Coast Radar was faced with a problem that many other websites are also struggling with. The whole idea that visitors are using different sized devices and expect a tailored experience. At first we worked on a main website, mobile website and iphone application but this just became too expensive and complicated to keep in sync.

After listening to what the users were saying we decided on a completely new version of the website.

The beta is a mechanism where we can share our new vision and still have time to take on-board people’s comments.

At a high level the changes of the new website are:

• Clearer navigation outside of maps.
      We have provided a new text link navigation system where you start at a continent, then look at countries, then states, then actual listings.
• People who enter at a beach listing from the search engine said it is long winded to see other elements close by.
      We have added a breadcrumb at the top of a page labelled “You are at :: ” where the green parts are links to allow you to easily move backwards and forwards. This means you can easily move up from an entry to the region, from a region to the country, etc.
• People only want to be told about the area they are looking at rather than maps of the world with 1000′s of markers.
      We have changed the whole site to show information based on the context. For example, if you are looking at The United Kingdom you will see the regions/states, where as if you are looking at a state you will see the listings within it.
• People want a mechanism whereas they can ask businesses and other people for advice on a coastal area.
      We have expanded the community to provide a full social environment where people can freely ask questions and share experiences.
• People wanted a mechanism to plan plan and record a trip.
  We have allowed FREE travel Blogs within the community to plan, record and share a trip.
• People want a single website to map to the device they are using, a laptop, tablet or mobile phone and don’t want to have to swap between mobile, desktop and mobile application versions.
      This was a complete re-design to provide a responsive website that adapts to the screen size being used. We will discontinue our iphone and mobile website versions.
• Businesses wanted a mechanism to communicate with other businesses and people interested in the coast.
  The new community website allows people to discuss topics within what we calls groups. Groups can be PUBLIC – open to everyone, PRIVATE – people have to request membership of the group Admin or HIDDEN where people have top be invited. Anyone can start a group.
  
• People wanted a faster site.
  Although the beta does not use it, when the new website goes live it will use an international Content Delivery Network (CDN) to provide faster access to content.

Why not go and have a play at beta.coastradar.com

Technology wise, the main website is a custom HTML 5 fluid design and the community makes use of WordPress and Buddypress.

Any questions then just drop us an email or give us a call at +44 (0)20 8123 8159

In the last 12 months mobile devices have become the norm and now more people spend time researching using mobile devices. They now expect websites to be optimized for such devices.

This means if you designed your website 12-18 months ago you need to be thinking if it fits this model.

At Praeparo we point a lot of our customers towards WordPress nowadays for a number of reasons:

1) It is easy to keep up with trends. WordPress has lots of plugins to do all the latest things and provides upgrades that mean you don’t loose anything previously done.
2) You have full control and not your web design agency or web development team. For example, I am typing this on my FREE iPhone WordPress application whilst on the train. This used to be wasted time.
3) WordPress has mobile plugins that just detect a mobile device and then change automatically.
4) Want a new design just change the theme and don’t worry about the content.
5) Want a social media site, membership site, online shop; WordPress plugins exist for all.

These are just some reasons that enables organizations big or small to get a website to meet needs at a cost suitable to business size. The website then keeps with all the latest trends at a very cheap cost.

Speak to Praeparo today for ideas on how WordPress can eliminate the expensive task of a website rewrite every few years.

Get your website in front of all your customers.

We will sit down with you in front of your website and generally walk through it and answer any of your concerns.

So if your business is local in towns like Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury, Chesham, Amersham, St. Albans, Watford, Wendover or even as far as Milton Keynes just send a message on our contact us form or give us a call.

If you are further afield or you represent a trading body or business group then by all means contact us and we will see what we can do.

Some of the questions already asked include:
- my website looks dated, any ideas?
- how can I get more control over my website content and not always have to pay for changes?
- what does SEO mean to me?
- website review please?
- keyword selection tips?
- am I spending enough or too much on pay per click advertising?
- should I concentrate on local search?

As you can see we have covered and helped a lot of businesses. Again, no obligation to purchase anything.

If you’d like to know more, call us today on 020 8123 8159.

You see an expensive website with all the current trends that shows a wonderful image. You like what you see so click on a contact-us form and you get a nice page that says thank-you for your enquiry and that a representative will get back to you in a few hours. You then see an email from business@hotmail.com, or you may not see it as it is in your spam. Would you then go and spend your good earned money with this company when all your communication is to a FREE email account.

I don’t think you would as it does not instill confidence that the organisation is here for the long term.

The biggest industry I see this in is the travel trade and hotels, self catering, B&B, holiday cottage establishments.

It only takes a few pounds a year to close this gap and I am sure will drive a lot more business and reduce the bounce rate of visitors to your website.

Praeparo are offering a 50% reduction on our strategy workshop was £995 now £495.

For this you get an expert on site for a day to discuss your website and internet marketing strategy and help you validate the current plan and discuss improvements and way forwards.

