Tesco needed a website to encourage the local community to voice their concerns about a proposed new store in Holmfirth, Peak District. This website is a WordPress/BuddyPress forum installation. 

A key requirement for this website was to create a members only forum, only users who join the website and confirm their details could participate in the online community.

Seth Godin talks about a few topics in this clip, but my favourite bit is when he talks about the ‘race to the bottom’ no-one wants to win that race. Offer an unbeatable service and and stand out from the competition, race to the top!

Local businesses used to exclusively use direct mail, flyers, and other local advertising as promotional tools. This type of one-way advertising still has it’s place as not everyone is online. But simply using the same methods of one-way advertising online is missing the point.

Twitter provides businesses with the ability to communicate directly and instantly with their customers  for free – this is huge. Instead of using Twitter to only promote special offers (one-way advertising) why not use it to promote excellent customer service?

Twitter has a 140 character limit, this may seem like a restriction, but it encourages interaction as the time required to send and reply to a tweet is very short.

1. Using Twitter as a channel to provide responsive customer service will add value to your Twitter followers
2. Communicating with your followers is far more beneficial than simply broadcasting another special offer
3. Unlike special offers, great customer service can’t be easily replicated

Most half decent smart phones these days can run Twitter, it’s free to setup and you can be quite sure many (not all) of your customers will already be using Twitter. As a way to promote your business and communicate with customers Twitter is hard to beat.

I often send blank texts by accident and I have drafts folder full of texts, it’s quicker to start again than access the accidental draft. Compared to the iPhone4, using it is a clumsy clunky experience.

Comparing an old feature phone with a smart phone isn’t really fair, but the Nokia does have it’s good points. The battery life is amazing. A smartphone does a lot so it’s expected battery life is going to be limited, I got used to charging the iPhone every other day. When I switched to the Nokia I got 5 days+ of battery – bonus. It’s also very light and small, I don’t mind dropping it either.

As a phone; a device purely for making phone calls I’d say the iPhone4 is the worst phone I ever had. I paid £180.00 for the handset and signed up for a 24 month contract at £35.00 per month (!), which I’m still paying for – urgh. Even though the iPhone4 had awful reception in my area (practically unusable) and I had to use a (free) case to stop the signal dropping every time my finger touched the antenna, I accepted it.

If it was any other smartphone made by any other manufacturer I’d of been looking for a refund or at least a different handset. Crazy. The thing is the iPhone4 wasn’t just a phone, it was/is a personal computer, it’s so useful once you have one and use it for a week you wonder how you ever lived without it.

The majority of the time I’d use my iPhone4 for taking pictures with Hipstamatic, listening to music and podcasts, playing great games like Cut the Rope, finding my way with Google Maps, email, Facebook, Twitter, filming stuff, texting and watching programs on iPlayer. Oh, and making the occasional phone call.

Having the option to do all these things anywhere with or without Wi-Fi access is what makes the iPhone an amazing device. Being able to do everything with a few swipes of the screen makes the experience painless, pretty much anything can be accessed on the iPhone within 3 or 4 swipes and taps.

When I lost my iPhone4 I was gutted, properly upset. Friends got in touch to ask if I was ok! The only thing stoping me from rushing out and replacing it was the £500 price tag of a new handset. I wasn’t insured for loosing my phone – a very stupid mistake I’ll never make again.

I figured I’d wait it out for a few months as I thought Apple would release a new model in the summer (2010), they didn’t. So I waited a bit longer. As each month passed my ‘addiction’ to the iPhone faded.

As strange as it sounds I actually felt a sense of freedom. Not feeling the need to check my Facebook and Twitter every spare moment I had or taking pictures of pointless things (look at this massive sandwich!), receiving work emails outside of work hours and browsing the Internet thinking about work when I should be relaxing. It felt liberating, I was free!

I appreciate it’s not the iPhone that made me feel like that. It’s a brilliant device and if used in moderation with a touch of self-control it’s the perfect product for a self-employed web designer or anyone really. With great power comes great responsibility - ha ha.

So, the new and improved iPhone4s was announced this week (4th October) and I have a decision to make. Even though ‘I’m free’ I can feel myself already thinking up little reasons why I need the new iPhone4s.

1. It’d be great for work.
2. I want to do a series of videos taking about my web design services, that 1080p camera would be perfect.
3. There have been times when it would of been beneficial to have access to email on the go, I’d configure Mail to not push email, to avoid receiving email outside work hours
4. I do miss listening to the ‘Big Web Show’ / Podcasts when out and about.
5. I’d calm it down a bit, but having a camera with you at all times is useful.
6. I’ve heard the new iPhone has sorted out the antenna issues…
7. ‘Reader’ looks like something I’d use.
8. Battery life has improved…
9. iCloud looks like it could be useful
10. If it works, Siri looks like it could be fun. Although the voice activation features on the iPhone4 didn’t really work…
11. I could go on…

I think it’s only inevitable I will get a new iPhone at some point, I can’t continue using this Nokia – Can I? It’s clearly on my mind, but unlike the last time I won’t be queuing up for four hours to get it! Urgh – Apple I curse you for making such desirable products.

