A business website is your marketing vehicle. It shows people what you offer, so here are Ten top tips for a smooth website creation.

Your website is the main media asset that you own and control, so you want it to showcase you.

This photo above, taken at a recent You Are the Media event, is of me with Stewart and Nate from Giraffe Design the two people who created our website tripleyellow.co.uk.  Below is my testimonial of working with them and my top tips for ensuring that a website creation project goes smoothly.

Think about the websites you go on regularly. What do you like about them?  What keeps you coming back to them? 

Consider a recent search you did on Google. What did you type in and what results came up? Did clicking on those top result websites deliver what you were looking for?

Doing this preparation work will help get your mind into the right place before finding a website designer.

I knew that I wanted a Dorset-based website designer, as my business is all about supporting Dorset-based businesses. 

And although I had got to know Stewart from the YATM Friday morning sea swimming group (more about that another time!) it was a different kettle of fish contracting him to design my website.  

So, having looked at other options I checked out Giraffe Design’s own website. I went through their portfolio of created websites to see if any were similar to what I was imagining and looked at their Google Reviews.  All very positive.

Stewart also offered a no-obligation meeting over coffee to learn more about my company and understand my website requirements better. 

He asked questions about elements I hadn’t thought about and we explored what could be achieved in scale and timeline.  I came away informed, reassured and ready to engage the company and create a website brief.

The website brief covered a number of key questions to help me get the best possible website:

This website brief-writing process, with timely questions from Stewart, helped me clarify my website thoughts and also gave him a firmer idea of the scope of work.  He was able to create a plan and timetable and pricing figure that was most agreeable. 

I am a professional bid writer and writing comes easy to me, so I wrote the content for my website.   

My company logo, however, was another pain point altogether and one which I happily handed over to Stewart. I constrained him only with a) no, I won’t change my company name and b) yes, I really like yellow.  

Stewart understands how important logos are for a company and how a logo can be used throughout a website, whether explicitly at the top of every page or hidden in the design of buttons and images. 

We explored the use of characters and imagery but nothing was working, until a couple of weeks later genius struck Stewart overnight and the Triple Yellow logo was born.  As soon as I saw it I knew it was the one – strong, simple and demonstrating how Triple Yellow ‘fast forwards’ ambitious small businesses.  And it contained yellow.

Stewart’s opinion of my existing images confirmed my belief that I needed some professional branding photos taken.  As I am always keen to use local Dorset suppliers Giraffe Design arranged for experienced photographer Jennie Franklin to come to my workplace and take some commercial photos. Jennie fitted me in on the way to a wedding which meant a) it was a great price and b) she had her full range of cameras to use on me!  I was so pleased with the results.

Professional photographs further enhance the look and feel you want to get out of your website.

At any one time a good website designer is working on a number of projects, which they all have to schedule to maximise their resources.  Stewart set a clear timeline for the following agreed tasks: • Design web visuals • Set up WordPress and build all necessary functionality • Set up main pages • Include Blog • Add site content (based on 16 pages Plus blog section) • Add imagery supplied / help source if required • Make a demo available to view and give feedback • Amend website once received client feedback • Test new website and then go live

It was up to me to then keep my end of the bargain, providing the required content around which the pages would be designed, at the right time.  I didn’t always do this, and received a firm email from Stewart a couple of time reminding me why it was important, which made me feel very guilty.

My takeaway from this is you need to schedule time in your own work diary to provide the assets for the website designer, whether that is content, photos, webpage structure or whatever else you have promised to provide.    

Once I got going creating the website content I got excited about further potential elements, for example;

Stewart kindly and calmly reminded me that starting simple is the best approach, like building the solid foundations of a house before hanging the wallpaper …

Of course, he could have incorporated all these extra ideas outside the scope of existing work and charged me for it. But he didn’t, because he is a wise Giraffe.

I had set up www.tripleyellow.co.uk originally with a website hosting platform, but the domain was with another – TSO Host – whereupon any connection to the website name stopped working. TSO Host kept explaining it was something in (or not in) my DNS register that was causing the problem, but I had no idea what that even was, let alone how to fix it.

Stewart took on this task and liaised with TSO Host to take back control and access to the domain name.

Nate is the site framework and mobile tech guru at Giraffe Design. He ensured a) my website is optimised for mobile users (a must in today’s age where 92.3% of internet users access the internet using a mobile phone[1]) and b) optimisation of my website’s performance by tweaking page load times.

As a result both desktop and mobile versions are fast and easy to use.

Giraffe Design are all about creating great websites on WordPress, and then giving you the tools to run and manage it yourself.  Stewart provided one-to-one training and a guidebook on key processes and tasks such as:

My negative experience with TSO Host (see tip number 7) meant I was already willing to move hosting to anyone but them. 

Luckily Giraffe Design offer a cost-efficient package that includes:

I know Giraffe back up my website regularly, keep the security certificates up-to-date and making it as resilient to hackers as possible, which is one less thing for me to worry about.

Summary

Having a bespoke website created for me by a knowledgeable and calm web and graphic designer was the best experience, and I would not hesitate to recommend Giraffe Design. I hope these Ten top tips for a smooth website creation will help you.

