Engineering and Construction Melbourne Web Design Sydney

Over 18 years of website design and web development experience means that we are able to clearly look at your business, make constructive design recommendations and implement these throughout all your marketing, sales, communication material as well as your website. We can even handle all your online digital marketing such as search engine optimisation and social media.

We offer a complete all in one service that should cover all the design and web needs that your engineering or construction firm may require. All our work is handles from both our Sydney and Melbourne offices and all design projects are carried on in house.

Hopping Mad’s expertise across both Web design and database design and development make up another dimension of full-service offerings and capabilities which benefit both construction and  engineering companies.

Many engineering companies have many parts and materials suppliers. Hopping Mad Designs is able to quickly and cost-effectively implement complex ( if required) back-end databases that integrate supplies and manufacturers as well as design and develop product CRM systems from the beginning. Basically we can handle any project your company can put our way and manage the whole process from initial briefing stage right through to development, mobile phone web design ( responsive design), social media management and digital marketing.

Hopping Mad can also help engineering firms and construction companies secure lucrative government tenders through the design of specific micro websites that promote and highlight tender proposals online. It’s so much more effective to do it this way and the impact it has is enormous.

Please give us a call on 02 9360 8514 to see how we can help you design and build your new website or just give your brand a bit of a refresh/overhaul.

Benefits of Using WordPress for Web Design

  1. It's totally free. Can you believe that! – WordPress can be downloaded online and then implemented into your website. You never have to pay for complex and very expensive customised CMS platforms that you just don't need. It's overkill for your business and a total waste of money. Be careful when web designers try to flog you their own in house bulit CMS systems. They will intentially quote you a low price for your website design and build, and then because you are stuck using their CMS, they will hit you with monthly fees for this privelege. This is how they make their money – BE VERY VERY CAREFUL.
  2. There are No Monthly Fees. Having a WordPress CMS means that unlike custom built CMS platforms where web companies will slug you heavy monthly ( this is where you get ripped off) fees, WordPress has no monthly fees. Think about al the money you can save.
  3. It’s so Easy To Use. Let’s put it like this. If I can use WordPress then you can certainly master it. The interface is basic and after about 45 minutes of training, you will get the hang of it. You don’t need and university degrees or coding/HTML knowledge. It’s basically copy , paste and click. Simple as that. Plus you can change site wide images on your website easily with the click of a mouse.
  4. You can post/delete/change content from any computer from any where in the world. As soon as your website has been uploaded you can gain access to the CMS and make as many changes as you like. Adding fresh new content also has the advantage of improving your search engine optimisation position. WordPress facilitates this in a speedy manner that ensures all new content will be indexed by Google quickly. Also, you don’t have to constantly bug your web designer/developer to make changes to your site. WordPress alleviates their responsibility and this is firmly place on you. Over time the cost savings are going to be huge.
  5. The Search Engines, especially Google absolutely love Google. Clean coding, easy to read title tags, meta tags and descriptions ensure the web spiders will crawl your site without any hiccups. See how quickly your blog posts get ranked. I personally have been able to rank one of our blog posts within 48 hours. What a brilliant marketing tool this can be for your business.
  6. 100% fully customised design. I have had clients express their concern about WordPress and template design. I guess they still see it is a blogging platform. But, This is far from the truth. You can fully customise the web design of a WordPress CMS. In fact we have designed and built hundreds of unique looking websites using WP.
  7. So many Plug Ins and Add Ons. With WordPress CMS Platform you can add virtually anything onto your website at any point in time. Start off gradually, see how business goes, and then add on a shopping cart, blog, email newsletter, booking systems, videos, gallery areas, forms, Google Maps, events, calendars, basically anything you can think of. Once built these extras are easy to plug in all at a very minimal cost.
  8. WordPress gives your website freedom. Unhappy with your current design team? Not a problem. WordPress, being an open source CMS means that most web dev people will know how to use it. This allows you the flexibility of choice. Purpose built CMS systems will lock you into a contract with 1 company and you can never ever leave them for the life of your website. Be extremely careful about this. I can rattle the names of at least 10 web companies in Sydney that use their own CMS and will never tell you about this. Just wait till you get your first monthly maintenance CMS invoice that is totally uncalled for. At Hopping Mad we never operate like this.
  9. Get Advice Online. If you ever get stuck or need any help, there are WordPress forums where users will be able to answer any concerns or question you have.
  10. WordPress and Mobile Phones. Your website can be easily converted into a mobile friendly website via a responsive web application. As mobile search becomes more common place you will be thankful that you have got WordPress as your CMS.
  11. Have Multiple Users. You don’t’ have to be the only one with access to the CMS. WordPress allows multiple users from within your office or externally to have access to the back end of the site. All you need is different passwords and usernames for each employee. You can even have different levels of access for each user.
  12. You Dont Get Hammered With Monthly Fees. Many web studios with their own CMS will charge you a so called monthly maintenance fee. This is a total rip off and is a way to get money from you without actaully doing anything. They quote a low price for the web design and then make it up by these monthly fees of upto $100! Companies using WordPress as a CMS will never encounter these unneccesary fees.
  13. WordPress is Scalable. If you don't have the budget now for a full web developent, WordPress allows you to build the website in stages. Start off small and add to the website as the business grows using the multiple add ons that WordPress allows. Its a great way to test the market, see the p[otential and then grow the website.

