Hot on the heels of the FA Valiant website and completed in world record time, the JustDuckIt website officially launched today.

Part of the Million Makers scheme where The Prince’s Trust provides £1,500, and JustDuckIt take on the challenge to make it £10,000. The money raised is used in the spirit of The Prince’s Trust to help young people who have often had a hard start in life make their worthy business visions a reality.

The project is headed by numerous members of Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce & Suffolk Acre.

Tech wise the site is valid CSS / XHTML website with a full Content Management System back end enabling numerous members of the team to update content and post news and blog articles. We also designed a nice twitter page backdrop for the project and future developments include a twitter and flikr feed.

The project runs to 31 January 2010 and the website is the ‘central cafe’ where you can donate, take part, or keep up to date with the latest happenings in our journey whilst doing your bit for the futures of entrepreneurial young people.

If your based is Suffolk (or not!) why not have a look at both JustDuckIt’s website or the Twitter page – the project relies on everyone’s involvement so go and join in!

F. A. Valiant & Son specialise in Church and Listed Building restoration work as well as the building and the renovation of high quality homes and extensions throughout East Anglia.

There are some fantastic images of their work on the site – and its nice to see such dedication and craftsmanship!

The web design itself is very understated and a traditional feel was sought throughout. Behind the scenes however the site is much more modern and upto date. Built onto a CMS and fully up-datable its also ready for sections such as a blog, twitter feed etc to be turned on should the client request it in future. As well as web design and development we also provided some basic SEO and copy-writing for the project.

launch: www.favaliant.co.uk

But statistically 50% of your visitors will leave within a few seconds (bounce rate) – thats a lot of potential customers lost very quickly! Fortunately, AB testing helps you give your visitors what they want, keep them on your site and turn them into customers. And prove its all working at the same time!

Increase your websites conversion rate

or: How to I learned to stop guessing and love my website

AB testing is a process where you create 2 different pages for the same product or service. Changes and tweaks to the page content, layout, text, images and design are made. You then monitor which of the pages has the higher conversion rate.

It’s that simple.

A successful small business website converts visitors to customers. But 99% of the time you will not meet your prospective customer face to face, or even have a conversation over the phone. Your website is left on its own to persuade your potential customers to choose you over your competition. Your message has to be right; first time, every time. AB testing can literally be the difference between one or two sales per month or one or two (or more) per hour.

Small changes can have a big impact

Even small tweaks to the 5 key areas listed above can have a huge cumulative impact to the conversion of visitors to customers on your website. Watch the video below to see how Colonial Candles increased their conversion rate by 20%.

A low cost improvement for any website

AB testing is its suitable for both new and old websites. Without the expense of having a new website designed and built you can maximise your current websites potental.

AB testing is a long term investment to your online marketing. Lessons learned and improvements to the content and site can all be carried over to any future website development as well as any other online marketing in place such as google adwords, email marketing and banner advertisements.

Google Website Optimiser Guide

Google UK provide a great beginners guide to Google Website Optimiser that helps guide you through setup and integration on your site.

Ultimately however, its not about the initial cost – it’s about the long term value offered.

For instance if a website costs £10,000 but brings in £1 million worth of business most people would see that as a very good investment.

And that’s the best way to approach your web design project – not as a one off cost but rather a long term investment.

Some websites are better than others

Now it may be obvious but not all websites are created equal. A quick google search will bring up numerous websites in your industry, some google will rank 1st some 500th. Some websites look great, others like they are from 1985. Some easy to navigate, others a complete mess. And the list goes on.

So why does this matter? Well there are a few basic factors that determine how many enquires your website will get. And it’s this that determines the real value of your website .

Great websites are an investment

Effective websites can deliver fantastic returns-on-investment so when deciding on the amount to invest ask yourself how much a web site that delivers sales enquiries and customers is worth to your business.

Lets imagine you spend £1000 on your website and it brings in 1 new customer worth £300 profit each week. Your website earns you £15600 per year (£300 x 52wk) or £46800 over 3 years.

Now if spending more time on the website build; optimising it for search engines, visitors and potential clients means not only doubling the initial development costs to £2000 but also doubling the enquiries and profit to £93600 over the 3 years would you?

£1000 more investment for £45800 more income? Well obviously most businesses would say yes!

How about if it was possible to receive 10 times as many enquiries? How much is that website now worth to your business? How much would you be prepared to pay for that website?

It’s easy to see the value of your website is not its initial cost.

Web design is a bespoke service

Websites aren’t products. You can’t shop around and get exactly the same website from two different designers. A website costing £3000 isn’t the same as one costing £250. And in reality the biggest disparity in quotes and costs are due to the amount of time spent on your website – not the designers hourly or daily rates.

Obviously a web design agency that take times to research your market and thoroughly plan your website, craft and test the design to maximise trust and convert your visitors into customers and finally hand code and optimise your website to maximise search engine visibility is going to take a little longer – and perhaps cost a little more – than one thrown together in a few days without any care. But ultimately this initial investment pays off – big time!

The real cost of your website is not the initial invoice total, but rather how much of a long term investment it is to your business. This is why a £500 website from your brother’s son’s friend’s uncle, or the cheapest ‘web designer’ you can find, may not be the ‘bargain’ it first appears.

We would love to have an easy answer (It would certainly save us time when quoting!) but the truth is we have built websites for as little as £300 and for as much as £15,000. It all comes down to what sort of website you require, the aims and objectives of the project and the exact web design services you would like us to provide.

