Buddy Web Design

Whilst still early in 2019 we have noticed a slight increase in the demand for our web design services. We suspect that businesses who could in the past survive without a website start to feel the pinch of the economic resession now realise that they need to increase their marketing spend to retain their market share. For us this is good news. Unfortunately we also see small and medium businesses closing down. Ad to the resession the fact that 2019 is an election year we are less positive about the economic outlook for the first half of 2019.

Right that's a depressing start to our first blog for 2019! Lets turn this into something positive : With adversity always comes opportunities! Here is some we can think off:

• People will be doing more research online before making purchasing decisions
• South Africa will remain a cheap international holiday destination
• A weak rand increases exporting opportunities
• One business might find a major competitor closing down handing them more market share on a plate

While there might be some positives in general there is a lot of negatives that small businesses have to contend with. One way is to spend some time refining your marketing plan and revisiting your existing website. 

When we are approached by our clients to help with the development of a new or existing website we first want to ensure that the basics are done well. This might sound insignificant but the basics are very important. Basics like:

• Having your website include the right words in a natural way e.g. Plumber in Plumstead , Dentist in Tokai in the important headings and introductory pages of your website.
• A mobile friendly website.
• Making use of free Google my business and Facebook pages
• Proper description - not one or two liners - of your services and products
• Using your own unique description in your website text

Once satisfied with a sound basic platform we would like to see our web design clients move on to more advanced website development activities such as:

• Doing a monthly newsletter / blog like we ourselves have been doing for years. (The newsletter is an alternative way to stay in touch with potential clients while the blog creates fresh content which increases vissibility on the net.)
• Adding references / testimonials from clients
• Showcasing and discussing recent work completed
• Considering making a short product or services video and uploading to Youtube and embedding on your website

Our software has the major advantage that it is extremely user friendly plus there is no limit on the number of pages, meaning that our clients can add to their websites whenever they have spare time.