If you are thinking about getting a new website designed and want one that is super easy to manage and inexpensive to maintain, then call us on  02 9360 8514 and learn more about how a WordPress CMS can help your business grow.

Tips for Creating a Seriously Good Looking Website Design

Try to keep your page structured

Having a simple page structure allows the user to navigate the site without getting side tracked by complicated navigation buttons or lost amongst other site wide distractions. Website designers can have the tendency to design to showcase their skills rather than for your customer, so make sure that they know that you want to have a very structured website.

Keep website boxes to a minimum.

We have all witnessed these types of websites before. Hundreds ( well maybe more than 10) of boxes each with flashing images, all going crazy. A total distraction for you and for your clients. If your web designer recommends these boxes that are all over the home page, then perhaps you are with the wrong type of web agency.

Be focus driven.

If you are designing a website for a specific purpose or product then the focus should be in that area. Especially on the home page. Internal pages should also be designed to have strong CALL TO ACTION BUTTONS that direct the user to the inquiry or buy area. Web pages, blogs and articles highlighting a specific topic should never deviate from that subject. Web users need to engage with your page and if anything is unclear or ambiguous, this may result in a lost sale. Having a professional copywriter look at your content and an experienced web developer working on your interface is a great way to keep the website on track and focused on your market.

Are you thinking about placing ads on your site?

Nothing kills the integrity of a website more than adverts placed on it. Especially on the header and the side bars, unless they are done in such a way as to minimise distraction. You may be thinking that it’s a good idea to have adwords or other companies displaying adverts on your site, but if this is an absolute must have then make sure they are static ( not flashy), and nicely designed.

Choose the right colour style.

Pay close attention to this point. Know your audience and use colours that will appeal to them. A law firm will want conservative blues and a yoga studio may want earthy colours, whilst a surfing company may use racey reds or greens. Having the right colour palette throughout your website will work better for you than colours chosen randomly without any graphic design input. Also keep colours to a minimum. Using the whole rainbow is going to dilute your brand, confuse your clients, and turn people off.

Make your website easy to read.

People scan from the top left and corner down to the bottom right hand side. Make sure all important and relevant information is place at the top part of the page. This includes; phone numbers, logos and the H1 headers ( important for search engine optimisation). The bottom part of the page can have content that relates to testimonials, past work history, videos and services you offer. If people scan the site from the top to the bottom, the way that this information is presented to them will be the difference between getting those calls and not. If a person has to stare at our site for 10 minutes trying to work out what you do, then something is definitely wrong.

Write short informative paragraphs

Long winded extensive paragraphs are not conducive for a good read. Make paragraphs short and succinct with key headings. This is especially the case if you are writing blogs or articles. Each heading should relate to the main topic and have no more than 10 sentences.

