What are reciprocal links?

To answer this question I'm going to start at the very beginning, to make sure no one gets lost. If you know some or all of this already, feel free to skip ahead.

A link is a word or phrase on a webpage that you can click on, and it will then take you to a different webpage.

An outbound link is when you link to someone else's site from your webpage.

An inbound link is when someone else links from their site to yours.

Reciprocal links are when you agree with the other webmaster to exchange links - i.e. you link to their site and they will link to yours.

(An important note I want to make here, which may seem obvious but I have been asked a surprising number of times, is that you don't have to ask permission to link to someone's site. A website is by definition in the public domain - if someone is publishing information in the public domain, they can hardly then get upset if you point it out to people. Quite the opposite, as I'll explain below, you are doing them a favour. So don't waste their time by emailing asking permission to link to their site)

So why bother with reciprocal links? Well, apart from the obvious benefit that you could gain traffic from related sites that click through to yours, inbound links are the original basis for the Google algorithm, and therefore the Holy Grail for many Search Engine Optimisers. Google uses a 'democratic' system to rank pages, counting each link to a website as a 'vote' for that site. But it's not quite as simple as that. The votes of some sites have a heavier weighting, so for example: if The Guardian newspaper linked to you, it would count as a more important vote for your site than if your mate Dave linked to you from his wedding website.

However, Google is moving away from this method and it is only one of many ways of rankings websites that is in their toolkit. A reason for this is that some webmasters abuse the system and set up huge networks of websites, created simply for the purpose of linking to each other. They charge small webmasters a monthly fee and guarantee them high Google rankings, but this practice degrades the experience for visitors as they bounce from directory to directory, never reaching a final destination. Therefore, Google blacklists websites it discovers doing this.

Despite these caveats, it is still worth building a dedicated partners page or even section, which is unobtrusively linked to from your homepage, and having limited numbers of links to related sites listed, on the condition that they link back to you. Try to make a decent proportion of these 'deep' (not just to your homepage) link too.

Happy canvassing!

SWD Recommended in Real Business Online Magazine!

Clare Hibbet of iComplete has recommended Simple Website Designs Ltd in an article offering suggestions to people starting a business on a small budget. Our quality bespoke designs at extremely competitive prices have been recognised for their professionalism and value for money.

iComplete offer a range of business services at low monthly fees, meaning small businesses can have all the advantages of software, hardware, technology and other services which would normally be prohibitively expensive.

Click here to see full article

Should I use music on my website?

Not unless you like making enemies.

Embedding music that automatically plays in your website is a fast way to irritate a huge chunk of your visitors, making them click the back button faster than you can say Snow Patrol.

Reason number one - lots of people surf the Internet at work, and the last thing they need is your music blaring out their speakers unexpectedly while the boss is chatting at the next desk. It's embarrasing and makes them look unprofessional.

Reason number two - many people are already listening to music while surfing the Net. So if your music starts playing over theirs, both sound awful.

Reason number three - what makes you think they like your music? Do you know your visitors that well, that you can be sure they have the same taste as you. And are in the mood for that choice at the time?

'But I have a pause button!'
Even if there's a pause option, you'd better be sure your site really is special enough for them to take the time to search for an often fiddly cryptic little button, instead of just hitting the back button, which after all is huge and they already know where it is. Why bother when there's a million other sites out there?

The exception - if you're a band, you may have the closest thing to an excuse to having music playing automatically when someone hits your site, but in my opinion, it would still be better to confront them with a big play button, and give them the choice.

Arbitrary surveys of the people in my circles who use the Internet the most, overwhelmingly suggests that they find automatically playing music intrusive, offensive and most will leave the site instantly on principle.

So, the negative effects far ourweigh the questionable benefits. You embed music in your website at your own risk.

Natural SEO hints and tips for beginniners

A fellow web designer at a networking event once described natural search engine optimization as a 'Dark Art', and I really felt he summed up what I had suspected all along. Google are often cagey about what you can do to get to the top of their rankings, and not without reason - spammers will abuse any information they can get.

What should get you into number one position is providing a quality service or product for humans and a good website that is accessible to most visitors, and easy to read and use. Not stuffing the website full of keywords, building networks of pointless robot oriented directories and generally making sites which are unpleasant for human users.

