branding – Tech Warrior

How can I create a website for my business free of cost?

Judson Dawtrey — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

Is it possible to have a free website?

Getting a website developed for your business is easier now than ever before. If you have access to a computer, there are a vast number of ways to have a website designed and developed for your business. Some ways are easier than others, however. In most cases taking shortcuts can lead to unnecessary problems or underwhelming results.

If you would like to have a website built free of cost, there are a few online platforms and software you can use, such as WordPress, Squarespace or Wix. These assist you in designing websites with easy to use templates and themes and other services.

Purchasing domain names carefully is a very important aspect of owning a website. Having a website is an important part of running a business. Make sure you are the rightful registered owner of your domain name.

A free website is not all sunshine and rainbows

The ability to design and build your own website has been made a much easier process with the use of the above-mentioned do-it-yourself platforms and software. Doing it yourself can lead to issues that hinder the quality of the final product. This is because many people are unaware of what actually makes a good website and what makes a bad website.

Many people believe that a website is to showcase them and/or their business, and in part this is true. The primary audience of your website, however, are your customers. You don’t have a website for you to visit and get information about your business, that’s what your customers do. You need a website so that your customers have a place for them to visit and gather information about your business without having to leave their homes or phones. Websites are there to help you market your business, build trust and for visitors to make a more informed choice about how you can solve their particular problem.

Issues that could arise when building a free website

When building a free website, you might, as a result of the platform you use, have to host adverts on it. This can cloud your website with unnecessary information. First impressions, which are so important, might be impacted by potentially irrelevant advertising “noise”. To add insult to injury these intrusive adverts could slow down the loading of your website. Why would you allow advertising on your website? Well you may be under the impression that you will earn revenue from them but this is usually not the case. Any revenue from the adverts goes to the platform provider and you don’t get any financial benefit from the clicks on the advert.

Your domain name could also be affected as you will most likely have to include the name of the platform you are using i.e. cheapcars.wordpress.com. This can make your website and business seem very unprofessional. Free websites also have bandwidth restrictions and this could impact the potential growth of your website.

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.
—Colin Powell

Why choose a professional over something free

When designing your own website, the content you use is of major importance. This is what your customers will be reading or watching to get an idea of what the business does and what problems it solves. Not knowing how to structure your content can lead to a cluttered, ugly website which can drive customers away.

Do you know how to design a website that is mobile friendly? And not just mobile friendly but designed so that it looks good on a mobile device? This is a must in this day and age where 60 percent of your website’s visitors will be arriving on a mobile device.

This is where having someone else whose business is websites will come in handy. They can assist you with putting you content together for your website in a way that works based on best practices. Some web design companies will put the content together for you. Others may not do the content, but will help guide you through the process. And of course they will ensure that what looks good on screen, looks good on a mobile device too.

At Tech Warrior we believe that you should compile the content for your website as you know your business better than anyone else. We do, however, guide you with a set of detailed questions to ensure the correct content is gathered and collated.

Be aware of shortcuts

It is quite a simple process to build your own free website for your business as the tools are easily available. However, you get what you don’t pay for. As previously mentioned, shortcuts can lead to unnecessary problems that could arise in future if you decided to go that route.

But if you must, go for it!

If you can, we highly recommend you choose a trusted web company that can help you build a quality website to help your business succeed.

What is the difference between a website and a blog?

Matthew Green — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 13:27:26 +0000

I have often been called pedantic. This means that sometimes I can be overly concerned with the accuracy or precision of something. In this case, however, I think it’s okay to be a little pedantic because technically a blog is a website.

What is a website?

A British computer scientist, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, invented the World Wide Web or Web for short in 1989. His vision was for an easy way to share information stored on networked computers in different geographic locations. Kind of like an interconnected web of information. As it turns out, any time you have a collection of one or more web pages that are hosted under the same domain, you have a website.

This doesn’t really say what a website can do but it does explain what it is. Websites can be developed for businesses, organisations, governments and individuals. They can be maintained and looked after by one person or a team of people, depending on the size and function of the website.

Websites can be small in size, i.e. have a limited number of pages or massive in scale like Google or Wikipedia. Usually the information on a website's pages are relatively static, meaning it doesn’t change all that often. On the other hand, social media sites like Facebook or Twitter are also websites and these change all the time!

What is a blog?

A blog is a website with regularly updated information. Much like a diary or journal. It’s usually written or published by an individual rather than a company or news organisation. This is not to say that a company won’t have a blog, rather a person or author at the company will be the responsible person for the contents of the blog.

The term blog is a portmanteau which happens when you combine two words to form a new one, in this case web + log = blog. The act of writing and publishing is called blogging. Unlike the more static pages on a website, blog pages are referred to as articles or posts and are published regularly. This can vary from multiple times a day to a few times a week or month. There is no rule, it depends on the author of the blog and the kind of information being presented. Tech Warrior’s learning hub (for information on building a website) is a blog and publishes posts a few times per week.

