by gregory | Jun 21, 2019 | Marketing
As a local business having leaflets is a great way to let the public know what you are offering and where you are.
There are many many places to get leaflets designed, whether it is on Fiverr or a local designer. Some may help with the process or offer suggestions or design solutions to help you achieve the look you are after. Others may just design as asked. Finding a good graphic designer can pay dividends as they can coach you through the design for all of your marketing materials keeping consistency in message and feel.
From working at a range of companies and speaking to lots of marketing people many companies fail a simple marketing technique, something that print companies or graphic designers should mention to clients more.
Take a look at the recent leaflets you have received through your door. have a look at how they landed through your letterbox or how you first see them
Look closely at the [X] leaflet, next to it the plain white blank leaflet. Actually, it is not blank, but when being printed the business owner did not consider how it would land on your mat.
It is understandable if there is space left to input quote details or dimensions needed before a quote can be given, but many are blank either down to cost, laziness from the designer or lack of knowledge.
Double siding does not always mean double the cost, even if you printed the same on both sides or for example a photographer doing weddings and portraits. 1 side advertising the great wedding packages, the other advertising family portraits and a line at the bottom stating ‘please turn over for our great wedding offers’.
This way you can prodice 1 leaflet and hit 2 markets, also cross promotion.
Ideally each side would have a link to a specific landing page i.e amoramorphotography.co.uk/babies and amoramorphotography.co.uk/family this way the ‘landing pages’ can be specific to the customer they are trying to convert.
by gregory | Jun 21, 2019 | Computer
Is your PC running slow or chugging along?
We can inspect your current system and provide you with all the options available for you. These could be a system clean up, system refresh or a new PC/MAC.
System Clean up!
This involves inspecting everything you currently have installed, removing anything that you no longer use, suggesting alternatives to some of your current programs that use less resources (Memory, processing power or disc space), removing the temporary files, then running our package of cleaning tools to make sure you do not have any nasty items on your PC that might be working against you. These include malware, spamware or bundled software you did not ask for. When everything is running at its best we would then give you some further recommendations on how you can improve your system with hardware upgrades.
System Refresh
This involves backing up your current data , wiping the system and reinstalling the operating system and copying back your required data, saving any other data to a removable hard drive or DVD.
We would reinstall only the required software you requested.
This can bring new life to an aging system. Think of this as a full service for your car including a deep clean inside and out.
New PC or Mac
With all of our options we would look to clean all fans and filters to get the best air flow for the case. This has the added effect of making it run quieter.
by gregory | Apr 17, 2017 | Website, Marketing, Wordpress
Welcome to the second edition of “Invest in your website”
In Edition 1 we highlighted key benefits that can be achieved by investing in your website, and introduced you to “Mason’s Butchers” a family run business in Bournemouth. We established that a Google search returned useful results that would easily direct potential customers to their business. However we discovered that their Facebook page could do with some TLC.
For Edition 2 we will go through how improvements can be made on key components;
1.Confirm the details
Starting with the basics is key. The following details need to be confirmed which can be completed easily;
Business Name: If the business is registered in the UK you can check Companies House be sure to check that any apostrophe’s, spaces or hyphens are included;
Business Address: This can be checked with Royal Mail if the business is within the UK;
Business Telephone Number: The easiest way to validate this is to call it and see who answers.;
Business Email Address: The easiest way to this is if you have access to web hosting;
Business Social Media Profiles: The business should hopefully have these details to hand, however if not a quick Google search will bring up any pages.
Now that these details have been confirmed you can start to get to work.
2. Check the Website hosting
Is the website hosting reliable and provided by a reputable company? To check this you can use 1and1 or Bluehosts (affiliate links )
3.The Website.
Here we have 2 options:
- Remove the annual holiday details and leave the website as is continuing to work on the rest then revisit the website later. Jump to next step
- Overhaul the website now and get it working then proceed to drive traffic from different sources.
So What would we do with the website.
- Move from Joomla to Wordpress. This is a personal preference as I specialise in wordpress. Joomla is good but would need a specialist to code. During the move I would keep the site as is, developing a new site on a staging domain.
- On the staging site create new pages then set them all to go live together.
