The Technology Partnership

Time to manage your own website?

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:26:29 +0000

One of the most frequent requests we have from customers is the ability to manage their own Website after the initial design and build. There is absolutely no reason for this not to be part of the planned solution, with many new content management systems (CMS) being available to make this possible.

Planning content and website features

In planning any website project it is vital to identify all the different types of content and functions that the website needs to have, as it will dictate the options and methods for its design and development. These may include -

Static pages, such as About us, Terms, Team, etc.
Dynamic pages, such as Products, Services, News, etc.
Call-to-action pages, such as Contact, Order/Buy, Registration, etc.
Integrations, such as e-Commerce, Newsletters, Social Media, etc.
Analysis & Reporting, such as Site reports, Customer activity, etc.
… and much more

Which content system to use?

Popular content systems, such as WordPress, are great for less complicated websites and easy for fairly internet savvy customers to learn how to use. Others, such as Joomla, DotNetNuke, Mambo etc., provide a range of functionality to deliver much more complex websites, whilst still leaving some control for the customer to manage important areas of the site. Those sites requiring integration of internal systems or data, or maybe connecting with 3rd party systems will need to look to Content ‘frameworks’ such as Umbraco, Sitefinity, Drupal, etc.

All of the above content management systems can be extended with 3rd party “plug-ins”, providing specialised features or additions to the basic CMS functionality. Many Design templates or Themes are also often available for these systems, although these can impose constraints on what will work with the design and the features that may be possible.

Making sure you get the best solution

Here at The Technology Partnership, our aim is always to provide the best possible Design, built in the best possible CMS for the job in hand, whilst ensuring you (our Customer) has as much control as you want(!) over the resulting website.

Talk to us today about your content management options – call us on 01733 391 678.

Is it time to Mobilize your business?

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:45:56 +0000

The latest research now has Smartphone users ahead of Google for searches on the internet. In less than 3 years, Smartphones have become THE device of choice for internet access. It’s common sense really. Mobiles are always switched on, don’t take minutes to ‘start-up’, always to hand, and simple to use. The Smartphone screen has become the new standard, with PCs being seen by the new generation of users as ‘big’ screens.

But, with the rise of the smartphone comes a problem – your company website isn’t designed to be viewed on a mobile and can’t take advantage of the interactive and GPS location functions within the Smartphone device.

By 2014, 94% of Mobiles will be Smartphones (currently 76%), so shouldn’t you be considering how to place your company in front of these users?

Why not talk to us about how we can -
Design & Build a ‘device adaptive’ Mobile website
Utilise the available Smartphone functions to work within your Mobile site
(eg. links for Phone calls, emails, enquiry forms, location maps and directions etc.)
Host and maintain your mobile site on its own .mobi domain

With prices from only £25 per month for a fully featured Mobile site, it couldn’t be better value. Call us on 01733 687274 to discuss how to get Mobile.

So, you’ve got a pretty website, now what?

admin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:03:06 +0000

Virtually all businesses now see having a website as critical to their existence. Some see it as a ‘shop window’, open for browsing 24 hours a day; others see it as an important part of their marketing strategy for selling products and services directly online.

What everyone agrees is that your business website should look professional, attractive, easy to use and informative for the visitor. No surprises there then!

Expectations for any new website run high, but many miss the most important point … that the site is hardly ever likely to be seen by anyone, without some serious consideration as to how to attract visitors/traffic. The reality is that a site is a total waste of money without a strategy for marketing it.

Consider, at the last count, there were some 200m sites out there in the ether, all competing for the attention of the 2bn users online. How do you hope to attract these and what have you done about it?

Attracting business through you site needs a strategy, effort and, yes, budget! After all, you wouldn’t rent, fit-out and stock a shop on the high street, then keep the doors locked and never advertise would you?

Call us on 01733 687274 for a no-obligation discussion on how we can help you hook those elusive online customers.