SpinnaWeb

Ready for a New Website?

Not happy with your website? Or been telling yourself it is about time you got one?

See, we’ve been working in the Perth Web Industry for seven years and we’re sick and tired of meeting people who are unhappy with their websites. All too commonly we find people who don’t feel like they have control over their website. They feel like the website is a mysterious black box that they pour money into with no measurable results. They feel like they’ve paid for something and received something else and the number ONE complaint is that most people don’t feel confident in updating their website.

We realise that, as your website company, our responsibility does not stop when we receive payment for our work. We believe that we have a duty to not only deliver you an awesome website, but that we also need to train you so that you are confident in updating and maintaining your website. Through working with many, many clients we have come to realise that most small business websites are serving similar needs. And because many small business websites are fulfilling similar needs we have created an all-in-one solution for getting your website up and running as quickly as possible!

You may already know this but a website has lots of moving parts. When you decide to have a SpinnaWeb website this is what we include as standard:

• Domain name of your choice (.com or .com.au)
• Fast Australian-based website hosting
• Up to five, one-hour telephone consultations
• Professional website design to reflect your image (Including your logo/colours)
• Content Management System (So you can update your website without spending a cent)
• Loading of your content onto your website of up to five (5) pages
• Detailed website statistics showing what pages of your website are popular and how many visits you are receiving on a day by day basis

So sure, this may sound like a lot of things, but what does it all mean? The above list is literally everything you need to put yourself on the Internet! Everything!

If you were to ask us to do each of these services separately it would cost you in the vicinity of $4,000~. But, in the same way that buying a laptop is cheaper than buying the parts of a laptop individually, we offer a pretty sizable discount if you’re ready to go ahead with it all at the same time. So, if you are ready to go ahead with it all at the same time we’re offering all of the above for only…

$2470 (inc GST)
(Rather than the $4,000~ price tag that this is all worth)

But what if I already have a domain you may ask? Well we’ll knock $100 off that price if you bring your own domain name and give you everything for $2370 (inc GST).

Although you do not currently have a SpinnaWeb website, frankly, I would like you to. So rather than stopping there I would like to go above and beyond what we’re already offered, without changing the price - I hope that is okay!

Beginning in September SpinnaWeb is running a monthly training session on how to get the most out of the Content Management System that all of our websites run with. This training session normally lasts 4~5 hours on an afternoon. You will be face to face with Lloyd Johnson, the owner of SpinnaWeb. He will walk you through exactly how to use your website, how to change the content and even how to add media such as YouTube movies to your website! But, best of all, you will be able to ask him whatever questions would like in that time and get first hand tips for ranking highly on Google, marketing your website in innovative ways and proven methods for making your website deliver the greatest return in your business.

But what we know is that people are busy, and sometimes hearing something more than once can be useful. So as part of this package we are offering you the opportunity to attend as many of these training sessions as you would like in the 3 months following your signup. This means you could attend THREE sessions if you wanted, or just the one that suited you best. And at the end of it all? You have the knowledge and tools to make the most of your shiny new website!

So STOP and start thinking about it… what would it be like to have a shiny new website? What would that mean to your customers, your staff and… perhaps more importantly, what would it mean to you? Because we know the difference a good website makes in an Australian business. And we’re committed to delivering you a website that is going to work for you.

Having read this far I hope that you have a really good idea of what you could expect. But what if I could show you a handful of recent websites we’ve done for people just like you? These three websites have all been done for Perth based ventures, created on our Content Management System, and are available for you to visit and see our work in action!

Peter Haze Website

This website was created for Peter Haze, a Perth based Massage Therapist.

» Read more about his website here
» Visit this website (Opens in new window)

Angela Napolitano Website

This website was created for Angela Napolitano, a Perth based Author.

» Read more about her website here
» Visit this website (Opens in new window)

Oceanic Apartment Website

This website was created for Steph Radonich to support her beautiful accommodation in Fremantle, Western Australia.

» Read more about her website here
» Visit this website (Opens in new window)

And that is not all we’ve done. If you wanted too you could see a longer list of some of our past web sites in our Online Portfolio.

Given everything you’ve read I hope you are beginning to see that this is much closer to a reality than you may have previously though! And for $2470 (inc GST) you really are getting amazing value, especially with the monthly training sessions.

So if you are keen to get started, or perhaps find out more information, there is no time like the present! Pickup the phone and give us a call or open Outlook and send us an email. A few questions are all we need to make sure we can meet your needs and then we can get things underway!

Contact us on any of the methods below,
ask for Lloyd and mention that
you’re ready to put yourself on the web!

