A lot of web companies will not offer open source CMS platforms, preferring to use their own customised CMS.

Herein lies a big issue for organisations who are unclear about the dangers associated with using these in house, proprietary build CMS systems.

Following are some tips for choosing the best CMS Solution for your Charity, NFP or NGO website.

Make sure that you can get training in the usage of the CMS once the website project has been completed. This is a no brainer and should be given to you no matter the type of CMS you use.

Ask your web developer exactly what type of CMS solution they will be provided – if it is not one of the above mentioned then you need to be extremely careful about progressing with them.

Make sure there are no licence fees associated with custom-built CMS platforms as this can get very costly over the years.

Avoid getting locked into contracts as this means that you are stuck with 1 company for the entire life of the website – not ideal in this day and age.

Make sure your CMS is SEO friendly where you can add titles, descriptions and H1, H2 and H3 headings. I have worked on many websites that use outdated proprietary content management systems that are super SEO unfriendly and it’s a nightmare. The first thing I tell my clients is that we have to transfer your entire site over to a WordPress CMS platform.

What CMS solutions do Hopping Mad Designs use?

Our range of Open Source Content Management Systems based web design solutions for charities, non-profits and NGOs are designed to deliver extremely cost-effective online solutions that will help your organisation succeed online.

Our not-for-profit expertise puts us in the best position to advise your organisation on the best CMS Solution – We use WordPress CMS for all our websites and the reasons are simple:

FREE to download, no monthly fees, easy to use and very search engine friendly. PLUS you get full backup and support.

Why use Hopping Mad Designs as your CMS provider for your NFP or charity?

• We will give your organisation a free initial consultation
• There are discounted rates for charities, non-profits and NGO’s
• All our websites are fully customised, giving your organisation a completely unique style.
• We know search engine optimisation and can rank your website within weeks of launching it.
• Expert and REAL advice on the best use of your social media platforms; Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc.
• No lock-in contracts – OUR WordPress CMS is 100% open source.
• Training on how to add or delete content on your WordPress CMS

 

What is Adaptive Design?

Wikipedia

tells us that Adaptive web design (AWD) promotes the creation of multiple versions of a web page to better fit the user’s device, as opposed to a single static page that loads (and looks) the same on all devices or a single page which reorders and resizes content responsively based on the device/screen size/browser of the user.

Nowadays, if your website is not adaptive then you are going to lose customers. Essentially, having an adaptive design helps with conversion rates.

Also read: 15 gorgeous landing pages that are conversion-focused

What does this tell us about the adaptive web market?

The answer is simple. If websites that have been customised for normal browsing on tablets have not been made easily viewable on mobile phones by implementing adaptive design, then basically, these sites are not catering to what the users now want and now expect. If you do not pander to these growing mobile consumer ‘must haves’ and are unwilling to accept the fact that adaptive design can increase mobile web traffic by enhancing user engagement, then you and your company will be left behind. Oberlo tells us that the latest figures show an increasing number of smartphone users year after year. In 2021, the number of global smartphone users is estimated at 6.4 billion, marking a 5.3 per cent annual increase. It is also 73.9 per cent more than the number of smartphone users there were in 2016, just half a decade ago. What this means for the mobile audience is that if you’re not helping them find what they are looking for then they will not use your website.

Evolution in this market is happening now at such a rapid pace that it is your responsibility as a business owner to ensure an adaptive web strategy is employed.

If you really want to see the way forward, just look at the banking and aviation sector. They have all jumped on board the adaptive web design train and have made their mobile sites as user friendly as possible. Minimal content with super fast access to only the most critical bits of information means that they are now catering to what all mobile consumers are looking for. That is a no-nonsense approach to delivering content.

And now for Tablets.

Tablets such as ipads are clearly for swiping. The consumer market is now highly trained in the art of swiping ( from ibook, magazines, blogs, kindles, the list goes on and on) and are happy to look at horizontal swiping as opposed to the traditional forms of web desktop engagement that make users perform vertical scrolling with the mouse, finger and arrow key. The tablet market is booming and like with the mobile phone trend, consumers now demand that they view content and engage with this content in a certain fashion. If you go against the grain and are unwilling to satisfy these demands, then you can expect user bounce rates to increase which can and will lead to lost sales, revenue and customers. Basically, you have to give the general public what they want or else they are not going to buy from you. The online market is that competitive and users are now that web-savvy ( I have seen kids as young as 5 years of age who are absolutely professional tablet browsers), that adaptive web development should now be a part of your marketing strategy.

