The problem is, if you are your own boss you need to depend on your own business for your salary. This has lead to many business owners changing their approach and finally making the jump to trading online. It is in this spirit that Standard Bank and SnapScan have made signing up for a merchant account free during lock down. This means you will be able to accept payments via SnapScan online via the online store integration (we can help you there!) or in person with your QR code once lock down lifts, all of this is handled safely and securely through SnapScan and Standard Bank, with the added safety and security of offering a hygienic contact-free payment method.

There are also many other benefits of running your business online. Particularly at this time the main benefit is being able to do business while still maintaining social distancing.

Some of the other benefits include:

• Sell vouchers online for future use once lock down lifts
• Do business rent free as you avoid the need for a brick and mortar store
• Reach many more potential customers, as now everybody with an internet connection anywhere in the country (or world!) can purchase your products
• Drive traffic to your website and increase your web presence and search engine visibility by offering special deals that continue to drive people back to your website
• Offer voucher and promo codes to give your customers special event-based discounts.

Doing business online already forms a massive part of all of our daily lives, and, judging by the way the future looks, online shopping will become much more prevalent in South Africa.

Our advice is to take this down time to refine and build your online image, and invest in a well designed and developed online storefront to ensure your business can trade safely and securely, both online and in the real world.

For more information about SnapScan or to sign up, click here.

Hello everyone, both our loyal customers and our future customers. I am Paul Nicolson, and I am the owner/freelance designer behind Electro Web Design.

Considering the recent events and changes in lifestyle we have all had to undergo I thought I would take some time to make some announcements and notify you of any changes regarding my current deadlines and taking on new projects.

Electro Web Design is by and large a ‘one person agency’, which means virtually 100% of the sales, client interaction, as well as the web design and development work performed is done personally by me working from my home office. Due to this fortunate situation I am able to continue working at usual capacity, and current deadlines as well as taking on new projects will not be an issue for me.

The only deadlines which may be affected is if a project should require an additional designer/developer then the timeframe would also depend on their schedule.

As far as day to day operations, I am still operating as normal. The only exception being in-person business meetings will now have to be done over Skype.  (Skype Name: pjnicolson)

I wish everyone safety and health during this unpredictable time, and we are here to assist you with any web design or creative project needs you may have.

Paul

Web hosting companies provides the technical services and infrastructure that allows your website to be displayed on the web. Most hosting providers require that you have your own domain name in order to set up a hosting account with them, but many hosting providers can facilitate the registration of a domain name as part of their service.

When a user types your domain name into their browser, they are directed to your website. This happens because hosting companies provide the servers on which websites are stored and when a user clicks through to your website these servers ensure your website is displayed in the user’s browser.
In basic terms – hosting companies store your website so users are able to view your webpages in their browser.

What features should you look for in a hosting company?

WordPress support

WordPress is the most popular content management system on the web, and it powers around 30% the total websites that are online today. Having support for WordPress is essential when selecting a hosting provider.

FTP access

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and this is the method which your website is uploaded to the web server. Usually this is handled by the web designer or developer, but choosing a hosting company that provides effective access to the site files on the server, you should be good to go!

Email addresses

When setting up hosting for your business you would probably also want to set up business email addresses, using your site domain. This maintains a professional image when mailing clients and customers. The amount of email addresses you are able to have depends on your hosting company as well as the hosting plan you are on. Make sure they offer enough for your business’s needs.

PHP Versions

PHP is a programming language that runs on the server, so its your host’s responsibility to ensure that the version of PHP running on the server is the latest stable release. Having an out of date version of PHP poses a security risk, as well as prevents your website from supporting the latest technologies. (Just to add: No, you don’t need to know any PHP in order to run your own WordPress website!).

Local vs Offshore Web Hosting

What this refers to is where the physical servers are located, either locally in South Africa (local), or overseas (offshore).
Some hosting companies offer a mix of both, with local servers serving as the primary servers and the offshore servers serving as a backup should the local data center (where the servers are located) should experience any technical difficulties.
In our experience, local hosting makes your website load faster to users in the same region and support can be easier to access as there are no time-zone differences to consider.
Generally selecting and setting up your web hosting package is one of the first steps in the web design process, and we are more than happy to provide assistance and advice to ensure you get the best service possible, and a reliable home for your business’s website.

