‘Cardiff’, ‘freshly baked’, ‘bread’) throughout your content. It’s like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for Google to follow.

Next up, the technical bit. Remember how we mentioned ‘https’ in the domain? That’s a mark of security, a bit like having a sturdy lock on your front door. Google cares about the safety of its users, so having an ‘https’ rather than just ‘http’ can give your site a small ranking boost.

Lastly, we’ve got mobile-friendliness. More people than ever are using their mobiles to surf the web. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing out on a lot of potential customers. Plus, Google has a ‘mobile-first’ indexing policy, which means it primarily looks at the mobile version of your website for ranking and indexing.

So, to bring it all together: Pick a domain that fits your business, regularly update your site with original content, make sure your site is secure, get backlinks from high-quality sites, and ensure your site is mobile-friendly.

By following these tips, you’re not just making your business easier to find, you’re also making it more appealing to both your customers and search engines. That’s a win-win in our book! So, go on, give it a whirl, and watch your Cardiff business climb the ranks of the Google search results, faster than you can say ‘Bob’s your uncle’!

Alright, mate, so you’ve got yourself a smashing business idea, and you’re ready to share it with the world – quite literally! Or, maybe you’ve already got your high-street shop, and you’ve heard the lads down the pub talking about this ‘website’ business. Sounds a bit like outer space, doesn’t it? No worries, though. This guide’s here to break it all down for you, piece of cake.

See, having a business these days without an online presence is a bit like having fish and chips without salt and vinegar – it’s just not done! So, here you are, thinking it’s about time you dipped your toes into this digital pool. But wait, there’s all these terms being thrown around – ‘domains’, ‘hosting’, and the likes. Makes you feel like you’re back in school trying to remember that equation to find ‘x’. Cor blimey, it’s all a bit much!

Fear not! We’re going to explain everything to you in plain English. No techno-babble, no complicated jargon, just simple, straight-up facts. We’re going to start with the basics: what a website domain actually is. Now, you might think it’s just a fancy address for your website, but it’s so much more than that. It’s like your business’s postcode in the vast city that is the internet.

But here’s the fun part, these domain names replace those pesky IP addresses that look like someone’s phone number from the last century. So instead of typing a series of numbers that makes your head spin, you simply type something like ‘BBC.com’. Much easier, innit?

We’ll also be chatting about why domains are as crucial as that first cuppa in the morning. It’s not just about looking professional online, although that’s a big part of it. It’s also about being easily found and recognized by customers, old and new.

Oh, and we’re not just going to leave you high and dry after telling you why you need a domain. We’ll guide you through the whole process – how to get one, what different types there are, and even how to get your site up and running once you’ve got your domain.

So buckle up, because we’re about to take a deep dive into the world of website domains. And don’t worry, we’ll keep it as entertaining as watching your favourite footie match! Ready? Let’s go!

 

• If you own a business, having a website with your own domain is essential.
• A domain name replaces an IP address, making it easier to remember and access.
• The ‘https’ in a web address is a security feature, reassuring users about the safety of their data.
• The ‘.com’ or similar part of your domain is called the “top-level domain”, with options like “.net”, “.biz”, and “.uk” available.
• Your domain gives your online presence a professional appearance, much like a storefront does for a physical business.
• Domains also increase your ‘authority’ online, helping with your search engine rankings.
• You have a variety of domain options to choose from, including .com, .org, .gov, .int, and country-specific domains.
• You can get a domain from registrars like GoDaddy, Domain.com, or Bluehost, but they’re not free and need to be renewed, usually annually.
• Once you have your domain, you need to build your website using a platform like WordPress.
• Website domains are crucial for your business’s visibility and credibility on the internet.

Alright, mate! Fancy a chinwag about the vast world of website domains? After all, if you’ve got a business, you need to have your slice of the web too. Seems like everyone’s got one, right? And they’re not just for show – these digital shops can pull in customers from everywhere, not just from around your local. Plus, it’s not just about attracting global punters, it helps your locals find you easily too.

But, hang on a tick, you’ve got a load of terms being thrown at you left, right and center – “domains”, “hosting”, and so on. Enough to make your head spin! Fret not, in this guide, we’ll spill the beans on what a website domain actually is, why it matters, and much more.

 

Introduction: Your Guide to Domains

 

What are Website Domains?
Why Bother with Domains?
The Variety of Domains.
How to Get a Domain Name.
Setting up your Website.

 

The 101 on Website Domains

First, let’s talk about IP addresses – think of them as the postcodes of the internet. Each website has one, made up of a string of digits split up with periods. But let’s face it, remembering a long number sequence is like trying to recall your nan’s phone number when you were five. That’s where domain names come into play. Instead of a tedious numerical IP, you just type ‘BBC.com’ to get the news, easy as pie! And the name is part of your web address for all your site’s pages.

“https” ensures the data transfer between you and the site is as safe as a vault in a bank.
“.com” is what we call the “top-level domain”. You can also pick “.net”, “.biz”, and so on, based on what suits your fancy.
“Hosting-a-website” is the specific page address, also known as the “path”.

 

Why Have a Domain?

Having a domain is like owning a piece of internet real estate – once you’ve got it, no one else can squat on it. Plus, it adds a sheen of professionalism to your image online. It’s the difference between being a stall in a bustling market and having your own shopfront.

