Info + Tips

We come across this all the time. People understandably don’t understand what is involved in building a good website so they naturally make a decision based on price alone. We understand that it is extremely confusing to make a choice, with options ranging from free to (let’s be honest!) ridiculously bloody expensive! So I would like to give you a guide to help you know what to look for when discussing a new website with your potential designer

Quality

I hate to break it to you, but not all websites are built the same!

I often use the analogy of building a house as a more concrete example of how the pieces fit together.

The foundation of a house is the part that nobody can see once the job is complete, but without it, you have a very structurally unsound build. In web terms, this relates to the hosting and server where your website is built along with the CMS (content management system) you choose to build your new site on.

Another important thing to consider is your brand vision and what journey your company is on. You’ll want to choose a web designer that can help you achieve your goals for your business and that understands your vision. Think of your business’ mission and look for a web designer that aligns with that mission. 

It’s important that your website reflects your identity and that of your business. The ideal is to ensure that anybody who visits your website gets the same impression and feeling as they would if they spoke to you in person.

In choosing a host there are some key things to be aware of:

• uptime (how often is your site going to be offline?) – no host will offer 100% but some are very close to that and the hosting we use has almost never gone offline (touch wood!) in the 5+ years we have been using them.
• access (do you have your own login?) – some companies will build your website on shared hosting, which means you cannot have access to your own data as it is on the same login as everybody else’s. We set up a separate hosting account for each of our clients so they have full access to their data. This also means that another client can’t take up your disk or bandwidth (next 2 points on the list!)
• disk space (do you have enough space for your files?) – this is usually on the spec list provided by a host, most sites will not need a huge amount of space but if your disk space fills up it will impact on your site’s performance and ultimately lead to it not working. We monitor disk space for our clients and where it is running low we can usually free up some space to keep things ticking over – or alternatively we can offer add-on space where needed. This means that you only pay for what you need.
• bandwidth (will your site go down if it experiences “too much” traffic?) – again this is usually on the spec list and most sites will not use a huge amount of bandwidth if they are built efficiently for speed, but if you do use all of the allocated bandwidth it can lead to your site being taken offline. Again, we monitor bandwidth for our clients and where it is running low we will reduce usage and/or provide extra bandwidth to keep things running smoothly. Monitoring bandwidth also means that we are aware quite quickly of a DDoS attack on a website and can take action to rectify.
• service (how quickly are things sorted in the event of an issue?) – this is underrated, in my opinion, and the service we get from our hosting provider is one of the main reasons we have stayed with them. They are quick to respond, helpful and know their stuff so they get things sorted fast if we do run into issues. It’s rare but it happens and it is priceless to know that the support is there if/when we need it.
• protection (do they take precautions to protect your website?). Unless you pay for a server all to yourself, your website will share an IP address with other users. Security measures are usually taken on IP addresses, so if someone on the same server is doing something to draw this kind of attention it can affect you too. Our hosting providers monitor usage and take action to prevent this type of activity to protect the integrity of their IP addresses for all of the users on their servers.
• price – hosting can cost everything from a couple of dollars a month upwards. Although you get what you pay for, to some extent, there are good value options available offering high quality hosting for a reasonable price.

The CMS you use is largely down to personal preference, but you should make sure of a few key points before committing to choosing one:

• ease of use – probably the most underrated at the time of building, where a choice is often made based on price and can lead to regret when it becomes clear that working with the chosen system is not as easy as it should be.
• ability to grow – again, underrated as many people build a website without daring to hope that their business will grow leading to them needing more from their website in the future.
• functionality – does it allow you to build a site that does all of what you want it to right now – and if you need it to do more in the future, can that be incorporated or will you need to move?
• design – can you create the look you want for your website? (If your web designer is the one creating the look for you then they may need to have the final say in the CMS you choose!)
• price – although it shouldn’t be the key factor, cost is of course important to business owners and with the most widely used CMS in the world being offered free I would suggest that you need to have a really good reason to pay too much for your website’s CMS.

