Big Blog | Web Design, Development, SEO, Business http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog Web Design, Graphic Design, Development, SEO, Business Growth. Sat, 30 May 2009 06:49:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 en hourly 1 Beginners SEO - Top 5 Tips to Improve Your Rankings http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/05/30/beginners-seo-top-5-tips-to-improve-your-rankings/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/05/30/beginners-seo-top-5-tips-to-improve-your-rankings/#comments Sat, 30 May 2009 06:42:31 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=261 SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the name given to the process of optimising a website to be search engine friendly. Small and large businesses are catching onto the fact that their website can hugely benefit from SEO and ranking well on the search engines.

In this article ill list the top 5 beginners SEO tips you can implement very easily and will help improve your website rankings.

1./ Page Title Optimisation

Your page title is the text description that search engines use in the results and your web browser displays in the top of your window. The page title is very important in SEO and is one of the main factors in helping your web page rank. Your title should be an accurate description of what content is displayed on the page and should only focus on 2 or 3 main topics or key phrases.

The <title> tag is contained in the <head> section of an .html page. It is a stand-alone element and not really a meta tag, but it is the most important step you need to take in optimising your website, whether it’s a blog or static Web page.

This tag is what Google and the other search engines index in their results to link to your website. It is the “first impression” and your only chance to make the Google user click on the result pointing to your website. This is a mirror of the quality you offer on your website.

Your page title should use keywords used in your content heading and paragraph tags. If your web page has content related to “Sydney SEO” or “SEO Central Coast” your heading and paragraph tags should also include the keywords “Sydney SEO” and “SEO Central Coast”.

2./ Descriptive Link Anchor Text

Every website uses text links in some form or another. Google and other search engines read these links in relation to the rest of your web page content and rate them based on how relevant they are. The name given to the text used in a link is “anchor text”. A big mistake people make when linking their pages together is they use anchor text like “click here” or “read more”. It is much better you use descriptive keywords in your link anchor text that are related to you on page copy and the page the link points to. For example if I was linking to a page with content about Sydney SEO and Central Coast SEO I would not say “Click here for more information” or “Read more”, I would say “Click here for more information on Sydney SEO” or “Read more on Central Coast SEO”.

3./ Have Lots, & Lots of Content

Content is probably the most important factor of SEO. Basically if you have the content your website will rank irrespective of your page titles or anchor text links. The more content you can get that is related to your websites topic the better. Google and other search engines love big websites and the more content you have, the more pages the Search Engines can see and therefore the bigger you website is.

4./ Source Incoming Links

Another good beginners SEO tip is, find external incoming links to your websites. One of the other ways Google and other search engine rank websites is by scanning how many other websites are linking to yours and if those websites have what us search engine optimisers call “Authority”. Authority websites can be other websites that rank very well with a high page rank, government websites or educational websites. The more incoming links you get from external websites and especially authority websites the higher search engines will rank you. Part of the skill in SEO is sourcing and securing authority backlinks.

5./ Name Your Page File Names

There’s lots of scope for SEO around your page names. Google guidelines suggest that you build a brand, but nevertheless keyword rich filenames do well in search… if the SEO is done right. They should be based around the top level keywords for that page, there’s no reason to give pages or files random names. If a page is based around keyword content, then the filename should contain those keywords. Using my same examples as before, if my page has content about “Sydney SEO” or “Central Coast SEO” I woud probably name my page sydney-central-coast-seo.html or somthing along those lines. You will notice I used dashes (-) instead of and underscore (_) to seperate the words. Google reads both as a word seperater but dashs are more widely used.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/05/30/beginners-seo-top-5-tips-to-improve-your-rankings/feed/ Is Web Development Expensive? http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/04/05/is-web-development-expensive/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/04/05/is-web-development-expensive/#comments Sat, 04 Apr 2009 23:02:43 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=248 There are many aspects that contribute to how much a web development project will cost. Some websites cost $300, some websites cost $3,000,000, it depends on -

  •  The type of website
  • How much content is on the website
  • If the website has a content managment system
  •  How many working hours are involved in the planning, design, development and testing

There are web development companies that specialise in particular styles of websites. Some focus on the smaller style, simple websites that cater to lower end budgets, some focus on the mid-range style websites that could include a basic content management system (cms) and more detailed design and functionality, and other web development companies just focus on the high-end websites that often take many months to complete and can include detailed planning, eCommerce, total database and content management system integration, search engine optimisation (seo), information architecture, user-interface psychology and extensive testing.

