How social media can help create a voice for your business

The chances are that you’re aware of social media and are probably already using some sites to keep in touch with your friends. That’s how networks like Facebook originally came into being, after all. But are you using social media to help your business?

Social media has revolutionised the way people communicate – and do business. It’s no longer simply about ‘pushing’ out your company information via printed material or your website. It’s about interacting with people online: joining in the conversation and getting people actively engaged with your brand.

That’s why it’s often referred to as social networking. And most businesses will benefit from social networking as much as they do from face-to-face networking. People and conversations make businesses work, after all.

Why get involved in social media for your business?

Worldwide, both Facebook and YouTube currently have over 800 million active users, Twitter has 140 million and 150 million movers and shakers use LinkedIn. In Britain alone, 37 million people are actively engaged in social networks.

With impressive numbers like that, the question should really be: can you afford not to be involved? As I said earlier, social media is about encouraging people to join in the conversation and shout about your brand. It’s a great way to keep in touch with and reach out to more customers, helping your marketing and ultimately helping to drive up sales. And what’s more, it doesn’t have to cost you a penny.

Here are the main benefits to businesses of using social media:

1. Spreading the word about your business

You’ve got a website? And some brochures, leaflets and other marketing materials to tell people about your business? So why not use social media to extend your reach to a much bigger audience? In many ways, social media can be an extension of your existing marketing activities. And if you’re not yet doing any marketing, social networks are a simple and effective way to start.

2. Getting others talking about you

One of the main benefits of social media is the ability to share content with others. Talking to your customers online will get them talking about you to the people in their networks. When you post something that is interesting and relevant to your audience, they will share it with their followers, who may in turn share it with their followers, and so on.

3. Winning new business

In the ‘real world’ many new customers will be referred to you by an existing customer. The same thing happens online in social networks. And because you’re reaching a bigger audience with your online conversations, more people will hear about you and want to do business with you.

4. Helping your search engine optimisation

One reason above all others to get involved in social media is because it helps your search engine optimisation. Increasingly, search engines like Google and Bing are incorporating data from social networking sites into their results. When thinking about your web design and development, associating your website with your social networks will help to bring you higher up the search engine rankings, making it easier for people to find you. A no-brainer!

5. It’s free!

Signing up to social networking sites is completely free. Sure, you’ll have to invest some time in setting it all up and keeping the conversation flowing. And you may find you want to pay someone to help you with it or to subscribe to the enhanced services of a social media management tool but you don’t need to. All of the social networking sites are free and most of the management tools, like Hootsuite, offer an entry-level free service, which is good enough for most small businesses.

A word of warning

This all sounds great, but where’s the catch, I hear you ask? Well, social media can absorb a lot of your time if you’re not careful. And of course, everything you post is a public record – so be careful what you say!

Rather than attacking it blindly, it’s much better to have a social media plan that sets out what you want to achieve. That way, you’re more likely to get the most out of it and see real improvements to your business.

I’ll talk you through how to create an effective social media plan in my next post.

About the author

Jane Rogers is a public relations and communications expert, with over 13 years’ experience helping businesses large and small to raise their profile with cost-effective, clear and credible publicity. She advises clients on social media, as well as traditional media, and helps them create compelling content to create a voice for their business. www.janerogerspr.co.uk

In this article we rounded up 15 Restaurants and Bar Websites which in our opinion standing out from the crowd. So lets have a look at some of those great web designs.

1. La Porte Sainte Claire

2. Fish

3. Marie Catrib’s

4. Solegiallo

5. Nuevo

6. Culinaria

7. Mellow Mushroom

8. Barley’s

9. Le 28 Thiers

10. L’ auberge de

11. Sarpinos

12. Pizzaza

13. Megumi

14. Catered by Kate

15. Famous Cookies

WordPress was initially created as blogging platform but over years WordPress it’s grown massively and became one of the most powerful open source CMS systems leaving its competitors way behind.

One of the biggest advantages of WordPress over Joomla, from SEO perspective is that WordPress follows web standards and Google loves that. Your site can be listed in Google couple days after it lounge your site. It takes much longer for other CMS systems to get indexed by Google which is huge disadvantage.

Unlike Joomla’s core system WordPress is developed in very efficient way so it doesn’t demand a lot of resources from the server so it can handle many users to your website without any overload.

Interface of the WordPress is extremely easy to use and anybody can learn it and start creating content right away.
Below is great breakdown of the two CMS systems done by Devious Media which will reveal few other advantages of WordPress. For us choice is very simple as we have been designing and developing websites using Joomla and WordPress for long time.

