News, Information & Web Design Best Practices

E-Commerce website for Shropshire Jewellers goes live

E&J Jewellers have been trading for a number of years, offering a large selection of jewellery from their retail premises in Shrewsbury town centre. As long established jewellers, they are well known in the area for offering a good selection of brands in addition to jewellery repair and commissioning services provided by the in-house gold smith. Following their success in the high street, E&J Jewellers wanted to grow their business and utilise the on-line market place as another sales channel.

Due to the nature of their product range, the website needed to cater for continuous change and scalability. From a user's perspective, the site needed to be easy to use and navigate, as E&J Jewellers offer such a large product catalogue and shoppers needed to access products quickly and easily.

Vibe developed the bespoke e-commerce system around how products needed to be catalogued and the level of service that E&J Jewellers offer. The product catalogue was developed so that different properties can be associated with each product, thus providing users with a filter type search facility. The site was built on our search engine friendly e-commerce system, and incorporated SEO management and an email marketing module within the Content & Product Management System.

New bilingual website for The Quilt Association

The Quilt Association is a registered charity that promotes quilting and patchwork from its base at The Minerva Arts Centre in Llanidloes, Mid Wales. The quilt association focuses on caring for its collection of antique quilts, many of which are from the local area. Annual exhibitions are held at the Minerva Arts Centre along with a programme of related workshops.

The Quilt Association approached Vibe and required logo and web design services. A refreshed identity and on-line presence was required to promote and publish information on the organisation, News, Exhibitions and Workshops.

The new logo design incorporated a colour scheme and pattern that relates to the historic quilting style of the local area. Following this, we designed and developed a content managed website that needed to be easy to use, accessible and bi-lingual. The finished website presents information from key areas of the site on the landing page, publishing information on Exhibitions, events and Workshops, with content available in either Welsh or English.

Make your website work hard in 2010

The new year always prompts us to consider the year ahead, how we can improve services and achieve growth. One of these considerations may be your website and how it integrates with your business and marketing strategies. With several millions of websites now online, a strategic approach is required in order to compete successfully. This strategy needs to address your website exposure and conversions, which are effected by a number of elements that drive higher volumes of quality traffic to your site and see increased conversions. Website design, architecture, content and search are all elements that need to be carefully considered.

Design & Architecture

This includes the structure of your website, so consider using engaging headings, strap-lines and content. Intuitive navigation and clear 'calls to action' will enable users to find your information, resources, services and products quickly and easily. Calls to action will improve lead generation and promote the beginning of the sales process.

Content

Your content needs to be relevant and up to date, as this is essential for both the user experience and search engine optimisation. Website interaction can be improved with blogs, forums, comments and reviews, all of which will encourage user generated content and can also be an added service or resource for your customers.

Traffic

All things considered, all the above is useless without visitors, so driving targeted traffic to your site is just as essential. Building links can raise the profile of your site within the search engines so submit your site to relevant and industry specific directories. Combining unpaid search with pay per click advertising will increase the exposure of your website online. Google Product Search is another free service from google that can connect your websites products with searchers. However, don't forget off line PR, many well thought out online strategies are designed to work with and support off-line marketing activities, channelling visitors to your site and building your brand awareness.

Analytics

One of the great things of the internet, is that website traffic can be measured. Google Analytics is a free tool that provides powerful analytic tools and can report on visitor behaviour on your website. Here you can see how users are navigating your site, helping you identify potential issues and the user journey before conversion. These tools can also provide information on traffic sources and keywords used to find your site, providing valuable information that can be utilised for on and off line marketing. If you are unsure about how to install google analytics, some web hosting services include site reporting tools, so speak to your web designer or web hosting provider.

Anniversary move for Vibe Creative

Vibe Creative is celebrating its first year in business and a successful increase in clients by moving to new offices, relocating to Wyle Cop in the heart of Shrewsbury.

"Following the businesses first year of successful trading, Vibe Creative is looking forward to building on this success with further growth in 2009. I would like to thank all my customers for their past and continued support, and wish you all a prosperous 2009" say Stephen Anderson, owner of Vibe Creative.

The company provides web design, branding and brochures for several local companies, including Saxon Manufacturing, AB Consulting, Serve Medical, Shropshire Forestry Contractors, HCS Computers, Welland Cars of Shrewsbury Ltd and TDS Midlands Ltd.

Record levels of ecommerce transactions for the UK

This week, the Telegraph reported record levels of ecommerce transactions for the UK, according to the latest sales figures. Industry analysis's estimated a total of 4.6 million online shopping transactions made on Monday, as shoppers search for the best deals.

This may be due to the economic pressures, driving shoppers to take time to find the lowest priced products online, with the web is perceived as the place to get the best prices. With users benefiting from well targeted searching, and easy price comparison from the comfort of their own home, the internet is the ideal place to squeeze every penny out of their Christmas shopping budgets.

However, despite the boom in online sales, figures showed that customers are spending less per transaction. An online payments provider reported that Monday saw the largest day for UK ecommerce ever in terms of transactions, but the total value was flat compared to this time last year. This may be due to UK shoppers resigning themselves to a more frugal Christmas with the economic downturn in mind.

Website Legal Requirements

Due to amendments to the Companies Act from January 2007, all UK companies must now show all company registration details, such as Registration Number and Registered Office Address, on their Websites, Emails and all electronic documents.

Previously this only applied to anything construed as a 'business letter', but the law now applies to electronic communications.

As a minimum legal requirement, your website should include

• Company Name, Address and email address. Any Name of the Organisation with which the customer is contracting if different from the company name
• A visible email address. A Contact Form is not sufficient
• Membership details of any trade or professional association, including registration number if applicable
• Your VAT number if your are VAT Registered
• Any prices must be clear and state weather VAT is included or excluded and any delivery costs

Vibe Creative becomes Business Link West Midlands Approved Supplier

Vibe Creative has been approved as a member of the Business Link West Midlands Approved Supplier Register. Following a successful application back June 2008, the business was added to the supplier register for web design and marketing services throughout the West Midlands. Vibe Creative would like to thank all customers that took the time to supply successful references to complete the successful application.