As you have probably guessed, these styles of website vary in cost quite dramatically, depending on the needs of the client and what budget they have determine what the cost of the project will be. I’ll give you an example- if you have a budget of $15,000 to build a website to showcase your products or services and provide information to your website visitors, you’ll most likely get a decent website within or under budget. Say you have got three quotes and they are for $3,000, $7,000 and $14,000. There is quite a bit of a difference here and you’re probably thinking “but what’s the difference between the 3k job and the 14k job?”

Below, I’ll highlight some factors that will differentiate the three different costs and give you an idea of what you get for your money.

The Low Quote

Well, for $3,000 you’ll probably think “great, what a bargain, I have saved $12,000 and I can get a website that does what I need of it”…  However, you need consider the following questions. 

  • How much effort has the web designer gone to, to understand your business goals & drivers, and incorporate them into the website interface and functionality?
  • Does the design and layout compliment the standard of your business, and has the designer created a custom layout design, not used a prebuilt template?
  • Has the web designer considered search engine optimisation (seo) when developing the website?
  • Does the website allow you to update it using a content management system (cms)?
  • How much detail has gone into the usability and browser compatibility?
  • Have they used the latest in web design technology to ensure longevity of the website?
  • Is the website scalable if you need to add features to it at a later stage?

These are all questions you should consider, as it’s possible you could spend the $3000 on a website and it doesn’t do what you expected of it. e.g. it doesn’t rank well on search engines, it’s not bringing in new business, it doesn’t work in all browsers, and you can’t update it… Would you consider that $3,000 well spent? You do get to tick the box that you have a website, but it may possibly do nothing for your business.

The Mid-Range Quote

The mid-range quote is probably where most people feel comfortable committing. They realise they might not get everything they need in the low quote and the high quote seems a little expensive, so the safe option is in the middle. 

In my experience, for $7,000 it’s likely you will get a quality website which has most of the questions highlighted above covered. However, you should ensure you have considered all the questions as they do apply to all web development projects. 

The High Quote

In the high quote, it’s likely the web designer has allowed for every feature to be included and more. One aspect to web development that takes up a lot of time, and is factored into the cost, is the creative time. The creative time would be spent on research, planning, design and psychology behind the site, i.e what you want your visitors to do once they’re there and how they interact with the website. This is referred to as the user-experience. Many hours can be spent on the creative time and it shows in the success of the website.

This creative time is hard to justify as many people struggle to understand the benefits of it and why is costs so much. If your budget has allowed for this and the quote you received covers a good amount of creative time, I would suggest you use what you have and build a top quality, high-end website that will benefit your business. You will notice the difference and you’re more likely to see a quantifiable return on your investment. 

The Conclusion

Overall, how much you want to spend on your web development project is up to you and there will always be cheaper options. It’s just a matter of how far you want to go with the project and how much you allowed for in your budget.

There are a number of sayings that can be related to the question, “is web development expensive?” and a few spring to mind like “You get what you pay for”, “How long is a piece of string” and “You only get out what you put in”.

Web Design & Development, whilst a very corporate and business-focused industry, is still an art form. And as with any art, the possibilities are essentially endless. You’re only limited by your (and your designer’s) imagination. Well, that and your budget!

At Big Click Studios we will fit into you budget as best we can taking into consideration your business goals and allowing for as much creative and technical time as possible. We will work with you to transfer your ideas into a valuable addition to your business.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/04/05/is-web-development-expensive/feed/ Sydney Web Design - Big Click Studios http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/11/sydney-web-design-big-click-studios/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/11/sydney-web-design-big-click-studios/#comments Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:10:16 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=232 Big Click Studios is now taking on a new initiative and offering our web design services to Sydney. We have never turned down any Sydney companies needing web design, but now, we are actively targeting Sydney companies and offering a premium service at a extremely competitive rate. We excel at what we do and can bring a unique perspective to your Sydney web design project which will give you a clear advantage over your competitors and a world class web design to reflect your identity.