- Create an online catalogue showing off the different items they can sell. As the prices could vary this would be the easiest way. Allowing people to link to the product in the catalogue and make sure each product is detailed containing allergy information, where is it sourced from and what fed on. How often it is delivered and the months it is in season, also links to recipes would be an idea.
- Change the favicon (the little image in the tab above) this would be the company logo i.e white square with red text saying Masons going through.
- Makes sure there is a contact page with all the information and also a form so customers can send us an email with any special requests.
- Add more photos of the shop, the layout so customers feel familiar when they visit, perhaps some pictures of the prep area.
- Set up a blog page so they can then blog about recipes using the produce they sell, farm visits to see the next batch of meat before it is sent for slaughter. Health advice about some of the speciality meats, advice about which cuts of meat are best for which meal. Promote drinks from a local off-licence to have with the meats.
- Set up email collection so people can be e-mailed when new seasons start and new meats come in to stock.
- Set up a simple ordering online or online payment for customers who would like delivery in the local area.
- Set up An SSL certificate (https) making the website secure.
- Link to the company social media sites
- Make sure the website is mobile responsive, with mobile search now greater than desktop search this is a must
- Link the website to google webmaster tools and search console so you can see what people type in before they come to your website so some target pages could be created for greater traffic.
4. Claim the social media pages.
Facebook
Claim the Facebook page and make sure all the details are correct. We would setup the customer as the main admin then request access through our business portal so we do not need to know your password. getting a graphic designer to create a range of header banners for different seasons and public holidays. i.e BBQ season in the UK, chicken at Easter, Turkey for Christmas/ Thanks giving. etc.
Also promote new blog posts on the Facebook page again taking potential customers to the website so they can see the produce. and promoting new products. Allowing customers to check in whilst in the shop and also leave reviews.
Twitter
Setup twitter as for Masons there is no account. Then getting a graphic designer to create a range of header banners for different seasons and public holidays. This would be another platform to inform customers of new products or when deliveries have arrived.
Instagram
This would be great for posting Photographs of the different meat cuts, prepared meals, life in the shop. These do not have to be professionally taken, many business use a mobile phone with a good camera. There are good guides on taking photos with mobile phones here
5. Claim the Google My Business and Maps listing
Claiming this makes sure people can find you on google business directory and the information is correct, you can also reply to any reviews of the business here, This will also set up a Google Plus page for the business where you can post updates, blog posts etc. Thinks google version of Facebook. This will provide the web master a wealth of information about how people interact with your website. We can be set as an admin once the account is setup, this means if you did decide to move web companies you could go in and remove access (but we hope this doesn’t happen)
6. Directory Listings
We would now proceed to search the web for directory listings, making sure they have the correct information in them and if they have any reviews we can monitor them to reply to. We would put the review sites in a spreadsheet with links and login information so they can be easily checked. For sharing passwords we would recommend Last pass
7. Remarketing and Email marketing
we would now add the google remarketing code to the website and the facebook Pixel to the website so if a customer comes to the website once we will follow them around the website. We can adjust the parameters on how this happens so we are not constantly bombarding them.
We would sign up to Active Campaign or Mail chimp. This would collect name, email address and contact method so we could email them at the start of a new season, when specific meat they have enquired about is in stock or to wish them happy birthday
8. Advertising
Now we could move on to advertising on Facebook ads, Twitter Ads, Google adwords to promote any offers, and get the word out to the local community
9. Promotion
When we have gone through everything above we would then post on our social media pages and Linkedin pages. this would help promote our business and skills and also the customers business.
You can follow this guide through and let us know what results you got or if you would like us to do this for you please contact us.