Make things simple

People hate having to fill out forms, sign up or leave information. If this is a must limit it to 3 fields at the most. Name, email address and phone number is all you need. Pretend a 8 year older is using the site. That’s how easy you need to make things for people. Even if your site has an ecommerce function, make the buying process a 3 step phase. Using the KISS ( keep it simple and stupid) principle is the only way to go when it comes to the web world.

Boring blogs = zero followers

People are just getting to know, especially in the business community, what a powerful marketing tool blogs are. However, they don’t understand how to write engaging blog pieces. In some cases they outsource their content to students or cheap third world countries. These types of blogs, with no thought or planning are going to kill off your readership. Boring ramblings of some uni student will not work. Make sure all your content, including your web page content has been fully thought through. If you must get someone else to write it then for gods sake use a copywriter with past experience. These guys will get to know your business and be able to write suitable copy that will over time, get a loyal following.

A copy writer will also be able to draft words for your website that sell. For example choosing the right content for inquire now buttons, page titles, navigation icons can be the difference between 30% sign up rate and a 80% rate. Investing money in a copy team is one of the best moves you can make to have a successful website.

Use social media.

Social Media now plays a massive role in the business world and having these displayed on your website for people to like, retweet or join, will be a huge bonus for user engagement. Get a Facebook page and post articles, sales or promotions, join Instagram and post cool pictures of your products or business. Social media is there to help you reach out to a new audience and should be placed prominently on your home page.

Keyword stuffing is a no no.

If you are writing for the search engines, and think that repeating your main service will help in your rankings, then forget about it. Google knows about this and keyword stuffing will not only have zero impact on your rankings, but will just annoy people coming to your site. I always tell clients to write as though they are speaking to a friend. Being natural in your content and the way it is delivered will work better for you in online conversions and rankings.

Site speed should be super fast

This one is a no brainer. Large images with massive download times or over complicated animated introduction are bad for business. Users landing on your website want it to load within 2 seconds. They can wait at a bank a supermarket or an airport, but never your website. Ask your developer to test this out and keep al the megabytes down to a minimum. Test each page for downloads speeds and do what you can to make them as fast as possible.

Keep fonts and text sizes uniform

Random font sizes and various texts will make the site look disjointed, not to mention ugly. Consistency and uniformity with all type is a must and should never be compromised.

Optimise your website for mobile phones

Ask your designer to make sure that your site can be fully viewed on all hand helds and tablets. It's called responsive web design and it is a MUST HAVE component of the web experience. Simple to implement and not overly expensive.

Do you know the difference between a designer and a developer?

A web designer usually has a good understanding of the graphics process whilst a web developer spends their day coding. When presented with a design issue the developer will freeze up and pass the buck. Hence, most businesses should start out using a web designer and not a developer if they are expecting a creative looking website. Check their online portfolio to spot the difference. For the untrained this can be hard, but a good tip here is to see the variety of work styles that a designer will have. Case in point; the hopping mad designs portfolio of work. See how all our sites look different. This is the tell tale sign that we are designers.

Instagram is a Great Marketing Tool.

Instagram is simple to sign into and they make it incredibly easy to post photos. For businesses wanting another avenue to market their products or simply to get their name out to a wider more app and internet savvy client base, this is perfect.

People and businesses all over Australia are only now becoming aware of this new app and are starting to include it into their marketing mix. Download it for free from your itunes store and give it a go. It will take you less than  5 minutes to get started.

A  Instagram case study would be a great way to highlight this.

Imagine you are a boutique hotel in an exotic location. Posting photos daily of your hotel and surrounds is a great reminder to hotel guests and a good way to market your hotel to a massive worldwide potential market. Snap away, upload and let the images do the rest. Simple as that!

Perhaps the exotic is not your thing and you are a cake shop. Posting images of your latest creations is another way to market your business and get a new online following.

As a web design company for example, we can post cool images of websites we like or have just recently designed and get people to comment on these. Instagram is powerful and I feel a lot easier to regulate and promote than Facebook or Twitter.

Photos really have impact and if you can be just that bit creative with the photos you take with your phone, then Instagram will be a great marketing tool and once mastered you will be clicking away. This I can promise you.