We will do whatever it takes to transform your vision into a web design that emanates excellence. Our team are all experts in their chosen field and strive to make each project perfect in every way. We don’t look at our Sydney web design projects as a one time job, but think of them as an ongoing relationship and an extension of our own identity.

At Big Click Studios we aim to provide a cost effective solution to our clients and focus on giving them a return on their investment. We do not have the overheads of a Sydney web design company as we are based on the Central Coast. Therefore, we must pass our savings on to our clients. The Central Coast is only one hour north of Sydney and we regularly have meetings in North Sydney, The Northern Beaches, Sydney CBD and The Inner West.

At Big Click Studios we provide a premium web design and web development service to always reach an outcome that is over and above our clients expectations. If you are a Sydney based companies who is undertaking a web design project you probably will have to filter through so many Sydney web design companies to find the right one for your project. Then, after you have found one that suits your project needs, you would probably be presented with an overly priced estimate to get the quality you expect. If the estimate is outside your budget, you could have to settle for a second rate job that might not work for you.

At Big Click Studios we can provide web design and web development that is top class and at an affordable rate. If you are a company based in Sydney and are thinking of contacting a Sydney web design company - Give us a call and we can help you. Visit the contact page to send us and email.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/11/sydney-web-design-big-click-studios/feed/ Why Website Navigation is Important http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/10/why-website-navigation-is-important/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/10/why-website-navigation-is-important/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 10:31:21 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=181 There are so many aspects that all come together to create a quality web design and one of the integral components is the website navigation. The website navigation is the overall term given to the any internal linking between the website pages and the process a website visitor goes through to access the content. If the navigation has not been designed well it can hinder the user experience which will essentially stop the site visitors from easily flowing through the website.

The main navigation is quite often referred to as the menu. The menu is normally displayed at the top or in a left column of the website and is present on every page. The menu is a key element in the web design and must standout compared to other design elements. A good web designer will be able to design a menu that compliments the web design. Another key navigation component that is found on nearly all websites is the footer menu. Normally this menu has the same items at the main menu but could include some other links that don’t need as prominent position. You will find links like “about us”, “terms and conditions”, privacy policy” and “sitemap” in the footer.

Although the main menu and footer menu serve as the major navigation for most websites, there are many other navigation methods that are used in web design. One other very important navigation method is using text links within the content. Text links can be used to link a word or phase within a body of text to another relevant page. Text links should be used sparingly within the web design as using too many can complicate the layout and can hinder the users simple navigation method.

Another web design navigation method is using images to highlight important areas of the website. An image could be used to promote a special offer or a upcoming event. An image can use prominent colours and contrast to stand out against the total web design.

Using the text content around the website and factoring it into the web design layout is another successful form of navigation. The web design can include a few sentence from your latest blogs or news articles with a “read more” option. If one of the text snippets catch the users attention they would be inclined to click the link to read more.

Website navigation is very importent as it creates the flow for the website user to travel around the website. A good web design should include a prominent and clear navigation system.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/03/10/why-website-navigation-is-important/feed/ Using the Right Colours for your Web Design http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/02/11/using-the-right-colours-for-your-web-design/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/02/11/using-the-right-colours-for-your-web-design/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:08:29 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=182 Colours are very important in web design. They portray an image, a mood or a feeling which can leave a memorable first impression on a website visitor. Generally the colours used in the web design are the same as the identity and logo colours used for the business - which should represent the corporate image the business want’s to portray. It is very important your web design uses the existing colours used in your logo and a complimentary colour pallet that will work with the other web design elements. The colour pallet should have a dominant colour and some shades of a similar tone, there should also be a opposite or negative colour that can be used as a highlight within the web design. The highlight can be used for link and button rollover or to draw attention to a specific area of the layout.