Our service offering goes further than just creating and designing effective web sites for businesses and brands. We have tailored our services to include online marketing and analytics which we know gives your business the best chance to succeed online. We offer all of this in house, so we are able to adjust and enhance your web strategy efficiently and effectively to ensure that the implementation of your online marketing plan is always optimised and in line with the latest web trends, user behaviours, and algorithms. Our experience with working with agencies and independent service providers in the past has equipped us to offer a full range of marketing services from SEO, PPC advertising campaigns, and copywriting. Offering businesses and brands these services under one roof is what gives Electro Web Design the edge over many of the web design options on the market today.

Our philosophy is to always give our clients the best when it comes to their online presence. Online marketing is an investment, and we ensure maximum return for our clients by creating highly targeted campaigns that are backed by solid data, excellent design, reliable technologies, and experience.

In light of President Ramaphosa’s latest address and incremental lockdown relief plan, it seems many businesses will continue to be unable to operate as usual. In fact, ‘business as usual’ will probably never quite be the same again.

How will the Corona virus outbreak change the way business is done?

We think that as far as possible businesses need to invest in their online platforms as person to person contact should (obviously) be limited. If your business sells physical products now is a great time to set up an online shop and prepare to shift to a more eCommerce-centred way of doing business. This can also be applied to certain service-based businesses. Video streaming, live chat, and informational articles are all ways that service-based businesses can continue to reach their customers.

Businesses have embarked on various strategies to keep cashflow coming in during this time of lockdown such as selling vouchers and pre-bookings. This can all be accomplished via a website and is another awesome way that your can keep your customers engaged during this time.

There are a lot of unknowns during this strange time, and while we hope that we can return to the ‘new normal’ as soon as possible, in the meantime, it’s best to take pro-active measures to prepare for the uncertain future ahead of us.

Do it yourself web design solutions that allow you to design and publish your own website have been around for a while now. From hosting companies who offer basic site builders as part of their packages, to more advanced services such as Squarespace and Wix.

Let’s look at the differences between using one of the do it yourself solutions and hiring a professional web designer.

The DIY options

Do it yourself web design services such as Squarespace allow you to pick from a selection of pre-designed templates and then customize these themes to suit your needs. This sounds well and good, provided you have a good eye for design and a reasonable knowledge of how your customers are using the web.

You need to be the designer

Many business owners decide to go the DIY route in order to try save money. Learning how to design and create your website on the fly can be time consuming, and there’s a real risk you could wind up losing interest due to frustration and due to time constraints. You must balance your time between creating your website and running your business, which can be difficult in many cases, and time is money.

Your website’s versatility suffers

A common scenario I’ve been faced with as a web designer is being contacted by website owners who’ve outgrown their current DIY solution and would like a better-looking website with more features.

Due to the limitations and the proprietary nature of DIY solutions the new website often has to be rebuilt from scratch, as opposed to a possibly less costly and time-consuming upgrade if the website was initially built on an industry standard platform such as WordPress. In this case, a DIY approach could wind up costing you a lot more money than hiring a professional.

The professional difference

We use an industry standard platform

We consider WordPress to be the industry standard and the best choice as a content management system for building business and personal websites. There are several reasons for this. WordPress websites account for around 30% of all websites on the web, and this popularity means we can offer extremely effective support and technical backup.

We offer you unlimited design choices, and way more feature options.

Our experience allows us to provide valuable input regarding important features specific to your goals and business that your website needs have in order to perform well and get you more customers. Additionally, we will be able to create a unique and customised visual layout for your website that is user friendly and tailored to your brand– this includes being mobile friendly and additional accessibility features.

Features, upgradeability, and futureproofing.