Phone: (08) 9467 4357
Mobile: 0427 384 547
Email: lloyd@spinnaweb.com.au

Did You Know 2.0

Peter Haze Website

Peter Haze Website Screenshot

In August 2009 SpinnaWeb worked with Peter Haze to create a professional web presence for his Massage Therapy business. Peter is an extremely qualified massage therapist with a Diploma in Remedial Massage, Certificate IV in Massage Therapy and training in specialised forms of massage including the 4 quadrant style of massage, sports massage and trigger-point therapy. We were lucky enough to experience Peter’s work as a massage therapist - if you have an opportunity to receive a massage from this man I would highly recommend you take it!

The Peter Haze website was built so that Peter could quickly and easily have a web presence to support his growing massage therapy venture. The website has been created using a Content Management System (CMS) so that Peter has full control over the information shown on his website. The website facilitates people booking in for a massage and is already playing a large part in Peter’s marketing strategy.

Visit the Peter Haze Website.

Angela Napolitano Website

Angela Napolitano Website Screenshot

In July 2009 SpinnaWeb was contacted by Angela about creating a website for her book, Liborio: My Great Love. Angela’s book is a powerful true story dedicated to her late husband Liborio. The story reveals how, motivated by love, Liborio came to work with asbestos at Wittenoom and the tragic consequences of his exposure to asbestos. If you have not yet read this book I highly recommend that you download the sample chapter, read through the website and do whatever it takes to get yourself a copy of this book. This book is a real eye opener!

The Angela Napolitano website was built primarily to raise awareness for the book Liborio: My Great Love and to also raise awareness of Mesothelioma. The website provides detailed information about the book, allows for the download of a sample chapter, facilitates visitors ordering the book and also helps to educate visitors about Mesothelioma.

Visit the Angela Napolitano Website.

What Angela Napolitano had to say about her experience with SpinnaWeb:

I came to meet Lloyd Johnson, through word of mouth, he had been recommended to me as a highly efficient web site designer by a friend who had dealt with him earlier.

I found Lloyd to be a  real gem and working with him to set up an amazing  website for a self-published book that I wrote proved so effortless.  Nothing  was too much trouble and he was quick to recognise and envisage  just what was required to give me and  my book the recognition deserved.

I have no hesitation  in recommending Lloyd Johnson of SpinnaWeb   for his efficiency and  professionalism as a website designer.

Angela Napolitano, Author

Visit the Angela Napolitano Website.

Upcoming Swan TAFE Courses being taught by SpinnaWeb

SpinnaWeb is really excited to be working with Swan TAFE to be presenting several upcoming courses. These courses are designed to provide you with a better understanding of how to brand yourself and your business online. The courses on offer are:

Online Personal Branding
Have you heard people mention social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook but you don’t quite know what all the fuss is about? Does the prospect of using social networking seem daunting or do you even wonder why people bother with it? Social Media is growing extremely quickly and is increasingly important in branding yourself online. This course covers everything you need to know to get yourself up and running on both LinkedIn and Facebook along with a greater understanding that you can apply to other social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace and Bebo. The hands on sessions ensure you don’t just understand the technology but that by the end of the course you are fully up and running with each of these tools! This course would ideally suit anyone that is making changes in their career or business. This includes everyone from small business owners looking to promote their business to employees going for a promotion to busy executives looking for an easier way to stay in touch with their contacts.

Getting Your Business on the Web
Do you know that you need a website, but don’t know where to start? Have you tried to build a website and do you keep getting stuck? It is now expected that businesses, from the smallest cafes through to the largest multinationals, will have a website. But what makes a good website and how can you cost effectively create one for your business? This course covers everything from registering a domain name through to marketing your new website. More importantly, it considers your website in the context of your business and as a result your completed website will immediately be meeting your real business needs. While much of the course focuses around ‘do it yourself’ tips this course is best undertaken by a small business owner or project manager that is likely to be working with a web developer/web designer in the creation of their website.

Email and SMS Marketing
What are you doing to stay in contact with your customers? Are you interested in increasing their loyalty to your products and services? Email & SMS Marketing are both extremely cost effective ways to stay in touch with your customers. Done poorly you can easily upset your customers and lose sales, while done well you can increase customer loyalty, increasing the frequency a customer does business with you and deliver a better quality service. This course covers the do’s and dont’s of Email & SMS Marketing. At the end of this course you will not only have a strong understanding of how to successfully implement this technology in your business, you will also have the basis of an automated
email marketing campaign!

