IDS are a security company based in Cardiff who specialise in providing professional security and fire protection systems throughout the UK. With decades of experience in the field, the team are able to oversee the design, installation and maintenance of a variety of security systems, ranging from CCTV and access control to fire alarms. In addition to these services, they also offer 24/7 call-out and monitoring to their customers every day of the year. 

Despite being an established company with a thorough knowledge of their trade, IDS recognised that their website was not performing well enough in search engine results, which is what led them to contact Designer Websites. After careful consideration, our team set about improving the website in order to ensure that it was a great reflection of the company's products and services, which could easily be reached by potential customers. 

The new IDS website has a more professional look, with content that makes efficient use of meta tags and copy to ensure that the company will rank well in search results. The site also has an improved focus on local search terms, allowing them to effectively target and increase their business prospects within Cardiff and the surrounding area. In addition to these improvements, we also added a blog to allow IDS to share their latest news and insights, providing them with an enriched means of communicating with both new and existing customers.

You can view the new website we created for IDS here

For more information about the range of website optimization services we offer, click here, or follow this link to send us your questions and ask for a quote.
Responsive vs. Non-Responsive Websites

The development of new technology moves at an alarmingly accelerated rate, and it's important for business owners and web developers alike to keep up with these changes in order to respond to customer demands. One of the biggest changes to how we search and browse the internet today has been the popularisation of portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. We are now able to search for products and services online at any time we wish with practically no restrictions, dramatically changing the way in which we browse and keep up with online content. As a direct result of these changes, website owners need to adapt their sites in order to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers.

This is why responsive web design has become such a popular solution in recent years. Internet users now expect to be able to transfer from one device to another with ease, and well-made responsive websites deliver consistency and adaptability to users while making the lives of SEOs much easier in the process. In this blog post, we will highlight some of the differences between responsive and non-responsive websites, demonstrating why the former option is usually the better of the two.

Images and Loading Times 

Images are a great way to capture a user's attention straight away, which is part of the reason why it's important to include great-quality visuals on any website. A non-optimised website can pose many problems when viewing these images on portable devices, including increased loading times. Responsive web design utilises flexible grids, layouts and images in combination with intelligent use of CSS media queries to address this problem, allowing visuals to appear clearly across a multitude of devices with varied screen sizes. 

Being User-Friendly

As noted above, responsive websites are a great way to prevent images from losing their impact when viewed on devices with smaller screens. This goes for the text and navigation of a website, too; by optimising a website for use on mobile devices, web developers are able to streamline content while making it easier for users to view and navigate the site.

Some would argue that a dedicated mobile website performs better in this respect, particularly in the case of news sites with a lot of written content or ecommerce sites with a variety of functions that are difficult to translate. But here's the problem: due to the fact that every website must found its reputation from scratch, regardless of a separate website being part of the same brand or business, a separate mobile website will struggle to perform well in search engines. A responsive website, on the other hand, can deliver a great user experience across all devices whilst also preserving the site's reputation by keeping everything under one URL.

Pleasing Google and Getting Noticed

Recognition from Google is of vital importance to every website owner, due to the simple fact that high Google rankings drive a lot of traffic. If you're looking to improve your Google rankings, it's important to keep an eye on the bounce rate of each page on your website; a high bounce rate means that users leave quickly because they can't find what they are looking for.

Non-responsive websites often fail to translate content efficiently from one device to another, and this can force mobile visitors to give up on your site very quickly. This is why responsive websites seek to prioritise usability in their design, benefiting both the customer and the website owner by improving the search and share experience. The issue of consistent reputation (see above) is also part of this wider experience, as it once again makes it easier to get your site noticed and ranked higher by Google. Having a single URL for all versions of your site makes it easier for Googlebot to crawl and index the content while avoiding any accidental duplicate content issues. meaning that all positive reactions will be valid on other devices.

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And there you have it: a short guide to the difference between responsive and non-responsive websites, and how they function for users and businesses.

If you would like Designer Websites to create a responsive website for your business, please click here to request a quotation.
Spectrum Displays

Spectrum Displays specialise in the design, construction and installation of film and television sets, as well as display stands and conference sets for special events. They also offer digital print and signage services to businesses who are looking to be more visually engaging. 

Despite having years of experience in the industry and a proven track record of success on a number of exciting projects, Spectrum did not previously have a website on which to display their vast portfolio of work and reach out to new clients. Attractive, engaging online content is vital for the continued success of businesses in the modern world, and now that their brand new site has gone live, Spectrum have a platform that will allow them to expand and improve their business.

The bespoke design of Spectrum's new website ensures that they are able to reach new customers in an appealing and visually exciting way. It is also fully responsive, thereby improving the usability of the website on smartphones and tablets and making it completely accessible and user-friendly for anyone visiting the site.

