Benefits of a mobile website design

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Shell Graphix

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Mobile website designs are quickly rising in popularity as a result of the smart phone development. When it comes to keeping up with this digital era it is a case of embrace it or get left behind.

The good news is if you have a website already, you can at least be found on a mobile. The bad news is that it probably isn’t too user friendly. It might be hard to select navigation buttons, require lots of scrolling to view the page (horizontal and vertical) and load slowly if it is graphic intensive. A mobile website design takes the essence of your website and creates it for a mobile user experience.

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Based on current trends mobile browsing will surpass desktop browsing in a few short years.

 

To help decide if you need a mobile friendly website here are the top 5 reasons why you should get onto it:

1. The stats don’t lie

Check out your website statistics – if you view the browser connection information it will break down the traffic into connection platforms which list items like iphone, Android, and IOS, PDA and Samsung Galaxy (yes they have their own special connection flag that itemises it). You can see exactly how many visitors are trying to connect to you via mobile.

2. Ask your target market / demographic

Is your core demographic sitting on a mobile device 24/7? Certain key audiences just about live on their mobile devices whilst others are still firmly attached to a computer, laptop or tablet instead.

3. Get a competitive edge

Not everyone is onto mobile websites… yet. It can be a huge advantage over your competitors to offer something extra to your customers (and potential customers). If your competitor is already onto it, you are in danger of getting left behind. Your focus should be doing it better and letting everyone know about it!

4. It’s all about reputation

Does your company thrive on being innovative, user-friendly, offering the latest and greatest in all aspects? This does reflect in your web presence. If you are saying these things in your ‘about’ page bio but don’t have a mobile website it is often a case of actions not matching words. On the flip side, if you say these things and you are up to date on website development, social media and mobile platform it reflects back on your business, company or organisation.

5. Cost effective

The cost to produce a mobile friendly website is between 1/3 and 1/2 as much as you paid for your full website (in general). Think of it as an investment which enables you to talk to a new (and potentially large) audience.

If you are contemplating updating an old website you should do that prior to creating a mobile version. The two aren’t linked and when you make updates to one platform you will need to mirror that in the mobile version. By updating the core website first it will avoid making more work for yourself.

If you need further advice or assistance when it comes to website development or mobile website development please contact us, we are more than happy to help.

Author: Michelle Gustavson, Shell Graphix – Brisbane Australia

Posted in Featured Articles, Mobile Website Design, Social Media, Website Design | Leave a comment

Straddie Camping website design

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Shell Graphix

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When it comes to a picturesque location to work, it doesn’t get much better than the idyllic North Stradbroke Island. Of course, working in, or on, a gorgeous holiday location and actually holidaying there are two very different things! At least we are clued up on the best spots to take a holiday now.

We had the immense pleasure of working with the team from Straddie Camping as we created their website which launched in November 2012. They certainly hit the ground running with a flood of traffic, enquiries and bookings the very first day they released the website to the public.

Straddie Camping offers easy access island camping on idyllic North Stradbroke Island. The island is driving distance from both Brisbane and the Gold Coast, and has an abundance of activities for all ages and fitness levels. Popular with 4WD enthusiasts, surfers and fishermen, the Island also offers scuba diving, swimming, kayaking, and bush walking, and is renowned for dolphins, turtles, manta-rays, kangaroos and koalas, as well as superb views of the annual humpback whale migration.

Their 6 beachfront Camping Grounds offer powered and unpowered sites for tents, camper trailers and caravans, as well as 20 fully equipped cabins. They also have hundreds of natural beachside camping sites tucked away in the sand dunes overlooking the island’s iconic white sandy beaches.

The website development we implemented includes self-editing capabilities and a blog platform that connects to the social media streams.

To learn more about Straddie Camping, make a booking or enquiry please visit www.straddiecamping.com.au. You won’t be disappointed!

Posted in Branding, Domain Name Registration in Australia, New Projects, Website Design, Website Design Brisbane | Leave a comment

How to increase your Google and search engine rankings

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Shell Graphix

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When it comes to building a website everyone has the same goal – to get high exposure on Google and other popular search engine platforms. It’s a realistic goal too, without search engine exposure it is far harder for new customers to find it. You can build the best website ever, but, without rankings it can never reach peak productivity. Google rankings are crucial.

While SEO experts are eager to help you out with this challenge it can often require a fairly hefty budget that not everyone has put aside in the quest to conquer the online world. Here are a few key tips to keep in mind when you develop a website or improve your current webs item design and structure. These tips are aimed to gain organic (non-paid) rankings, of course if or when you do paid advertising or source the assistance of an SEO company you are in an even better position to boost rankings even higher.

