I have not long got back from a meeting with the Queens Hotel in Portsmouth, one of our first ever SEO clients! The meeting was to finalize the re-branding of there website, discuss the hotel booking system and how best we can utilise the 10,000+ visits they see each month!

At Tidy Design we believe it is very important to look after the people who pay our wages, I mean we have several large companies on our books that require website updates on a regular basis, this means we go the extra mile when it comes to building customer relationships, making the updates and offering our support.

A strong business relationship is so important in today’s ever competitive world! As a web design company Tidy Design gets hundreds of spam emails each month offering cheap SEO & freelance work in India, so called Google representatives wanting to boost our traffic / rankings, people trying to sell us Chinese domain names etc… With this in mind I am sure our clients also get these emails, so what makes them choose (stay with) us? Is it really something as simple as a good customer relationship!

So to conclude… If you are starting a business then try going that extra mile to keep your customers happy. If they give you lots of work each month then be grateful and do it to the best of your ability, offer them a service they won’t find elsewhere! If on the other hand they call saying “hey my website is out of date” after two years of not hearing from them… Bite your tongue and be polite! And if they keep promising lots of work that never happens, don’t get angry or think “not this again!”… Keep your cool and hopefully one day they will proceed!

At Tidy Design we believe good customer relationships are vital for business growth and development. Remember, learn from your mistakes, keep your cool and be polite… This will guarantee positive feedback and recommendations from your customers. I hope you have enjoyed this blog post? Please feel free to post your comments below… We would love to hear your thoughts / stories about customer relationships.

I was on the BBC website today whilst drinking my afternoon coffee when I came across an article about Mr Bill Gates. It said Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has been named as the wealthiest person in the US for the 17th year in a row by Forbes magazine! So what does this list tell us about money, business and where we can expect to find future generations of billionaires?

Well, one of the fortunate few during these tough economic times to be growing in wealth included Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose wealth increased by a massive 245%, putting him number 35 in the rich list! Let’s face it; technology, social networking sites, websites, internet marketing, mobile devices, mobile apps etc are changing the world we know. We live in a high speed, high-octane, information age… A time when you need to keep learning, developing, pushing forward new ideas and keeping up with current trends. Maybe the key is that simple, watch out for great opportunities and then jump on the bandwagon right away! What ever it is, one thing I am sure about is the importance / influence of the World Wide Web… It is not going anywhere!

If you run a business then the chances are you have a website to promote it? (If not then please give us a call or email, we would be delighted to help.) Having a nice website is one thing, however if no body can find your website then what should you do? Brand awareness is so important for businesses of all sizes; we all need to get our name out there, to satisfy clients so they too shout out our name! One way of achieving this is to obtain a great web presence, imagine the knock on effect of coming top of Google, Yahoo or Bing for search terms related to your business!

So what can you do to boost your websites rankings? Step one would be to identify the keywords or key phrases you wish to target… Why spend your hard earned money optimising a website and investing in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) for keywords that are not searched for each month! Find out what people are looking for (related to your business that is) and build your website and marketing campaign around them.

Think about including these keywords in the content you provide your web designer; try to incorporate key phrases into the titles and headings of your webpage… If you would like to find out more about our Tidy Design SEO packages, see examples of past campaigns, testimonials etc then please contact us.

So, what would it cost you for a single page website to promote your business or idea online? This is a good question and it will depend on your requirements, if you are looking for something simple then the cost should reflect this. On your right you will see one example of a bespoke single page website we designed for a carpenter in Wanaka, New Zealand. This web page has a selection of photos, a contact number and email, a bit of information about the business… How it is designed (coded) allows us to add a new page, gallery or information without that much effort… Ok, we would need to design and incorporate a navigation however the general design (code) is already in place!

If you have a new business or idea that you are looking to promote on the World Wide Web then why not start off with a single web page, this can soon be developed into several as your business or idea expands. The message Tidy Design would like to get out to start-ups is this, websites don’t have to cost the earth! You can find affordable website hosting (Our packages start at just 50 GBP per annum) and you can get a basic web page designed and online within a short space of time! Think about the message you want to get across, think about the product or services you offer, make sure the web page reflects your company identity and is consistent (in terms of design) with any flyers, business cards or posters… Think logo, think contact number, and think what can I say to get people who find my web page to contact me? What is your unique selling point and how can you get this message across in a split second?

If you are looking for a fun, unique and tidy little web page then why not contact Tidy Design for more details about the services we offer.

