Cheltenham Ecommerce Services

Cheltenham Ecommerce services- search engine optimisation by Website design,Gloucestershire, designers, businesses, ppc, social media.

New business floods in for Prestbury Bathrooms

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New business floods in for one of our clients- Prestbury Bathrooms.

New business floods in for one of our clients- Prestbury Bathrooms.Website Design Cheltenham were approached by Mark Clay the Managing Director of Prestbury Bathrooms last year to help them rebuild their website and to get more traffic and business as a result.

There are three things that any business needs to do to win new business- whether they are online or offline:

  • Be found;
  • Offer the good and services that people want to buy;
  • Convey the trust that the business will delivery on people’s hard earned money.

We then researched the keywords that potential new customers are using for Prestbury Bathrooms’ services and completely redesigned, made responsive and optimised a whole new website.

Secondly element- the website has to match the new customers’ expectations- which in this case is skilled, great value bathroom design installation services.

Which may sound easy enough until you consider that all of these screens- computer, notepads and smart phones have different dimensions. So all the website’s images have to be resized so that all appear correctly.

Thus when a website depends on it’s images to sell and promote the skills and quality of the business- this becomes a bit of an issue. Thus when a page has nearly two dozen images- and they all need to be resized several times, the process becomes a bit of an organisational task.

The third step is less hard in Prestbury’s case as they are a well established, reputable service with lot of excellent examples and testimonials. They just needed this skilled, professional approach emphasising.

Overall we have managed to promote Prestbury Bathrooms from having three pages listed in Google’s database to having over 40 pages now listed. And we are pleased to say quite a few are now ranked on the first page fo Google for the keyword phrases that Mr Clay wanted.

The business result- Prestbury Bathrooms now have work fully booked for the next four months- as Mark told us today- “Thank you- you must be doing something right we have never been so busy!”

So, if you want help with making money from your website by attracting new customers and new business- please contact us now or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
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UK shoppers top online spending league

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Shoppers in the UK spend more online per person than those from any other country in the world.

Shoppers in the UK spend more online per person than those from any other country in the world.Analysis from Internet World Germany found that British shoppers spend an average of £1,050 a year, followed by the US, with £1,001. German shoppers came in third place, each spending an average of £915 via the internet each year.

Within Germany, found the analysis, the top 10 online retailers generate more than a third of total ecommerce sales. Amazon Amazon is the most popular online shop, with sales put at more than £4.9 billion, while fashion retailers Otto and Zalando recorded sales of almost £1.5 billion and £659 million respectively. Online accounts for 15.3% of total retail sales, excluding food.

“The average ecommerce spend per head spend in Germany is not far off UK and US levels,” said Saskia Müller, head of Internet World Germany. “With domestic and international online brands continuing to understand what’s important to German consumers and adding value to their services, there’s a lot of room for growth in an already mature market.”

However in the UK mobile’s share of visits to UK retail sites has increased to 64%.

Smartphone shopping is now the default for  U.K. shoppers with 64% of all website visits to retailers last year coming from mobile devices, according to digital market intelligence company, SimilarWeb.

The study revealed that on average 64.54% of visits to all online retail sites in the U.K last year were via mobile phones, compared to 35.46% for desktop. This reflected a further 2.63% increase for mobile’s market share in the online U.K retail market last year.

The UK now has a bigger share of mobile phone shopping than the U.S (55%), Germany (43%) and France (35%).  However India remained the standout leader for mobile shopping, with a 65% share, over desktop, last year.

On average, across 2015, all of the most popular 10 UK retail sites, including Amazon, eBay and Argos, registered a bigger share of visits from mobile, compared to desktop visits (see below).

The shift to mobile also represented a retail challenge — while on average U.K desktop visitors browsed 12.4 pages per session in 2015, this dropped to 7.3 pages when sites were visited via smartphones.

Similarly, on desktop, UK shoppers spent  7.21 minutes on an average retail site viewed from desktop last year, dropping  to an average of 5 minutes and 5 seconds on a mobile device.

The UK is now a European leader in mobile shopping, far ahead of France, and Germany.

So, if you want to increase your website’s online and mobile sales then please contact us NOW or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
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Website Design Cheltenham wishes you a Happy New Year

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Website Design in Cheltenham wishes you a Happy New Year in 2016.