People can easily find your business using your domain, and they can get a glimpse of what you do. Over time, as more and more users visit your site, you’ll gain “authority”, improving your visibility on search engines and giving you an edge over rivals.

 

The Different Types of Domains

Next, there’s the choice of what type of domain you want. The most common one is the “.com” suffix – think of it as the ‘prime location’ in the internet world. But there’s a whole world out there! Fancy .IO if you’re doing business in the British Indian Ocean territories or .uk for a UK-based vibe.

And that’s not all; we’ve got

.org for your non-profits.
.gov for the government bodies.
.int for intergovernmental organisations.

 

 

Getting Your Hands on a Domain Name

Free domains? Not a chance! Domains are like the diamond of the internet – you’ve got to shell out some quid to get a good one. Reputable domain registrars like GoDaddy, Domain.com, or Bluehost are your friends here. And remember, your domain will need renewing – usually every year.

 

Setting Sail: Getting Your Website Up and Running

Now, having a domain with no website is like having a ticket to a gig that’s been cancelled. Your next step? Getting that website designed and ready for your punters. WordPress is your knight in shining armour here – easy to use and completely customisable. Just remember, you’re aiming for a smooth and professional website, just like serving up a perfect pint.

 

FAQ Section

The frequently asked questions section is where we’ll tackle some more of those niggling queries. Be patient, mate, it’s coming soon!

 

In a Nutshell…

 

Well, there you have it! You’ve now got the lowdown on website domains – what they are, why they’re so crucial, the different types available, how to snag one, and finally, how to bring your website to life.

Just remember what Bill Gates once said, “The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” So go on, make your mark!

 

Please note: All facts and figures presented are accurate at the time of writing, sourced from respective websites and domain registrars.

Alright, folks, gather ’round! Today, we’re diving headfirst into the world of website wireframes- you may have heard of WordPress, PHP and Javascript, but may not know what wireframing means and why a web designers use wire frames. So, why do you need to know about wireframes, well they are essential when designing a bespoke website, for your business. So do, strap in and let’s uncover the mysteries behind website wireframes and how they can be used to design your new company website.

 

What is a Website Wireframe?

 

Imagine a blueprint for a house, you know like architects’ drawings, or a skeleton of a dinosaur. Now, imagine that blueprint or skeleton is actually a layout of a website, displaying its basic structure, well, that’s what wireframes are! Its like the bare bones of the website, without the colours, and finishing touches like company logos being added.

Its essentially a rough sketch of what your website will look like.

 

A website wireframe is a visual representation of your site’s layout, displaying the arrangement of page elements such as , navigation like the main menu, and content hierarchy- so for example, which services will be on the menu menu, which ones will be in a drop down menu. It’s like the rough draft of a witty joke you’re writing, where you focus on the punchline (the structure) before you polish it up with clever wordplay (the design).

 

When and why should you start your website with a wireframe?

 

  “To wireframe or not to wireframe?” well, the answer is simple: always start with a wireframe! Why? Because it helps you:

 

    Define your website’s goals and objectives, in terms of how many pages do you need?

    Determine the user flow and navigation

    Plan the layout and organisation of your content.

 

 

 

Examples of Website Wireframes

 

To give you a taste of the wireframing magic, let’s take a look at a few examples:

 

 

    Blog Wireframes – A wireframe for a blog, such as a wordpress blog, the wireframes could focus on article lists,  categories, and clear navigation. So, a web developer may set out using wireframes, to design how the blog section of a website will look.

    Small Business Website – a web developer could use wireframes to start to design a small business site, showcasing products, services, and contact information.

    eCommerce site – wireframes are often used to design eCommerce sites, with product categories, filters, and shopping cart functionality.

 

What Tools Do You Need to Create a Wireframe?

 

You don’t need a magic wand to create a wireframe, and some of the web design programmes are not that expensive. Here’s a list of options, ranging from flowchart apps to dedicated wireframing tools:

 

Flowchart Apps:

 

    Lucidchart – A cloud-based diagramming tool, this is very good, for creating flowcharts and wireframes.

    Diagrams.net – A free, open-source diagramming and wireframing tool- this is brilliant tool.

    Miro – A collaborative online whiteboard for wireframing and brainstorming.

    Zen Flowchart – A very simple and easy to use, flowchart app for creating wireframes with ease.

    Google Slides – A presentation tool, this is free, and can also be used for wireframing.

    Creately – A diagramming tool for creating wireframes, also flowcharts, and more.

    Edraw Max – A comprehensive diagramming software that supports wireframing, again very easy to use, flowcharts, and other visuals.

 

Dedicated Wireframing Tools:

 

    Figma – A versatile web design tool for creating wireframes, prototypes, and full-fledged designs.

    Mockflow – A wireframing and prototyping tool that helps streamline your web design process.

    Balsamiq – A low-fidelity wireframing tool that mimics the simplicity of sketching on paper, this is very good tool.

    Adobe XD – we would recommend this tool, adobe offers a powerful design and prototyping tool from the Adobe, this is widely used by most web designers.

    Sketch – A design toolkit for creating wireframes, interfaces, and more on macOS.

    UXPin – A collaborative design platform that supports wireframing, prototyping, and design systems.

    JustInMind – A wireframing and prototyping tool for creating interactive, high-fidelity designs.

