What a difference design makes

The owner of a Bed & Breakfast contacted us recently, as she had noticed that the enquiries for her accommodation had decreased. Looking at her existing website, it was clear that there were some fundamental problems.

The dated appearance of the website homepage did little to tempt visitors to get in touch. There was a lot of text and the images were not compelling enough. The website was not optimised to be found in relevant Google search. The owner herself stated that she was only found when a potential client typed in "Bed and Breakfast Biddenden", but as we pointed out, how many customers would be that geographically specific? It would be more likely for a potential customer to search for Bed and Breakfast Kent or South-East, or using one of the better-known towns as a point of reference (Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Rye, Tenterden for example).

We were contracted to redesign the website for the client, and the new design can be viewed prior to launch at:

http://tudorcotta.users34.interdns.co.uk/

The use of quality photography to market both the accommodation and the local area draws customers in and tempts them to look further. The textual content is more concise, and there is a clear call-to-action at the top of every page - telephone number and email address.

Of course, the proof of the pudding will be an increase in enquiries for the remainder of this year and beyond. However, there can be no doubt that the new-look website has all the essential ingredients to get the right message in front of the right people.

"The site is looking really good, excellent work. It has a really classy feel to it." Owner, Tudor Cottage Bed & Breakfast.

The website was produced using the Sesome system developed by Argent Ram Media. This feature-rich platform allows you to update the website yourself, and each site is constructed to be search engine friendly and social media-ready. The latter makes it easy for you to start widening your marketing network using Twitter and Facebook to drive potential customers to your website, maximising every opportunity to draw attention to your accommodation. Prices for a Sesome website start at just £299.00 + VAT.

What a way to waste money...

We are in the process of running marketing campaigns aimed specifically at dental practitioners, promoting website design, waiting room screens, dental animation software and video production.

During the course of research, I have been astounded by the number of dental surgeries that seems intent on wasting money on Google Adword campaigns. That is not to say that the campaign itself is a great way of getting their website in front of prospective patients, but what happens when that prospective client clicks on the link (and costs the dental practice some money!).

In the course of the past couple of days, I have seen single-page websites for dental practices that are as compelling as a blank wall. I have attempted to contact the practice using the email address on the website to find that the email address link has been mis-spelt. Websites have no clear call-to-action, nor do they give a concise overview of the services and treatments that are available.

This is a salient lesson to any business advertising using Adwords or other sponsored scheme. If your website is not at the top of its game in terms of message, design and construction, and call-to-action, then you might as well take the advertising budget and flush it down the drain.

If only we all had money to waste...

Postscript: If your website is not getting the enquiries you expect from your sponsored links, take a break and consider a contribution to:
http://www.redcross.org.uk/japantsunami