To find out more about Swan TAFE’s upcoming Adult Leisure Short Courses you can visit their website:
» Swan TAFE Adult Leisure Short Courses
Their website provides a PDF download for Term 3, 2009 with full details of each of the above courses as well as information about how to enroll.

Panorama Coaching Website

Panorama Coaching Website Screenshot

In June 2009 SpinnaWeb was contacted by Heike Silke about creating a website for her business, Panorama Coaching. Heike at Panorama Coaching helps people to breakthough their barriers, achieve that best performance and unleash their true potential.

The Panorama Coaching website was built as an online presence for Panorama Coaching. The website has been designed to not only provide information about Panorama Coaching but to also invite people to take advantage of a Free 30 Minute Taster Coaching Session. The website also contains a comprehensive calendar of past and future events that Panorama Coaching is running.

Visit the Panorama Coaching Website.

What Heike Silke had to say about her experience with SpinnaWeb:

When I set up my business I wanted to set up my website. I was looking for someone who is professional, flexible and has lots of expertise and I found Lloyd from Spinnaweb. Lloyd has helped me hugely to build a wonderful website. THANK YOU Lloyd. You have done an excellent job. I wish you and SpinnaWeb all the best!

Heike Silke, Panorama Coaching

Visit the Panorama Coaching Website.

Design To Sell: 8 Useful Tips To Help Your Website Convert

These 8 tips were originally covered by Smashing Magazine. If your website plays a part in your sales process the information covered below is very useful in confirming either how well your website currently works, or possibly in highlighting opportunities for your website to be improved.

As we see more and more businesses move their services online, and even more that begin their life on the Web, a greater need arises for websites that are designed and built to sell. A great-looking website may achieve the goal of shaping and delivering a strong brand, but its good looks alone aren’t enough to sell the products or services on offer. For that, you need to introduce the element of marketing.

1. Subliminal Suggestion

Research shows that objects and images you see around you can prime you for certain behaviors. For example, a study on children showed that after being shown a Santa Claus cap, they were more likely to share candy with others. The cap embodied the concept of sharing and giving in their minds, and exposure to it primed them for regarding sharing more positively. The same study also exposed kids to a “Toys ‘R’ Us” logo, which had the opposite effect of the Santa Claus cap, making them less likely to share their candy.

LegacyLocker features a photo of a happy family on its landing page, presumably to evoke in visitors a warm feeling for its product and a desire to care for their loved ones.

When choosing images for your website, think carefully about the message you’re trying to send. Pick images that are meaningful and that embody that message or feeling. Don’t put graphics on your website for their own sake — if they’re not doing a job, they don’t have to be there. Clichéd and overused imagery and stock photos are also dangerous because it may not send the right message in the given context, so select images that get the effect you’re after.

2. Prevent Choice Paralysis

There is a phenomenon in marketing known as “choice paralysis.” Choice paralysis happens when the user is given too many options. Choice is great, but when your customers are presented with too many options, they may be confused about where to go. Nobody wants buyer’s remorse (where a person chooses an item and decides later it’s not right for them), so many people spend more time than they should on the selection process: they become paralyzed.

In fact, according to Barry Schwatz, when customers have too many options to consider, they end up avoiding a specific service or the task in general (Paradox of Choice) – and this is exactly what we as designers need to carefully consider in our designs.

The Highrise pricing list shows a set of monthly payment plans. The most popular one stands out visually to help you make a choice.

To remedy choice paralysis, make it easier for people to find the right product or service for them. Tell them what each option is great for, and then suggest the one they should choose. You can even use visuals to highlight the most popular product and steer potential customers towards it. If the product is not right for them, they’ll pick another, but if they’re confused, a “default” choice helps prevent choice paralysis.

3. Show The Product

When you visit a physical store, perhaps a grocery, you can look at, examine and sometimes even taste the products on sale. You make your purchasing decision based on the information you gather there. Are the tomatoes ripe enough? Are those strawberries red enough? What about the look and smell of that freshly baked bread?

When you sell services or products online, you should do exactly the same thing: show the product. It’s surprising how many websites that sell software don’t actually show screenshots of their applications. Sure, these are intangible goods, digital goods that you can’t touch or smell, but they’re still goods you can see.

Dashboard puts large screenshots of its lead-tracking app right on the front page.

People make judgments based on what products look like. Why? Because appearance is an indicator, rightly or wrongly, of a product’s usability. This is known as the aesthetic-usability effect.

Get people to imagine using your services or product, and you’ll get closer to closing the sale.

