Author: Ross
Training to be a web developer
If you have an interest in websites and would like to train as a computer programmer there are a few different avenues you go down. Many web developers / programmers have attended college or university to learn the skills and programming languages you need to allow you to build a site.
There are also a large number of developers that are self taught, they may have been trained by a friend or colleague or have studied tutorials and reference books. Often this can be a better way to learn as it is more hands on and you actually have the chance to experiment with different methods and techniques to find out which one suits you.
Once you are confident that you know enough to get started it is a good idea to build a basic site for yourself or a friend. This will allow you to put everything you have learnt in to action and will flag up any areas that you are not confident in and maybe need to study a little more.
Leave marketing to the experts?
Depending what industry your company is in, you may outsource your marketing to a marketing agency. Choosing the right company can be a challenge as you will need to have a look at their prices, reviews and strategies to be able to compare them and find one that is best suited to you and your requirements.
A good marketing agency will be able to assist you on all aspects of marketing from website, to social media to offline marketing such as leaflet dropping and trade shows. Once you have a marketing company on board then you need to meet with them regularly to discuss the progress of the work being carried out and what the plans are for the future, This needs to be a regular thing as often there are changes within the business that will affect the marketing and there also may be changes in the marketing industry, such as, Google Algorithm changes that need to be addresses.
Most importantly, remember they are the experts so let them do what they’re good at, but make sure you always know what is happening.
Using a local web development company
Having a website built can be quite costly depending on what you want it to do and how well you want it to perform. If there is a lot of competition in your industry you will need to not only think about the design and functionality of the site but also the marketing aspect of it.
There are thousands of companies in the UK and many millions all over the world that would be happy to build a website for you, but who do you chose and should you stay local? Having a website should not really be based totally on costs you have been quoted as often you do pay for what you get. Using a company abroad may work out quite a bit cheaper and they will often promise you everything a local company does, but the time difference alone can cause issues. Sometimes there is nothing better than sitting down with a developer face to face to scamp something out, if they are the other side of the world this is rarely possible.
What to expect from email marketing software
Email marketing software is a program that allows you to create an email and send it out to a database of contacts. Many companies, especially larger ones, use email marketing software to promote their business and products/services or to inform customers of information that they need to be aware of. Examples of companies that use these types of software include DVLA, EON and Talk Talk – All of these companies contact their customers via a mass email service. When choosing which software to use, you should consider how many people you will want to send an email to at any one time, how many potential groups of people you would want to split your data in to, how much HTML knowledge you have and also the reports you will get back after sending out an email. So companies offer to look after the whole email marketing side of things for you, where you just supply content and images and they will do the rest, where as others give you a template that you will need to be able to amend yourself.
How to become a website programmer
Website programming can be quite a complex skill to master, but it is something that many people find enjoyable. Lots of programmers compare it to learning a new language, which essentially it is. Websites are written in code, there are many different types of code that a programmer can use depending on what needs to be accomplished on the website and what server it will be hosted on.
To become a programmer you do not necessarily need to have attended university or college. Some of the best programmers I know have been self taught and not had to spend a penny on further education.
The only real way to fully understand website programming is to actually do it. You can read many books, online tutorials or be taught in a classroom, but until you come to do it for yourself, there really are limits as to how far you can go.
Using social media as a marketing tool
Social media is fast becoming one of the best ways to build brand awareness. It gives you the option to create your company an online profile and interact with your existing and potential customers. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google +1 are just a few of the sites that business owners are starting to market their brands through, and many have seen fantastic results. With many of the sites not charging a fee for the service, it seems odd not to take advantage of this when looking on how you can build up your brand.
The companies that do best on social media and extremely active and use it in many ways. People do not want to be bombarded with messages and posts from a company about one subject; they want to read something that is interesting and unique. If you have a new product to launch, then you may want to build up a bit of excitement first using social media, you may even want to start some sort of competition, so when you do launch the product people will read about it.
What is a content managment system
If you have a website or are having one programmed then you may be familiar with the term content management system or CMS. This is basically the backend of your website that will allow you to update certain content or images etc on the site. There are many types of CMS systems, some that can be purchased off the shelf whilst other web companies create their own system. There are advantages and disadvantages of using either.
You need to establish up front if the CMS system that your developer intends to use will allow you to make the changes you need and if it does not, can it be amended to allow you to do this. It is also worth noting if the system can be upgraded at a later date by the programmer as your business grows and you need more functionality. If you chose not to have access to a CMS system, you need to find out how much you will be charged for the programmer to make changes for you in the future.
Website programming HTML
What is HTM? You may have heard this mentioned when talking to your website programmer or seen it in programs if you have access to a content management system like WordPress.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is basically the language that programmers sometimes use when they are creating a website of online elements. HTML is the markup symbols or codes inserted in a file. That when translated by a browser, display the output of a website structure and information.
The markup tells the Web browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox for example) how to display a Web page’s words and images for the visitor. Every individual markup code is referred to as an element. As mentioned some content management systems allow you to input text and images in HTML format which gives the user more control over how a page is laid out and displayed.
Hypertext Markup Language is something that all website owners should have a basic knowledge of if possible as it helps you to understand how it all works and the work involved in add / editing a page.
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PPC marketing explored
What is PPC and how can it help your business. PPC otherwise known as Pay Per Click is essentially pay for your advert linking to your website to be displayed on different sites and platforms. Google offer probably the biggest PPC programme. With Google Adwords (PPC) you can chose keywords that you with to market and then set up relevant ads which will show on the search engines when this word or phrase is searched for.
There are many options within Adwords for example, being able to select if your ad shows on mobile devices and if it shows across Google Adwords partners websites as well as the search engine. You can also set limits on the amount each click will cost you and a daily budget which will turn your ads off once this limit has been reached. Overall it is a great avenue for marketing your business online and with the help of a PPC specialist can often prove very cost effective.