Website Design in Cheltenham wishes you a Happy New Year in 2016.So, if you want to increase your business’s website sales in the New Year for 2016 then please contact us NOW or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
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Dangers of shopping on non https websites

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We wanted to highlight the dangers of shopping on non secure- non https websites.

We wanted to highlight the dangers of shopping on non secure- non https websitesWebsite Design Cheltenham was amazed to come across an otherwise reputable site that didn’t encrypt it’s potential customers’ details.

With cyber hacking happening on a daily basis with the likes of Talk Talk, JP Morgan and Wetherspoons all being victims of abuse we thought that every company with a website was taking it’s customers’ data securely.

Not only is this a moral requirement- it is a legal requirement here in the United Kingdom. You could be liable for a fine by the Data Comissioner to the tune of £500,000. How happy is that at Christmas time?

Things to look for in a secure website

When visiting a website that asks for sensitive information such as credit card numbers or passwords,  is verifying that any information you enter on this site is transmitted and stored properly. Once your information is entered online, it is transmitted as plain text for anyone to intercept. To avoid this, make sure that the website is encrypted over a secure connection.

  • HTTPS

One such sign to look for is in the URL of the website. A secure website’s URL should begin with “https” rather than “http”. The “s” at the end of “http” stands for secure and is using an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection. Your information will be encrypted before being sent to a server.

  • THE LOCK ICON

Another sign to look for is the “Lock” icon that is displayed somewhere in the window of your web browser- usually by the URL in your browser.

  • GREEN ADDRESS BAR

Some SSL certificates also activate the green address bar – a visual reminder about an especially secure connection.

A recent survey shows that while some people don’t necessarily know which security signs to look out for, nearly all associate the green address bar with a secure connection.

In fact, 85% of web users state they wouldn’t buy through a website where they weren’t certain their data was being transferred securely.

This illustrates how important it is to have clear and visible security settings so customers will click the “Buy Now” button with confidence.

So, if you want to increase your non secure website’s sales by 600% then please contact us NOW or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
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Black Friday- top tips for safer online buying

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Website Design in Cheltenham’s guide to the phrenetic world of Black Friday- and our top tips for safer online buying.

Website Design in Cheltenham's guide to the phrenetic world of Black Friday- and our top tips for safer online buyingBlack Friday is a shopping event on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday of Novembe and it has traditionally been the day that kicks off the festive shopping season.

The Monday following Thanksgiving is also known as Cyber Monday, as data shows it is the biggest online retail day of the year with online sales of £810 million in the UK in 2014. The deals are also not limited to just these 2 days, you should see a raft of great deals throughout November and December.

Here are our top tips to help you stay safe when shopping online this Christmas.

1. Check to see if the company is reputable

So you have found the product you want at a great price, but you have never heard of the retailer, how do you know they are all they are cracked up to be?

Always check that the company is reputable, this can be done fairly simply starting by looking for the obvious signs: check that the company is displaying a UK based address and telephone number on their website, that they have a number of contact avenues over and above an email address or contact form.

You could also take their limited company number and check it is still active on the companies register, this will also tell you how long they have been trading and what other company names they have used previously.

Make sure you feel confident they are who they say they are, if you are not sure – look elsewhere.

2. Read online reviews

Sites such as SafeBuy are dedicated review sites as well as Trustpilot, Reevoo, and Review Centre will enable you to see what other people are saying about the retailer you are thinking of using.

Average ratings are useful in that if they have a high rating with a large number of reviews, then they should be a reputable online retailer.

Sometimes poor ratings are generated by things such as slow delivery times. Check the website is upfront about slow delivery if this is the case. But if the reviews cite problems such as unresponsive customer service or poor quality items then you should think about avoiding those retailers and taking your money elsewhere.

3. Check that the checkout is secure

This is one of the most important things to look out for- is the connection secure?

When buying online, you want to know that your transaction is going to be handled securely, there are a number of things to do here:

The first thing to check is that the checkout process is secured by SSL. You can do this by looking at your browsers address bar and look for the padlock icon, also check that the address begins with https://. This means that the communication between you and the website is secure.

Sometimes the payment page will be hosted somewhere else, such as Paypal, this is fine, just make sure that the page where you enter your personal details is secure as well as the payment page.