1. Think like a searcher

When you know the type of people you want to attract to your website you can easily step into their shoes and think about what they would search for. Using these keywords throughout your website helps to make your content relevant and boosts your exposure based on these categories. Mix in products and services keywords with location and suburb data to help localise the traffic you are appealing to.

2. Research searcher behaviour

Google has this wonderful tool that appears when you start to type in the search field; it auto-populates a variety of search string options below the text box. This isn’t just a quirky little feature, this is actually showing you the most common phrases people have been searching for and it will keep giving you solutions until you type something no one has looked for recently. You can use this data to curb your content and become the solution to the questions and search topics. Start typing in your core keywords and see what comes up, then use that data to pad out your website with relevant information.

3. Dynamic content

While your website has a certain amount of content that just doesn’t change you should try to inject a large portion that is dynamic and constantly updating and changing. Each time you freshen up your content Google sits up and pays attention. This pushes your results to the top because it is more relevant than a website which has not been updated recently. One of the best ways to constantly inject dynamic content is by implementing a blog or news area. This can house latest projects, news, articles, how-to guides, customer feedback, latest releases and much more. You can easily create a feed that goes from the ‘news’ area to the home page and other internal content pages which creates a dynamic flow throughout your entire website. Another side benefit is that your customers will be tempted to come back to your website time and again to find out what’s new. Even as little as one article per month will make a difference.

4. Get social

Link your website to social media – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn – the more places you shine a spotlight on yourself the higher your exposure becomes. Many corporate entities shy away from social media but there are easy ways to integrate it so it becomes a newsfeed source rather than a source of high interaction. In this day and age it is a necessity.

5. Make it local – register a .com.au

Without fail a relevant local website will rank above a non-local website because Search engines will deem it more ‘relevant’. For this very reason a .com.au domain will often outrank a .com or variation domain name/URL. Registration for a .com.au is only $49.95 for two years and you can keep your old domain and simply redirect traffic to it.

6. Guest posts

If you don’t have time to add content to your website like it’s going out of fashion you can easily outsource or invite guest writers to do it for you. While there may be small fees involved it can give you a fresh voice and point of view plus the reassurance that it is working even when you don’t have time to dedicate to it.

By the same token you can offer up your articles to others and become a voice in more places than simply your own website. As you sign off as the author be sure to include your website link as this too will create traffic flow.

7. Get visual

While many love a good read there are far more that are captured by image or video inspiration. A mix of mediums helps appeal on a greater level. With the phone technology available today it takes no time at all to capture and load content.

8. Ditch flash

If it isn’t cross-browser and platform compatible don’t use it. Flash websites are not widely supported which can cripple viewing potential and search engines cannot read the text content within. As a result a Flash driven website is missing not only keywords but dynamic content as well.

9. Claim your local search advantage

If you are a local business make sure you claim your listing on Google, Yahoo and Bing. It only takes 5 minutes to claim your profile, complete the fields and load the listing. The future of search engine results is localised results as relevance skyrockets. If you haven’t done it yet – what are you waiting for?!

10. Check your data

Type your business name into the core search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing) and double check all third party websites that list your details have the correct information. This is particularly vital for business directory websites. If old data is stored take some time to get in touch and update the records.

11. Mobile friendly

With the increase in web-capabable smart mobile phones came the increase in mobile-friendly websites. A mobile friendly website design is highly beneficial in today’s market to ensure you aren’t missing out on potential customers and to supply a full user-experience. If you go to the trouble to offer an easier way to do business via all core communication methods this further reflects back to your business as a whole. The fact you go the extra mile will not be overlooked. (Oh, and you will nab the traffic your competitors are missing out on just because they aren’t mobile friendly).

12. The test of time

While content is ‘King’ and links are ‘Queen’ a website that has been around since the dawn of time will also be a powerful tool in itself. Age does play a certain role when it comes to search engine rankings and combine that with the tips above and you can’t go wrong.

Posted in Domain Name Registration in Australia, Featured Articles, Search Engine Exposure Tips, Social Media, Website Design, Website Design Brisbane | Leave a comment

Print, package design and marketing materials for Nano 4 Auto

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Shell Graphix

We recently had the pleasure of re-branding the newest range of products from Nano 4 Auto. The Victorian based company have recently shifted into top gear with their high end range of vehicle protection products ranging from paint and glass protection all the way through to leather, vinyl and wheels.

Amidst the new roll out of marketing and promotional materials was business cards, presentation folders, brochures, dealer pitch documents, point of sale, posters and product packaging.

For ultimate value for money the Nano 4 Auto range comes in one convenient ‘Ultimate’ package which gives vehicles full protection inside and out. Not only do these products help in maintaining the value of a vehicle but they save on cleaning time and costs also.