Make sure you ask your web developer about this as it is a lot easier to do this from the ground up at the planning stage than done retrospectively.

If you are reading this article and are worried about implementing adaptive web design then don’t be. In some cases, it is only a matter of reducing some of the white areas on the site and reducing the number of words. Take away some of the complexity that some websites may have like newsletter sign up areas and keep the tabs to only what is necessary. In point of fact, most people want a simple, clean looking design interface for a website and if you go down this path, then the whole adaptive design process for mobiles and tablets just became that much easier for you and your web developer.

Advantages and disadvantages of adaptive design

One of the best advantages of adaptive design is that the content is fully customized for the screen. It will match the content precisely for that device you use. It gives you the freedom to create a separate design interface for the mobile phone so you can really grab clients attention with customised design features for that mobile or tablet. I’ve often gone through the design on a mobile phone that had responsive design and made many fine-tune adjustments to make it more conversion-focused. Yes, there is a bit more work involved but adaptive design pays off in the long run as you can really customise the design and content for each device.

The only disadvantage is the extra work involved. You have to go on each device and make amends separately. But, for the customer experience, it’s well worth the time and effort. So if you’re asking if adaptive design work for mobile and tablets, the answer is definitely yes. It’s a winner!

Remember, try to go with a web design agency that knows what they are doing in terms of design and development. It’s your business and if you want to succeed online then this is the best way forward.

If your a tradie and are looking for more business then you need the combination of a great looking website and search engine optimisation – this is the only way you are ever going to get found online.
You can forget about placing an ad in the local Yellow Pages or even a local newspaper. People simply do not go there any more when looking for a trades service.

What they now do is type the service they are looking for into the search engine Google and look for their tradie online.

If your tradies website is not found there, then guess what, you loose out on the business. It is the way of the future and all trades that have a business and are looking to expand and grow their business need to understand this and need to get a website designed by a web design studio like Hopping Mad Designs.

There is no need to pay a fortune for your tradesmen website. You can now get online very quickly with our Trades Starter Packages:

What Do You Get:

Customised Web Design for your Home Page –

this will give your trades business the unique look and feel that you are wanting to stand out and be different from your competition.

A Services Page – This is where you can display and talk about your services and what you are offering. A great place to really sell yourself and your business. If you get stuck for ideas or wording let me know and we can help you with our in house copy writing servcies that specialise in trades websites.

FAQs Page – This is an awesome way to let your clients know about anything about the job; pre/post job common questions that they may have. Think of all the hassle this will save you when they call you up while on the job with a question. All you need to do is refer them to your new tradesmen website and all the answers will be there. And the beauty of this is that you can keep adding questions and answers to this section through our easy to use content management admin area.

About Us Page – On this page you want to tell your potential clients about you and how good you are. A great idea is to let them know your: qualifications, where you have worked in the past, your experience in the industry as well as length of time spent in this trade.

Contact Page – Here you can have your mobile number as well as an email address. If you have a shop or outlet we can link this up with Google Maps to make it much easier for people to find you.

Testimonials Page – Nothing screams louder to your potential clients than what other people are saying about you. If you are able to get say two to three testimonials and display them on this page, it will build a huge amount of confidence in you and your trades business. Even better, if you can have a couple of case studies on this page, matched up with a testimonial for each job, then that will be an extremely powerful marketing tool for you and your website

2 GOLDEN RULES FOR YOUR TRADIE WEBSITE DESIGN

This is a no brainer. You’re a trades person and the ultimate aim of your website is to not generate and email inquiry but a phone inquiry. Generally, when people are calling you they are in trouble and need your services ASAP. This is not a long sales process like in some other businesses. This is a quick call to action, make the phone call, come around, fix the problem and move on. For this main reason, you need two very large pieces of information. That is, a very bold phone number and a big description of what you can do, e.g WATER LEAK REPAIR FAST.

You need the consumer, who is looking online to be able to find you quickly and know exactly your offering and how to contact you. We are able to advice you in more detail about this process but the fundamentals are the same when it comes to tradies website design; keep it simple and keep it large.