THREE REASONS WHY YOU MUST INCLUDE CALLS TO ACTION

It Will Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment
Shopping cart abandonment rates are absolutely staggering and can range between 60 and 80%. Yes, they may love your product and want to make the purchase, but just because they are on your site does not necessarily mean that they are going to part with their cash. Most businesses that have engaged a credible user interface and web design company have got this right, but there are still many businesses out there who have no clue about this. Having strong call to action buttons on each page of your website will make it simple for potential customers to commit, hence reducing the amount of exits. Consider pop up windows asking ‘if users are sure they want to exit the page’, for users that have added an item to the cart but not proceeded to buy.

It Improves Customer Engagement
Potential customers are less interested in sales jargon than call to actions that will emotionally appeal to them. They are more interested in how a product or service may benefit them, than cheesy sales slogans. Therefore in your call to actions, make sure that the wording is all about how the customer can benefit. For example, as a web design company, we might want to have a button saying: “ you are 1 click away from getting 5 new customers per week’. Remember people will respond more if they can see how buying from you will benefit them.

Let’s Make a Deal.
A well placed call to action is the best way to drive sales. It’s a super catalyst to converts browsers or tyre kickers into full paying customers. Make sure that every landing page of your site has these conversion points. Without them you may have a great looking site, but completely worthless when it comes to bringing in the dollars.

 Have a good look at your current website and see if there are any call to action buttons. If you can’t see any why not get in touch with one of our web designers here at hopping mad designs and we can audit your site and make the best recommendations on where to place these. You might just be surprised what a few simple, minor alterations can do for your bottom line. Try it out. Add just one call to action on your home page and check out the difference it makes.

Website Design – Oil, Mining, Gas & Resources Industry

Why Use A Web Design Agency For Your Next Resource Industry Web Site?

If you are looking at making a great first impression online to investors and shareholders, then you need a website that clearly reflect your company. Why settle for average design that will leave your viewers flat. Go with a web company that can really lift your online profile and draw those shareholders in.

  1. If you need maps, graphs or tables professionally drawn then you need a team of graphic and web experts that can tailor design these diagrams into visually creative pieces that are easy to read and understand. Having these look like there has been some effort put into these will really make a difference to the online web experience.
  2. Mining websites need to appeal to not only shareholders/industry stakeholders but also people within the industry. Therefore the site design must walk a fine line to appeal to the general public as well as industry peers who see the site as a source of information only.
  3. Social media has become an important tool in communicating with shareholders and the public. Tweets, Facebook posts and blogs are a great way to communicate your corporate message. At Hopping Mad Designs we are able to seamlessly integrate your social media with your website. Information can now be posted online instantly, keeping your investors up to speed on all information. We can even manage your social media postings and blog articles if you need a professional copywriting service.
  4. We build all our websites on an open source content management system which will allow you to make any web amends you like. Being open source means that the website is transferable and can be used by most programmers. This protects you from being locked into custom CMS platforms, which many web companies will do to you.

Are Oil and Mining Websites Expensive?

They need not cost a fortune. We pride ourselves on offering a cost effective web design solution that is affordable yet very creative. Unlike most web companies who charge according to how deep they think your pockets are, we work on the assumption that you want a fair deal and a great job. Our aim is to utilise latest designs combined with the most up to date technologies to deliver a website that simply works.

How Long Does it Take To Design + Build a Website?

Normal turnaround times are anywhere from 6- 8 weeks from design phase to final site deployment. If you have a deadline we can certainly speed the process up for you. Overall, the timeframe depends on how quick you are to get back to us.

So, if you are looking at either getting a new website OR revamping your current site, why not give us a call here at HMD to see what we can do for you on 02 9360 8514.

DO SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS REALLY WORK?

What Forms Does Social Media Take?

Social Media covers many areas. First thing that comes to mind is Facebook. This is the most established social media platform, with everyone I know on it. Other social media platforms include Twitter, Blogs, Google+, Pinterest and one that I really love Instagram. These Social Media Platforms are all free to join and takes only a couple of minutes to register your business profile.

What Social Media Platforms Are Best For My Business?