1. Bell Ingram

2. Westfield

3. Henry Real Estate

4. Cobble Hill Towers

5. Oypro

6. Ludlow Thompson

7. Loft _2c

8. Coldwell Banker

9. Pod Petrovem

10. Realasponse

What is Google +1?
Google is the number 1 search engine in the world. When you’ve used it recently though you may have noticed that the results which come up after you make a search now have a new button beside each page link: a small rectangle box that says ‘+1′.

This new button allows signed in Google users rate a search result page and “+1” the ones they think are cool. Pages that receive a +1 are then publicly annotated in Google search results.

We’ve done some research and have found that those pages [and the websites they come from] who receive a +1 can see a real increase in their search engine results. This is good news for your businesses if you want to get more people visiting your site and to get more business.

Google have said their +1 rating system may become a part of how they rank pages along with their existing SEO functionality but that it is still reviewing its use carefully before making it a part of its ranking criteria.

In the meantime, 56 Degrees think this is definitely one to watch and something all the SEO marketers will be looking at in more detail fur future online activity.

How is Google + relevant to businesses?
At the moment Google Plus is only available for private individuals. However, Google are now planning to launch official business pages later this year and are testing the potential business features of Google + with some companies.

Google + pages will list employees and management and also allow visitors to confirm that the site they are interacting is a “real” business. This gives credibility to your business and confidence to your visitors who can become “fans” by rating your page or website with a +1.

You will also be able to add more than one business location by integrating Google Maps and Places, use Google Offers to include special offers for your fans and customers, and integrate Google Analytics and Google Adwords. It certainly has a lot of potential to really promote your business.

Google + and the benefits for business
Google + has the potential to bring tangible benefits to businesses. Using functionality that already exists businesses can take advantage of things like virtual meetings and collaboration enabling ideas and decisions to be shared more effectively and efficiently. Ultimately, working in this “virtual” space can save businesses time and money.

Some of the business tools include:

Google Meeting allows companies to organise, hold, record and even archive meetings – whether on the phone or by video – for up to 10 people. Invites can be sent through the Google calendar, eMail and chat applications.

The Google Screencast functionality enables users to demonstrate and share with others anything on a computer screen.

Google Whiteboard: Google Docs already allows those in the same meeting to present, create and share documents. The virtual whiteboard takes this a step further by allowing participants to make notes and share and develop ideas together. These can later be shared, via Google + or email, with a wider audience – such as those unable to attend the meeting.

What people are saying about Google +:
As part of the development and technology community 56 Degrees likes hearing what others are saying about a whole range of online topics: Google + is no exception. These comments come from a selection of sites and tell us what other think about Google +1 and how they are using it

Chris Brogan – has listed “50 things to think about with regards to Google+” – here are some of them:

Google+ is built to take you away from either Facebook or Twitter (or both), and it could do it, in time.

Your “about” section is rich, robust, allows links, photos, QR codes, and more. Marketers rejoice!

If Google Music integrates into this platform the way YouTube is now, it’s a powerful entertainment media platform instantly

With Circles (how you group the people you link with) you control privacy in a way that makes clear and obvious sense

The live video chat feature is a powerful addition to collaboration and workshifting scenarios

A standalone Google+ Apps version plus Google Docs = a very powerful business collaboration environment that would trump most white label social enterprise tech easily

There are more big name visionaries poking around on Google+ right out in the open than on any other social application that I’ve seen (this just might be the nature of G+, that everything is so visible, but it FEELS like big news to have Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg and others checking it out)

The photo display interface in Google+ is stunning, adding to my thoughts of this making for an amazing media platform. The moment G+ full-throttle opens up accounts for businesses, you’ll hear big news plays about this platform

Eric Swayne also states: “Experts agree Google Plus business pages could deliver features that social media marketers are desperate for, particularly those in b2b marketing.” In his blog

David Armano raises some interesting thoughts on Google + in his blog. A few points we particularly liked were:

Google’s number one advantage is its overwhelming 65.5% share of the search market. That’s a strong reason for any business to join Google’s social media strategy.

With such deep search capabilities available in-house, Google Plus has the potential to deliver businesses a much deeper context

For those using social media for b2b, this could be a boon. Because of the industry’s longer, complex sales cycles, the ability to measure the interaction of social and search fills in the missing piece of the b2b social media strategy

If the Circles feature, which makes it easy to segment your connections, is extended to business pages, it could enable brands to do much more targeted messaging… and enable brands to be really good community managers”

It’s clear that Google’s size and newfound social shape can give it a leg up in bringing brands to Google Plus business pages. But with Facebook already responding to the new competition, Google will have to move fast.