One point to note, is that you really need your trades website to be found on Google and this is something that you should be discussing with your account manager at Hopping mad Designs whilst you are getting your site designed. Let us handle your SEO campaign and get you ranking on page 1 of Google!

Get online now with a great looking website

Be clear about the areas you work in and service. There are over 4500 searches Australia wide for electricians and you really do not want to be fielding inquiries from all over Australia if you only work in Sydney. There is no point in getting business across the country if you are not able to service it. So be very clear about the geographic areas and boundaries you work within.

Sydney Website Design Plug for Hopping Mad Designs : Check take time to have a look at our website design Sydney webpage if you are a tradie and are now looking to get yourself a new website. In know this is a bit of a self promotion but heythis is my business and after all i am one of the account managers for Hopping Mad Designs.

So if you want the experience of a trusted web design studio that has been working in the industry for well over 18 years then please give us a call. We have worked with tradies all over Australia and would love to be able to work with you on your website.

We will make 100% sure that you get a website that you will be proud of and a site that will act as an extremely powerful sales and marketing tool for your trades business. As designers we will give you a website that will look totally different from your competition and really give you the online boost your site needs to stand out from all those other boring tradies web sites.

In order to avoid clients becoming overwhelmed with too many graphics and too much content, it is paramount to the success of your website to have a fine balance between web content and website design.

Too much of one will annoy the users and alternatively too much of the other will just be boring.

The fine line that must be walked should be handled by a web company  Sydney that is experienced in this field and has many sites under its belt.

Obviously, the home page or the landing page is the most crucial part of the site and needs to have the most attention focused on, but this careful attention should also be carried throughout the balance of the sites internal pages. Failure to adhere to these strict design and content guidelines will only result in users making a mad dash to exit the site and perhaps look elsewhere for your service or product offering.

Balancing Website Design Elements

Internet-savvy users are generally online ( if they are not looking at educational sites), are really searching for a good or service which they can buy. If the website hinders this process, either through; large graphics ( which take forever to download) or small hard to read the text then they are not likely to hang around the site.

People are really fussy and are over the internet noise online, so if you cannot satisfy their requirements fairly quickly then you can kiss them goodbye.

Avoiding this type of issue is not that hard and if you do engage the services of a web design studio like Hopping Mad Design, issues like this will be mitigated early on in the piece and completely avoided altogether. Our web designers have the necessary design skills and web copywriting experience, to keep potential users on your site and keep their interest maintained whilst they are within the subpages. Called conversion rates, it’s a critical element of the design process as you want to eliminate as many of the buying hurdles that buyers face on some sites.

Important Search Engine Facts

Having a website that loads quickly will help with your online rankings. Having a web page that is overstuffed with large text and graphics will hinder the ranking process. Your competitors might have sleeker, faster sites that load much more efficiently, meaning a better user experience and therefore a much higher ranking.
Well written content married with clever design, plus correct site-wide semantics will also aid the search engine spiders in their indexing. If for example, there is a page on your site about a particular service offering, the content and graphics must gel nicely to maintain readers and SEO. Ask your potential web company if they can show you an example of how they have managed to get a site ranked with the combination of web content, whilst at the same time not boring the pants off someone.

Correct page style sheets are the best for your site in the eyes of the engines. Keyword stuffing with many phrases that relate to your business dotted throughout your site will not be looked upon favourably, plus your site will end up looking odd and not very appealing for the user.

Over Use Of Flashy Graphics With Minimal Text

This is a favourite amongst architectural and design companies, that have large moving images on their homepage, looking to highlight their portfolio of work only. These images are generally hero shots and on some sites, there can be many images. In some cases, the content is very minimal and the text is absolutely tiny. For some businesses with an extremely high profile and very well established client base, this may be fine, but those looking to get into the market and get new clients on board need to have not only strong visual text and graphics throughout the site but will also need well-articulated content on each page.

Without this potential customers are not going to know enough about the firm and its services and will not likely contract them. Copy is now just as important as graphics and should be considered a vital and important part of the marketing mix. Utilising the services of a website design studio that has an in house content team is an added bonus.