Different colours in your web design can affect the mood of the user. All colours have a psychological affect on us and can even change the way our body’s function on a basic level.

The eleven basic colours have fundamental psychological properties that are universal, regardless of which particular shade, tone or tint of it you are using. Each of them has potentially positive or negative psychological effects and which of these effects is created depends on the relationships within colour combination’s.

RED. Physical
Positive: Physical courage, strength, warmth, energy, basic survival, ‘fight or flight’, stimulation, masculinity, excitement.
Negative: Defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain.

Being the longest wavelength, red is a powerful colour when used in web design. Although not technically the most visible, it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs our attention first. Hence its effectiveness in traffic lights the world over. Its effect is physical; it stimulates us and raises the pulse rate, giving the impression that time is passing faster than it is. It relates to the masculine principle and can activate the “fight or flight” instinct. Red is strong, and very basic. Pure red is the simplest colour, with no subtlety. It is stimulating and lively, very friendly. At the same time, it can be perceived as demanding and aggressive.

BLUE. Intellectual.
Positive: Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm.
Negative: Coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion, unfriendliness.

Blue is the colour of the mind and is essentially soothing; it affects us mentally, rather than the physical reaction we have to red. Strong blues will stimulate clear thought and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind and aid concentration. Consequently it is serene and mentally calming. It is the colour of clear communication. Blue objects do not appear to be as close to us as red ones. Time and again in research, blue is the world’s favourite colour. However, it can be perceived as cold, unemotional and unfriendly. Blue is one of the most common and dominant colour used in web design.

YELLOW. Emotional
Positive: Optimism, confidence, self-esteem, extraversion, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity.
Negative: Irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, suicide.

The yellow wavelength is relatively long and essentially stimulating. In this case the stimulus is emotional, therefore yellow is the strongest colour, psychologically. The right yellow will lift our spirits and our self-esteem; it is the colour of confidence and optimism. Too much of it, or the wrong tone in relation to the other tones in a colour scheme, can cause self-esteem to plummet, giving rise to fear and anxiety. Our “yellow streak” can surface.

GREEN. Balance
Positive: Harmony, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace.
Negative: Boredom, stagnation, blandness, enervation.

Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful. Being in the centre of the spectrum, it is the colour of balance - a more important concept than many people realise. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water, and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green, on a primitive level. Negatively, it can indicate stagnation and, incorrectly used, will be perceived as being too bland. When green is used in web design is can also be associated with being environmentally friendly and technologically savvy.

VIOLET. Spiritual
Positive: Spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality.
Negative: Introversion, decadence, suppression, inferiority.

The shortest wavelength is violet, often described as purple. It takes awareness to a higher level of thought, even into the realms of spiritual values. It is highly introvertive and encourages deep contemplation, or meditation. It has associations with royalty and usually communicates the finest possible quality. Being the last visible wavelength before the ultra-violet ray, it has associations with time and space and the cosmos. Excessive use of purple can bring about too much introspection and the wrong tone of it communicates something cheap and nasty, faster than any other colour.

ORANGE.
Positive: Physical comfort, food, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun.
Negative: Deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity.

Since it is a combination of red and yellow, orange is stimulating and reaction to it is a combination of the physical and the emotional. It focuses our minds on issues of physical comfort - food, warmth, shelter etc. - and sensuality. It is a ‘fun’ colour. Negatively, it might focus on the exact opposite - deprivation. This is particularly likely when warm orange is used with black. Equally, too much orange suggests frivolity and a lack of serious intellectual values.

PINK.
Positive: Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, survival of the species.
Negative: Inhibition, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.

Being a tint of red, pink also affects us physically, but it soothes, rather than stimulates. (Interestingly, red is the only colour that has an entirely separate name for its tints. Tints of blue, green, yellow, etc. are simply called light blue, light green…etc.) Pink is a powerful colour, psychologically. It represents the feminine principle, and survival of the species; it is nurturing and physically soothing. Too much pink is physically draining and can be somewhat emasculating when used in web design.