Please note that this role is not currently open for applications

I am looking for a new member for the Coppertops team.

I am looking for someone who is keen to learn, not necessarily already an expert. I will happily provide training as we go along, depending on where you are starting from.

Character and personality are the main criteria as I will only work with somebody who I can trust with my clients.

Initially the role will be 10 to 15 hours per week, with a view to increasing over time as the role grows.

Interested? Please fill in the form below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Have you heard of the Trading Online Voucher available from your Local Enterprise Office (LEO)? This scheme aims to support businesses who want to start trading online by providing part funding for website development, online advertising, social media, etc.

The funds can be used to add an online shop or a payment facility to an existing website, build an entirely new website or even for online advertising, for example Facebook ads.

Usually there is up to €2500 available, the voucher offers 50% of the total work done. To assist businesses in their response to the COVID-19 situation, the percentage that the LEO require from the business has been reduced to 10%. This means that you can apply for up to €2500 towards a project with a value of €2750.

In addition, the rules have changed to allow a business who has already availed of the Trading Online Voucher in the past to apply for it a second time. This gives businesses the option to add to an existing online offering or to use online advertising to promote their business.

This is a very welcome relief for businesses at the minute, many of our clients have received this voucher in the past and it has been of significant benefit in their business.

For more information visit the LEO website:

Louth LEO Trading Online Voucher information

If you would like to discuss your options with regard to trading online, please contact me and I will help in any way I can.

Today marks the 6th birthday for Coppertops, how time flies!

This gives me a great opportunity to thank all of our amazing clients for working with us over the past 6 years, hopefully we will work together for many more. It has been such a pleasure seeing your businesses grow and feeling like we are a small part of helping to make that happen for you.

We are also marking a new start as Regina has decided to leave Coppertops and start on something new. I would like to thank her for everything over the past 6 years, it has been a lot of hard work but a huge amount of fun and she will be missed. I know that you will join with me in wishing her all the luck in the world with whatever comes next.

We all do it, we are making a big decision and the first people we think of to ask for advice are the people who are closest to us. The fact that they are so close to us, though, can cause its own problems.

We need to be aware of these problems so that we can get this valuable advice and use it in a positive way.

The trick is to know what you are trying to achieve BEFORE you ask for input.

If you know where you are trying to go, if you have a clear idea of what you are aiming for, then any advice you receive is filtered through that to naturally give you the input that is valuable, useful and productive. This filter automatically removes the “fluff” – well-intentioned advice that doesn’t serve you in helping to move forward.

This applies to most of the things we do but I feel like it is particularly relevant in business. I know my family weren’t 100% convinced by the idea of me setting up my own business. They are supportive and 100% behind me in what I’m doing but there was a wariness about the uncertainty of working for yourself, for various reasons. Knowing that I wanted to work for myself and knowing both that there was that uncertainty and where it came from helped me to take the advice without letting it colour things for me or discourage me from going ahead with Coppertops.

It is also something we see all the time with building websites. We work with our clients to build what they need based on a combination of their input and our expertise. We work from the bigger elements down to the finer details to fine-tune a website that will work for their needs. Then, around the time of launch, they naturally show their new site to friends and family and ask for advice. With very mixed results!

Constructive criticism is a necessary part of building anything

This advice can be priceless, and constructive, allowing us to pick up on details that were missed by us being too close to the build (we would usually pick up on most of these at the testing phase anyway, but more feedback is a good thing).

Don’t let input from others detract from what you were aiming for in the first place

It can also be destructive. For example, if there is a lack of awareness of why we have done things in a particular way, or of things that may be colouring the advice being given. This is not to question the motive of the advice, it is pretty much always given with the best of intentions, but great intentions don’t guarantee useful input.

