Web Design

So just how do you create an ecommerce website that engages your visitors, really gets them to buy into your business and converts them into paying customers? For me it has to start with your brand.

I’m not just talking about whether you have a smart logo in the top left hand corner of your website. I’m talking about your brand as a whole. Who you are, what you stand for and why your prospective customers should love your business. Then it’s about your brand identity, of course it is. And I think it’s much easier to get this wrong than your average small business realises. The fact is, that a really powerful brand identity doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes blood, sweat and occasional tears to pull together a cohesive colour palette, strong typographic armoury and combine that with creative flair that really wins you business.

As I say, you have to start with the brand. And you really can’t overlook this. Successful companies such as Dorset Cereals, Boden and The White Company have put great design and powerful branding at the very core of their businesses. And it’s paid off in spades. (Tomorrow we’ll look at Joules and the impact great design has had on their business).

Once you have the branding right, there’s plenty more that you can do to engage visitors. Structure is key. Is it easy for people to find what they’re looking for? Think about the navigation – how do people get to what they want – quickly (more examples to come, I promise!). Can they find what they’re looking for or are you confusing them with your jargon?

It’s also about the layout of the website – are the essential elements to hand? Before you go investing in tools such as live chat or special scripts that let visitors zoom in on the product, get the basics right. The structure of the website in terms of how people will want to browse and buy, the layout of the pages and how you want visitors to travel through the site.

Photography is key. It really does make all the difference. And in an ideal world you’ll mix product, closeup and well styled lifestyle/ model shots (where applicable to your business – you’ll note that we didn’t “style” the G2 Digital ecommerce website design photography – soooo not applicable!)

Content is king. Consumers love stories – what’s the story behind your product? What’s the experience? How do people feel when they buy? I’ll be exploring content in a lot more detail over the coming days but for now, think about what content that you can produce that will engage your visitors and get them to buy in to your business.

There is a lot to share, and if you stay with me, we’ll have a lot of fun. Until tomorrow…

Tagged as , ecommerce web design, powerful ecommerce in Powerful Ecommerce, Web Design, Websites

Remember G2 Digital from their logo design post a few months back? Chris Hollidge approached us to create him an updated and easy to use ecommerce website that would really engage his visitors, help communicate the value in their products and service and attract more business.

I love to see how the brand has developed and really taken shape. It’s about so much more than the logo – a strong colour palette, beautiful fonts and strong imagery all add up to a really compelling first impression.

At Chris’ request the site doesn’t have an integrated payment gateway or shopping cart right now, but when the time is right for his business, it’s something we can very efficiently add moving forwards.

This system will enable Chris’s clients to create “quotes” and wishlists and contact G2 Digital when they are ready to discuss or buy. Over time we can easily bolt in the payment gateway and other templates to enable customers to buy direct – once Chris has arranged all of his in house infrastructure to be able to deliver on the uplift in orders.

Templates to add consistency and scaleability

When we create ecommerce websites we start by creating templates for each style of page: at least the home page, about page, product and category pages. We also create bag, checkout and thank you pages. It’s this level of attention to detail that really makes a difference to the user experience and ensures that our websites stand out above the crowd.

Here’s a static page template (the idea is that Chris can generate as many pages like this for great content or to provide information about the business).

And here are screen shots of the product pages and category pages.

This site won’t have hundreds of products – more like just a few with lots of optional extras so a simple structure works really well here.

The product page ensures that viewers can get to the heart of what they need to know without lots of fuss and confusion.

Based on how the site looked before, I think it’s quite a step forwards, don’t you?

Tagged as , ecommerce website design, g2 digital in Case Studies, From The Studio, Powerful Ecommerce, Web Design, Websites

Cobham Pilates is one of the leading pilates establishments in the UK. Founded by Donna Pourtyemour in 2006 Cobham Pilates has rapidly gained a fanatical following in Cobham and the surrounding areas (in particular Oxshott, Weybridge and Esher) and recently gained legendary teacher and author Lisa Bradshaw as one of their instructors.