4. Let People Try It

Once you start using a product, you become involved in it. Once you start entering data into it, you begin to make it your own. Every second a user spends trying out features is a second of their time invested in learning and using your product.

When that user is then presented with the question of whether to purchase or subscribe to the product or service, they will more likely say “yes” because they are already involved and have invested time in it. Of course, if the product is bad, then it may turn people off, but then your priority should really be to improve the product until it reaches a level people are happy with.

MailChimp, an email marketing service, allows you to start using the service for free with your first 100 subscribers.

Stories and testimonials are very important in sales because they get potential customers to imagine what it would be like to use your product.

5. AIDA

AIDA is a well-known strategy in sales and stands for: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. It is relatively simple and describes the sequence of events you should aim for to get a sale. So, first of all, you must capture the attention of your potential customer. Once you have it, you should win their interest by explaining how your product or service can help them.

Then, once they’re interested, generate a desire in them for your product. For example, a story about how this product has helped someone like your visitor can help them imagine what this product would do for them, and especially what benefits it would bring. Indeed, the benefit part is key here because benefits, not features, sell products.

Finally, you need to get people to act. This means purchasing the product or signing up for the service. If people want your product, all they may need is a button to check out. If they are interested but not yet sure, you could use a few methods to motivate them further; for example, creating a sense of urgency with a limited-time offer or limited supply.

Yokaboo features large, eye-catching graphics. You’re likely to first read the short description on the left. The stats on the t-shirt then help build trust. Finally, you are presented with a call to action on the right.

Now, the AIDA approach applies more to copy — the actual marketing text on the website — than design, so what we need to do on the design side is reinforce that copy, make it stand out and ensure visitors read it. This means making sure the first thing a new visitor sees really grabs their attention. The flow of the page should then direct their focus to the items that achieve the other two goals: interest and desire. Finally, at the end of this flow, we need to convert. So, provide calls to action: “Order now,” “Sign up here.”

It’s important to understand that the design alone won’t sell: you need strong copy in place to do most of that work. The design is there to reinforce and support the copy, rather than the other way around.

This means you shouldn’t design a nice website first and then fill up the space with words. Instead, think about the message you want to send out, write the copy and then construct a design that delivers that. If a delivery truck breaks down, then the package does not arrive, but if there was no package in the first place, then the delivery wouldn’t matter at all.

6. Guide attention

To benefit from something like AIDA, you have to lead your visitors through your content. You can do this by aligning items in a manner that will flow, and using images that guide the eyes. For example, if you want to focus attention somewhere, use a big arrow. Our eyes will notice the arrow and will naturally want to see where it points to.

Business Catalyst uses an arrow graphic to lead the visitor’s gaze onto the “Watch the video” button.

The content on the Silverback site flows down towards the download button. Additionally, the arrow on that button points towards the purchase link.

Structure your content in a way that will flow towards something. Having a bunch of scattered feature descriptions may confuse and make your visitors lost, unless of course if all of the points end in calls to action. If you want to ensure your visitors don’t miss anything, align everything in a linear structure so that the user scans along it. Make sure to end it with the ultimate call to action: that signup or download link.

7. Always Provide Next Actions

ABC: Always Be Closing. If you’re designing a website to sell something, whether a software application or Web service, you should always be thinking about how you’re closing the deal on each page. This doesn’t mean filling every page with big “Buy now” buttons; it means when the customer is ready to buy, they shouldn’t have to look around for the check-out link.

Notice how each of the three bits of text on the Skype website has a call to action after it, whether it’s a “Learn more” or a purchase link.

Always provide next-action links to keep the flow going and to ensure you don’t lose the attention of potential customers. Next-action links can direct the visitor to a page with more information about the product or to the actual page where they can make the purchase or sign up. These links could read something like: “Ready to order? Click here,” “Learn more,” “Take the tour” or “Shop now.”

Don’t leave a dead end on any page: always suggest to your visitors where they should go next.

8. The Gutenberg rule

The Gutenberg diagram (or the Gutenberg rule) is a concept that maps out something called reading gravity. Reading gravity describes a habit of reading in the western world: left to right, top to bottom. The Gutenberg diagram splits up a page into four quadrants: the “Primary Optical Area” in top left, the “Strong Fallow Area” in top right, the “Weak Fallow Area” in the bottom left and a “Terminal Area” in bottom right.

The Gutenberg diagram

It suggests that the bottom left area of the page will get least attention as our eyes scan the page from top left to bottom right and that our glance would end up in the lower right portion of the page. How can we utilize this concept? Buttons and calls to action could be placed in bottom right instead of bottom left, as this is the place where the visitor’s glance is likely to alight.