At Tidy Design we do not say invest every penny into online marketing or developing your company website! Variety is the spice of life, and putting all your eggs (efforts) into one basket is not advised by us.

However, we would suggest that your company URL is listed on all marketing material such as business cards, letterhead, posters, flyers etc. It is important to let people know you have a website, when new content is added, any new promotional offers, or general news / events you have going on. Reaching out and informing the masses about your products / services should result in enquiries that equal sales!

Finally, lets not forget that it is also the quality of product / service you offer that will get people coming back or telling friends about you. The best form of promotion / advertising does not come from a website, newsletter or flyer… At Tidy Design we feel it is the recommendation that one friend makes to another! Business generated by word of mouth is not only FREE it also spreads fast! Try to obtain customer feedback or testimonials for your website, use them as a tool to re-assure new customers and improve / develop the services you offer.

It’s a cold and windy day today, the heating is not working, and the first feeling of morning sickness has kicked in. I’m in my warmest and comfortablest clothes I could find, and have made no attempt to apply any make up or put up my hair.

It was a lovely delight to just see my Mum turn up with a box full of mini choc chip muffins, a beautiful plant to brighten up my day, and a Mumsy hug that no other person in the world can master.

Morning sickness is not a pleasant feeling, but it reminds me that our baby is nice and snug and warm in my tummy and that one day very soon, I will be the one giving out Mumsy hugs.

Rosanna Ward

Good morning all, it has been another early start for the team at Tidy Design. This week we are aiming to launch three new websites for some great clients! One is for Amberley Dog Kennels, another for a London based scaffolding company, and finally one for a bespoke uniform designer based in Portsmouth, Hampshire.

You will see from our portfolio page that Tidy Design does not stick to one style or sector when it comes to website design. We really do enjoy creating cheaper brochure sites for start-up companies, we feel these are ideal because you can expand / develop them as your business grows. I sometimes worry when a new company wants all singing all dancing from word go, especially as newer domains can take time for Google to index.

Another factor for new businesses to consider is time! Buying a company domain and sitting on it for a year will not help future search results… At Tidy Design we say “Act Now!” Get a holding page on the web, maybe a smaller X3 page site; submit a sitemap.xml notifying Google you exist, at least this way your website will start to appear in Google’s search results! I have a few domains (with small websites on) of my own that I am sitting on for future use… Being in business it is so important to think ahead, future proof your brand or products etc.

Anyway, Tidy Design is here to offer affordable websites, advice, marketing solutions and design services to companies of all sizes. If you are looking for a cheaper website design or cheaper web marketing in the UK then we can help! Based in Portsmouth, Hampshire we would be delighted to assist you in your website design, company branding or marketing… Simply send us a quick email telling us about your requirements, expectations, budget, ideas etc and we will get back to you!

Although our Tidy HQ is primarily based in Portsmouth, Hampshire (A short drive South of London) we feel Tidy Design is positioned in the ideal location to offer London based company’s cheaper website development, graphic design or web marketing services. I mean, in comparison to many web design companies based in (or just outside) of London we can deliver the same quality at a much lesser price! Let’s face it, in today’s economic climate you should shop around, and get the best value for your money, in this case cheaper website development in London.

Tidy Design’s long term goal is to expand into London (keeping a base in Portsmouth) making meetings much easier / convenient for clients and staff. Although this will take time to implement (We won’t run before we can walk) we are already working with several London based companies, these include: London Wine Futures, Sash Windows London, North London Plumber, and Scaffolding London. So I guess you could say the wheels are in motion, we are already building business relationships in London, and designing websites for London based companies.

To see a selection of website we have designed please visit our ‘Portfolio’ page, or to get an idea of web design costs please visit our ‘Pricing’ page. Whether you are based in London looking for a website or even as far afield as Timbuktu, Tidy Design would be delighted to discuss your web based requirements.

1) Do you have a domain name?
2) What is your budget?
3) How many pages do you require? Think about pages like Home, About Us, Products/Services, Contact Us.
4) Do you require an online shopping facility?
5) Do you have all content ready, including text and images?
6) What colours/theme would you like the site to have? Do you have a logo, & a list of sites that you like the look of?
7) Would you like to be able to update the site yourself, or let your web designer deal with updates?
8) Do you have a launch date?
9) Will you require help with search engine optimisation when the site is launched?
10) How will you market the new site?