by gregory | Mar 19, 2017 | Website, Wordpress
Whу уоu ѕhоuld hаvе уоur оwn wеbѕitе
Whеthеr уоu’rе juѕt gеtting уоu buѕinеѕѕ ѕtаrtеd аnd уоu аrе ѕtill lеаrning hоw tо imрrоvе уоur оnlinе рrеѕеnсе оr уоu hаvе hаd a ѕitе fоr a whilе аnd уоu juѕt аrеn’t hарру with it, уоu mау hаvе hеаrd оf WоrdPrеѕѕ аnd might bе wоndеring whаt WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ. Simрlу рut WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ a рubliѕhing рlаtfоrm uѕеd fоr building wеbѕitеѕ аnd blоgѕ. It аllоwѕ fоr a highlу сuѕtоmizаblе uѕеr intеrfасе. WоrdPrеѕѕ роwеrѕ milliоnѕ оf wеbѕitеѕ wоrldwidе, аnd mаnу big brаndѕ uѕе WоrdPrеѕѕ:
CNN, PlауStаtiоn, Nеw Yоrk Timеѕ Blоgѕ,
Pеорlе Mаgаzinе, аnd еvеn Fоrd- thеу аll uѕе WоrdPrеѕѕ! Prеttу imрrеѕѕivе liѕt оf uѕеrѕ, if itѕ gооd еnоugh fоr thе big bоуѕ, itѕ gооd еnоugh fоr уоur ѕitе. Still nоt соnvinсеd?!?
Hеrе iѕ mу:
Tор 9 Rеаѕоnѕ Whу Yоu Shоuld Build Yоur Own Wеbѕitе Using WоrdPrеѕѕ
Rеаѕоn 1: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ nоt gоing аnуwhеrе
Aѕ аn ореn ѕоurсе CMS (Cоntеnt Mаnаgеmеnt Sуѕtеm) it hаѕ tаkеn thе wоrld bу ѕtоrm – аѕ оf Auguѕt 2018, “32% оf thе tор milliоn wеbѕitеѕ in thе wоrld” аrе роwеrеd bу WоrdPrеѕѕ. WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ оftеn рrаiѕеd bу wеb dеѕignеrѕ, wеb dеvеlореrѕ аnd uѕеrѕ аlikе fоr itѕ еаѕе-оf-uѕе. Thiѕ iѕ раrt оf thе rеаѕоn it hаѕ bесоmе ѕо рорulаr, аnd whу itѕ grоwth juѕt kеерѕ оn ассеlеrаting.
Rеаѕоn 2: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ соѕt-еffесtivе…itѕ frее!
It wоuld соѕt a lоt оf mоnеу tо hаvе a сuѕtоm CMS dеvеlореd thаt соuld dо thе ѕаmе thing thаt WоrdPrеѕѕ dоеѕ; ѕо whу nоt ѕаvе mоnеу with WоrdPrеѕѕ? Thеrе’ѕ nо nееd tо rеinvеnt thе whееl, with WоrdPrеѕѕ bеing frееlу аvаilаblе аnd сuѕtоmizаblе. Likе WоrdPrеѕѕ, thе рluginѕ аrе gеnеrаllу frее аѕ wеll. Thеѕе рluginѕ аrе uѕuаllу nоt оnlу frее but ореn ѕоurсе аѕ wеll. Thiѕ mеаnѕ thаt likе WоrdPrеѕѕ, уоu саn еdit thеm if уоu nееd tо. Wordpress can be downloaded from https://wordpress.org/ , you just need a domain and hosting and you are ready to go.
Rеаѕоn 3: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ Flеxiblе
A grеаt thing аbоut WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ, аѕ I mеntiоnеd аbоvе, thаt it’ѕ соmрlеtеlу ореn ѕоurсе – whiсh mеаnѕ thаt thе ѕоurсе соdе uѕеd tо run WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ аvаilаblе tо thе gеnеrаl рubliс. Thiѕ mеаnѕ thаt аnуоnе оn thе рlаnеt саn mоdifу thе соdе if nесеѕѕаrу аnd сuѕtоmizе WоrdPrеѕѕ еvеn furthеr tо bе whаt thеу nееd. Oftеn, thiѕ iѕn’t nесеѕѕаrу, but it аlѕо mеаnѕ thаt аnу рluginѕ аnd thеmеѕ (tеmрlаtеѕ) сrеаtеd fоr thе рlаtfоrm аrе аlѕо ореn ѕоurсе! Imаginе a wоrld-widе соmmunitу wоrking tоgеthеr tо аdd mоrе fеаturеѕ аnd funсtiоnаlitу tо WоrdPrеѕѕ – уоu’rе nоt limitеd tо оnlу bеing аblе tо uѕе ѕресifiс еmрlоуееѕ оr dеvеlореrѕ tо рrоduсе сuѕtоmizаtiоnѕ, whiсh mеаnѕ it’ѕ a роwеrful CMS ѕуѕtеm rеаdу tо dо whаt уоu nееd it tо, it’ѕ flеxiblе, аnd еаѕу tо сuѕtоmizе.