Notice how GoodBarry has the trial signup button placed at the bottom right of the above the fold area of the landing page.

Note that the Gutenberg diagram is more likely to work on pages which have more a balanced distribution of content. If parts of your page have strong highlights through high contrast and bold typography, then those areas would likely attract more attention and so will direct the way a user scans the page.

Source: Smashing Magazine (Click to read the full article)

Having read this article do you feel that maybe your website could be working more effectively for you? If you’re ready to make positive changes to your website you could take the first step by Contacting Us and getting the ball rolling.

Nyaarla Website

Nyaarla Projects Website Screenshot

In late 2008 SpinnaWeb was contacted by Alan & Madonna Beattie about creating a website for Nyaarla Projects. Nyaarla Projects work with both the public and private sectors in the provision of training, employment, youth services, education, community consultation and consulting - to name but a few of their services!

The Nyaarla Projects website was built as an online presence for Nyaarla Projects. This was their first website and has been designed to cater for a wide variety of audiences, from participants in their Indigenous Youth Mobility Program (IYMP) through to Government employees as part of the tendering process. It has been really exciting moving from concept to website over the last few months with both Alan and Madonna.

Visit the Nyaarla Projects Website.

Is your website helping your competitors?

This is a great article written by MyBRC (Business Resource Centre) last month that does a really nice job of expressing the importance of making your website work for your customers.

Visitors to your website don’t give a damn if your website is slow, boring, out of date and hard to use. They’ll simply click off and go away. Most likely to a competitor. Sadly, that’s how they will perceive your business, too – slow, boring, out of date and hard to deal with. No wonder your competitors love you and want you to keep it up.

The only time a visitor cares about the technology you use to build your website is when it gets in the way of their ability to access the information they’re after. At which point they’ll simply click off and go away. Most likely to a competitor. No wonder your competitors love you.

…

It’s really annoying when you go to a website that holds out the promise of offering what you’re looking for, only to tell you that you must have the latest version of some viewing technology to access the information. That’s a bit like trying to go into a store only to be told by some security guard that only Mercedes drivers can enter.

The only person who cares about a splash page that proudly displays your logo in glorious 3-D animation with that “click here to enter” option, is your web developer. That’s why it’s called an “ego page”. Visitors will simply click off and go away. Most likely to a competitor. No wonder your competitors love your website developer.

Visitors to your website don’t care if the information they’re looking for isn’t there. They’ll simply click off and go away. Most likely to a competitor. No wonder your competitors love your website and want you to keep it up.

So, what does this all mean? Simply, that your website is all about your customers and meeting their needs and expectations. The technology used is largely irrelevant, and the design only becomes important after your customers’ needs, their behaviour, your business objectives and your marketing strategies are fully understood.

Source: MyBRC (Click to read the full article)

Oceanic Apartment Website

Oceanic Apartment Website Screenshot

In March 2009 SpinnaWeb was requested to make a website for Oceanic Apartment. The Oceanic Apartment is executive accommodation based in central Fremantle, Western Australia.

The Oceanic Apartment website was designed to make information about the apartment much more easily accessible. Previously the apartment’s online presence was primarily run through individual pages on other websites. The Oceanic Apartment provides general information about the apartment, provides a virtual tour, answers many frequently asked questions (Cutting down time answering emails) and even allows for online bookings! The website provides integration with a 3rd party booking system from Roam Free. Within days of having launched the website it already showing on the first page of Google searches.

Visit the Oceanic Apartment Website.

What Stephanie Radonich from Oceanic Apartment had to say about their experience with SpinnaWeb:

I approached Lloyd Johnson from Spinnaweb to quote on the design my website earlier this year. After speaking to Lloyd on the phone I felt even more motivated to start my web design.  Lloyd gave me tools to decide whether he was the right web-designer for my business, we had a telephone conversation and I feel that he understood what I was trying to accomplish with my website.  During the construction process, Lloyd offered useful suggestions from his personal understanding of marketing and gave me some ideas that go beyond the web design.  My own ideas were also brought to life. Now my web page is live it is exactly what I envisioned and reflects my business style. I found that Lloyd explained the process well and kept me on track with the information that I was to provide, without wasting any of my time with the intricate details of the actual set-up.  The whole Process took about 6 weeks from the first contact to completion, and I am very satisfied with the outcome.

Thanks Lloyd

Stephanie Radonich, Oceanic Apartment

Visit the Oceanic Apartment Website.