In this case, we can end up making changes just because someone has suggested that they may be a good idea – without taking into account where they fit in with the overall plan, if at all. Worse again we can end up switching between a number of different options based on input from a series of people who naturally each have their own opinion and taste.

Chopping and changing a website at this stage can have a detrimental effect on the build, both functionally and from a design point of view.

Remember it is YOUR website!

This simply cannot be overstated. For a small business, your website is a reflection of you. People are going to decide whether they would like to do business with you based on the impression they get from your website. That impression should match the one they would get from dealing with you in person. The text on your website should have your voice, the design should be a reflection of who you are and what your business represents. Advice from family and friends definitely has a place in building this, but it cannot be assumed that they understand how to best represent your business online.

The upshot: before you ask for advice get really clear on what you want and filter any advice that is generously given to you through that before deciding which input is worth actioning and which you will just say thank you for before ignoring it!

Like most things in business, there are 2 key factors to using lead magnets.

Firstly, what’s in it for me? There’s no point in doing something that doesn’t benefit your business in some way. And secondly, what’s in it for my customers? Your customers will also only do something that benefits them, so you need to give them a reason to respond to what you are doing.

Lead magnets are no different, in fact in some ways they increase focus on these 2 factors. So let’s take a look at the why’s behind using this marketing tool.

What’s in it for me?

The aim of using a lead magnet is to increase your audience and (ideally) as a result to increase your customer base. Usually, this is done by increasing your audience, usually your mailing list, by asking your potential customers to subscribe to that mailing list in return for some form of a reward. The simplest lead magnets offer a free pdf download to anybody who subscribes to your list. You get a potential customer’s email address, which you can then use in your marketing campaigns, and they get a freebie.

What’s in it for my customers?

For a lead magnet to be effective you are asking someone to give you their email address in exchange for something of value to them. In the case of a pdf download, you are using some information that you have and which you think your potential customer may find useful to entice them to sign up. For them to sign up and give you their info and space in their inbox they need to feel that your offering is worthwhile.

GDPR

A hot topic at the minute and something that we all need to be aware of, you need to make sure that you are handling people’s data correctly and in accordance with the GDPR regulations.

The highlights are:

• Tell anyone who is signing up what they are signing up for, what information you are asking for, how you will store it and what you will use it (and not use it) for.
• Don’t use their information for anything other than what you have stated.
• Delete their information if they ask you to.
• Don’t contact them if they ask you not to.
• Be sure that you are in a position to provide them with any information you have stored on them if they request it.

Natural Filtering

One of the best parts about using a lead magnet (if done well) is that you narrow down those subscribing to your ideal clients. Your lead magnet should be something that is of most use to someone who you would like to work with, as that is the person who you want to sign up to your list and ultimately sell your products/services to.

Use your own experience

In order to best assess how your lead magnet may be received, reflect on your own experience with signing up to mailing lists.

What made you sign up? What did you find valuable? How much value did you need to see for you before you would give up your email address?

How to get started?

Before you get into the technical aspects of setting up a lead magnet, first figure out the tactics:

• What do you want to achieve?
• Who do you want to target?
• What information do you want to gather?
• What do you think will be of value to your target audience?

Then put together your freebie, if this is a document then pdf is the best format to use. You can usually print to pdf from most applications. This format is most widely used online for a reason!

If you already use a mailing list application, eg Mailchimp, then you can use this to set up your lead magnet. If not then you will need to figure out which application best suits your needs:

• What size is your audience?
• What size do you expect your audience to grow to?
• Do you want/need to segment your list?
• Do you want/need multiple lists?
• Are there any other features that you need when it comes to managing/marketing to your mailing list?
• Do you want/need your mailing list application to integrate with other apps – accounts, crm, your website (eg gathering email addresses from your contact form)?
• Do you want your lead magnet to work on your website, on social media, on a landing page, on a web form?

Once you have planned your lead magnet based on these points, you are ready to start building your lead magnet, your list and your customer base!