As a non-tangible product (once applied to the vehicle the customer doesn’t have something in hand to take away) we felt it was important to create packaging that the dealer/applicator could leave with the new owner. This gives the customer a tangible product to put their hands on which educates them on the products that were just applied and includes care directions (plus a bottle of Nano 4 Auto car wash and a microfibre cleaning cloth).

The Hands On package was the solution for ‘DIY’ customers who didn’t want the full solution though wanted some level of protection. The glass protective coat also has many safety benefits.

Throughout this design project we discussed the outcomes the client wanted to achieve and worked this into a brief with full creative license. We thrive on guiding our clients to achieve maximum results with a mix of design and marketing expertise.

Posted in Branding, Graphic Design, New Projects, Package design, Print Projects | Leave a comment

Tip of the Week: Email Marketing

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Shell Graphix

While email marketing is a popular and cost effective form of marketing in the world today there are a few key factors to keep in mind:

1. If you are marketing on a personal level, especially if you are auto-inserting first names into your mail piece, it is vital to ensure the data is correct. Nothing goes over worse than sending someone mail with someone else’s name on it.

2. Keep it short and sweet. With so much email content doing the rounds on a daily basis a short, direct message has a much higher read rate than a lengthy message that requires more time to absorb. Select either 3-5 highlight articles with a short snap for each or 1-2 main topics that appeal to your readers.

3. Less issues avoids the switch-off issue. If you send your database a mail piece each day or even each week it won’t take long before they switch off and either ignore, delete or unsubscribe. It is far more powerful to promote once a fortnight, month or even bi-monthly so that your readers are eager to see what you have to say. It is a novelty to spot your mail and absorb what’s inside.

4. Exclusivity. Add something to your enewsletter that your readers can’t get anywhere else. This not only inspires others to join in but it makes your subscribers feel special increasing their connection with what you have to offer.

5. Make sure it looks good. It might go without saying but the better your email marketing looks the higher the chance people will read it. With a mix of browser platforms and devices making sure your enews works in all of them is rather important. If they can’t see it, or it displays incorrectly your credibility reduces. A mix of images and text is also vital – all images will mean your audience has to download to get any detail on the email topic(s). Add in a mixture of images and text and you can tease them into the right click to view images far easier.

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Digital publication design formats

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Shell Graphix

While digital publishing is fairly new to Australia it is certainly growing at a swift rate. There are many aspects to consider and so much untapped potential just itching to be released.

To cover all bases digital publications can be created in some or all of the following formats:

PDF (Portable document format)

When a document is converted to PDF format it is basically an image replica of the data on the page. PDF is common to most electronic devices from ereaders, computers, i-devices and can be output for high quality print replication also.

PDF documents are highly beneficial for computer and i-device use as they allow smart-text viewing and interactivity especially through onscreen pdf viewing applications. PDF documents created in native design platforms (such as InDesign) maintain their text data. This means text can be copied, searched or interactively linked to web pages or through inter-document navigation (smart click navigation).

More recent developments of PDF functionality include form data capture and management.

The main limitation of PDF documents is that display on smaller screens (ereaders, iPhones, iPods, etc.) can be limited due to heavy scaling. This is one of the reasons that sees ereaders favour epub format with the fluid or flowing text functionality over pdf format.

Epub (EPUB)

Epub is a distribution and interchange format that was developed by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). The IDPF are a global standards organisation dedicated to the development of electronic publishing. Epub is a compressed, packaged and encoded file consisting of HTML5, CSS, images, SVG and blends it into a single file format for ease of use and distribution.

This format is most compatible with a mix of e-reading devices with the most common being the Amazon Kindle.

Fixed Layout EPUB (FLEPUB)

Similar to EPUB, FLEPUB utilises CSS positioning to create precise layouts including full page bleed layouts and overlapping text/image content. This file format is most commonly used for magazine, how-to guides, picture books and other highly visual publications.

Mobi (MOBI)

This format was originally created for Palm Pilots, later adapted to suit Kindle. It is also based on HTML.

Applications / Interactive Multimedia Ebook

itunes applications and interactive digital publications support interactive components including embedded videos, image slideshows and transitions, non-linear storytelling and animations. These are not yet supported by ereaders and are designed primarily for computer or i-device use.

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As Shell Graphix, a Brisbane based design firm, delves deeper into this new field they endeavour to make the results speak for themselves. Keep an eye on this blog feed for inspiration and demonstrations in this exciting new world of digital publishing.

Posted in Catalogue Design, Digital Publication, Featured Articles, Graphic Design | Leave a comment