56 Degrees are experts at website design and development and can help you with the entire decision making process for creating a new site for your business, making it as simple and worry-free as possible.

But what exactly is a ‘process’ and why do we need one?
It’s a good idea to write down all the steps that are needed to design, develop and launch a great website. It outlines the work required and then breaks these down into manageable and logical mini-projects – such as design, content etc – so everything gets done when needed and you meet your launch deadline. This also ensures everyone is happy at every step and you get a website you love.

To help you understand what we mean and how this can work, we’ve shown you the sort of process we at 56 Degrees go through when working with our clients to develop their website.

Research
The first step in designing a successful website is to gather information: we need to understand what your business is like, what it wants to achieve, what you want from your website, who your customers are, what’s your “brand personality and ultimately how your website reflects and supports all of this.

To help us with this we will start off by asking a lot of questions such as:

• Purpose: What is the purpose of the site – to provide information, promote a service, or sell a product?

• Target Audience: Who is the main group of people you want to reach – businesses, individuals, youngsters, the older generation,

• Content: What kind of information will the target audience be looking for on your site – are they looking for specific information, a particular product or service, or to buy online?

Planning
Using this information we put together a plan for your website and develop a sitemap.
The sitemap is a list of all the main topic areas of the site – home, about, news, products, contact, blogs etc – as well as sub-topics if needed. It helps us to define and agree what content will be on the site and where it will sit on each page.

This is essential to developing a consistent and easy to understand navigation across the site so your visitors can find exactly the information they want quickly and easily as well as making sure you include everything you want and need to.

During the planning phase, we will also help you decide what technologies should be used for example, will you need – or want – interactive forms, ecommerce, or flash.

Design
Now for the bit most people find the most fun: designing the look and feel of your site!

Your target audience is important again here as a site aimed at fitness fanatics will look very different to one targeted at financial professionals.

56 Degrees will usually create more than one “mock-up” design for your website to show you some ideas of how the final design could look. We will discuss these with you so you can see how the development is coming along and say what you like – and what you don’t. We then go through a process of designing, reviewing, tweaking and approving the mock-ups so when we create the final design template it is both one you love and that works best for your business.

Development
This is the bit where the website is actually “built” – the bit where we take all your requirements, feedback, content and graphic elements from the mock-up and use them to create the actual, functional site.

This is where 56 Degrees begin to bring your website come to life!

Testing
Once the site is in the final stages of development we will begin to test your website making sure everything works, is in the right place, and is SEO optimised across all browsers.

At 56 Degrees we ensure we are up-to-date on all the latest developments so we can put your website through a rigorous testing process: a website workout if you like!

Going Live!
Once everything has been setup, your website uploaded to the server – 56 Degrees can also help with domain name registration and web hosting if you like – and you’re delighted with your new website, we’ll make it live!

Congratulations!
This marks the official launch of your site: tell you customers, tell your friends, tell everyone!

More and more of our clients understand that their websites need to work on all kinds of devices and if there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s meeting the needs of our clients.

Why mobile?

More and more people are using their mobile devices to browse the web but there are sill many sites which are not equipped to respond to these demands and as such run slower or, even worse, crash. This means that people who want to visit these sites get frustrated and go elsewhere.

But don’t just take our word for it: there is some compelling research that supports the fact that the growth of the mobile market shouldn’t be ignored.

The Morgan Stanley Research’s Mobile Internet Report highlights that mobile internet adoption is outpacing the growth of desktop internet adoption; Smartphone’s are expected to out-ship the global PC market in 2012 and heavy mobile data users will triple to one billion by 2013. And in terms of social networking there are more than 100million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.

Is there really a difference?

Try looking at your website on your mobile phone and see if looks the same and works just as well as if you were looking at it on a desktop or laptop. A website that is designed only for desktops or laptops tends not to work in the same way on mobile devices, for example it might not fit correctly on the screen.  Because more people are using their mobiles to surf the web there is a real need for businesses to respond to this need and ensure their website works on all web compatible devices.

Making a website mobile friendly

The process of optimising your website for a mobile device isn’t actually as hard as it might appear, but knowing the steps in creating an effective mobile website can make all the difference between success and failure. 56 Degrees are well placed to help your business make your website mobile friendly. With a wealth of experience in website design and development we are extending our services to include making sure your site will work just as effectively on any mobile device.