There are almost no limits to the features that can be added to a WordPress website

A WordPress website can be upgraded to include features such as online store functionality, a blog section, an appointment booking function, and even a reservation service for restaurants and guesthouses. You can even sell digital content by offering subscriptions and memberships. While most of the do it yourself website solutions do offer these services and features, they often come with a catch – a higher monthly fee. If you are willing to invest the initially higher development cost of developing an online store with us there is no monthly increase. You would just pay your hosting as usual. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the features that a wordpress based website can add to your business, and any one of these features can be added either from the start, or at a later when your business is ready and your needs change.

Running and maintain your own website

While the initial setup and development of a WordPress website requires specialist technical knowledge, it is possible to manage and run your website once we have created it. We even offer training and tutorials to ensure that you can take care of any content updates you may want to make to your website. For more involved updates and changes to your site we also offer monthly maintenance plans.

Our verdict:

While the do it yourself option may sound appealing, it can be extremely difficult and time consuming to build and craft an effective website for your business if you don’t have a good eye for design and the time to invest to building your own website. You might even run the risk of creating a website that looks too similar to other sites, and that is definitely less than ideal!

Working with us leads to you getting a better website for your business, designed to get you more customers and sales. And if you think that having us create a professional website for your business requires a big budget, give our article Cost Comparison: Professionally designed websites vs doing it yourself a read. We think you’ll probably be surprised.

At Electro Web Design we offer specific packages tailored to weddings which allow you to manage and customise your gift registry, RSVPs, maps, food options, and more. We can assist you in creating a beautiful space on the web where your family and friends can share everything to do with your special day including photos, videos, and more.

A wedding website can allow you to:

– Announce your engagement in a classy, personalised way
– Manage guest RSVP’s online
– Link to your gift registry or create a custom one from any store.
– Provide your guests with venue information such as images and directions
– Curate photos taken by you and your guests using your own unique wedding hashtag
– Share your photos and videos with your guests and loved ones

Take things a step further than simply sharing your special day on social media with a custom created wedding website designed specifically to showcase every magical moment beautifully.
Contact Electro Web Design to find the perfect option to suit your needs.

Adding a blog to a website is something clients often bring up as an afterthought, with the center of most web design projects revolving around the layout of the landing page, the color scheme, the images, and the other visual elements that make up the web site. A good blog can be a powerful marketing tool when used properly, and can pay off well over the long term in helping your brand or business to be seen as a thought leader in its field. From plumbers to law firms, almost any business can benefit from a well managed blog. Articles that show expertise or give tips and how to guides can reassure clients that they are buying into a company that knows their stuff.

Another reason to post quality content is that it is shareable on social media. If someone reads something that they find informative and useful, chances are they will want to tell other people about it. Writing articles that appeal to people and are shareable on social media can get your website in front of new customers and work much better than any PPC marketing campaign.

In summary, two major benefits of including a well managed blog on your business website are building credibility with your brand as a thought leader by creating posts that share your expertise, and creating shareable content that people will find useful and want to tell others about on social media

If you would like more advice on creating a custom business website and using blogging to market your services, please dont hesitate to contact us for a web design quote. We work with businesses from all over South Africa and have helped many entrepreneurs reach their goals online.

We look forward to hearing from you.

If you haven’t yet considered how a custom, professionally designed website could be beneficial to your business, you’ve come to the right place. In this short article I am going to outline two key functions a good website will be able to perform for your business, why a professionally designed website should form the central hub of your marketing strategy, both online and offline.

Your website provides critical information.

Customers may come to your website via several sources. They may come from a link you shared on social media or they may be directed to your site through receiving a business card or flyer. The important thing is that something has encouraged them to seek out more information about your business, and most of the time your website is the final point of contact a person will have before either contacting you or moving on to one of your competitors. This is where your site has its first task: provide the crucial information upfront and leave the not so important stuff deeper in the site. Who you are, what you do, and how to contact. These points should be clearly and instantly visible on your site.

The next step in maximizing your websites effectiveness is creating an effective social media presence that directs people to your website. There are many ways to do this (following good design and development practices, shareable blog posts, informational videos, and general goon on-site SEO so Google know about your site.