Each device has a unique form factor and a different method of navigation; mouse and keyboard, fingers (touch screens), remote controls, and joypads! Decent accessibility across all these devices can be a challenge, every element on a web page should be an accessibility consideration.

“The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), along with other groups and standards bodies, has established technologies for creating and interpreting web-based content.

These technologies, which we call “web standards,” are carefully designed to deliver the greatest benefits to the greatest number of web users while ensuring the long-term viability of any document published on the Web.”

Using web standards is a major step towards addressing cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device issues. Web standards are beneficial to your business in five ways:

1. Content and design is separated, design updates are cost-effective to maintain using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
2. Web standards techniques gracefully degrade to produce an acceptable experience in older browsers.
3. Web standards make it easy for search engines to understand and index site content – it can give your web pages greater search engine visibility.
4. Web standards is a major step towards addressing cross-browser, cross-platform and cross-device issues.
5. Web standards reduce accessibility issues for all users, enabling web pages to be accessible by voice browsers, braille browsers, mobile browsers and other non-desktop devices.

The point of Web standards is to make the web accessible to everyone, to provide users with what they are looking for; content. Information about your business. If your website has any accessibility issues; it doesn’t load quick enough, it’s difficult to navigate on a mobile device or a plug-in is required to view certain content. Unless all your site visitors are incredibly patient, it’s quite likely your going to loose that visitor to a competitor.

Following web standards is good for the web and it’s good for your business. By implementing web standards your website will be seen by more users across more devices – that’s got to be good for business.

Useful resources:

• Web Standards Project
• Web Standards Sherpa
• The World Wide Web Consortium

This technique is especially useful for optimising page layout for smaller / smartphone screens. I’ve only setup two media queries for this example. If the browser is 320 pixels or more the page displays blue, if the page is over 760 pixels the page is black.

My next steps with this will be to add images and try to get them to scale properly. Good support for media queries is limited to the most modern browsers, I also need to test alternative CSS for older browsers too.

I found some great resources for learning about media queries/fluid grids, if you’re thinking about dipping your toe into responsive design I highly recommend these links:

• Fluid Grids by Ethan Marcotte – A List Apart
• Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte – A List Apart
• Beginner’s Guide to Responsive Web Design – Think Vitamin

Here’s my first effort:

• Fluid/Responsive layout version one

Creating a truly flexible layout that adjusts as the the browser changes size and using media queries to alter the layout based on browser size feels like a real step forward; away from more traditional fixed width designs.

I’m sure there’ll be a lot more head scratching to be done before I can incorporate these techniques into my day to day work. But with more and more people accessing websites via mobile devices this is an area I can no longer afford to ignore. Really looking forward to learning more about media queries.

With the exception of the big brand names, the few independent coffee shops that actually have a website fall way short of professionally promoting the services they offer. No website, website offline, ‘coming soon’ pages, homemade websites and MySpace(!) pages seem to be the norm?

I’m sure there are some great examples of coffee shop websites but this search got me thinking. What makes a good coffee shop website?

Here’s my list of 12 must have features

1. Address, map and contact number
A visitor shouldn’t have to search for contact details, many times I’ve visited a website purely for the phone number and not been able to easily find it.

2. Weekly special offers
A website is the perfect tool to promote special offers. To keep the offers fresh this part of the website should be updated regularly.  If integrated with Facebook or Twitter (and the offer is special enough) people will spread the word for you.

3. Food and drinks menu
Online menus are generally awful. They’re either poorly designed, out of date or my worst of all – clicking menu automatically downloads a PDF. Lazy! There is no reason why the menu can’t be part of the website and no reason why it can’t look great.

4. News / events
The news /events section is your chance to tell customers what’s going on and what’s happening next. If updated regularly this area will do wonders for your search engine optimisation. Search engines love fresh, original and relevant content – and your visitors will too!

5. Contact form
I’m still surprised by the amount of websites (in general) that use naked email addresses. Spam bots crawl the web scanning webpages, they like nothing more than a nice naked email address to automatically add to their spam lists. Using a well coded contact form is a much better solution. A contact form not only stops most spam, it also means you can request what type of information is sent.

6. Facebook and Twitter integration
Even if you don’t use Facebook and Twitter, you can bet many of your customers do. If your website is properly integrated with Facebook or Twitter it gives visitors the option to easily share your special offers with their friends. Facebook and Twitter could increase the reach of your own website, improve the chance of visitors returning to your website and offer another channel to market your business.

7. Loyalty club/offers
Loyalty schemes are a great idea. Whether it’s a loyalty card that rewards points or a stamp with each purchase or a club that offers exclusive members only deals, the website should promote the idea of loyalty equals discount.

8. FAQ
Questions about group bookings, pets, nut content in food, and wheelchair access to name a few. The kind of questions that must get asked all the time belong on a FAQ page. This page should also give visitors the chance to ask their own questions.

