Digital this and Digital that- what does it all mean ? Being Green Dome and a champion for untangling the World Wide Web we decided to find out what you really get for your money when you choose something ‘Digital’.

Digital Camera/ Images – well as it sounds it’s the same old camera we had as kids, but you can edit the photos, upload them to the internet and make changes to them. Simple as. We would say it really makes the older cameras obsolete simply because they don’t have the same focus as the digital ones or the flexibility. With so many free downloadable software’s available you can ‘clean up’ your photos in a jiffy. If you haven’t shaved you will see a shaved version of yourself, if you don’t like your skin tone you will be glowing in seconds and if you have put on too many pounds over Christmas you can ‘cut them off’ with your Photoshop tool.

Liquid Web Design- NO this not something they sell in a bottle in Tesco’s! It is actually a way to display your website on any screen dimension without having to minimize the screen. So regardless of the screen size or resolution the site is still visible in full even on hand held devices.

Digital Services- Well this is a loose term used in the past to refer to websites but can also be expanded to logo designs, printing, branding or even multi media. Depending on the company and their services portfolio most thing web related are included under this umbrella.

Digital Applications- Well although another loose term this is the ‘buzz word ‘ of the year. If you were one of those people who thought nothing of wanting a website in 2000 and then kicked yourself for not having one – well nows the time to pay attention. In 2020 according to the internet report , the primary means to access the internet is through a mobile device. That means you need a digital application which represents your business on an iphone, blackberry , ipad, android or any other hand held device otherwise the world will ignore you. Do you remember when anyone who didn’t have a computer was totally ‘not with it” well in the next year anyone without a hand held device that has internet access will be the same if not already so.

People have dived into this new market place with gusto to make sure they carve themselves a niche and its predicted that over 50 million users will purchase an iphone during 2011 – so you need to rethink how you can tap into this vital market.

Getting a website is essential, getting social media also essential but getting a digital application – is an absolute must. This will help give your business the edge you need to survive during the recession and rise above others after it.

Well, we hope you are ready to brave the new ‘Digital world’ with all of your new found knowledge and wish all our readers a Happy New 2011.

Traditionally a shopkeeper would think of a business idea, purchase some stock, purchase or rent a shop space and with a bit of investment sit and wait for business to arrive. If he was truly dedicated he would print some leaflets, perhaps run a special offer in his shop window or mention his wares at some local shopkeepers get together.

Today the virtual shopkeeper needn’t get out of bed. His shop is his website. Simple , to the point with easy access to his wares all in the reach of a click. In fact a good website would have 2 click through’s to get to the product required. He can receive an alert every time a sale goes through, payments go directly into his Paypal or merchant account and he receives a stock alert every time anything goes below his set ‘danger level’. Today’s shopkeeper doesn’t need to send out an invoice, it gets sent automatically , he can check automatically how many visitors he had and take stock of any upcoming trends in the kind of traffic he is getting. To show new products he doesn’t have to dress the shop front dummy but copy pastes his new product and saves in his content management system. Voila – the product with its price is ready for viewing by the general public. For advertisement he doesn’t print anything in fact he is completely green. No paper is used just search engine optimization, easy access to his site, key words, Meta tags, directory listing, link building and SEM.
These kind of sites are what are termed as ‘self managed sites’ and are so easy to set up, master and manage that even the most reluctant of entrepreneurs are using them. They are cheap and cheerful, easy to use and can make the difference between a business idea and a business reality.

These kind of ecommerce sites can either be something using an off the shelf solution like cube cart, Magento or something completely customized depending on the clients requirements.
So if you thought it was hard to go online with your home made remedy for blisters well think again! It’s as simple as copy paste and save.

Traditionally a shopkeeper would think of a business idea, purchase some stock, purchase or rent a shop space and with a bit of investment sit and wait for business to arrive. If he was truly dedicated he would print some leaflets, perhaps run a special offer in his shop window or mention his wares at some local shopkeepers get together.

Today the virtual shopkeeper needn’t get out of bed. His shop is his website. Simple , to the point with easy access to his wares all in the reach of a click. In fact a good website would have 2 click through’s to get to the product required. He can receive an alert every time a sale goes through, payments go directly into his Paypal or merchant account and he receives a stock alert every time anything goes below his set ‘danger level’. Today’s shopkeeper doesn’t need to send out an invoice, it gets sent automatically , he can check automatically how many visitors he had and take stock of any upcoming trends in the kind of traffic he is getting. To show new products he doesn’t have to dress the shop front dummy but copy pastes his new product and saves in his content management system. Voila – the product with its price is ready for viewing by the general public. For advertisement he doesn’t print anything in fact he is completely green. No paper is used just search engine optimization, easy access to his site, key words, Meta tags, directory listing, link building and SEM.
These kind of sites are what are termed as ‘self managed sites’ and are so easy to set up, master and manage that even the most reluctant of entrepreneurs are using them. They are cheap and cheerful, easy to use and can make the difference between a business idea and a business reality.

These kind of ecommerce sites can either be something using an off the shelf solution like cube cart, Magento or something completely customized depending on the clients requirements.
So if you thought it was hard to go online with your home made remedy for blisters well think again! It’s as simple as copy paste and save.

Everybody has an idea of what their site should look like in terms of look and feel. Color is important as is the overall layout. A careful questionnaire is usually used to assess the clients target market and then target location. Age groups, business nature, are all factors that blend in to make a carefully customized design according to a persons/ companies design requirement.