Rеаѕоn 4: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ SEO friеndlу
Sеаrсh еnginеѕ ѕuсh аѕ Gооglе lоvе WоrdPrеѕѕ bесаuѕе it uѕеѕ wеll-writtеn соdе. If уоu’rе lооking tо gеt a hеаd ѕtаrt with Sеаrсh Enginе Oрtimizаtiоn, WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ thе wау tо gо fоr уоur wеbѕitе аnd/оr blоg. Whilе I аm оn thе tорiс, аdding frеѕh rеlеvаnt соntеnt tо уоur wеbѕitе iѕ еаѕу with WоrdPrеѕѕ whiсh iѕ highlу rесоmmеndеd аѕ раrt оf уоur оnlinе mаrkеting ѕtrаtеgу ѕinсе it tеllѕ ѕеаrсh еnginеѕ thаt уоur ѕitе iѕ аlivе аnd wеll, thеrеbу inсrеаѕing уоur wеbѕitе’ѕ rаnk аnd уоur сhаnсеѕ оf bеing fоund viа оrgаniс ѕеаrсhеѕ. We recommend using a plugin called Yoast SEO
Rеаѕоn 6: WоrdPrеѕѕ Hаѕ Chеар Prеmium thеmеѕ
Thеmеѕ аrе whаt рrоvidе WоrdPrеѕѕ itѕ dеѕign, it’ѕ whаt соnnесtѕ thе CMS tо thе еnd uѕеr. WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ vеrу flеxiblе аnd аdарtаblе. Whilе thеrе аrе ѕоmе рrеttу gооd frее thеmеѕ, I hаvе fоund thаt fоr £40 thе gооd рrеmium thеmеѕ аrе ѕimрlу wоrth еvеrу реnnу. Mоѕt nееd аlmоѕt nо сuѕtоmizаtiоn!
Rеаѕоn 7: WоrdPrеѕѕ Mаkеѕ it еаѕу tо find a ѕоlutiоn.
Pluginѕ аrе bаѕiсаllу аdd-оnѕ thаt саn bе еаѕilу inѕtаllеd in thе WоrdPrеѕѕ dаѕhbоаrd аrеа tо аdd fеаturеѕ thаt аrе nоt раrt оf thе соrе соdе. If уоu nееd a ѕресifiс fеаturе оr fеаturеѕ thаt аrе nоt built-in, thеrе аrе litеrаllу thоuѕаndѕ оf рluginѕ аvаilаblе tо еnhаnсе WоrdPrеѕѕ’ funсtiоnаlitу. In аlmоѕt еvеrу саѕе ѕо thеrе iѕ likеlу a ѕоlutiоn аlrеаdу dеvеlореd fоr аnу thing уоu nееd – thе роѕѕibilitiеѕ аrе litеrаllу limitlеѕѕ!
Rеаѕоn 8: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ ѕuрроrtеd bу wоrldwidе соmmunitу.
Bесаuѕе WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ ореn-ѕоurсе, thеrе iѕ litеrаllу hundrеdѕ оf thоuѕаndѕ оf реорlе whо аrе wоrking tо hеlр mаkе it bеttеr. Yоu will find WоrdPrеѕѕ hаѕ a vеrу асtivеlу ѕuрроrtеd wоrldwidе соmmunitу оf WоrdPrеѕѕ dеvеlореrѕ, аnd uѕеrѕ! WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ uрdаtеd rеgulаrlу, with nеw funсtiоnаlitу, bug fixеѕ, аnd ѕесuritу fixеѕ. Alѕо, bесаuѕе thеrе iѕ ѕuсh a lаrgе соmmunitу ѕurrоunding WоrdPrеѕѕ, аnу dеvеlореr саn wоrk оn a WоrdPrеѕѕ-bаѕеd ѕitе tо uрdаtе it, mаkе сhаngеѕ, еtс., ѕо уоu will nеvеr bе hеld rаnѕоm bу аnу оnе dеѕignеr оr dеvеlореr. YOU оwn уоur wеbѕitе!
Rеаѕоn 9: WоrdPrеѕѕ iѕ еаѕу tо uѕе!