The Web does not just connect machines, it connects people.
—Tim Berners-Lee

Blog comments

Another key difference between a website and a blog is community engagement. The author of a blog will often open the opportunity for discussion on what has been published. This discussion takes the form of a comment system situated below the main article or post.

In recent times, however, this has been abused by both people and automated scripts or bots. In the former, people can take the conversation off-topic which means irrelevant things are discussed, outside the focus of the original blog post. Additionally commenters can sometimes be vitriolic to other comment posters, focussing on the person and not what was said in a disrespectful or spiteful manner. In the latter, the scripts or bots endeavour to post comments, also unrelated, containing spam links to other dubious websites. This is done in an effort to try and con Google and other search engines into giving them a higher rank on the search results pages. This kind of behavior has resulted in many blogs limiting comments or putting safeguards in place.

A well-rounded website will contain both web pages and posts. In other words it will be both a website and a blog. Web pages are useful for static information that doesn’t change all that much or often. Publishing a blog can keep customers and visitors up to date with the latest news and happenings. It can also build deeper engagement and trust through the comment system, provided this is managed properly.

What is a WordPress theme?

Tristan Green — Fri, 06 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

What is WordPress?

Firstly let’s clear up any confusion about what WordPress is. Simply put, WordPress allows anyone, individuals and organisations, to build websites and blogs. In more technical terms, WordPress is a free content management system (CMS) that is open to the public. It utilises features such as plugins and themes. It is also the most widely used tool for building websites in the world.

Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.
—Henry Ford

How does a WordPress theme work?

The term ‘theme’ is used as an umbrella concept that includes things like page layout templates and stylesheets for colours and headings. A host of profession-specific themes such as a photography theme for wedding photographers or a restaurant theme for a pizza joint or coffee shop are available. General use themes which can be implemented for a variety of websites are also available. These themes can be further adjusted and tweaked through the use of plugins.

A template in WordPress forms a foundation or skeleton for content to be added to, modified and removed. Content can include images, text and videos.

Stylesheets in web development dictate how and where content is displayed. I always remember this as a rulebook which tells your browser, Google Chrome, Opera, FireFox or Microsoft Edge, how the content of a website needs to be displayed. It is the instruction for the browser that the font on a website is a specific size, an image is displayed at that particular place, etc. This is arguably one of the most important aspects of a WordPress theme.

How much does a WordPress theme cost?

Some WordPress themes are free. WordPress comes with a few bundled in to give you a start when building a website. These themes can be limited in their functionality, power and overall ease of use but they give bloggers and small businesses an opportunity to have an online presence with minimal effort.

Of course there is also the option of buying a theme. Usually paid for themes are more versatile and flexible. They offer so much more in terms of how sleek a website can look, how much more control you have in terms of page design and some of the time, you can design your own page layout templates to use across your website.

What is a WordPress plugin?

Plugins are free or paid for extras you can add to your website or blog. They are generally quite niche and often offer something specific to the website. An example of this can be a popup for a competition that gets displayed when someone visits your site; a gallery to showcase beautiful artwork and images; or a plugin to make your website more secure and less likely to be hacked or broken into. You can get more powerful plugins that monitor how many people visit your site and how much time they’ve spent on different pages as well.

Plugins aren’t always necessary as many themes have features built in that plugins offer, making sure there are ‘less cogs that need oiling’. Plugins can be a weak spot for hackers to target so only having necessary ones is a more prudent approach.

As with anything, if you have the budget and spend some cash, you can get your hands on some pretty powerful themes and plugins ultimately making your WordPress themed website more and more standalone and a cut above the rest. If you don’t have the funds available it’s okay, the free themes are more than capable of delivering a great looking website.

I can get a family member or freelancer to develop a website, why choose you?

Judson Dawtrey — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

You could get your brother / sister/ cousin / person advertising on a lamp pole to develop a website, so why choose Tech Warrior? Many people like to choose the easy or cheap route when designing a website, or for anything really. But with this comes with problems that could be avoided if you invest your time and money in something you really need which would serve you in good stead in the future.

Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.
—John Ruskin

Cheap and easy = cheap and ugly?

If someone you know is very good at what they do and they are willing to give you a low price then by all means, go with them, as supporting those closest to you is never a bad thing. However, in most circumstances, the cheapest and easiest route can lead to ugly, cheap looking websites. Everyone knows the old saying, you get what you pay for. This is because it's true, in most cases if you pay for a cheap website, you will get a cheap website.

If you went car shopping today, and your budget is R50000, I'm pretty certain you’re not going to be grabbing yourself a brand new BMW 3 series. You’re most likely going to be able to get a 1995 Toyota Taz. This applies to websites too.

Quality at competitive prices while building relationships

If you are planning on investing in a website, we recommend you choose someone who you can trust to provide you with quality websites at very affordable prices. At Tech Warrior, we strive to provide quality websites that are great value-for-money. This might not be your cheapest option, but are very competitive with regards to the quality that Tech Warrior provides.

