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The site was designed in keeping with the brown hues of the Queenstown landscape. It features a flash image slideshow on each page, an easy to use tab based navigation, a light box effect on images, and obvious call to actions for bookings.
View online: www.shotoverholidaypark.co.nz
A proprietary system has been built from the ground up by the web development company that owns it. It is ‘proprietary’ as the firm has the intellectual property rights to the code that runs the system. If your site is built in a proprietary system, what you purchase is a license to use the system.
Most proprietary CMS systems are hosted on servers provided by the company that owns the CMS. Once you have bought into one of these systems, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to move your website and keep the content management system. Basically, to move the website to another firm requires a complete rebuild of the site, as the site must be built in the specific proprietary software with its own set of themes. If the CMS you are using is substantially upgraded or redeveloped by the company at a later date you may find yourself with an “old” website that has to migrate to the new upgraded system (often at a considerable redevelopment cost) to receive any new enhancements or features.
Open source content management systems like Drupal, Joomla and WordPress are widely used by web developers. They have huge benefits for web clients as the site, once built, can be easily moved around between developers and hosts, so you are not locked into any one vendor. Web development costs can be kept to a reasonable level as there are no licensing fees for the system. Sure there is still a cost involved – you still have to pay for hosting, the time it takes to install the site, set it up, design a look and load all the content. But as the web firm does not have to cover the cost of developing the open source system in the first place, they can keep their costs down, and this saving is passed on to you.
Web firms with proprietary systems need to earn a return on their development investment. The firm will have put a considerable amount of time and money into developing their system, but even then they often can’t compete with the hundreds of core developers that will be working collaboratively on an open source system. In fact, there are companies that have developed a proprietary system then decided to make it open source and subsequently experienced exponential growth in their business.
With open source systems it’s a case of ‘many hands make light work’. At TML we are very much fans of open source, and in particular WordPress. So if you’re keen to have your site developed in a widely supported content management system, give us a call on 03 366 3340 or email info@tmlwebdesign.co.nz.
Like any self-respecting cult, there is always a charismatic leader with a clear vision for the future. WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg is certainly charismatic, but he’s also a genuinely humble guy, who seems to be in awe of the whole WordPress phenomenon.
WordPress has not always been regarded as a ‘content management system’ as it has its roots well and truly in blogging. Just a few years ago you’d be hard pressed to find tutorials on how to use WordPress as a content management system. Things have certainly changed. In November 09, WordPress won a coveted Open Source CMS award which, according to Matt Mullenweg, “marks a shift in the public perception of WordPress, from blog software to full-featured CMS”.
So its official – WordPress has grown up and become a fully fledged content management system, but it hasn’t lost any of it blogging ‘street cred’ either. It’s still a fantastic way to publish a blog and link up to social media websites for extra exposure online.
As web designers with business clients (who have a strong desire to update their own websites), we have some very specific requirements in a content management system, and WordPress delivers every time.
So that’s it in a nutshell – why WordPress is our content management system of choice. Now, if you want to benefit from its ease of use, extendibility and ongoing development, give us a call on 03 366 3340 or email info@tmlwebdesign.co.nz and let us know about your website needs.
The website was developed in WordPress and features an opening flash slideshow of images. The latest news section is powered by a blog.
View Online: www.silverstreamlodge.co.nz
There’s an old saying that ‘content is king’ online. It’s probably quite fair to say that an average-looking website with well-written content that resonates with its target audience will outperform a ‘bells and whistles’ website with poorly written ‘company-centric’ copy. The reason for this is quite simple: when someone is highly interested in a website’s subject matter (generally a specific solution to their problem) and the content is ticking all the boxes for them (“yes, this looks to be just the right solution to my problem”), they’re just not that influenced by the bells and whistles – in fact they may overlook quite a lot of your content.
When you prepare your text give a lot of thought to your target audience and what they really need to know.
You can even create fictional characters for your website (called personas) and write up scenarios on why they would visit your website and the sort of information they would need to make a decision. Anticipate the questions your visitors will have and answer them throughout your copy, or have a dedicated ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page.
Tie your copy into specific ‘call to action’ graphics that move the visitor to take the action you want, whether it is to join your newsletter, complete a quote request or add a product to a shopping cart.
Make sure your homepage has a very concise synopsis of what you do and the benefits of your offer. Remember that the website is not for you, it’s for your visitors – and they want to know, specifically: “What’s in it for me?”
Remember to sprinkle your keywords throughout your copy so you stand a better a chance of ranking highly in the search engines.
Really good photos create a very positive first impression. Average photos won’t create any impression at all. They won’t necessarily detract from the site – they’ll just be ignored. It’s like this: you wear black every day, and no one says anything. One day you turn up wearing red and suddenly you get five compliments on how great you look! Great-looking photos will have the same effect.
With the plethora of online image library banks there’s ample opportunity to get stunning free (or inexpensive) stock photos which will convey just the right feeling or emotion. Start by visiting www.sxc.hu and www.istock.com. If you need photos of your actual product then get in a professional or at least a talented amateur photographer.
Have a text-based navigation system that is easy to use (no images and no flash animation). The visitor should know which page they are on and where they can go to next, so have ‘on’ ‘hover’ and ‘off’ states for links. Drop-down and ‘fly out’ navigation systems can be problematic for some users so are best avoided. If you have multiple levels of navigation and need to show links to sub pages, it’s generally much more usable to do this with a vertical menu positioned at the top of a side column.
Link relevant phrases within the actual copy of the site to matching pages. This helps with navigation and search engine rankings, as people will often click on these text links rather than the main navigation as they are in context with the subject.
Add links to key pages in the footer. Large footers are becoming very common on websites as research has shown that many users look for navigation at the bottom of each page (even ignoring the main navigation system). Your footer can include links to your most important pages (the ones that have the most information about your offer), your latest news items or blog posts, and we highly recommend you show your contact details in the footer as well.
Give us a call on 366 3340 or send an email to info@tmlwebdesign.co.nz.