Range of prices

If your looking for a designer to build (or rebuild) your current website you may have already found that there are often huge differences in quotes from one agency to another.

So why the disparity? How much should you be spending? And what should you look for?

Web design is a service

First of all web design is a service – not a product! When looking for a TV you can shop around to find the EXACT same make and model at very different prices. Its easy to shop around and whilst the service at one shop may be a little different if you pay £500 rather than £800 your safe in the knowledge the TV is the same make, model and quality.

But no two web sites are alike! If you pay one designer £2000 you can’t buy the exact same website from another designer for £1000 – like you can with the TV.

Most web design agencies have roughly the same sort of hourly rates, perhaps ranging from £30-80 per hour but quotes for a small business website are likely to range from £500 to £5000. So why the difference?

Well, in short, some web designers will spend longer than others on your website. Some care about your website and business – others don’t.

The house analogy

I often compare website development to that of building. If you asked an architect “How much for a building?” they wouldn’t be able to answer. It would be impossible as there are so many variables to consider! Do you want a house? A bungalow? An office block? How many floors? What style? What materials? The list goes on – and on.

In fact the architects best option would be to ask “What do you need the building for?” “What your exact requirements?” and “What sort of budget do you have?”

Good Web design is no different – its a consultative process – we tailor our services to meet your exact needs.

Get to the point – what are your costs!

Put simply it comes down to how long we spend! Our daily rate is £300 and all costs are derived from that.

So whilst we could build your website in a day we believe for you to get real long term value we need to research, plan and spend just a little bit of love and attention on your project.

Free Design Work! What’s the catch? – No tricks or catches – sign up to our free newsletter to enter our competition for free design work. It’s really that simple – and if you don’t like our newsletter simply un-subscribe! (Although its good karma to read a few first!).

We’re running this competition to coincide with our new website launch and in anticipation of our own email newsletter launch. The offer is open to all businesses including sole traders, professional bloggers, clubs etc – read the terms and conditions for full details.

The competition closes on Friday 19th June 2009 and the winner will be informed and announced shortly after.

Please note if you already receive our newsletter you MUST STILL sign up to enter! If your in any doubt please feel free to call us and check.

What type of work?

We will carry out design work for the winner worth up to £2000.00. This could be a full web design build, SEO, branding or print collaterol such as brochures or exhibition stands. Essentially we will treat the winner and the project(s) with the same high standards as our normal paying customers and deliver them a some fantastic design work for free.

Whilst the figure of £2000.00 will cover most small to medium sized business website requirements. More complex and expensive web development builds such as e-commerce sites, estate agent boards, etc, are not included. We will however negotiate any such request and essentially deduct the £2000.00 from the total development costs.

Really all free then?

Absolutely. The only costs not included are any third party costs that the project may need, such as photo shoots, etc.

I’m already a customer – what do I get!?

Cake? No really – we don’t want you to feel left out! Feel free to enter too, as mentioned we will offer other web design services such as print design, SEO, Email marketing and branding if you already have a great website you’re happy with!

I’m not convinced!

If your in any doubt that we will build you YOUR website or carry out the work you require – feel free to ask before signing up. But its going to be a fantastic free newsletter full of web design and marketing tips aimed at businesses – what do you have to lose?

Hopefully this new site will give both our existing and potential clients a greater idea of who are and what web design services we offer. There are also a few new features which will make editing and adding content much easier for us.

1.Content Managment System (CMS). Although we build our clients business websites onto CMS’s its a first for us! It will mean more frequent updates – there’s certainly a number of changes and new sections we already have planned for the future.

2.Web Blog. Posting news, articles and other information will now be a cinch. We’ll be using the blog to post tips and articles on how small business can make the best use of their website and internet marketing. Hopefully it will be a great resource for small businesses.

If you have any comments about the new site or idea’s for topics you wish us to cover, please feel free to leave a comment and let us know.

Realtime Despatch provide on-line software applications for the management of multiple Ecommerce sales channels and Warehouse Stock Control – or as their headers succinctly put it;

• “Hassle free order processing and warehouse management software.”
• “Pull together orders from different sources”
• “Track items in your warehouse”
• “Process, pack and despatch orders”

We initially started with the project a total re-branding of their existing corporate ID, modernising the whole feel of the company and enforcing them as market leaders with what is an extremely high quality product.

Once the branding was finalised the web design project started with an in-depth content, wire-frame and grey-scale layout process.

As Realtime’s web based application targets three distinct markets (E-Tailers, Fulfilment Houses & Web Developers) – our (not so easy) task was to deliver the applications general benefits together with highly targeted content unique to each different user base. All without turning away any of the 3 user bases or looking cramped.

Our grey-scale design process helps immensely with finding the optimum way to display the content of the website, so both the copy and layout deliver the right information at the right time and in the right place.

Our solution was to combine a generic header with a tabbed based user-focussed sub-header – giving each user base a quick overview as well as quick and easy access to specific and key area of interest.

Once the copy, content and layout had been agreed we were tasked with final design process, implementing colours and branding throughout. Then onto a standards compliant (including the dreaded and ‘dead’ IE6!) HTML & CSS build.

Unusually the client opted out of a full Content Management System (CMS) build. For ease of use however we also helped build the structure of the site with PHP, making it all as modular as possible.

Charlie and Phil over at RD where great to work with and we’re delighted that they’ve now tasked us with helping them with the User Interface Design (UI) of the main application itself.