Ask your web team if they have someone internally and if not, see if they are able to outsource this to a credible copy person. One point to note of interest is that Google does not read flash animation and it is, therefore, inadvisable to implement any flash graphics on a website.

Avoid The Temptation of Too Wordy Pages

There is the temptation by some design studios to cram as much content on a page as possible. The rationale for this is twofold. Firstly that a wordy, text-heavy page will rank in the search engines and secondly, giving the user as much information as possible for fear of missing out on something. Both philosophies are bad and will result in users deserting your site in droves.

The best way to tackle this is to have anywhere between 1000 – 2000 words per page, with images that are related to the topic. Most business owners I know will struggle with the concept of writing this many words and this is why a copywriter is an essential ingredient for the web project. Images relating to your topic should be relatively easy to find online through the many photo libraries available.

Simplicity is the Key To a Well Designed Page

Keep it simple and straight to the point. Make sure that the design interface is very intuitive, easy to use and all navigation points are easily identifiable. Ensure that all content fits in nicely with the photos and that images are appropriate for the text. If you are going through an image library, try to get royalty-free images to save on the costs. As an example, if you are looking at images for a law firm, it’s best to look for photos with a more conservatively edge. These are abundant online and choosing a suitable image should be easy for your web designer. Content that works well with that image is the job of the copywriter and if this is facilitated correctly, the end result will be a site that people understand, relate to and therefore will stay on.

WEB DESIGN ‘MUST HAVES’ for UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES, TAFE’s & SCHOOLS.

1. The website must appeal to its primary audience; students

If you are wanting to engage with this audience on their level then the website must have a young, contemporary style.

You want them to arrive on the home page and immediately be engaged with the content and visuals.  No matter the size of your institution, whether part of a large university or a small school or college, it’s worth the investment to get a website design that works for your target audience.

2. Strong, creative visual imagery

Your website should clearly reflect the nature and personality of your institution. Avoid overuse of stock imagery – relevant, real-life photos will make a massive difference to the user experience.

3) Clear navigation pathways

You need clear pathways that easily guide students and teachers around the site. Hot buttons on the home page are a great way to grab the users attention.

4) User-Friendly Content Management Systems

Your CMS should allow for university, college, TAFE staff to get into the back-end of the website and make as many changes as they like IN REAL TIME. Ideally, an open-source CMS platform like WordPress should be used as this means that you are not locked into using one web company – it allows flexibility, which is very important in today’s digital environment.

Also read: CMS Solutions for Charities, Non – Profits and NGOs

5) Mobile Phone Friendly Websites

Your new website should be RESPONSIVE, allowing it to be viewed easily on all handheld devices. Students on the go will expect this from your institution, so make sure you get your web designer to implement this function.

6) Can Your University Website Be Found On Google?

Students looking for information about courses, enrolments will need to find your website easily and this is why it is imperative that an SEO or search engine strategy is mapped out and planned for the beginning of your web project. Nowadays in the COVID environment where international students are not coming from overseas, it’s vital that you can attract local Aussie students and talent to your uni or TAFE.

7) Web Content That Works

It is worth the exercise to get a professional copywriter to look at your website content. Writing for the web is totally different to anything else and this is why a web content expert can make a huge difference to the success of your website and online profile.

8) Social Media Marketing

This cannot be ignored! Universities and all educational institutions MUST embrace at least the basic social media platforms including; Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Popular universities, colleges and TAFE’s can easily get a massive following, so it’s wise from a marketing perspective to utilise and benefit from this.

Increase enrollment and student engagement

Dynamic Websites

Most University and School web pages have their very own style and personality. Our in-house technology has been developed to be flexible enough to create real value for all of our clients, even those with very detailed and specific briefs. Our website developers are constantly improving and updating our web technologies to ensure it remains browser compatible, PLUS other add-ons which mean your site will never be left behind.

Budget-Friendly

Customised web design and development can be expensive. As a Sydney based web design company with years of experience, we are able to strategise and deploy your website quicker and much more cost-effectively than most other design studios. Hopping Mad you will outline a detailed proposal and fixed quotation which will be delivered to you on budget and on time.

Search Engine Optimisation

SEO is crucial to increase universities online presence. Our WordPress platform is built upon a CMS designed to provide the on-page components that adhere to Google’s guidelines for best practices.