 

How to wireframe your own website

 

Alright, now that you’re purchased a plethora of web design tools, it’s time to create your own wireframe masterpiece! And it’s a piece of cake, when you follow these steps, and you’ll be the Picasso of wireframing in no time:

 

    Identify your marketing goals – Set clear objectives for your new company website, like driving sales, generating leads.

 

    You should also figure out your site’s user flow -so this is like if you designing a department store layout , where would you put different items you sell, the make-up counter?

The area that sells suits?

The electrical department?

Just as you would carefully consider how you want shoppers to walk around your shop, you must think the same with your e-commerce website. Map out the user’s journey through your website, from their arrival (homepage) to their final destination (conversion which means making a sale).

So, from homepage, how can you get people to find the products they want to buy quickly? How can you better design the main menu? Can you integrate voice search into your companies website? So people can say for example “size 9 running trainers” and these products appear for the customer, how can you design the homepage, so people can click on products they want easily.

Decide how many pages will need to be designed, and how many words need to be written per page. This way the web developers can design the wireframes, and you can have copywriters writing the text, for that page at the same time.

 

    Sketch out your wireframe – Use your chosen tool, we use Adobe, to sketch out your wireframe, keeping it simple and focused on layout and structure.

     

    Turn your wireframes into a prototype – Transform your wireframes into a clickable, interactive prototype, this is easy to do, if your using Adobe, to test the functionality and also user experience.

 

Summary and quick template to wireframe your own website

 

To recap, wireframing is easy to do, and an essential step in the website design process, it can sometimes take a few hours to do, if your having a one page website designed. However for an ecommerce website, it could take sometimes over 6 months, if your selling a lot of different products. Wireframes help you plan your site’s structure, content marketing, and user flow. Here’s a quick template to get you started:

 

 

 

Wireframes & Website Design

 

In conclusion, wireframes are like the backbone of any website. They are the skelton that holds everything together – they help you plan, to organise, and visualize your site’s layout before diving into the design phase.  

 

So, what you waiting for, grab a nice cup of tea, and start designing those wireframes- its an absolute piece of cake to do,  and now armed with the knowledge of reading this blog post, you know which tools to use.  

 

 

 

Introduction

Sometimes, when a business is shopping around, to find a web designer, the focus is finding the cheapest deal.

However, we think good web design, means incorporating into the design, features that offer good levels of customer service. This could mean, incorporating chat bots, making your company website superfast, or simply designing brilliant mobile version of your company website.

We all value good customer service, for example, we could be forking out let’s say £500 on having our cars serviced, but if in the waiting area you are offered a good quality coffee, that you enjoy drinking, then it’s these little extras for free, that offer good customer service.

It’s good customer service that keeps us coming back to a business time and time again, and this is why we think that good customer service needs to be incorporated into your web design as well.

 

 

Chat bots

Chat bots we think are going to be used by more businesses in the future, that’s because having the ability to quickly talk to somebody from the company, we think offers good customer service.

You only have to look at huge companies, such as Amazon, and they offer such good customer service because you can quickly check to someone from the company.

Initially there might be a chat bot that is used to answer a question from a customer, and sometimes the chat bot answers the more commonly asked questions.

Yet if the question is more complicated, and the person can’t get an answer from the chat bot, then  the business may wish to refer it to somebody within your company that can better answer the question.

We therefore think, that having a chat bot, can sometimes mean the difference between making the sale, and not making one, for example let’s say if somebody is shopping around to purchase a high value item such as a electric cooker then they may have a question before making a purchase.

 

There might be detail missing in the product description for example, and somebody just wants a quick answer to a question that they have.

Answering that quick answer can mean the difference between the company making the sale or not.

It can also mean the difference between whether that’s shopper returns to the business in the future to purchase products.

Make it super simple for your customers to find what they are looking for

Whether it be voice commerce, or simply a very easy-to-use main menu, or the design of your company website simply makes it an absolute piece of cake to find the products or the services that the customer was looking for, it’s all about making it very easy for your customers to find the products, or the services they want to buy.

This can help to minimise the bounce rate.

 

Analytics

Whichever marketing company you choose, the web designers should make sure that they use quality analytics, in order to monitor how many shoppers your website is obtaining.

Analytics can therefore track how many shoppers your website is receiving, how long they are spending on your website, and whether they are buying a product or not.

 

 Does your company need a new website?

Perhaps you run a business here in South Wales, and you now need new website, or perhaps your current website is in need of a total redesign?

We can help, we can help to design a brilliant website your business, that will help to improve your businesses marketing.

 

 

Digital marketing is used by most businesses these days, even if the company doesn’t have a website yet, they are likely to have a Facebook account, or other social media accounts for example.

Digital marketing is simply used to help grow businesses, but some marketing companies are really good at it, like ours, and some not that good, so you really have to pick your marketing agency carefully. This article aims to help you to understand more about how digital marketing could help you to grow your business.

Huge audience

At the moment, you might only have a few customers contacting you every week, but if you have a really good website, combined with really good organic SEO, then you could open your business to so many more customers.

 

So, one of the most obvious advantages of investing in good quality digital marketing, such as a well-designed website, well written content marketing and SEO, is that you could potentially have thousands of more people visiting your company website.

A good digital marketing company, like ours, can help to improve your website’s design, create social media accounts, such as Facebook account your business. We would highly recommend obtaining Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, also you need a really good content marketing an SEO strategy, that is SEO content marketing and social media should all work together to help your business to generate more sales.