Obviously, marking your business on these social media platforms takes a lot of time and effort. To be continually updating each social platform is virtually impossible. That is why you should pick the most appropriate ones for your business and focus on building your online profile there. As a design company I know we like to post new websites that we have just made live on Facebook and Twitter. It’s your call but as a minimum all businesses should at least have a Facebook and Google Plus page.

One other important social platform commonly overlooked is a blog on your own website. People I come across will have a great take up of  the common social media platforms but are in the dark when it comes to how a blog can really increase your online presence and spread the word about your business. Have a read of the Hopping Mad corporate blog to see some of the topics we cover and how each article ranks on Google. It’s a powerful way of covering a wide range of topics really easily.

Are Social Media Campaigns Expensive?

Not really. It depends on how far you want to take them. Some larger companies will employ a team of Social Media experts to manage their online campaigns, whilst other smaller businesses will do it themselves. Perhaps with the help of a company, publishing relevant content say twice a month. Overall, businesses need to start to embrace social media as a real and true platform to showcase their services or products as more traditional forms of marketing fall by the wayside.

How Do I Find Companies That Can help Me With My Social Media Campaigning?

This is hard. Finding the right company can be a bit of a challenge. The first step would be to speak with your web design company to see if they have experience with social media or content marketing. I know that to get the mix right you need a company that has a strong understanding of what works and what doesn’t online plus a good dosage of search engine optimisation experience.

How Do I Market My Blog On Social Media Platforms?

The way I do it is simple. I write a blog article and publish it on the hopping mad website. I then take the blog link and post it on Twitter, Google Plus and lastly my LinkedIn page. All these social media submissions trigger an alert with Google and your blog post can be up there for the world to see in a matter of days. This is really content marketing and a whole new topic, but if you are keen on SEO, then this is the way to go. I am more than happy to discuss this with you if all this sounds too confusing. A point to note is that businesses that constantly blog, will have a higher amount of web traffic than those who don’t. The whole formula is simple: blog, tweet, facebook it, post it and then wait for the people to follow.

As you can see, content combined with your social media will lead to an increase in the amount of web traffic. What a great way to increase business, generate sales and promote yourself online.

Give us a call if you'd like to know more about blogs, Twitter feeds, Instagram pics and likes.

Social media campaigns are working well for our business and it with a little help it could be doing similar positive things for your company as well. It’s not hard to do and only takes a little bit of practice and patience.

If you have a Retail Business in Sydney, Ecommerce Web Development can Help Grow Your Sales

Why Are So Many Australians Shopping Online?

All I have to do is glance around my office and look at all the designers buying goods online. Every day, couriers are coming in and dropping off products that have been bought online. Basically Aussies are buying online because of 2 very important factors:

  • Ease and convenience. You can browse at your leisure without ever having to leave your seat. This is a no brainer and pretty self explanatory. Shopping online during your lunch break has never been easier. For busy people who are time poor, this is the perfect medium for them.
  • You can easily get a good deal online. So may websites, equals better deals for the consumer. Think of all those daily deal websites. Plus retailers looking to lure the consumer are discounting heavily online through their ecommerce shopping website. 

Do Businesses Really Need an Ecommerce Store?

The answer to this is so simple. If you are a retailer and you have not got an online presence through an ecommerce website, then you are missing out bug time and I do mean big time. It is almost insane to think that a business could ignore such a great sales and marketing opportunity. Basically, if you are not up with the times and think that your retail business can cruise along without an online strategy, then you should not be in business.

According to The Australian Bureau of Statistics, consumers in Australia spent well over $13.9 billion in the 2011-2012 period.

Many experts are predicting that the growth in the online retail market will anywhere between 17-20 % annually. And these figures is expected to grow exponentially. Amazing really to think that all this has happened in just the last 10 years.

Plus with the explosion of mobile phone usage, ecommerce websites for business is now a “must have’ rather than a ‘let’s think about it approach’.  Those businesses wishing to take a back seat here will be missing out on huge opportunities.

How Do I Get An Ecommerce Shopping Cart for my Business?