4. Protect your personal information

Giving online retailers your personal details is an inevitable part of online shopping, they need to know your email address to send you a copy of your invoice and keep you up to date with shipping etc. And of course they will need your address, otherwise they will not know where to send the items!

However- you also want to know that the retailer is going to look after your data once they have it, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the homepage, and see what assurances they give you about protection of customers through their shopping experience, be that external review site, money back guarantees, or data protection statements.

Always review their privacy policy, look out for information about how your data is stored, and who they will share your data with. If you do not like what they will do with it or the information is absent, look elsewhere.

5. Know your online rights when buying

The law has recently been updated when it comes to your consumer rights, it is now covered under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and came into force on October 1st 2015. It replaced the Sales of Goods Act 1979.

Make sure the goods that arrive are as described, if the website description is different to what you received or the quality is not satisfactory, you are entitled to a full refund. The goods should be fit for purpose and last a reasonable length of time.

If something is faulty, you are entitled to a full refund within 30 days, after this your rights become more limited, such as being able to ask for repair, replacement, or partial refund.

6. Extra protection from your credit card in the UK

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 states that a credit provider must take the same responsibility as a retailer if things go wrong. This protection covers most purchases that are between £100 and £30,000 and means that if for example, the company that you bought something off went into liquidation before you received your goods, you can claim the money back from your credit provider.

This protection covers credit cards, store cards, store instalment credit and some car finance agreements where a single item is between those values. As an added bonus, even if you just pay for part of the item on credit, you are still protected for the full value of the item.

So if you are making any big purchases this Christmas, make sure some or all of it is paid for on credit.

Hopefully this will help you to keep safe online. Good Luck!

Website Design reelected by Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce

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The Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce has re elected the Website Design Cheltenham to their ECommerce Executive.

The Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce has re elected the Website Design Cheltenham to their ECommerce Executive.At the recent Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce’s Annual General Meeting (AGM)- which was held at the Cheltenham Borough Council’s office in the Promenade, we were re elected unanimously to be their ECommerce executive Board.

Our role last year were to help improve the number of Members, to increase membership retention and to improve some of the “back office” systems including the event booking system.

We can’t claim to be sole reason for the improvement, but at the AGM it was declared that the membership income had increased by 22% over the past year.

In addition we put in place the event booking system which replaced the old “cheque in the post” booking reservation and payment system with an online booking and payment system that has streamlined the whole process. Saving both our member’s time and also the administration’s time.

And making the Cheltenham Chamber look more professional and user friendly to existing and guest visitors.

Back at the turn of the Century one of the reasons that the City became so excited about the Internet and created the “Dot Com Bubble” was that they realised that the Internet can automate and improve the ways that business is conducted.

So the Internet becomes not just about online sales but administration and business improvements. Which is why ECommerce is so important to productivity and profitability.

Thus, if you want help with improving your business’s processes and productivity- please contact us now or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
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Website Cheltenham redesigns Prestbury Bathrooms

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Website Design in Cheltenham has redesigned Prestbury Bathrooms’ site.

Website Design in Cheltenham has redesigned Prestbury Bathrooms' site

As we mentioned last month Prestbury Bathrooms asked us at Website Design Cheltenham to redesign thier website not only to make it responsive for smart phones and tablets, but also to make it search engine optimised so that it will attract more new business and make them more money.

Accordingly we duly achieved the brief with Mark Clay the Managing Director saying “The site looks superb – thanks. It looks great and I thank you.”

Since a major rebalance of their algorythms in March Google have been giving priority rankings to websites which are responsive- ie able to work on smart phones and notepads- as well as computers.

Which may sound easy enough until you consider that all of these screens have different dimensions. So all the website’s images have to be resized so that all appear correctly.

So when a website depends on it’s images to sell and promote the skills and quality of the business- this becomes a bit of an issue. Thus when a page has nearly two dozen images- and they all need to be resized several times, the process becomes a bit of an organisational task.

Overall we have managed to promote Prestbury Bathrooms from having three pages listed in Google’s database to having over 40 pages now listed. And we are pleased to say quite a few are now ranked on the first page fo Google for the keyword phrases that Mr Clay wanted.

So, if you want help with making money from your website by attracting new customers and new business- please contact us now or ring us on 01242 521967 now to see how we can help you to make money as well!
contact website design cheltenham