However, there are some things you should be doing to take advantage of the search engine robots methods of figuring out the best time to display your site; because if you don't, even if you have the most beautiful site in the world, with childsplay navigation and heaps of free useful information - Google, Yahoo, ASK etc might not realise.

One of the most important things is the domain name. Using relevant keywords in picking your domain name makes a huge difference to how Google views your site. Some forums claim this is not the case, but research done by ourselves and other SEO experts offer evidence that keywords in the domain name have a big effect. Please note though - this does not mean you should abandon your company name and opt for a long string of keywords as your domain - it's all about balance. If you can get a domain name that contains keywords and still looks and sounds good to humans, great. But none of your SEO should sacrifice human users, or you're missing the point.

A second point of major importance is header tags: <>, <> etc. Google's robots use these to understand the content of the site. Try to make sure these are relevant and logically used, and contain keyword phrases where possible. The higher up the page, and the larger the header tag, the more importance Google will assign to it. Don't overdo it though, it's about relationships within your page. Put all of your text in header tags in an attempt to make Google think it's all important, and it will just dilute itself as Google will ignore all the header tags, taking you back to square one.

Another important factor is internal links. Make sure your links between pages include meaningful words and a logical structure. I.e. 'bookkeepingservices.html' is better than 'services.html' for obvious reasons.

That's enough to be getting on with for now. Add us to your feed reader and check back often for more web design hints and tips for an effective website.

Digital World Politics

Gordon Brown has been quoted as saying having The Internet is now as important as having gas and water in your home. That may be arguable, but being linked in to a global network can certainly have a very real and serious effect on our lives and lifestyles, as we can see as photos and comments are blogged and tweeted from dangerous areas gripped in political turmoil, right as the action happens.

The Prime Minister says that the modern technological networks have changed foreign policy forever, meaning the 'little people' can have their voices heard much more easily, without needing access to massive funds to broadcast messages via television or radio.

It could mean that as images and comments bounce around the world at lightning speed, public opinion and will grows faster than when we had to rely on a few brave journalists' articles, and what the newspapers decided was newsworthy and appropriate.

So does this increased flow of information mean we will take better action faster, and ultimately make the world a better place? Time will tell.

Tips on Resizing Images with HTML

One of the most frequent mistakes we see amateur web designers make is not resizing images to the appropriate size, and relying on html tags to resize it on the fly.

This has a number of negative effects. One is that the browser isn't designed to resize images, so it can distort the picture, making it look bad.

More importantly however, it can mean that the visitor is forced to download massive files for absolutely no reason. This slows down the website, uses up bandwidth, and generally gives the user a bad impression.

So make sure you use image editing software to make your image exactly the right size before you upload it to the web.

20% discount on websites in June

We're offering a 20% discount on all websites ordered in June.
So if you're a small business, charity or public sector organisation and you need a new professional, affordable website - get in contact before the offer ends!

Press Release: 20% discount on web design

Press Release: 20% discount on websites in Berkshire, June only!

Should I use html keyword metatags?

Using the html keyword metatag used to be the accepted way to tell search engines what your website was about. It was solely for the robots and they used the information to accurately index your site.

Unfortunately, due the abuse by spammers, who just stuff them full of words completely unrelated to the content of the site, the keyword metatag has fallen out of favour, to the point that Google completely ignores the keyword tag. However, there is some evidence that Yahoo and Ask.com still use the metatag information to assist them in their indexing, even if they don't use it as a primary factor.

As SEO is a matter of tapping away at every little angle, it's probably still worth putting them in; even if they only make a little difference, that's still a little difference.

However, don't rely on them, and don't expect Google to make any decisions based on them.

Some tips for writing your keyword metatags:
- Don't use more than 40 on any given page
- Always use plurals
- Don't bother using capitals or non-plurals
- Make sure the keywords also appear in the body text of the webpage

How to keep your website up to date

One of the most common questions we are asked when chatting to new clients is how they'll be able to update their website. More and more people want full control - so they can keep their websites up to date, fresh, and useful for repeat visitors. A fine and noble goal!