You can use social media to create more brand awareness, which drives more shoppers to your website to read your content marketing, the content marketing should then direct shoppers to different products and services on your company website, and this can help you to increase sales.

Engagement

It’s really important that you write high quality content marketing for your website, we would recommend creating a YouTube channel, we would then highly recommend embedding your YouTube videos into your main pages, your blog posts, and also on your evergreen content marketing.

Your business should aim to improve engagement, whether that’s on social media improving the amount of likes, comments and shares that the post has, whether it’s on your content marketing, in terms of keeping shoppers on your companies blog posts for as long as possible, and reducing the bounce rate as well

 

So why should you invest in digital marketing?

We would deftly start by getting a well-designed website built

To really important that you get a well-designed website, because you social media accounts, and you pay per click campaigns, will be directed to your main website, so you need a well-designed company website.

Investing quality SEO content

Creating SEO content marketing, can help you to draw in more organic visitors to your website, which can help you to increase sales.

If you would like help designing a brand-new website business, help to set up social media accounts, how to pay per click campaign why not give our business a ring.

We have over 10 years’ experience now building really high quality WordPress websites, we therefore built many websites for Welsh businesses.

We have a huge amount of happy customers, the vast is to build a website, and then they go on to hire us to also improve the SEO as well.

Therefore, if your business is based anywhere within Wales, within the United Kingdom you are looking for a web designer, the can also offer SEO services then we are most definitely the company to call.

With WordPress developers, with a huge amount of experience building websites for solicitors, dentists and construction companies we are the business of course to get a website built the very competitive price.

 

If you already have a website built

iIf you already have a website built them we can offer our SEO services, we can also offer to manage your businesses social media.

 

How long it takes our designers to design a new website, depends on a lot of different factors, including the complexity of the site, for example, is it an e-commerce site selling many different products?

The amount of content marketing, for example, will our copywriters be writing the text for your business?

And of course, the number of pages which need to be designed.

A simple website can often be designed in just 2 weeks sometimes.

While with that said, a more complex website, say where the business is selling many products, that may take us say many months to build.

 

The important thing is to start with a clear idea of what you want your business needs from your website.

So, for example:

–        Does your business need a brochure website?

–        Does your business need an e-commerce website?

–        Does the website need to be responsive?

 

So, how long does it take to build a website?

Creating a website can a time-consuming process, yet our designers can quickly get to grips with what design you want, and we will aim to build it as quickly as we can.

By working with an established web design agency, like ours and by having a clear idea of your marketing goals, we can create a beautiful and effective website in a surprisingly short amount of time.

So, if you’re wondering how long does it take to design a website, the answer is: it does depend on how many pages need to be designed, if you have brand guidelines, and also if you have a clear idea of what you want.

If not, our designers can offer many different design ideas, that you can select.

 

Website design process and development is often a complex process, that involves many different steps.

The first step is usually to create a prototype or mockup of the site, which can be used to get feedback from our clients and make sure the overall design is what the customer wants.

Once the prototype has been approved, the next step is to start designing the site and writing any code that’s needed.

This includes developing the front-end design that’s the part shoppers see when they visit your website.

then our web design company can create the back-end functionality that’s needed, and a database structure.

After the site is coded, it needs to be tested on various devices, such as an I-phone, and different browsers to make sure everything works as it should. Finally, once everything is working properly, the site can be launched and made available to the public, and we can do this by offering hosting.

You may want to arrange for your own hosting of your company website, and we can therefore simply send you the finished design of the website, for your business to then host.

 

 

The website design and development process can be divided into several different steps:

 

 

we can create a prototype or mock-up of the website, to give an idea of how it will look once finished.

 

This is used to get feedback from clients.

 

 

Coding the front-end design or making alterations as the customer requested, plus making any changes to the back-end functionality, or database structure.

 

 

Testing the site on various devices, such as i-phones, and browsers to make sure everything works correctly and fixing any glitches with the web design, to make sure everything works as it should.

 

 

Launching the site and making it available to shoppers.

 

 

Monitoring the site and making changes as needed.

 

If you need help with any part of the website design and development process, then why not contact our team at Top Space Designs.

We’re a full-service digital marketing agency in the heart of Cardiff, which specialises in creating quality websites.

 

What steps do you web designers take in order to build a website?

There are a few key steps involved in building a website for our clients in Cardiff.

Though it has to be said, the process can vary slightly depending on your business’s specific needs and goals, for example, if we are building a large e-commerce website, using WooCommerce, then we would often need all of the product descriptions from you.

However, these steps will start to give you a general idea of how our web design process works:

 

Choose your domain name and hosting company.

We can register your domain name for you.

If you don’t know what domain name means, its simply your website’s address on the internet, such as for example, www.top-space-designs.co.uk is ours.

While your hosting is the company that hosts your company website

At our web design agency, we can offer to register your company domain name for you, and to provide hosting, we often charge yearly for this service.

If you are looking to find your own hosting provider, you’ll need to choose a reputable hosting service and register your desired domain name before you can begin building your site.

 

Our web designers will then start designing the website

Once you have a domain name and hosting all sorted, it’s then time to start putting together the actual content marketing and design of your site together.

This is the time-consuming part, and it can take us even longer if you have asked our copywriters to write the content marketing for you?