This is not a formal report generation meeting but a real person sitting down with yourselves and talking through ideas. We admit that we may not have all the answers but will either point you at a relevant resource to get an answer or we will take away the question and get back to you.

The agenda can be anything you want but we typically think a discussion around:

• Where you currently think you are?
• Where you think you are going?
• Gap analysis between you current and future state.
• Start to discuss how the gaps can be addresses.

Use our contact form or give us a call on 020 8123 8159 to start the ball rolling.

Remember, visitors hitting your website and thus purchasing don’t come by accident, as the internet gets more competitive you need to be on top of what your competitors are doing.

Note: onsite visit for UK customer within 150 miles of postcode HP22. Other will be considered but travel may incur a small charge.

Why not start today by becoming a fan of our page and getting a FREE website marketing analysis for any two keyword phrases.

Click here for the Praeparo facebook page

Often this is because any new visitor will want to gain confidence that the organisation behind the website is real and not too risky to do business with. In the offline world you automatically evaluate a company based on physical details like premises, staff politeness, packaging etc. Website visitors need to do the same but they don’t have the physical aspects at hand. Some of the items they look for and thus you need to plan into your website design are:

• High quality website design.
• Website always available (good hosting).
• Postal address clearly displayed (not a PO Box).
• Real phone number (not just a mobile).
• Secure website (SSL – https) when entering any personal details.
• Privacy policy.
• Terms and conditions.
• Guarantees/refund policies.
• Customer list or portfolio.
• Trade body memberships.
• Fresh content.
• External recommendations or reviews.

If a website is not managed correctly with respect to the above list it can damage a brand that has been heavily invested in offline or traditional marketing. In all cases a brand must be protected at all costs.

Take a step back and have a look at your website and measure against your competitors. Ask the question – would I do business with these people?

Praeparo have long been designing and marketing websites and can provide a free evaluation of your current website – click here!

Click here to read full press release!

The new website allows travelers to quickly and easily “Discover the Shoreline” with a very focused and relevant search based on visitor reviews. Coast Radar provides a full Beach Guide, a complete Weather Station, an Activity Guide, Kit Bag and full list of Services and Accommodations.

The Beach Guide features an online search locating beaches by region or by map. It also offers the top 10 beaches and allows users to suggest a beach. The Weather Station offers current weather conditions, the previous day’s highs and lows and the precipitation forecast. The Activity Guide helps travelers find things to do on the coast ranging from leisurely walks and hikes to surfing and sailing. The Kit Bag helps visitors locate shops for all their travel accessory needs. The Services Guide provides a list of schools, instructors and guides and the Accommodation Guide provides a list of friendly places to stay near the beach of choice.

There are several ways to search using the website. The “Quick Jump” takes users straight to a Google Map of a specific location. Users can also browse through maps based on categories of Beach, Activities, Kit Bag, Services and Accommodations; or users can browse through a region and narrow the search by selecting text links.

Coast Radar gathers its information based on visitor submissions. The site also offers business listings for local area businesses to advertise a service, shop or accommodation. While the site is currently focused on the UK, other coastal regions will soon be added to the site.

For further information, or to “Discover the Shoreline,” please visit www.coastradar.com

The first step is consider what type of online presence you want, these fall roughly into 5 categories although a number of websites do offer more than one.

1. e-commerce:
   provision of products available to purchase online.
2. information:
   typically help to generate offline sales of services by providing information.
3. brand:
   focus is to support your brand.
4. portal:
   provision of news and information around a range of topics.
5. social networks or community:
   enables community interactions between different consumers.

All these categories influence in slightly different ways when it comes to website design, development, website launch, operational ongoing costs and marketing. For example, a brand building site needs less monthly work than an e-commerce or portal site which depend on fresh updated information.

The thinking is that if any task takes more than 3 clicks to complete, a visitor will not complete the task. It is one of the oldest pillars of website usability design.

So is it over emphasised?

Although the 3-click rule can make you think about your page hierarchy we believe it is only one of the items you need to consider. Yes if you have a step of tasks then you should be limiting the number of clicks but the major rule is design to what the user wants and expects.

You must consider and provide:

• Detailed search to enable people to jump to what they are looking for.
• Common menu system on every page so that they always know how to get somewhere.
• Keep the pages simple. Visitors will not detail read they will first scan the page looking for key items like headings, links, bold text etc.  Only if it is interesting will they then go through back in more detail.
• Get a balance of pictures/images and text. Too many of one or the other will put people off. Images should be used to enhance content and not replace as now people too often associate images with banner advertising of which more and more people ignore.
• Search engine optimisation. You need to design for the visitor with search engines in mind and not the other way around. A high bounce rate in Google Analytics indicates the wrong balance in that people are finding you but the content is not relevant.

In Summary

Yes the 3-Click rule is relevant but not in isolation. You must consider all elements of website design and find the correct balance between them.