It comes down to two choices, having your web developer make updates for you, which is all well and good if they have the time and the instructions are clear and followed. Or there is CMS, or a content management system, which gives the client access to the website to edit certain sections themselves.

There are merits to both methods, so we say, and a good web designer will offer both, to cover all the bases. That way if you just want a quick edit you can make the change on the spot see the result instantly, or if it's something a bit more fiddly or you simply don't have the time, you're not left out in the cold.

When getting a new website, make sure you find out from the designer what options you have for updates. If there is no CMS and they plan to make the updates for you, what sort of timescale will that be on? Within 24 hours? Within a week? Six months? Also, if it's more than a very minor change, will they show it to you in a development areas first to make sure they understood your instructions?

If they do offer CMS, ask to see it in action. You should be able to follow how it works intuitively. Some sites have complicated folder structures and procedures which can take weeks of hard graft to learn. If you end up with one of these, chances are you'll get frustrated and abandon it after tearing your hair out for a few months, leaving your website to go stagnant.

For more advice or to get in contact, visit our website.

Business Profile in Local Paper!

Kat from Simple Website Designs was invited to be interviewed by the Reading Evening Post for a full page Business profile. You can read it here: Reading Evening Post Business Profile

Safety tips in Reading Chronicle

We've published an online safety guide in the Reading Chronicle for those who are worried about being cheated online by fraudsters. Check it out in the paper this week, or on our website here.

Website Pitfalls - Beware...

* Of template sites, which often seem like a good, cheap option. Their limitations can be obstructive and people with little or no computing knowledge can soon find themselves tied up in knots
* Of graphic designers with no web design experience – print and web are very different animals, ensure you get a website designer with Internet experience and website knowledge
* Of homemade sites – you wouldn’t get your nephew to paint your van for you, so don’t get him to make your website

Top Website Tips

* Make sure it contains relevant keywords so that you show on Google and Yahoo
* Follow the ‘3 click rule’ visitors shouldn’t have to click more than three times to get to any information that want
* Make sure it looks professional – a poor quality, homemade looking website will give the impression that your products and services are also poor quality
* Don’t Flash people – flashy animated intros and automatically playing music are among the biggest turn offs for people in a hurry (and who isn’t), or checking out services while at work
* Bin the bells and whistles– blinking, flashing, spinning only serves to distract from your content and at worst irritate your visitor into clicking off
* Provide free information – provide something useful for visitors, you can explain the benefits of your service and product and give them some free tips – they will see you are an expert in your field

Update your Website Content Regularly!

The major search engines’ goal is to get searchers the best, most relevant information they can, based on the search terms people put in. These days information gets out of date pretty much as soon as it’s down on paper (so to speak) so search engines reward websites that regularly update their content, in the belief that the more often it’s updated, the more likely it is to be relevant and up-to-date.

So it’s no good writing the perfect bit of copy with all the information your customers need to know, putting it up and then leaning back feeling chuffed with yourself for the next twelve months. Sure, the quality original content will get you up there at first (providing your website is optimized) but as it starts to look middle aged it will slowly drop back down again.

Conversely, if the Googlebot returns to your website and finds something has changed since the last time it was here, it makes a note to come back sooner next time.

So keep writing, keep coming up with useful information for your customers and keep updating your website regularly. Adding even just a short paragraph (of at least 200 to 300 words) once a month will keep your website fresh in the eyes of the all important Google and Yahoo, and keep them coming back to check for more.

Getting Seen on Google or Rising the Rankings Right

A lot of people come to us asking if we can get them seen on Google. There is a great deal of false information circulating about search engine rankings, so we'd like to contribute a bit to clearing this up.

The idea of a search engine is to fish the most relevent useful details out of a massive and ever expanding ocean of information, some of it good, some not. Good websites get to the top by being the most relevent useful information - i.e. providing exactly what the surfer is looking for.

However, because of the huge profits to be made in clicks, unscrupulous people either make impossible claims, or bully and cheat their way to the top with tricks and underhand methods aimed at search engines, not humans ... this results in surfers wasting their time on sites which contain nothing of value (usually just lots more links, which send you round in circles), but once the unsuspecting visitor has been tricked into clicking, the webmaster has made his money, whether or not you got what you wanted. These activities degrade the quality of the Internet and frustrate users and genuine website owners and designers.