GREY.
Positive: Psychological neutrality.
Negative: Lack of confidence, dampness, depression, hibernation, lack of energy.

Pure grey is the only colour that has no direct psychological properties. It is, however, quite suppressive. A virtual absence of colour is depressing and when the world turns grey we are instinctively conditioned to draw in and prepare for hibernation. Unless the precise tone is right, grey has a dampening effect on other colours used with it. Heavy use of grey usually indicates a lack of confidence and fear of exposure. When grey is used in web design, it acts as a neutral colour to give shading and shadow to certain elements.

BLACK.
Positive: Sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance.
Negative: Oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness.

Black is all colours, totally absorbed. The psychological implications of that are considerable. It creates protective barriers, as it absorbs all the energy coming towards you, and it enshrouds the personality. Positively, it communicates absolute clarity, with no fine nuances. It works particularly well with white. It communicates sophistication and uncompromising excellence. It creates a perception of weight and seriousness (it is a myth that black clothes are slimming). Black is essentially an absence of light, since no wavelengths are reflected and it can, therefore be menacing; many people are afraid of the dark.

WHITE.
Positive: Hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanness, simplicity, sophistication, efficiency.
Negative: Sterility, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness, elitism.

Just as black is total absorption, so white is total reflection. In effect, it reflects the full force of the spectrum into our eyes. Thus it also creates barriers, but differently from black, and it is often a strain to look at. It communicates, “Touch me not!” White is purity and, like black, uncompromising; it is clean, hygienic, and sterile. The concept of sterility can also be negative. Visually, white gives a heightened perception of space. The negative effect of white on warm colours is to make them look and feel garish. White is very important in web design as white is also generally symbolic of space. The utilisation of space in web design is very important.

BROWN.
Positive: Seriousness, warmth, Nature, earthiness, reliability, support.
Negative: Lack of humour, heaviness, lack of sophistication.

Brown usually consists of red and yellow, with a large percentage of black. Consequently, it has much of the same seriousness as black, but is warmer and softer. It has elements of the red and yellow properties. Brown has associations with the earth and the natural world. It is a solid, reliable colour and most people find it quietly supportive - more positively than the ever-popular black, which is suppressive, rather than supportive.

Each of these colours all have there own appeal and suit different web designs with different purpouses. There are many variations of and shades of each of these colours and all of them will give a uniques impression to the viewer. At Big Click Studios we pay carfull attention to the colours used in every web design we create and take notice of how they will affect the user.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/02/11/using-the-right-colours-for-your-web-design/feed/ Do It Yourself Web Design http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/do-it-yourself-web-design/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/do-it-yourself-web-design/#comments Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:56:16 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=183 Web design is one of those skills that people, if they choose to learn the basics can build a simple website. Im not saying they can go and design the next Facebook but they can certainly get a very basic page online using a variety of free web design software packages or even professional software like Adobe Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Photoshop.

There are many types of web design styles and techniques and to learn even a few of them can take years. If you are thinking about designing your own website, remember, it takes time and effort, and many years of experience to build the majority of websites you use. There are many factors that contribute to a good web design but they’ll have to be discussed another time. Here ill talk about do it yourself web design and how you can get a basic website online.

There are loads of free services and templates that can be used to create a do it yourself web design. You can look at a pre-built blog style website and use Blogger or Wordpress to manage your website’s content. Or even a MySpace profile might serve as a basic website for you.

If you want your own website with your unique domain name and custom pages, you will need to build your website using HTML. HTML stands for hyper text markup language - HTML is the basic code behind any website, it is used for the structural containers that hold the images and content of your web design. The HTML file normally refers to another coding language called CSS. CSS stands for cascading style sheets - CSS runs hand in hand with the HTML to create the web design layout. Using HTML and CSS to build you website isn’t something you can just pick-up and use overnight but with the right assistance you will be able to use the basics to create a do it yourself web design.