However, for some WordPress websites, which we design in Cardiff, that can take us sometimes as little as 2 weeks from start to completion.

However, how long it takes us does depend on how much work is needed.

For example, a large e-commerce website, that might take us much longer to build.

 

 

Content marketing

Our web designers will then start on adding the content marketing to your website. This is where you’ll start adding all the text, images, and other media that will make up your website.

You can also pay our web design company a set monthly fee, so that our copywriters can add fresh content marketing, in the form of blog posts for you on a regular basis to keep visitors coming back.

 

Once your website has been built, we would recommend promoting it on social media, such as using Facebook

Once we have got your new company website up and running, you’ll need to start spreading the word about it, we would therefore highly recommend hiring our digital marketing agency, to help you improve your organic SEO, to assist with advertising your company on social media, such as on Facebook, and you might hire us, to run PPC ads for your business as well?

 

 

We build affordable websites for Welsh businesses

 

Building a website doesn’t have to be expensive, we can build  a professional website for your company, and get it up and running quickly.

 

We design brillant websites, as we have experienced website designers working for us

HTML, CSS and Javascript- most clients wont know what this means, yet these are the three most common programming languages, that our developers use to build our websites.

Some websites we build wont need huge amount of coding, yet some others may take a long time to build.

HTML is simply used for structure, CSS for style and layout of the website, and Javascript for dynamic content and interactivity.

In order to create a website, our web developers must use all three of these languages  together.

 

HTML is the foundation of all webpages, and whichever website we are building for a client, it use this code.

It is used to define the structure of a web page, including all of  the text, images and other elements that make up the web site.

Then there’s CSS, and this is used to add style to a webpage.

Css can be used to control the colours on a page, which web developers often call the hex codes, which font you select, the font size and position of elements on a page.

Then there’s Javascript and our web developers use this to add interactivity to a webpage. It can be used to create things like drop-down menus, from the main menu, form validation and simple games.

In order for our web designers to design new website, regardless of whether it’s a site for a solicitor or a dentist, they will need to use all three of these languages together in order to design a new website.

So, to summarise, HTML defines the structure of the page, CSS adds style and layout, and Javascript adds interactivity.

 

Does your company website need to be responsive?

We would recommend, that your company website works on mobile devices, such as a smartphone.

One way of doing this, is to hire a web designer that will build a responsive website and this is a relatively new approach to web design that ensures your site renders optimally on devices, such as an i-phone, or a tablet, regardless of the screen size.

So this means, whatever the shopper is using, to look for a product, lets say a new electronic toothbrush, well, they can use the company website, on say there i-phone.

Yet, for the company website to work correctly, you need to have a mobile version built.  

Responsive design is achieved by our web designers, building a website through a combination of flexible layouts, media queries (which allow you to target specific CSS rules, to specific device widths, to make the website work on say tablets) and fluid images.

 

So why does my business need a responsive website?

Well, quite simply put, our web design agency thinks that there are many benefits to using a responsive design for a company website. For one, it ensures that the website can work on all devices, that’s of course, if  there are no coding glitches.

Additionally, responsive design can help improve your search engine rankings, that means, many SEO agencies, believe it’s one of the many factors which is considered, when trying to work out where your website should rank in the serps.  

 

Summary: What Does Responsive Web Design Mean?

 

 

Therefore “responsive web design” simply means a website that automatically adjusts its layout and content to fit the width of say an i-phone, or the user’s screen.

This means that whether someone is viewing your site on a desktop computer, a tablet, or a smartphone, they will be able to still use your company website.

Of course, if you didn’t have a mobile version of your company website built, then someone looking to buy an item say on their smartphone, wouldn’t be able to, and this means, you could, be losing customers.

If you’re company is looking to create a responsive website, there are a few key things to keep in mind.

First, you’ll need to make sure that your website is designed using something called “flexible grids” and layouts.

This will then allow your content to automatically adjust itself to fit any screen size. In addition, you should use media queries to determine how your site’s content should be displayed on different devices. Finally, you’ll need to make sure that your website’s images and other forms of media are also responsive.

 

 

By following these tips, you can ensure that your responsive website will work well on any device.

 

What are flexible grids?

As any good web designer will tell you, one of the most important aspects of responsive web design is creating what’s called a “flexible grid”.

This grid should be able to adapt to any screen size such as to an i-phone.

So, whether the shopper is using say a smartphone, a tablet, or desktop computer, by your web designers using flexible grids as part of your websites design, the content should automatically adjust itself to fit the different devices, such as an i-phone so that people use to access your companies website.

 

 

In addition to using a flexible grid that your web designers might use, you should also make use of what are called media queries.

 

What are media queries?

Media queries are code snippets, these allow you to determine how your site’s content should be displayed on say a tablet.

For example, you can use media queries to ensure that your site’s images are only displayed on screens that are large enough to view them properly.

Here at Top Space Designs, we are Cardiff web designers, that build responsive websites, e-commerce websites, and brochure websites.

For a free quote why not call us?  

 

 

We think that a website is rather like car, in that some can be rather cheap and cheerful, rather basic in their overall construction, yet some others can be high-performance machines and hugely complicated.

Business owners across the land often make the mistake of thinking they just need a website up and running from now, that a basic company website will therefore suffice. However when you sit down and you mull over this, a lot of business owners quickly realise that their website will actually be their most important marketing asset.

