Starting a new business it often rough. Ok, take away “often”, it is rough.
In an effort to make sure my services are known by a wide variety of audiences, I am continually searching for other places to “advertise”.
I recently came across Thumbtack. Thumbtack is a great little service that gives you an additional outlet to communicate your services.
You can check out my link here: Make your website soar with a website redesign!
After much consternation dealing with Facebook setup procedures (basically integrating this blog with Facebook, eventually used the WPBook plugin), Flyer Computer Resources is now on Facebook!
Like me please!
The first website I developed for a client using Pagelines PlatformPro was Frugalouis.
Frugalouis is a daily deals website focusing on family fun in Saint Louis, MO.
Content Objective: Susan, the website owner, had a vision for providing daily deal posts highlighting money saving opportunities in Saint Louis, MO. While her vision was not necessarily unique, for she was inspired by other like-minded websites, she knew she wanted to develop a one stop place for finding out the best frugal tips. As the content owner, Susan had several advantages. First, she had a vision for what she wanted. I told her to freely express her opinion and she did. This was great because I wasn’t offended and she felt she had a say in HER website. Second, she was already blogging this material on a WordPress.com site. Third, she had attended a blogging conference. She got inspired and encouraged! Fourth, she was committed.
Her commitment has paid dividends as word of her site spread. Her site was picked up by the local TV station here in Saint Louis and they now have a weekly segment dedicated to the best weekly deals in Saint Louis based on her website.
Why do I share Susan’s story on a Portfolio Post? I was upfront with Susan about the keys to success. Success was not dependent on the design. The ultimate success of her website would depend on her commitment to providing valuable content to her readers and visitors. While having a modern website presence IS important, a pretty website would not win her visitors. Nor did a pretty website get her the weekly TV spot.
Graphic Design: Susan employed another individual to create her logo and color scheme. This was helpful to me as I did not have to have the worries of choosing colors. It is amazing how much a logo can set the atmosphere of a website all by itself. I think the one designed for FrugaLouis establishes a good strength of brand.
Design Objective:
The most crucial page of any website is the home page. It tends to be the one that gets the most traffic, etc. The goal for FrugaLouis was three fold: 1) solid site structure (via a good navigation menu) 2) communicate the purpose of the site simply 3) let the home page be a portal to frugal goodie-ness.
Susan wanted to emphasize the events calendar, thus, it it prominent throughout all the pages of her website.
Theme Framework Challenges:
Working with PlatformPro has been pure pleasure! The biggest challenge was learning the css file. Every theme developer sets things up differently so it takes time to wrap one’s mind around their structure. There was one particular challenge that stood out while constructing this site. It built it during a phase where PlatformPro had issued multiple builds. Thus, I would update and something would break! Mostly minor stuff but irritating at times. It is sometimes tough to know when to place a “hold” on the updates since you want to give your clients the latest and greatest.
Plugins Used:
The following plugins are used on the FrugaLouis site:
- Akismet
- All in One SEO Pack
- Breadcrumbs Nav XT
- cforms
- Custom Post Templates
- FD Feedburner Plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps
- My Calendar
- PHP Execution
- Post Types Order
- Subscribe 2
- Twitter for WordPress
- WordPress Database Backup
- WordPress Importer
- WP125
Final Thoughts from Susan Herself:
The WordPress blog Flyer Computer Resources designed for FrugaLouis has taken my site to a whole new level. Paul worked with me to find out exactly what I needed, and he continued to solicit my feedback throughout the design process to ensure I was getting the site I desired. In addition, he was willing to research and find the best options for the plug-ins I wanted. The result was a site that is user-friendly and easy for me to maintain. I would definitely recommend Flyer Computer Resources to those looking to establish an internet presence using the WordPress platform.
I came across this simple post on a Web Design company’s website. It is a typical post, highlighting some recent work they have done for a client. In this case, it was a roofing contractor.
Why was it important for this roofing contractor to have a good website?
One little sentence in that post speaks volumes:
The company has grown from 3 employees to 10 since the website launched in mid-November, 2010.
This means:
- People have been finding their website
- Which means people are still looking for services AND willing to pay for them despite the economy
- Business has boomed since they had to add 7 new employees
- Not only did the website help their business, it is helping the economy (the company level and the individual level (someone got a job!))
The power of a good web presence should not be underestimated. Even in a crowded, competitive space, there is also a niche place for an additional player. Don’t fear the web. Embrace it as an additional tool, invest in the right people to get the job done and success on multiple levels will come your way.
If you are an individual blogger, small website owner, small business owner, or run a small non-profit, Flyer Computer Resources offers services catered to your size of business. We understand that employing a marketing firm to develop your website could cost you tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is completely out of the reach of small website owners. We hope to fill the gap by providing reasonable website services that enable you to make your website soar!
Core principles:
- Listen – You are the customer. Whether it is a new website, seo analysis or developing a web analytics program, we make sure to listen to your needs first.
- Respect – We will respect you and your website. We know that you site is important to you. Our goal is to help you make your site soar!
- Commitment – Once on a project, we are committed to the task. Given the scope and requirements of each project, we will ensure we see it through to the end
For website development we work exclusively with WordPress. By using WordPress we can save time and thus save our clients money.
If you hire us for SEO Analysis we understand it is one thing to develop a website and quite another to optimize it for your business. Our analysis will help you make better optimization decisions.
Most businesses do absolutely nothing with their web analytics data. We can help you develop a web analytics plan that will enable you to make sense of all those numbers.