56 Degrees will help you work out which of your clients use mobile devices to access your site, how to target them effectively, and design, develop, and launch a mobile friendly site that works seamlessly across all browsers. This can include updating and integrating your existing site content to make sure it is mobile friendly or develop a brand new site.

We believe that ignoring mobile devices as part of your online strategy is a mistake and may be damaging to your on-line and overall business growth. Eventually, designing and developing websites will start with how they work on mobile rather than considering this as a secondary “nice to have”. Designing for mobile first can open up new opportunities for growth and lead to a better overall user experience.

Some top tips

Getting the message right

Up to 80% of the content visible on a desktop or laptop screen doesn’t appear on a mobile device so you really need to focus on the most important message you want to get across to your visitors: you need to understand and know what matters most.

Single column layouts work best

Wide web pages are difficult to view on small mobile phone screens. Instead, create single column pages where the user can scroll down, rather than across, to make it a better user experience for your visitors.

Present the navigation differently

On the homepage you can place the navigation and site search in different places on the page depending on why your visitors are coming to your site: for information or to make a purchase.

Minimise text entry

Users make far more errors and are significantly slower when typing on even the best mobile keyboard than when using a full size PC keyboard. It therefore makes sense to minimize the amount that users have to type when accessing websites on their mobiles.

Design for touchscreen and non-touchscreen users

Smartphones typically have large touchscreens screens but may have a more traditional trackball, joystick or directional keys. Therefore, it’s important to that your design is easy for both touchscreen and non-touchscreen users. Links should be avoided for any important calls to action. Instead, design calls to action that take up more screen space and which can be tapped easily.

Take advantage of inbuilt functionality

Mobile phones have an advantage over PCs in that they come with lots of inbuilt functionality that most PCs don’t have. For example, allowing web visitors to automatically ring a number when they tap or click a phone number is very useful for ‘Contact us’ or ‘Store finder’ pages. Similarly, it’s possible to give the user the option to select an address and automatically open the mobile phone’s map application.

By considering mobile as part of your online strategy you will ensure your visitors can access your site regardless of device and location. Get in touch with 56 Degrees to find out more and how we can help.

We ensure that every website we create looks great and is easy to navigate. We can do this
because we understand the key principles of user behaviour such as: what people like, what
they don’t like, how they use a site, and how and why they take action.

By implementing certain design elements in a website your visitors will be encouraged to stay
longer, visit more often and get more engaged in your product or service.

There is so much information about design and usability out there but we’ve picked out a few
things we think are particularly important and interesting.

But first… a couple of quick questions
• What influences your users’ decisions?
• What decision-making strategies do they use?
• How does your design affect decision outcomes?

User Interface Design (UID)
From the things you use everyday – your television, your phone, your cooker – through to
military aircraft, vehicles, and airports, UID is used. It makes products easy to use and logical to
understand. Website design follows the same principles.

At 56 Degrees we encourage usability testing when designing and developing a website. This
helps us and our clients really understand how an organisation’s visitors use their website and
what can be done to improve it. If end-users feel your site is not easy understand or is difficult
to use, they will simply leave your site, feeling let down and frustrated. And that’s not good for
you or your business.

Good UID can change how visitors use and relate to your site. This results in greater user
acceptance, happier visitors and happier customers. And happy customers will visit more often
and make more purchases, directly affecting your bottom line.

Decision Architecture
Studies have shown that people can make judgments about websites in as little as 50
milliseconds and that their initial judgments persist. What will they think of your site?

Research has revealed that the way people actually make a decision is very different from how
we think they do. Decision architecture is about understanding this and then designing websites
that encourage good decision making by its users. At 56 Degrees we know that we must design
your website not only for the optimal organisation of information, but also for optimal decision
making.

In general, people tend to be rather lazy when it comes to expending effort to make decisions.
They will quickly decide whether your website is something they like or whether it is of interest
or use to them. Unless people have a particular incentive or a compelling reason for making
more effort to understand and engage with your site, they are likely to leave.

56 Degrees work hard to design and create websites that engage your visitors both emotionally
– whether consciously or subconsciously – and logically. We take care to understand a site’s
graphic design, use of color, layout and the words you choose. But we also make sure that the
navigation makes sense and there isn’t too much complex information on the pages so the
logical part of the decision making process doesn’t have to work too hard.

A few tips
1. Ensure consistency. If you can double-click on items in one list and have something happen,
then you should be able to double-click on items in any other list and have the same sort of
thing happen.