Due to the nature of Spectrum's business, it was essential to ensure that the website made prominent use of visual features. The use of photography is prevalent across the entirety of the new site, contributing to a clear and compelling reflection of the company's previous work. The subcategories of each speciality title lead to a gallery of images, which can be viewed as an online portfolio of Spectrum's previous work. 

While it was important to provide examples that placed emphasis on the finished product supplied by the company, it was also vital to present potential customers with familiar brand names in order to further endorse Spectrum's reputability. For this reason, client logos such as that of the BBC and ITV are prominently featured at the bottom of the homepage; this serves as a visual indicator that Spectrum have worked with some of the biggest names in the film and TV industry. 

Click here to explore Spectrum Displays' new dynamic website for yourself.

Having worked with the company behind Safety Life Gear on previous occasions, we were recently approached by them again, as they had decided to expand their existing business by branching out into branded workwear. Pleased with the results we had achieved for their other businesses, Designer Websites were their first choice when setting up this new venture, as they knew we could deliver an engaging and user-friendly e-commerce web design.

Safety Life Gear's new website allows users to browse an extensive selection of workwear and PPE, covering everything from hospitality aprons to hard hats. This selection is comprised of items for men, women and children, including a vast selection of accessories as well as clothing items. The majority of these items also come with the option to personalise them with company names and logos, offering you the option to choose between plain and branded clothing. 

Due to our previous work with the company, it was important to us that the design and branding of the site was consistent with their previous websites, which is clear in everything from the logo placement to the menu style. We also wanted to ensure that the site was as easy to use as possible for customers, which is why we implemented a quick and simple customization process. Under each product there is a 'Branded from' and 'Blank from' button, which makes it simpler and more efficient for customers to place their order and check out. Once the user has selected the branded option, they can upload their desired branding and select from a range of placement options, making the order process as hassle-free as possible.

As well as making the design work for customers, we were also keen to ensure that the company could make their own changes with ease and efficiency, via the straightforward CMS system. The company is able to manage everything from homepage banners, to featured products and page content, making it easy for them to add new products and advertise offers.

You can view the new Safety Life Gear website. To find out more about our web design and branding services, please contact us today.

The main purpose of pay per click advertising is to drive high quality traffic from your target market to your website for the lowest cost possible. To do this depends on the relevance of your adverts, your keywords, and your landing pages, both to each other and to your target market. 

Once your keywords, ad groups and landing pages are completely synergised, you will be rewarded with a higher position in Google's SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages), and you will pay less every time someone clicks your ad.  You may also see a metric called “Quality Score” increasing.

Quality score is one of the most important metrics in a Google advertising campaign. Quality score is scored out of 10 (1 being the most expensive and 10 being the cheapest). If and where your ad will be shown on the SERPs is all down to your quality score.  After a recent update, the default quality score for newly added keywords is 6; however this is subject to change very quickly. Quality score is  calculated by an algorithm based on the following factors; 

The relevance of your ad copy - When you are organising your account, it is important to ensure that your keywords are in a tight-knit ad group; this enables you to create ad copy that is relevant to all of the keywords in your ad group. This means that when a potential customer enters a relevant search query into the Google search box, your ad will be relevant to their search. Which leads us nicely onto the next point... 

Click-through rate (CTR) - Even though no one knows just how much weighting CTR has on Google's quality score, it is pretty obvious that Google count this as one of the most important factors, if not the most important. 

If your advert is relevant to the searcher's query, they will click on your ad and enter your site in the hope that they can find a solution to their problem through your company. The more people who click on your advert, the more likely Google are to realise that your website is relevant for this particular search and increase your overall quality score accordingly. To increase your click-through rate, make sure that your ad copy is relevant. 

Landing page - You have now created the tight-knit ad group and created a relevant advert that reflects your keywords. Now you need to think about where on your site you are going to send your traffic. Obviously, you need to send people to a page that is relevant to your keywords, and to your ad copy.

For example, let's say you are creating a campaign for a web design agency that specialises in ecommerce websites, but also provides customers with various digital marketing solutions. The company owner has asked you to create a campaign that focuses on their responsive ecommerce website design service. You will need to point your adverts to your ecommerce landing pages, not your digital marketing pages, as this will decrease the relevance of your adverts, meaning that they will not be shown as much, if at all. Furthermore, if your ads are pointed at irrelevant landing pages, every click you receive will be really expensive, and most importantly, potential customers will click onto the website, see that they are on the wrong page, and leave, increasing your bounce rate.

Unfortunately, people do not often have time to look through your website to find the exact page or product that they require. The less clicks it takes for them to find what they need, the more engaged they will be, increasing the likelihood of the customer completing your goal (e.g. signing up to your newsletter, downloading your e-book, purchasing a product, booking an appointment, or making enquiry about your company). When your tracked goal has been completed, this will be recorded in AdWords as a conversion. An increased click-through rate at a lower cost means that your cost per conversion is decreased, and your return on investment is increased! 

Would you like our professional digital marketing team to manage your paid search campaigns for you? Click here to request a quote, or give us a call on 01146 339050.