Based on all of this useful information a good designer will in the first two attempts create something that will be practical, functional and hold the wow effect to keep visitors glued to the site once they get there.

But just like one of those disaster movies where everything is fine until the earth starts to shake, this is the calm before the storm.

So here’s how it starts, the first time web person suddenly remembers his last art class (which may have been 45 years ago) and wants shadowing around the letters and a mixture of five different colors and squirly fonts.

After careful consultation with his wife, mother, mother in law and the neighbors he then decides his site is not complete without a photo of Mitzy the cat who sadly passed away last year.

Then while dropping his kids to school he realizes how a picture of a baby is adorable and how his site can’t possibly go live without the baby photo. Imagine the traffic he would generate!

Finally although he wanted a site that would display his plumbing techniques he decides to make the most of his webspace and also sell the garden gnomes he makes on the weekends. Plus the wife does some really wicked cupcakes and could sell a few on the site during the holidays.

The result as you can understand ends up looking like something made by a 12 year old playing with his new paint set with lots of stuff going on in different directions. The visitor is left wandering what he is looking at and why.

This sadly is how a site design goes wrong. After evaluation and the first 3 rounds your site should be good to go. It should have all the elements that will make the site work, web 2.0 layout to keep the focus of the visitor where it should be on your core business purpose. A good web company will have Web Designers with usually at least 2 years of experience in the field of design (ours have 5) and will know what works and what doesn’t work. Using more than 3 colors is also a big no- no (unless your business is selling paint!).The colors distract and make your site look gaudy and too cluttered.
Our research shows your window of opportunity to ‘wow’ your first time visitor to your site is only 2 seconds. If your site doesn’t make sense and is too cluttered you will lose that valuable opportunity and no he won’t come back.
So although your feedback is essential towards the initial design phase, there should also be faith placed in the capabilities of the designer. A weird wacky layout might work if your site is a simple brochure but it also might be detrimental from a business sense if it makes it hard for the visitor to find something to buy.

The exceptions perhaps to this article would be those whose sites are all about art, designs, all about image and not user friendliness. Those whose priority doesn’t lie in SEO and have an established base of users and a renowned brand name. Most of these people usually have a very clear focus of their design and can be helped to create their vision avidly by designers.
Always remember the best sites in the world are the simplest. Doesn’t Google have a simple search bar and then very little else? No flash, no shooting stars and no photos of Mitzy.

• Many Pages, means extra cost and a very expensive site. Wrong. This is a common misconception where people assume that asking for an extra page will drastically increase their website cost. The cost of the site is built around the functionality. The more functionality the site holds the more cost. Usually extra pages do not have a great impact on the site cost.
• Writing lots of key words into my content over and over again will help me to get visitors to my site. Wrong. This is not only detrimental (from an SEO point of view )to your site but also means that if someone does visit your site they will be so confused reading gibberish that they will decide to take their business elsewhere.
• Building a complete flash site will help me to get lots of visitors, err maybe but Google, Yahoo etc will be blind to it and give you not such a cool ranking as your site might look. So the best way forward really is to get a hybrid something with some flash elements like a flash banner but the rest of the site should have content and html.
• For Ecommerce sites there has to be a full time person manning the site all the time. Myth Busted. Today’s ecommerce couldn’t be easier to run with a content management system, they allow you stay in control when necessary but also take a back seat in terms of maintenance. Green Dome Web Solutions creates self managed sites that automate payments on the site, send a thank you note to the visitor, send you the money and let you know how much stock is left. All while you are busy with your full time job, or sleeping. Ecommerce has never been this easy.
• I will have to hire an assistant computer guy to look after the website. Not at all. A website with a CMS will allow you to add, delete , upload and change text and images on the site when you want. If you can copy, paste and save. You can take care of your website. Its that simple

Your website is not just an online presence but your calling card to the world. It is the thing that defines your business and will be your branding tool. It also has to represent the business moto, motive and call to action all within a short time frame ( on average most people spend 3 seconds viewing a site).

Once this has been achieved the focus then shifts to retaining the visitor and captivating them long enough to sell your wares or capture their contact details.

Driving traffic to your site through SEO is something we take care of completely. In all you get a site that is user friendly, attractive, practical and ends with fulfillment of your ‘call to action’.

It then invites the visitor to make repeated visits through marketing newsletters, data capture or by offering special discounts/incentives.

Each site is preceded with an indepth evaluation of your business and how to enhance it in the best sense possible. This is completely free of charge.

Each site is also provided with a free design of their home page concept prior to moving forward with their site.

All in all we create solutions that work.

Call us on 02079934064 for further information or simply email us at http://greendomewebsolutions.com/contact.php

We look forward to your visit.

W3C compliancy- a validation that shows your site has been coded correctly and is search engine friendly
XML- XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web, intranets, and elsewhere. Its just a computer language!
PCI DSS- a set of comprehensive requirements for enhancing payment account data security. If you have this it means your site is very secure. (Green Dome always provides this as standard).
Design Sign Off- when you say you are OK with the design.
SEO- Search Engine Optimization is a way to make sure your site is recognized by major search engines like Google , Yahoo, Bing Etc.
SEM- Search Engine Marketing are various techniques to make sure people notice your website through blogs, forums, link building, facebook etc.
SSL- Secure socket Layer – this means your site is really secure and nobody can access any information on your database.