Therefore, settling for what is in all intents and purposes a second best design is never a good idea.

Instead each business needs a well-designed website, there needs to be clear purpose so that the websites that’s built so is high quality. After all, do you want your website to be akin to a budget car or a high-performance sports car?

Every business is different, therefore each website should be the same, therefore you should have a unique marketing strategy. There needs to be a lot of dialogue with you and your website designers, so that a unique, well designed website is built.

With that said, there are some important design considerations which we think are important to most businesses, and these will be highlighted below.

However, it’s important that you consult with a respected web design company, so that you can form your own high-quality marketing strategy.

The name of the game is building a high quality website, if you don’t that often your business will be lost in the millions of other competitors that may have a better website.

Don’t therefore opt for the cheapest quote, aim to have a quality website built, often this is not cheap.

Set out clearly the main purposes for your companies website

Set out your website’s purpose, now, this may seem pretty self-explanatory, and to some business owners a total waste of time, yet do let us elaborate…

Take a rather simple business model, lets say that you run a window cleaning business, you may approach many web design agencies and ask the quotes for a new redesign or design of your website.

You may simply say to them, I run a window cleaning business, and I need a new website built. After all, that’s what’s web designers do, right they build websites?

However, instead we think it’s much better to sit down and think of the clear purpose for your website, for example do you want to target more commercial cleaning? If it’s just domestic cleaning then in what areas?

Are there are areas of your work that you want to further generate more sales, for example you might offer gutter cleaning, or specialise in the cleaning of large conservatories?

With this knowledge your web designers may set up a separate page for “gutter cleaning”, for cleaning large conservatories, and also cleaning commercial buildings. Therefore your website now has more purpose than just being a general window cleaning company.

If you’re web designers didn’t have this knowledge, then you might end up with a pretty generic one-page website, which simply states that you are a window cleaner, and this might not cut the mustard when you compare your website with some of your direct competitors who may well be advertising for these additional cleaning services.

 

Make it simple

Make it simple, cluttered websites are likely to confuse some shoppers.

Put yourself in your customers shoes, that’s to say they often want to buy something at the right price and quickly, so let’s say that you specialise in selling running trainers, for example.

You don’t just stock one or two pairs of different running trainers, you stock thousands, however if the homepage is overly cluttered, and the shopper cant sort which trainers they want, that’s right the likely to leave your website straightaway.

Ask any good digital marketing agency, what does “bounce rate” mean, they will often say it’s something that should be reduced, and this can be reduced with good website design.

Choose a CMS that you find easy to use

Let’s say your website has been designed, and it’s a Monday morning and your designers have sent over the login details, and you want to add a new blog post to your company’s website.

Do you want a CMS that you find very easy-to-use, within a few clicks of a button your blog post goes live?

Of course, you do!

Yet some CMS options don’t make it that simple, even trying to highlight and make a title bold with some CMS can be difficult.

So do make sure that you have the conversation with your web developers, which CMS that they think would best suit your businesses requirements.

Partner with an agency that can offer you more than just web design

If you want to improve your businesses organic SEO, and you want to improve your businesses presence also on social media, you might wish to partner with an agency which can offer all of the services.

Don’t take the mindset, that will do for now…

A lot of businesses when they are setting up, might not have the time to consult with their web designer, however we believe if the design of a website is mediocre then, this is a total waste of time.

For a lot of businesses, from sole traders through to large businesses, their website is the main way they advertise the company, so we believe that you need strong and well-designed website right from the outset.

Help your customers as much as possible

When having your website designed, you should be focused on helping your customers as much as you can.

By this we mean write detailed product descriptions, write a frequently asked questions page (FAQ), help your customers at every single stage by making it easy to understand the product or services that you offer.

Think about the basics, such as how readable is the text?

Consider the basics, such as is the text that you have chosen easy to read? For example, is the font that you have chosen easy to read?

Page speed

Your website should be fast, if it’s not your bounce rate will likely soar.

Try to reduce your companies bounce rate

Work closely with your digital marketing agency, that’s to try and keep your shoppers on your website for as long as possible, think about how can you reduce your businesses “bounce rate”, and improve the design in order to help generate more sales?

 

How we can help:

We work with businesses to build quality websites, we also have SEO consultants, copywriters who can write your businesses content marketing. For a no obligation quote why not contact us today?

 

Okay, so let’s say your stuck in traffic, and around you are a sea of cars and company vehicles, and all may look pretty bland, rather generic you might say?

Yet, every now and then, there’s a company vehicle that stands out, it might be a van with simply brilliant graphics, a bright bold colour and an easy to remember website which is bold, and grabs your attention.

For example, a builder that focuses on high-end builds, using a bright colour, a picture showing a large extension they have built, and a company name that may have nothing to do with construction, but one which sticks in your mind, and so does the website.

Or it might be a rather fancy restaurant down in Cardiff Bay, it might have a really modern name, a colour which is rather unique and again a name which you won’t easily forget.

Now, you can start to see why having a set of brand guidelines, or “marketing strategy” created before the web design process starts is so crucial, as you want consistency, you want the same colour scheme used on the shop front, as what’s used on the companies lorries, or on the companies website.

So for example, lets say you run a recruitment agency, and you want to standout from your direct competitors here in Wales, so in the companies brand guidelines, you use a bright colour purple, this can then be assigned a “hex code” this code can then be used so that the companies cars match the companies shop and the website.