9. Customer feedback
Give customers an opportunity to provide feedback (good and bad), maybe ask them to fill out a short customer feedback questionnaire. Give them an incentive; entry to a monthly draw or a discount off their next order. Customer feedback is important and a website is a great way to collect it.

10. Newsletter
A monthly (or even bi-monthly) e-newsletter is a great low-cost way to keep in touch with customers, content from the news /events section can be highlighted and the latest special offers can be promoted. New subscribers could be rewarded with discount vouchers. E-newsletters can be forwarded to friends and family very easily, and help to drive traffic back to your website.

11. Online policy
Terms of use, Privacy statement and information about Web accessibility should feature on every website.

12. About
It’d be nice to know the story behind a shop. Who runs it? Why was is setup? What does it aim to do? Why is it different?

Free Wi-Fi and promotion
Most coffee shops offer Free Wi-Fi these days, the website should promote this. If customers are happy surfing the web on their laptop or smartphone they’re likely to stay longer and visit again. Don’t forget your website needs to be promoted in your own shop. Menus, posters, flyers, business cards and email signatures should all push your website URL.

Responsive design
Using the latest design and development techniques it’s possible to detect what screen size your website is being viewed on. This means the content can (and should) be tailored to a visitors needs.

A smartphone has a small screen, normally navigated by a finger and typically a slower Internet connection. A desktop computer has a bigger screen, navigated by mouse and is usually connected to fast broadband. Add to this the different requirements of the home and mobile user it becomes clear a mobile-friendly website is a must.

The trick is to mirror your existing website to ensure a smooth transition with minimal downtime, this involves:

1. Purchase new hosting space and upload a copy of your existing site
2. Setup email addresses to mirror the ones currently in use
3. Change the ‘name servers’ of your current domain.

Points one and two can be done independently of point three. To make sure everything goes smoothly I’d recommend leaving the name server change till last. Updating the name server usually takes between 48-72 hours to take effect. The name server information tells the domain (www.yourdomain.com) what hosting space to point at.

Hosting and domains are two separate services. It’s quite common to have one company provide you with hosting and another to supply the domain. Remember you’re only changing hosting provider, the domain will continue to be registered with existing domain provider.

Complications

It’s important to make sure you take a back up of any important e-mails before you close your existing hosting account. Depending on how your email is set up (POP3 or IMAP) your emails might only exist on the hosting space you intend to shut down.

If any part of your website is powered by a database make sure you take a copy of that too.

Recommended hosting

I use 34sp.com for all my hosting needs, they provide a hosting package called Professional 500, it’s affordable and very popular for small businesses. I also use 34sp.com to host this website.

The standard was created to increase controls around cardholder information to reduce credit card fraud via its exposure. Since 2010 all businesses that processes credit card information must be PCI DSS compliant.

Failure to meet compliance standards can result in fines from credit card companies and banks and even the loss of the ability to process credit cards. PCI compliance isn’t just limited to taking payments online, it’s related to how your company processes credit card information offline too.

How do I become PCI compliant?
Validation of compliance is done annually – by an external Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) for organisations handling large volumes of transactions, or by Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) for companies handling smaller volumes.

How much does it cost?
The cost of achieving PCI compliance is based upon how credit card information is processed within your company. PCI compliance fees start at £11.99* for a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ).

D3Creative does not provide a PCI Compliance service, we can recommend a third party and work with them on your behalf to achieve PCI Compliance.

*SecurityMetrics simplifies compliance for Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) they offer a SAQ service for £11.99. Price correct 2nd July 2011, subject to change.

Creating great content isn’t easy and creating it on a regular basis can occasionally feel like a waste of time, but there’s at least two reasons why you should spend some of your time (at least once a month) creating original content for your website.

1. Search engines give more relevance to original content and regularly updated websites.
2. More important. People give more relevance to original content and regularly updated websites.

There are probably millions of websites online that are writing about the same topics as you, many will offer similar services as you (and me). Your website is one of the best ways to communicate your expertise or to promote a service. It’s also one of the most direct and affordable ways to communicate with your customers. Many companies seem forget this. See below for three Webmaster (I love that term, so 90′s) tips to keep in mind when running a website.

1. Relevant and interesting content
If you keep your content original and publish regularly, it can only improve your search engine ranking and enhance visitor perception about your website.

2. Moderation
The more interactive a website is the more vulnerable it will be to spam bots. The last thing you want is your comments or forum to be overrun with spam junk. There are tools to minimise spam, but it’s best to check-in at least once a day anyway to respond to real visitors posts and questions.

3. Reply to visitors
People appreciate good service, especially when they’re not paying for it. Visitors like it when questions and requests are responded to in a timely manner.

The longer someone stays on your website the greater the chance they will decide to subscribe to your RSS feed, follow you on Twitter, become a Fan on Facebook or sign up for your newsletter. Ultimately all this effort will pay off, a visitor may buy something, use your service, get in touch or help further expose your website through their own social networks. A big part of your efforts should be dedicated to encouraging this type of behavior.