A do it yourself web design does has its advantages if you are running on a low budget and want to put in the time to learn the nessesary web design skills. However, using a qualified web designer with years of experience will always be a better option for your website development. They will use their skills to develop the optimum way to promote your businesses services using advanced web design and web development techniques.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/do-it-yourself-web-design/feed/ Does Your Small Business need a Web Design? http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/does-your-small-business-need-a-web-design/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/does-your-small-business-need-a-web-design/#comments Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:53:52 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=164 Web design for small business is a growing market. Many small businesses have realised the power of the web and have taken their business online. That said… Many small business still do not have a website yet and fail to see the value in creating an online presence. The web can be a powerful tool in generating leads and making sales for your business as long if you have the right website. Many web design companies specialise in small business web design and offer cheap and easy solutions to get an online presence. This can be a good solution for a lot of businesses as a cheap and easy website may be all they need. In this article ill talk about the reasons why small business should go that little bit further and pay for a quality website that can bring on new clients, make sales and ultimately take you small business to the next level.

Most small business websites have what us web designers call a brochure style, static web design. Which means the website normally functions as an online brochure and has n0 dynamic or updatable content. These types of websites are good to act as an addition to print based marketing, advertising or referrals to provide your potential client with more information. This is good as an extra to your sales pitch, but we want the website to bring the potential clients to you and generate direct sales. The website should be the first point of contact not the last in you sales pitch. The web design should prompt the visitor to the next step in your sales process whether is be to fill out an inquiry form, call a telephone number or download a discount coupon.

You can get visitors to your website by a number of avenues. One common technique is advertising the website through traditional means and giving the visitors an incentive of some sort to email or call you. This gives you an opportunity to sell your business directly to the client.

Getting your site ranking on Google and other search engines is also a very powerful way of generating leads. This in my opinion is the most successful way of getting targeted traffic to your website and converting it to business. Search engine optimisation or seo is the name given to the process of optimising a website to rank high on the search engines. This is usually a timely and can be a costly exercise but its a matter of weighing up the cost verses the business you will gain. Using a web designer that builds search engine friendly websites is essential if you want your small business website to rank on the search engines. You might have to pay that bit extra but in the long run it will pay off.

So overall I would say it is essential your small business has a website and uses it to gain direct referrals and business. You should way up the options between a cheap, static web design or spending that little bit extra and getting a valuable online presence that earns you a return on you investment. A good way to look at it is compare the cost of your product or service with the cost of developing a website and working out how many sales you would need to make to earn your money spent. Most small businesses will make their money back in one or two sales, so if you website makes two sales in the first week of going live imagine the business it will bring in over the course of a year. You would definitely make a return on you investment.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/28/does-your-small-business-need-a-web-design/feed/ Sydney Web Design & Development Services http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/23/sydney-web-design-development-services/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/23/sydney-web-design-development-services/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 21:43:59 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=174 Website design and web development in Sydney is setting the benchmark for the Australian web design industry. North Sydney is fast becoming the silicon valley for Australia with new website design and web development companies appearing all over the place.

Sydney and Australia has mostly been behind the rest of the world as far as the internet and web design industry is concerned due to the poor internet speeds. However, they have always only been just behind as far as progression goes. The last five years has seen a huge increase in the standard of Sydney web design and in the quality of websites that the web development companies produce.

This new standard of Sydney web design is lifting the Australian standards of website development as a whole. Smaller web design companies outside Sydney are now also comparing themselves to the larger Sydney based designers and lifting their design standards.

One example is the Central Coast found one hour north of Sydney … The Central Coast has many web development businesses that are closely following the likes of Sydney web design companies. They are improving their web design output and creating websites that are just as good as their Sydney web design neighbors.

The Central Coast may be slightly behind Sydney web design as far as the size of the project budgets, and the lack of high profile jobs that Sydney web design companies have access to. However, the Central Coast can offer, in most cases the same quality of work at a cheaper price. Sydney web design companies normally have huge overheads and are paying larger salaries to their staff and this is reflected in the price they charge.

So if you’re in Sydney and thinking of developing a website … before you go strait to a high profile Sydney web design company, see what the Central Coast has to offer.