Like Google (who remove and bar such players from their listings) we think very little of these people, who contribute nothing and are concerned only with making a quick buck, not providing a useful service.

So all our methods are white hat, Google approved and recommended, and genuine. It means you may not be found internationally on major keywords which have multi-national corporations paying dedicated teams millions of pounds to get them there. But it does mean you are almost certain to come up on your business name and industry in your local area, and be found by people who are actually looking for you.

Some of our methods:

• Search engine submission with data brief
• Accurate, relevant keywords, titles and descriptions (embedded data the search engines analyse)
• Using specific keyword rich page titles, headers, subheaders, internal linking, and page copy
• Using text links that both humans and search engines can follow
• Making accessible sites (to people with disabilities and low speed connections)
• Google sitemaps
• Giving clients advice on further methods

How to Write Copy for your Website Homepage

Homepage Heaven

Your homepage is arguably the most important page on your site. It’s the place most people will land and the impression it gives in a few seconds will determine whether people continue to a contact or sale, or just keep surfing. There are a number of things you can and must do to ensure your homepage is working effectively for you, from having an attention grabbing title, to aiming right with your product, establishing trust and hitting them with the unmissable specials.

Catchy Titles

A few carefully chosen words can catch someone’s attention, intrigue and have them eager for more. If you have a great unique selling point, use that, or here are some more ways to make an impression with a headline:

• Use ‘how to’ phrases – people are often looking for information quickly.
• Promise a major benefit – save £100 a year
• Target specific customer types – e.g. websites for plumbers, the potential clients you cut out will be balanced by the increased interest of the targeted group
• Ask a question that makes them say ‘yes!’ – Are you baffled by the Internet?

One Product or Many?

If you only have one product or service, it’s important to get to the point quickly. Hit them with your Unique Selling Point straight away, and the benefits they will gain from purchasing what you offer.

If you offer a range of products it is more important to emphasise why you are the company to go for. You could sell yourself as the best value in the market place, on location, variety or quality customer service.

If you have any unmissable specials, make sure they're clearly explained and immediately spotted.

Establish Trust

Everyone says they offer great customer service, but can you prove it? Use customer testimonials to show you’re not just blowing your own trumpet.

Also, stating what qualifications you have and even providing scans on the certificates will prove that you’re serious about what you do. If you have any awards, don’t be shy! Tell your customers what they are for and include logos of awarding bodies.

Now it’s possible for anyone to make a website, many people are worried that a company they contact online might take their money and run. If you can include an address and photographs of your premises or branded vehicles, you prove you are not a fly-by-night rogue trader.

Especially if you are going to be collecting customer information, include a brief statement about your privacy policy and link to any relevant legal documents.

Finally, using the logos of relevant associations and official bodies, or even just other known companies can give you ‘borrowed credibility’.

Reading Post Business Profile

Simple Website Designs has been chosen for a Business Profile in the Reading Evening Post! They're keen to get us to elaborate on how the Credit Crunch has made us busier than ever, and how we make sure we're offering the best websites at the best prices. We are answering questions and a photographer will be visiting to snap us in our natural environment... We'll post as soon as we know when the profile will be published.

BNI Membership

We are proud to report that we are now members of Reading Abbey BNI group, and are looking forward to many lucrative partnerships.

Charity Website makes the Reading Chronicle

On March 12th The Chronicle reported on the free website we built for a local charity Gloucester Road Playgroup. You can see the website at www.gloucesterroadplaygroup.co.uk

What can a website do for my business?

Getting a website is a bit like choosing a form of transport. You have to decide where it is you want to get, and how much you want to spend. Below is a very broad outline of the sorts of options available to small business that are looking for websites with roughly translatable modes of transport for price guides as a useful (but not to be too heavily relied on) analogy...

Website as barefoot - free and dirty
These days, more often than not you'll have been chatting to a great potential client, they'll be keen on using your services, and then they'll say: 'Have you got a website I can check out?'

Now you have three choices:

You can say no, you don't have a website, they'll have to take your word for it that you do what you do.