After many years of nagging, we rebranded Cobham Pilates a couple of years ago which was a catalyst for some big changes within Donna’s business. The studio now operates from spacious premises that Donna had created last summer and the business is going great guns.

A couple of weeks ago we launched a brand new website for Cobham Pilates which truly reflects where her business is now as well as giving her the back end functionality she needed.

Here’s how her previous site looked.

And here’s the original mockup on the Studio page

Pretty nice and relatively easy to update, but Donna’s business has gone through some pretty mega changes in the last year (look out for her as one of my next Big Thinkers victims interviewees…) and there were a number of things Donna needed her website to do at the back end. We initially considered just updating the structure of the site, but excitingly Donna had the vision to go for a bit of an evolution on the design front. And we’re all very pleased that she did.

I often think that the most powerful results come from making small changes rather than huge adjustments to things. Of course, I’m assuming that you have a strong brand identity that works in the first place… But once you have that, you get it up and running, you learn what works, what doesn’t and how your business has moved on. And you adapt and change accordingly. And in Donna’s case this wasn’t about throwing everything out and starting again. It was about evolving things, the Flourish way.

In truth we did have to start again when it came to designing the pages – that makes our job of delivering something that moves the design forward so much more effective. But we maintained the existing brand identity – the typography, the colour palette and of course, the gorgeous images from Matt Pereira.

Donna now has a website that puts her fully in control. She can adapt, change, update and develop pretty much everything on the site. And she’s been more than a little bit blown away. I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact the new site will have on Cobham Pilates (it only went live late on Friday) but if her reaction is anything to go by, it can only be positive.

Each member of the team now has their own page to enable visitors to connect more with the team.

The new wider format shows the images off to better effect. And the text over the image can be updated to reflect current offers/ news.

I love the strength of this website, the clean-ness and the elegance. And I love the fact that with a few subtle tweaks (note, I didn’t say quick!) you can make a big, big difference to the end result.

I’ve recommended Cobham Pilates to a number of clients and they are now raving fans. I highly recommend the studio – go on, take a look!

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Web Design, web development, Websites

<drum roll please> I am delighted to be able to share Lisa Cox’s brand, spanking new website with you. You may have joined us along the journey – from initial concepts and mood boards to developing design. Well now here is the finished article -looking gorgeous and already helping Lisa win more business. You’ll notice [...]

Tagged as in From The Studio, Web Design, Websites

One, two, three… Aaaah! The final Buttons website design is now live and looking gorgeous! Ellie came to the studio today for her training on the content management system and I’m delighted to be able to share the finished result with you. I know you’ve followed much of this from the outset with the brand [...]

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Web Design, Websites

And so with more punches of colour introduced, the same gorgeous fonts and those quirky quotes that Rob pulled together I introduce you to the final designs for the Lisa Cox website. The background image will need some tweaking (that slanty wall is making me feel seasick) but I love the concept. I think it [...]

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Web Design

Remember the mood board and existing website I showed you for Lisa in my last post? Well here is how Rob interpreted the brief and came up with the initial design. I love the serenity and beauty of the design. And I also love the fact that we’ve used images, but not in an obvious [...]

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Web Design

We’ve been working with garden designer Lisa Cox for almost a year now, and were delighted when she asked us to create a new website for her. Over the past ten months or so we’ve helped Lisa carve out a niche for herself in a very crowded market; put together a marketing plan to help [...]

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Mood Boards, Web Design

Do you remember the Buttons logo design from a couple of weeks ago? Well I am delighted to be able to share the website designs with you. Ta da! When we create a website, after we’ve taken the brief and been given the go ahead, we’ll always have a planning session with the client. This [...]

Tagged as in Case Studies, From The Studio, Web Design, Websites

Stanbrook and Nicholson make beautiful wooden windows and doors from their workshop in the Surrey Hills. Having been running the company very successfully over the past few years, owners Ben and Simon decided it was time to expand the business. They were looking to gain more clients through their website – both consumers and property [...]

Tagged as in Web Design, Websites