We can assist you with more advanced strategies to increase site traffic as well as conversion rate. You would be seriously surprised on the returns that are possible with a professionally designed and optimized website.

So in basic terms – you want to lead the user not bombard them with information the second they hit your landing page. Just the key information and basics of what makes your business unique. Next, you’ll want to direct visitors to your site by creating quality content that people want to both read and share (we can help with this).

Get your user’s attention, and fast!

The average web user browses a page extremely quickly, which is why the basic information needs to be impactful and highly visible. Think of it as the equivalent of a product being eye level at a supermarket. You want the important stuff to stand out, and you want to create an eye-catching offer to inspire action.

Features such as a contact form and a strong call to action such as “Call Now” button, or a “Book a Free Consultation” link are highly effective methods to inspire a user to act. These are the first steps towards turning users into leads and leads into customers.

This may seem counter-intuitive when it comes to keep the layout of the landing page limited, but it actually draws the user’s attention to what matters – quality copy and images that are the key focul points who you are, what you do, and how people can buy it from you.

What is great about a well laid out website that has been updated with the latest technologies is that each interaction with your site can be monitored, which allows us to view and analyze the exact user flow of you website, as well as other useful data such as where users are coming from (down to the province).
This information allows us to make adjustments where necessary to ensure your site is reaching the appropriate customers, and ensures your website is a functional sales too.

If your site isn’t living up to the task of 24/7 salesperson extraordinaire, maybe it’s time to change strategy and invest in a new website and marketing strategy with Electro Web Design.

Electro Web Design offers flexible website design packages, with affordable prices and quality work performed by a web designer with over 8 years of experience. We take on projects of all sizes, ranging from simple business websites to large eCommerce solutions.

Click here to request a custom online quote and lets take your online marketing strategy to the next level.

The statistics have shown that the average user gains the most information about a business through their blog. 61% of consumers have made a purchase from a business based on a blog post they have read, with 70% of consumers saying they’ve learned more about a business through their blog vs their ads.

A quality blog with original, well crafted content is a pivotal asset when it comes to search optimisation and reaching more  customers, and this article aims to provide you with some key pointers to consider when starting your own corporate blog.

Write for your customer

A good blog post should aim to offer information that is helpful to your customer. It’s easy to write a self-indulgent post where you talk yourself up (and there is a time and place for that), but quality content should put the reader’s needs first and offer advice that is valuable and actionable to the reader. Tips, tricks, and how-to articles are extremely popular forms of providing useful information to your readers.

Be exciting

Just because your blog is about your business doesn’t mean it needs to be boring. Connecting with customers on a personal level is a great way to reach your audience. Keeping content light and interesting ensures readers will be engaged, and increases the likelihood of your post being shared across social media.

Be relevant

Publish relevant, useful information that your readers would want to read. Keep the topics of your posts focussed on up to date information that offers something of value to your readers. The mantra of quality over quantity is definitely true for corporate blogging.

Publish posts consistently

Its easy to get demoralised if your sites traffic stats take a dip even after publishing and sharing several blog posts. These dips happen and there are many reasons for it, the key is to remain consistent and keep publishing blog posts. Just because traffic isn’t increasing doesn’t mean it wont decrease if you stop publishing, and having an up to date blog makes a good impression on the visitors that are coming to your site.

Nothing is worse that a corporate blog where the last post was published months (or years!) ago.

Use your blog to build your customer database

If you follow all of the above steps and create content that is worth reading and sharing, then you have the perfect platform to start building your customer email database off of. Offering readers an option to subscribe to your blog gives you a powerful source of potential leads and allows you to send relevant offers straight to potential new customers.

This type of community building strategy is ultimately much more powerful and financially cost effective than pouring money into search and social media marketing strategies (although these can work and offer their own advantages).

The time investment in creating a corporate blog for your business or brand will have far reaching benefits and be well worth it when it comes to your site’s organic search ranking and the value it offers readers.

These 5 guidelines on how best to utilise a corporate blog are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using online content to increase your brand’s online reach. For more information on setting up your own corporate blog and website, contact Electro Web Design today.

We look forward to hearing from you.