You can look shifty, nod reluctantly, making excuses about it 'just being something my brother-in-law knocked up' and how it 'doesn't have the latest work you've done.'

Or, you can...

Website as Bike - cheap and light
...beam broadly and say yes, proudly giving them your business card and declaring the domain like you can't wait for them to check it out. So if a potential client meets all three of these people, who is he going to pick?

At minimum, for about the price of a half decent bike, the website can be an online brochure for your business. It can contain images of your products, services and work you've done and testimonials from previous clients. It shows that you're serious about what you do and solid enough to have invested in a professional website.

Website as Car - affordable and versatile
A step up from that you can start having your website work a bit harder for as little as a cheap second hand car. It can find you new clients all on its own with great search engine optimization and a little promotion. If the site is well written, well presented with clear Unique Selling Points and an easy route to contact, leads can start rolling in. Increasingly people are using the Internet as their first screening for new services, and if you don't have a site there, you never leave the starting blocks. With a good site, easily found, you race past the rest.

Website as Limo - expensive but impressive
Go a bit further and you could make it more of an interactive experience, offering online services to visitors and clients alike. With e-commerce, enquiry forms, online quote requests, members' only areas, surveys, instant calculators and comparisons, your visitors could start off using the free services provided on your site and -impressed by what you can afford to give away - convert into paying customers. Clients may then find your private services invaluable and remain loyal.

Website as Air Force One
Finally you could go for a complete online business, offering secure banking services, or a web based application. Not for the layman.

If you have any comments about this article or would like any further advice, you can email us at services@simplewebsitedesigns.co.uk.

How to choose a web designer

Pick us.

Only kidding.

Below are some hints and tips on what to do if you want to choose someone to make your website and don't know where to start.

1. Always contact more than one to begin with, at least three is advisable, otherwise you have no idea of your options.

2. Check out their previous work. In our opinion they should have a wide range of examples of websites they've made on their website for you to view without asking. However, if they don't offer it right away and you do decide to ask, they shouldn't have any problem providing you with a list. If a web design company can only show you one or two websites they've made, you've got to wonder why...

3. Check out their previous work thoroughly. More than just look at it, use the websites. Are they easy to navigate, do they load fast enough? If they don't, chances are yours won't either.

4. Look at their website. A website is a showcase for all businesses, but for a website design company it's absolutely critical. If their website doesn't work it's an extremely bad sign. If their website is 'under construction' don't touch them with a barge pole. What web design company can't organise finishing it's own website?

5. Look for testimonials and recommendations. You could even contact their clients (you know who they are, you've seen their websites) and politely ask how they found the web design service. Most people will be happy to tell you if they've had good service, and even more keen if it was awful!

6. If there are any terms they use that you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask exactly what they mean. They should be able to explain in a suitable manner, taking into account the fact you're not a techie. If your designer can't explain it to you, there may be communication barriers later down the line, or they may just be trying to baffle you with jargon.

7. Make sure they can provide you with a clear breakdown of what is included in the contract. It's in both your interests to have it in writing to avoid disputes (often simply due to misunderstanding) after the project is underway.

8. They should be able to provide you with reports on your websites' performance, so you can see how many visitors you're getting once the site is live.

9. Check that they provide ongoing support, NOT on premium rate numbers or only via email or a list of FAQs, and not at extortionate rates.

10. Tech spec crib sheet for dummies (or just non geeks):

1. What browsers do you support?

• Ideal answer: IE6, IE7, Mozilla firefox, Safari and Opera (these are the most common).
  
• Bad answer: Cross-browser compatibility? What's that then?

1. Do you use cascading style sheets and up-to-date coding methods?
   

• Ideal answer: Yes, we use the most elegant script to keep the back ends of our websites light and Search Engine friendly.
  
• Bad answer: We use tables to structure our websites.

1. What SEO methods do you use?
   

• Ideal answer: We use only honest, 'white hat' methods, including keywords, titles, descriptions, search engine submission, and Google Sitemaps & verification.
  
• Bad answer #1 We don't do SEO.
  
• Bad answer #2. We guarantee you top positions in Google for all of your keywords, using all the methods that are available.

Hope that helps! If you want any more information regarding this article, please email me at services@simplewebsitedesigns.co.uk.