Getting your business online is not about having some web company whip up a template site and off you go. It takes planning time and a strategy. Setting up a shopping cart requires working with a ecommerce web development company to not only design you a brilliant looking site, but also look at factors such as: search engine optimisation, site structures, user interface, the experience the consumer has on your website plus the path they take to actually purchase the product. A well thought out website will be a hell of a lot more powerful sales and revenue generating tool than a quickly slapped together site done in some third world country.

If you want to succeed online you have to really work with a company that knows it’s stuff. Make sure you do your due diligence and homework before green lighting any project. Go and visit their office and speak with your web development team and make sure they get a clear understanding of your business. Make sure you ask them about their SEO/social media strategy for you as well as how the site will look on mobiles and tablets ( this is a big area and cannot be ignored).

If your business needs to make the transition to a Sydney ecommerce store, Hopping Mad Designs web development team is ready to help. We have over 18 years experience in the online space plus designing and developing usable, very slick looking and trusted online shopping sites.

New To SEO? Start With Google Places for your New Business

How To Create Your Google Places Business Account.
If you are new to this and want to create a Google places listing read on. This can be done by clicking on the ‘business solutions’ button on the front page of Google. From there you can go to the Google maps for business and begin the registration process. They will need your: business name, phone number, business address as well as business category.

There are a few rules to be aware of as Google Places is very strict on how you register your business. For example:

  • Name: this has to be the exact name that your business was registered in. There can be no deviation or creative licence here. Don’t try to add keywords that relate to your business here, as Google will recognise this as spam and you can be barred for this. I have seen situation where businesses have tried to keyword stuff into their business name and have had their listing disappear.
  • Address: Only one address per business name. Forget about trying to have multiple addresses to cover all capital cities as this will be picked up. If you are a local servcie providor use your local suburb address as this will rank very quickly. Plumbers in Bondi Beach will get a higher ranking than plumbers in Sydney.
  • Phone Number: One landline per business, That’s the golden rule.

WHAT NEXT?

After you input all this data, Google will need to verify that you are a real person from a credible business and therefore will need you to enter a pin number. This will either be sent to your mobile phone or via the post to your business address. This is a fool proof way of ensuring that your business address matches your Google places entry. Once you are logged into your Google Places account and have put in your verification code you will be show up on Google places within a few days. It’s as simple as that.

What Do You Do If Your Business Has More Than 1 Location?

If you have more than one physical address and are say a mobile or travelling sales person, Google will still need one physical address from you. Note also, that PO boxes are not considered an address. You actually need to have a physical presence.

The SERP 7 Pack

Once your business is indexed it will show up on Google places. There are 7 places on each page and there are no guarantees that you are on the front page. There is a function to ‘see more places’ button and you might well end up down the list if you are in a competitive area. If you are more localised, chances are you will end up nearer the top, where competition for space is far less.

Other Directories

Let’s all agree that Google Places is really the only place to be for your business location,  but there are other directories that you may also consider. Think, reach local, yellow pages and other online directories. Make sure the information you give is exact and precisely the same across all the directories you register your business on.

If you get stuck with this process or any other information on how to get your website ranking on the search engines please call us here at Hopping Mad Designs on 02 9360 8514.

The 3 Click Rule and You

What I mean by this is that a user on your website should be able to get to where they want to go within 3 clicks of the mouse. Anything more and the problem you may have is that you end up loosing them.

Although this may be a hard design and development process, ideally your web team should have enough experience in website user experience and process flows to streamline the buyer pathway down to 3 simple clicks.

However, if you are developing a website with large amounts of this 3 click policy may prove difficult. What may ensue, is large unmanageable drop down menus with may click points all leading to the one page. Of course the main focus is that the consumer knows that no matter where they are on the site, they can easily get to the end with only 1 click. Making this process as simple as possible will result in higher user attrition, lower page bounce rates and an over all increase in sales.

It is absolutely amazing what one simple ‘ buy now’ button on the home page can do to site traffic and sales. Try it out for yourself and see the difference it can make.

Mitigating site exits and controlling where users go is the job of corporate web design experts like us here at Hopping Mad Designs. If you have a complex website and are not sure about how it will work or how it will generate sales then get in touch with us. I am happy to go over this 3 click rule and show you how it can work in your favour to generate sales.