For those who want to listen to topics on website creation, website performance, mistakes to avoid etc. then I also highly recommend Marie Brown’s excellent podcast ‘The Website Coach’ podcast. She has created 100+ podcasts containing simple and actionable tips to help you get started and keep maintaining your website.   

[1] Exploding Topics: Internet traffic from Mobile Devices, August 2023 – https://explodingtopics.com/blog/mobile-internet-traffic

Looking for successful results in bid writing or grant writing? Then look no further than our recent pro-bono partnership with It’s All About Culture (IAAC). We recently submitted our third proposal for IAAC and we’re hoping for three in a row bid success too.

Our first grant ask was to the Asda Foundation in December, which was a resounding success. It secured three months funding to cover winter utility bills for their Multicultural Hub in the Sovereign Centre in Boscombe. This Hub provides a warm space for diverse communities to connect and feel safe.

Our second bid writing request was to the Winter Crisis Grant Programme funded by NHS Dorset. This was also successful, securing six months of funding to provide access for hundreds of people to subsidised food. The project funded emergency culturally appropriate food parcels and activities that enable people to connect with others.

We submitted the latest grant writing proposal to the Screwfix Foundation. This is for funds to renovate the kitchen that serves the whole IAAC community. The refurbishment will enable the charity to teach locals how to cook healthily, further supporting the community’s health and wellbeing.

It’s All About Culture is a volunteer-based, diversity-led charity. It has a Multicultural Hub in one of the most deprived areas of Dorset county – Boscombe – supporting thousands of people.

IAAC originally sought our help to:

We are proud to have helped IAAC secure over £10,000 so far. We have focussed on getting the foundations in place. This includes an information repository and good governance policy. Secondly we followed up with requests for immediate funding needs, such as winter survival funding. Now we can now work on a longer-term strategy and core funding requirements.

If you are a not-for-profit organisation in Dorset looking for support with bid writing, please get in touch with us. We’re here to help you achieve success and make a real difference in your community.

In today’s digital age, data protection as a qualified business support has become a hot topic, affecting businesses and organisations of all sizes. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented by the European Union (EU) in 2018, has had a significant impact on how personal data is handled. Since leaving the EU our own UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) has taken its place.

Realising the importance of safeguarding sensitive information and wanting to understand better how to support Dorset businesses and not-for-profits, I have recently embarked on a journey to become a certified Data Protection Officer (DPO).

GDPR is a set of regulations designed to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens. It covers various data protection principles, such as obtaining valid consent, ensuring data security, conducting impact assessments, and promoting transparent data processing practices. Non-compliance with GDPR can result in severe penalties, including hefty fines by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The more I am learning about GDPR and Data Protection the more I am understanding their importance for Dorset small businesses and not-for-profit organisations:

I recently had the pleasure of sharing some in-depth Dorset knowledge by providing a ‘Financing, Funding and Futures’ workshop to several Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) residents of the AUB Innovation Studio.

The AUB Innovation Studio operates as a lab for creative technologies. It offers a nucleus for start-ups and regional enterprises, and is a hub for industry engagement, with a focus on collaboration, high-skills development, entrepreneurship, research, and prototyping.

In return, AUB offers free support back to Dorset small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), startups, sole traders and social enterprises through:

My workshop session was all about the Dorset financing and funding environment, helping them understand:

Dorset economy

What does it look like here and what sector support is available

Finance in Dorset – What financial support is available for various stages of development, from grants to loans, crowdfunding to angel investment

Dorset movers and shakers – Who are they and where to get key news and insight to help grow their organisation

Opportunities in BCP and Dorset areas – How to plug into tender and contract opportunities. How to join the networks and newsletters that are really helpful and will expand their business opportunities

Dorset futures – What financing, funding and future opportunities and risks are coming over the horizon and how to take advantage of these opportunities.

Dorset is losing home-grown talent after graduation. According to the Southern Policy Centre’s ‘Retaining Graduates’ 2019 report, only 16% of students domiciled in Dorset remaining to work in Dorset. Therefore we must do everything to help support them and international graduates who want to stay and grow their business in Dorset.

If you want to know which helpful business support organisations exist in Dorset, then head over to the ‘Dorset Support Organisations’ web page on this site.

If you want any particular in-depth Dorset knowledge, or to know what Dorset funding and financial support is available then please get in touch.

When you need a flexible hands-on expert, someone to create social media posts one week, then write bid documents for a contract tender the next month, then project manage a trade fair attendance later in the year, together with creating promotional case studies from the customers’ viewpoint … the list goes on. You and your team don’t have the time / expertise to do it all, and you don’t have the funds to hire full-time.

Let us give you an example of where we have provided short-term critical support to a growing small business over the past three years.

Designed mainly for smaller security installation and management companies, TetherX is a platform and IoT gateway that securely ‘tethers’ physical security devices (CCTV cameras, ANPR cameras, access door sensors etc.) at multiple locations and makes them easy to monitor, manage and maintain on a single dashboard and remotely via an app at the touch of a button.

We originally started working with them in response to their new investors requiring quick turnaround times for key growth tasks.

Since then we have provided:

Some tasks lasted a couple of days, others a couple of months. The company pulled on us when they needed a flexible hands-on expert.

After a recent break of just over six months we have been recently contacted again for short-term support, which we will happily give (subject to capacity of course!)