So, when it comes to hiring a local website designer, you can simply send in an email your companies brand guidelines, that’s including which hex codes to use, then the web developer, when designing the brand new company website, they will know to use that colour purple lets say in the main design of your companies new website.

 

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What are “brand guidelines” and why are they important

 

So, brand guidelines are simply a list of design choices the business has made, so for example, often the guidelines will stipulate, which logo to use, which font to use, and which colours, as well as for example what the colours of the main menu should be, what the font colours should be and much more.

Now, sometimes, a business that’s setting up in Wales, well, sometimes they jump straight into having a website built, but if you don’t have a set of brand guidelines, what can often occur, is that the marketing starts to get inconsistent for that company.

What do we mean by that, well, simply put the font and company logo used on invoices, business cards and leaflets might not match the companies website.

So, why does your agency think the brand guidelines should be created before the website gets built?

It can really help your web developer, this is regardless of whether they are building a completely unique PHP website, or using another coding, what often the “front-end” web developers need is a set of brand guidelines to work from, this will instantly tell them, which font to use for example, or which colour the footer should be.

It does also save the Cardiff web developers, who may well be building your website time, as otherwise, it might mean that you as the business owner needs to receive many phone calls from the web designers, such as which colour the footer should be, which font should be used, how the drop-down menus should work.

So many questions, yet, if the designers were to have a set of brand guidelines, well, this can sometimes help a lot.

The company website should be built so its all consistent with the companies brand guidelines

There’s no point in say having 100 lorries on the road, each which are painted, lets say a colour of red, yet then when you go on the companies website, well the same colour red is not used, this causes the marketing to be inconsistent.

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Be consistent

Having your marketing agency create a quality set of brand guidelines, can help your digital marketing agency to be consistent.

So for example, the right logo can be used on the companies website, on the companies social media accounts, such as Facebook and on the companies business cards.

Also, lets say you own lets say a restaurant in Roath Cardiff, and you have say 10 delivery cars, you may want the colour of those cars to match the companies website, for this, often a set of brand guidelines will need to be created by designers.

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Tell your company’s story

Okay, so it shouldn’t just be the case that your business needs a new CMS website built, lets say using the coding language PHP. And, its not just a case of e-mailing around say 10 agencies, and getting a quote and that’s it.

No, you should pick a design agency that wants to take the time to understand your company, how its evolved into what it is today.

So, lets say you run a parts store, your company is based in Leckwith Cardiff, and you’ve been selling parts for lets say 50 years, why not make this central in the design of the website?

So, for example, why not sit down with the web developers and the marketing staff, and say, lets make the companies history central to the websites design?

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Why not therefore:

–        Create a company timeline

–        Add to the companies logo how long the business has been trading, for example a date of when the company formed, and the current year

–        Add an about us page, which adds all the companies staff

Therefore in the brand guidelines, you may wish to stipulate, that you want to make clear that your company, based here in Wales, has been trading for a long time, so why not add this to your companies logo?

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Standout

Create a set of brand guidelines, and a website which allows your business to be different, this way you will be creating a more unique brand.

For example, if your web designers use a bright colour, such as a bright shade of orange, with a unique PHP design and a bespoke logo, your business will standout.

Can you hire an agency in Cardiff that takes care of brand guidelines, designs a website and also takes care of your businesses online marketing?

Yes, here at Top Space, many companies in Wales hire us to build a website, improve the companies seo, design a logo, write content marketing every month, so we can offer a complete marketing solution.

If of course you just want a company website built, then our web designers and developers can build a brilliant website for your company.

Introduction

For a lot of start-up businesses, it can sometimes be a bit of a rush to get the business up-and-running, and this often means that there are so many things to think about and it can be a very hectic time.

For example, you might be meeting with various estate agents, to find a suitable office premises, you might be interviewing staff for many different jobs that your company needs filling, you might be purchasing furniture so that you have everything ready the first day at work.

Now, like most businesses, you might have recognised that you need a brand-new website for your business all set-up and ready to go, yet some business owners, make the mistake of hiring a web designer, just purely on the basis of price alone.

That’s to say, you might be on social media see a business that offers say a fixed-price CMS website offer, and you might be like, wow, that looks like a great price.

However, this article has been written, by our web designers, to highlight why it’s important to pick a professional web designer or agency, not just on price alone, but on the basis that you wish to work with them on a long-term basis.

A lot of businesses think, that they should go for the cheapest quote, however we think it’s much more important to pick web design agency where each offers you an affordable price, but also one that you are happy to work with over the long term basis.

One which your happy to pick up the phone and chat to, one which explains everything to you, one which answers their emails in a timely manner.

As this article will illustrate to you, you don’t just need your marketing company to design the website, and then that’s it, instead often you need the web designers for ongoing services such as website hosting, domain name renewal service, writing blog posts say every week, organic SEO and also sometimes CMS training on how to use the website as well for example.

So for example, getting a website built might just be the start, you may have a really well-designed website, say built in PHP, it’s a WordPress site, your really happy with the work the web developers have done, your over the moon.

But, you might not want to hire say one business to manage the seo, one to manage the businesses social media, such as Facebook, another to write the blog posts, and a separate hosting company, and a separate domain name company, so why not think about hiring Top Space, here in Wales, as we can offer all of these services under one roof.