2. Put your buttons in consistent places on all your windows, use the same wording in labels and
messages.

3. Conform to the standards and expectations that are used across all website design and for the
majority of sites as this will breed confidence. Doing something different may appear quirky but
it will result in your visitors having to work harder.

3. Navigation is important. If it is difficult to get from one screen to another, then your users will
quickly become frustrated and give up.

4. Messages and labels should be worded consistently and displayed in a consistent place on the
screen.

5. Use color appropriately, sparingly and consistently and ensure there is a common look and
feel across your website.

6. Don’t try to do too much on one page: crowded screens are difficult to understand and
difficult to use.

So… remember:
A website that is difficult to navigate or understand, or doesn’t appeal emotionally or logically,
won’t be used. It doesn’t matter how beautiful it is, or how technically superior, if your users
don’t like it they simply won’t use it.

By focusing on your user first, 56 Degree will create an website that lets them achieve their
goals whether its to make a purchase, donate to a cause, or sign up for a service and ultimately
create real business benefit for you.

Good photography can really make a difference to what people think about your site. But what is good photography and can they make that much of a difference?

What is a stock photo?
A stock photo is a photograph that can be licensed for public or commercial use. They can be found on professional stock photography websites such as iStockPhoto or Getty Images, or by simply doing a Google search for a specific type of photo.

Bespoke photography is when you commission a professional photographer to take the photos you want. They are unique to your business.

Are you a unique or generic business?
Of course you’re going to say that you’re pretty unique. So, one of the first questions you need to ask is: are you reflecting this in using photographs unique to your business? Or are you being generic and using a stock photo?

The pros and cons
When you are considering photography in your web design there are both positives and negatives. 56 Degrees understands these and can advise you on the best route to take. But here are just some thoughts about the pros and cons of stock photography.

Pros for stock photography:
• Saves you time
• Endless choices
• Professional Quality
• It can be a great way to save on Marketing Costs

Cons for stock photography:
• Difficult to differentiate your brand and target
• Overused images in the online world: what if one of your competitors is using the same image!
• Not being original or creative
• Doesn’t represent your brand in a unique way
• You may be perceived as being lazy or not caring enough about your brand to invest in bespoke photography to make your site personal

Best fit isn’t necessarily best practice
At 56 Degrees, when we design and develop sites for our clients we always recommend using a photographer to get unique and bespoke images. It is easy for agencies to simply find a “best fit” from a library of images but we want your site to be the best it can be. We take pride in our work and recommend photographers who do the same. You care about your business so why would you not invest in great photos to show customers exactly who you are and what you do.

Bespoke photography ensures you get exactly the images you want: there is never a compromise. This gives your brand credibility and a fresh and very personal image..

Unique photography, created just for you, has also been proven to deliver tangible results in terms of visits, clicks through rates, and engagement.

Isn’t hiring a photographer more expensive?
Not necessarily. Stock photography can be heavily licensed and restricted meaning you may be penalised if you use it in more places than you originally intended. Purchasing an image for use on a website and then using it in a marketing brochure could see you unwittingly breaching the terms of your purchase license and subject to a heavy fine!

When you hire a photographer, not only do you get exactly the images you want and need, they will usually include in the fee (or for a small additional cost) an unlimited use license. This means you can use the photos wherever you like and how often you like.

In the long run, hiring a photographer for half a day is as economical as buying a few stock photos. You get the added confidence of no hidden licensing Ts&Cs or costs. But the true value and benefit is that you get beautiful, high quality, and professional images that are unique to you.

Can you really tell the difference?
The short answer is “yes, most of the time.” At 56 Degrees it is really important to us that when we design and develop your site it reflects you and your business in the best possible way. If we were to include photos of people you’ve never seen before, in an office you don’t recognise and gave it the title “our people” you wouldn’t be impressed. But you’ll be surprised how many companies do this.

When Microsoft came out, everyone thought it would be the death of designers and other creative industries. Why would people spend money on agencies to design their websites and their marketing material when they had the tools on their computers to do it all themselves. This hasn’t happened. People realise and understand that specific skills are needed to produce something of quality, something that works, and looks fantastic. It is the same with photography. Although you have the option of using stock images that are easy to find, why would you do this when you can employ a professional to create something unique and brilliant for you.

[At 56 Degrees that’s what we do.] In our design and development world [we] 56 Degrees work with a range of professional photographers to deliver creative, professional and bespoke photography to bring your brand to life and make your site stand out from the competition. Do get in touch to talk about how photography can work for you.