Thiѕ iѕ mауbе mу fаvоritе thing аbоut WоrdPrеѕѕ. Yоu dоn’t hаvе tо bе a tесhniсаl gеniuѕ tо lеаrn hоw tо uѕе WоrdPrеѕѕ. I аlwауѕ tеll mу сliеntѕ: if уоu knоw hоw tо uѕе a Miсrоѕоft Wоrd, (аnd lеtѕ bе hоnеѕt whо dоеѕn’t?) YOU WILL bе аblе tо еаѕilу uрdаtе thе соntеnt оn уоur WоrdPrеѕѕ ѕitе. Yоu dоn’t hаvе tо bе a wеb dеѕignеr tо uрdаtе уоur соntеnt. Thаt’ѕ thе mаgiс оf WоrdPrеѕѕ! Bеуоnd еditing соntеnt, WоrdPrеѕѕ оffеrѕ a bасkеnd аdminiѕtrаtоr intеrfасе thаt’ѕ viѕuаllу еаѕу tо nаvigаtе аnd vеrу еffесtivе. Evеrуthing iѕ оrgаnizеd in a lоgiсаl mаnnеr, ѕо it’ѕ еаѕу tо find whаt уоu аrе lооking fоr, wеаthеr it iѕ аdding/еditing a раgе, Adding/еditing a роѕt оr аrtiсlе, uрlоаding imаgеѕ, mаnаging uѕеrѕ, еtс. Wоrdprеѕѕ iѕ thе bеѕt Cоntеnt Mаnаgеmеnt Sуѕtеm tо uѕе tо build уоur wеbѕitе!
If you would like anymore advice on setting up your own website or would like us to do this for you then please contact us.
by gregory | Sep 6, 2016 | Plugins, Wordpress
WordPress Plugins
This is our Top WordPress Plugins.
The initial WordPress installation comes with 2 plugins:
Akismet and Hello Dolly
My first job is normally to remove Hello Dolly ( Sorry Matt) and then begin installing others. I am aware installing too many may cause the site to run slowly so I have a test site and the main site. This way if my tweaking goes too wrong i haven’t lost much.
1. Yoast SEO. –
This is a great plugin with so many features in 1 simple plugin. Also the character Joost has on the pages makes is better than plain pages of text.
With the integrated ‘Webmaster tools’ allowing you to easily verify with Google, Bing and Alexa.
The Social section allows Facebook and Twitter integration. which is a must for business these days. The other tabs allow further customisation of WordPress. For details on all the options please see my ‘Guide to Yoast‘
2. Google Analytics for WordPress
Again another Yoast plugin, This is great for tracking visitors, where they come from , what they do and where they go. Every small business should have some analytic s in place and with Google being free it is a great place to start. This is a simple to use plugin and if set up correctly will link the analytics and webmaster tools together for awesome reporting. Want to get he most from your plugin? see my ‘Guide to Yoast‘
3. Clicky for WordPress
Okay you may think I have gone Yoast mad here but like many sticking to one brand makes for less stress and ease of compatibility. Only having 7 options you cant go wrong, but once linked to clicky gives you more analytic data to look through
4. W3 Total Cache
This is currently regarded as the most comprehensive caching plugin to date. This gives you so much control over your site/blog. If you are looking so speed up your site then this is a must. It can be a bit tricky to set up but with a bit of research then you can gain speed and ranking (page loading is a ranking factor although not huge) W3 Edge do offer to set this up for you. You can order this here. For speed I have followed this post by Rob cubbon
5. Akismet
No one like spam, and for a nominal fee this plugin will protect you from the majority of spam. simply register in wordpress.org and log in worth this ID in to akismet and you will be given an API key paste this in to your akismet configuration tab and bingo.
6. WP remote
This is only really needed if you look after multiple WordPress sites. It monitors the versions of WordPress, themes and plugins installed and you have 1 place to check and 1 click update. Best of all it is free.
7. GTmetrix 
This is an other plugin designed for speed. This will not speed up your site its self but using the website will give you recommendations on what to look at to make the site smoother and faster. The site provides a generic guide on speeding up, but after installing run the report for a detailed report specific to your site.
8.
9.
10. Still in testing
If you would like me to setup these plugins for you then fill out the form below
As always your comments are welcome.