Big Click Studios are located on the Central Coast and we are more than happy to visit your Sydney location and enjoy a one hour trip down the freeway. Many of our existing clients are located in Sydney and they have been more than impressed with our standard of work and our competitive web design and development prices.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2009/01/23/sydney-web-design-development-services/feed/ SEO for Small Business Websites http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2008/12/03/seo-for-small-business-websites/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2008/12/03/seo-for-small-business-websites/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:59:24 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=153 Many small businesses are turning to the internet for a broader online audience and to gain more sales leads. In doing so, small business owners are catching on to the fact that to successfully generate leads from a website you do need good search engine rankings and for that you need SEO. Websites are great as a referral tool as long as they rank for search terms related to your business. You may already have a website that looks great and works as an online brochure as long as you send people there with marketing, radio or TV. But if your website doesn’t rank you wont get any direct business from it. This is where you need some SEO done to boost your search engine rankings

Every website can be optimised for search engines using SEO. Sometimes it helps if the website has been developed a certain way which is search engine friendly but generally any website can have better rankings, given you’re not number one already. And then… even if you do rank well for one search term, you might want to rank for other terms also.

Small businesses can greatly benefit from using SEO and promoting their website on the search engines. many businesses spend lots of money on advertisements or expensive business directories which only have exposure for maximum one year. For the price of some printed business directories for one year, you could have a website designed, developed and including SEO so you rank well and the website lasts for ever. As long as you keep paying the nominal amount for hosting and domain registration.

Generally SEO for small business websites is simpler than optimising for larger corporations. The larger companies normally have larger competition with larger budgets for SEO and focus on a very competitive search terms. Take a local small web design and SEO business focusing on their local area. Its going to be very hard to rank well for broad terms such as “web design” or “SEO” but if you add the area or suburb into the phrase they will have a much higher chance of ranking.

Small businesses normally focus on generating sales leads from their local area. Optimising a website using a locality based keyword dramatically helps the SEO process. The number of search results for “SEO” is around 250,000,000, which would be quite an SEO challenge to get in the top 50 let alone the top 10. Add your local area in the phrase like “Central Coast SEO” and the results dramaticly decrease to 214,000. Much more of an achevable SEO goal.

Small businesses should try and use SEO as a major part of their marketing stratagy. If your small business doesn’t have a website maybe next time it comes around to pay for your yearly directory ad, maybe you should think about developing a website and or getting some SEO done for your local area.

Big Click can help your small, medium or large business gain exposure through SEO. We keep up-to-date with the latest technologies and SEO techniques to help your website be found.

]]> http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2008/12/03/seo-for-small-business-websites/feed/ What is Web Development? http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2008/12/02/what-is-web-development/ http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/2008/12/02/what-is-web-development/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:03:49 +0000 Justin http://www.bigclick.com.au/blog/?p=158 Web development is the term given to the action of developing a website. People mistake web programming for web development but the term does include many other aspects. It covers web design, e-commerce, content management, SEO and any other dynamic aspect to a website. Web development is probably the broadest web term to describe the act of building a website.

Web Development Programming Languages

Every website is developed with some sort of programming language. These programming languages make the website function. When looking at the front-end of a website you wouldn’t be able to tell what language it uses but look at the code and it would be very different. Most dynamic programming languages are not compatible with each other. However they can access the same database and display the information the same. All the programming languages are totally different and play a unique part in the overall function of the website. Quite a few web programming languages work together to make the designed interface look good and function well.

How Can Web Development Benefit you?

Whether you’re a large corporation, a small business, or you work for yourself, web development can benefit you. If you don’t have a website, you definitely should get one. A company without a website is potentially hurting your business growth and limiting your audience and potential clients. There is never a reason to not have a website and always ten reasons to have one. If you already have a website, you probably have a list of things you would like it to do or, if you don’t a good web developer should be able to advise you on ways to improve your current website.

Big Click Web Development

At Big Click Studios we pride ourselves on our unique web development skills. We utilise strategic web design and custom web development to really push your online business to the next level. Contact us today for an obligation free web development appraisal of your website and see how we can help you.

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