How to choose a domain name

How do I choose a domain name?

Often people are unsure what makes a good domain name for their website; below are some basic hints and tips to help you make the decision.

Your Company Your Website

If you can get it, the domain name should be the same as your company name – this may seem obvious but sometimes people think they need a different kind of branding for their website. You don’t and you’re just weakening your brand and giving people more things to remember. For example if your company is called ‘Wizard News’ get ‘www.wizardnews.co.uk’ don’t go for ‘www.sorcerersonline.co.uk’. If that one is taken, you could try adding ‘uk’ to the end of the actual domain name www.wizardnewsuk.co.uk as it’s more likely to be available and is easy to communicate.

If you can’t get your company name at all choose the most accurate description you can, that closely matches what people might enter into search engines if they were looking for your kind of site: www.latestwizardgossip.co.uk

.com or .co.uk?

If your main place of business is the UK, get a .co.uk domain name – many people in the UK prefer to buy locally and it could give you that advantage. However, if your business can cater for all international clients and you have no preference for the UK, a .com could give your company that multinational feel. Alternative endings such as .net and .org can be suitable although they suggest more informational, non-profit sites. If you do choose one of these endings, be aware that if you don’t specify in your literature that you are using one of these endings, people may not try them as a matter of course and may not find you. Most other endings look tacky, for example the dreaded .biz.

Meaningful is memorable

Make it meaningful to be memorable – make sure it is something that is easy to say and instantly meaningful. You may want to use an abbreviation to keep it short, but if what your final domain name amounts to is a random string of letters or numbers, it makes it very unlikely to stick in someone’s head. Then you have the danger that even if they are looking for you specifically, they can’t find you simply because they’ve got a couple of the letters mixed up. www.wzdns.co.uk only has five letters, but is infinitely harder to remember and interpret than www.wizardnews.co.uk which has twice as many letters but is a meaningful semantic string. Also, don’t forget people rarely type in domain names these days, usually they either click links or use autocomplete (where the computer guesses what you’re typing and completes it for you).

Short and sweet

Having said that, don’t go overboard trying to get your meaning across in the domain name – yes, you want to tempt people to click it, but you can’t include your whole business history. Choose something like www.wizardnewsforallbuddingyoungwizardsintheuk.co.uk and you may as well hang up your wand now. As a rule of thumb, three of four words max.

Basic Legal Requirements for Websites

The Internet is such relatively new technology and it has grown so quickly, it's taken a while for governments to catch up with all the new issues it creates. However, in the UK they are beginning to, with legislation regarding what you must and must not do with your website.

It's frequently changing as new developments take place, and it can be difficult to know whether you are complying with all the right rules at the right time. Websites can create both civil and criminal liability, so it's important to make sure you have at least the basics covered.

One of the easiest ways to get into trouble on the Internet is by copying text or images from a website without express permission - this breaks copyright law. While information in the public domain is free for you to read and look at, copying it for your own use (even personal) could land you in a lawsuit. In most cases, if it doesn't say the material is available for copy, you must assume it is copyright.

Buying a domain name that infringes on someone's trademark rights is also not allowed, even if it is slightly different. Unless you can prove that you have a reason to purchase a particular name other than to trade off somebody elses reputation (e.g. it happens to be your actual name as well), you may not be allowed to keep a domain name similar to an established company.

As a webmaster, you need to be aware of laws regarding accessibility, data protection, e-marketing and e-commerce. It is now a legal requirement to have a privacy policy available for view on your site, if you are collecting data in any way from visitors, be it via a form or simply over email. It is also extremely important to have a terms and conditions of use document, with disclaimers limiting your liability in case someone tries to claim damages for issues arising out of use of your site.

For more information on website law visit:

http://www.website-law.co.uk/index.html

http://www.weblaw.co.uk/

Free 1 Gig Memory Sticks

Well, we're back and raring to go! There are lots of new projects on the way, with a strong emphasis on branding and building a new effective business profile. We're also starting with a promotion, 1 gig memory sticks with every January order - making it easy for clients to transfer files and with a keyring attachment you can be ready to plug and save wherever you are.

We'd like to wish everyone a fantastic and prosperous New Year!