Professional Website Designer

First things first, we think it’s really important not just to pick any old web design company, but to pick a professional website designer, which designs high-quality websites, which will really take the time to understand your business, and to produce a really good CMS website of your company.

Far too many businesses, offer cheap quotes, and so many companies hire the wrong agency or business, then end up your website this very hard to edit, SEO cannot easily be applied, and it may suffer from a lot of glitches because the CMS might not have updates. For example, the site might be a bespoke site, built by PHP developers, but it might be a poorly designed CMS, it might have a dashboard that’s very hard to use, so even adding something simple, like a 500 word article, that you’ve just been busy writing over a coffee, well, it might be so difficult to add the post, a meta title, meta description and the article, well you give up! And this is what can happen when you hire the wrong web developers, every change you make to the site, no matter how simple it sounds, well becomes difficult.

So, then you might even resort to emailing the web developers for help, which will obviously cost more, so our best advice is hire a respected web designer, or agency, and pick a CMS which best suits your company, for example WordPress might be best suited to what your business needs?

For example, it might be a bespoke website, built in a CMS that is unique to that web design agency, yet what happens if that web designer, or the business was to go bankrupt? Can you receive support for the website?

This is why it’s worth carefully thinking about which company you opt for, to pick a company that offers you really good value.

Hosting and Domain Names

At a minimum, you often have to deal with your website designers on an ongoing basis in order to renew your domain names and hosting, you might do this with a separate company, but a lot of companies often go with the company that either the web designers recommend, or the website hosting and domain name renewal service that they offer. This means, lets say you hire a Cardiff web developer, they build the site, sometimes the domain name, the hosting is included in the price of design sometimes for say a year, yet after a year, often you have to pay each month, or year, yet some web designers, they charge for domain name and hosting right from the start, so this is something worth asking about, as costs do vary depending on which design agency you hire to build your website.

Edits

We would say it is very likely that you are going to need edits in the future for your companies website, this might be something as basic as changing the businesses phone number and the address or it could be something much more complicated, for example, it could be a lot of work, for example that the business is going to change the products or services that it offers, therefore the evergreen content marketing might need to be rewritten completely, which is obviously going to take up a lot of time.

Therefore, whichever company that you do end up hiring here in Cardiff, for example, you may hire a company that is based in the heart of Cardiff Bay near the docks, or perhaps you hire a freelancer which is based in say Llanishen within Cardiff Wales, you should make sure that you have a good working relationship with that person or web design agency, so that you can work with them if edits are needed in the future to your company’s website.

SEO

What a lot of companies quickly recognises is, that they need their business to invest in SEO, therefore rather than hire a separate SEO agency sometimes the web designers will also offer SEO as a service, however as a business here in Cardiff, or whenever your business is based, you should only invest in top quality white hat SEO.

Content Marketing

You may wish to hire a digital marketing agency that’s located here in Cardiff, which also offers content marketing and SEO, this written work often needs to be written on a regular basis, and this can sometimes be very time-consuming, this is why a lot of businesses, ranging from plumbers right through to large law firms, use their marketing agency to write this work for them.

NAP

Your name of your business, it’s address or its phone number (NAP) may need updating, sometimes this means that the web developer will need to rewrite the footer text, the header and also the contact us page, therefore you might need a PHP web developer to do this, in the future.

Plug-in updates

Some CMS, that’s content management systems for those that do not know what this means, will need updating, for example let’s say that you have a rather quality WordPress website built by a website design company, often you will still need the help of your agency, that’s to keep the plugins regularly updated, for example the WordPress plugins will often need updating on a regular basis, you may wish to hire an agency or lets say a local freelancer which can do this for you. Its important to keep your businesses CMS plugins up to date, for example lets say you run a law firm, your based in Wales, you might not employ anyone in the company who updates the website, its therefore important to hire a web developer or agency which makes sure your company website is updated, that the plugins, for example the WordPress plugins, that these are kept updated.

Back-up the website

You might wish to hire a company that not just designs your new website, but will also makes regular back-ups and sends them to you, you should therefore enquire whether your web designers, offer this service to back-up your website up on a regular basis for you, or not?

 

WordPress Training

Your business may require WordPress training, or other CMS training, you should therefore enquire whether your web design company that you hired, in Cardiff, offers the service not?

Affordable amendments to the website

You might get a really cheap quote to design the new website, let’s say to design a WordPress website, but how much does the agency charge per hour, to make web design amendments in the future?

You might find it it’s rather expensive per hour to hire web developers for the web design changes that your company needs, therefore you may have wish to pick another web design business here in Wales, therefore you should ask what the amendment rate is per hour, or the hourly rate for the web designers?

Update the CMS

You should enquire who will update the CMS? For example if you have a WordPress CMS, you will often require regular updates, and you should enquire whether the web design business offers this service?

 

CMS training

Glitches

If a glitch occurs, you should enquire how much it will cost to fix the problem?

 

Good business relationship

Therefore the basis of this whole article is all about whether you think you can have a good working relationship with the web designers, therefore it’s not just about getting a website designed, it’s about finding a company that your business wants to work with on a long-term basis.

Affordable fees

You should find web designers which offer affordable fees.

How our business can help

Whether you run a car dealership, you are a plumber, you run a law firm here in the city of Cardiff, we have web developers and web designers which can build brilliant website for your business.