Not only do we develop quality websites, but we also pride ourselves in our ability to build trust and a solid relationship with our clients during, and after, the web development process. We believe maintaining a good, trusting relationship with our clients is the most important aspect in this industry.

Experience counts when it comes to building a website

One of the ways we keep prices down is based on our experience. 25 years in the industry teaches you a few things about how to deliver the best in the most efficient way possible. Another way is through the use of our custom developed theme. It’s not bespoke, but fear not! As we are still able to blow you away with our quality designs.

We also believe our clients should write their content themselves as they know their business better than anyone else. However, if writing scares you or you believe you’re going to mess it up, we will help guide you through the content writing process.

Ask as many questions as you need

At Tech Warrior we will provide you with the same trustworthy relationship you get out of your friends and family, while providing the best website for your business, at very affordable prices. We aim to build strong, long lasting relationships with our clients and we encourage you to ask us as many questions as you need about the website building process, so that you feel comfortable choosing us as your web developers.

Who are Tech Warrior’s competitors?

Matthew Green — Wed, 04 Nov 2020 00:30:00 +0000

There are many choices to be made when building a website. These decisions can be broadly split between who will build the site and what platform or software will be used for the development of the website. In this article we’ll take a more detailed look at both of these competitor categories for Tech Warrior.

The father of every good work is discontent, and its mother is diligence.
—Lajos Kassak

Who will build the website

There are three groups of people who compete with Tech Warrior when comes to building a website:

Family and friends
Professional web design companies
Do-it-yourself-ers

Family and friends

A knowledgeable family member can be a useful resource for building a website. The upside is you know who you are dealing with, what kind of work they are capable of and you might be able to negotiate on the cost of the work.

The down side to this approach can sometimes be all of the above as well. Are they building the site as a favour or is it a bona-fide job? Is it a priority for them or are they fitting you in because they know a little (or a lot) more than you? How much experience do they have?

Professional web design companies

This is a good option if you want to hand-over the process and have it managed on your behalf. These companies can be one-person or many-people in size. They usually support you from the beginning of the process until you have a live, hosted website.

Unfortunately there is no professional body to regulate the standard and quality of web site design and development companies so you will need to do some research to ensure that the company or organization is credible and trustworthy. Over the years we have heard some horror stories of domain names and websites being held ransom by unsavoury web design companies who portray the right image but don’t deliver.

Do-it-yourself-ers

You can build the website yourself. There are many options available when it comes to the software or platform (see below). There is only one question that needs to be answered: “is building the website myself the best use of my time?” If your business needs you at the helm, running the show then using one of the other options is probably better.

What is the best software or platform for my website?

There are various Website building platforms or software that also compete with Tech Warrior when it comes to building a website. These can be installed and run on your computer, can be hosted and managed on your behalf or a combination of the two.

You will want to make sure that the software tools are widely used and open so you can get support when needed. This also ensures you don’t get locked into an expensive once-off proprietary system with limited options for growth or an exit strategy if you and the developer want to part ways.

The most widely used website software is called WordPress. More than 35 percent of all websites use it. This is the software of choice for Tech Warrior. WordPress is usually installed at a hosting provider.

There are other software options for building a website. The more well known ones are Joomla or Drupal. They work and function in a similar way to WordPress but are not as widely used.

Website software that is hosted and managed on your behalf

Another type of competitor that Tech Warrior has is website building software. These go by the name GoDaddy, Squarespace, Shopify, Wix, Weebly and others. They provide the tools to build a website. They also provide the associated services required to get a website up and running like domain registration and hosting. In some instances an online shop or store as well. Tech Warrior has chosen to use WordPress which also provides an option like this.

Make the right choice for your business needs

We have no control over whether you choose a competitor of ours. We do want you to make the right choice for your business. Your website is still the most effective way to answer questions, build trust and get customers to engage and buy from you. Make sure the person or organisation doing it prioritises your needs and offers a good value-for-money product and service. In addition, make sure your website is built using a platform that is open, widely used and doesn’t keep you locked in to the whims of the web developer.

Visit our learning hub for more articles

The post Who are Tech Warrior’s competitors? appeared first on Tech Warrior.

Who are some great web developers?

Tristan Green — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 00:30:00 +0000

The competition is heated

Living in the twenty-first century can be exhausting when it comes to finding a service provider for your needs; be it small or large scale building contractors, logistics for the home or business, digital design gurus or in our case friendly web developers.

In 1988, when the Internet first reached our golden sandy shores in sunny South Africa, it operated primarily within the realm of academic institutions. As it evolved and the World Wide Web was invented, only a handful of individuals understood its power and how it could slingshot businesses into a league of their own. Fast forward to present day and terms like Search Engine Optimisation, Content Management System and Landing Page are commonplace. These terms have grown in popularity as our world has become more digitally inclined.

Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success.
—Biz Stone

Businesses, small and large, have begun to adopt the Internet, use the Web and search engines like Google to increase business turnover or profits by pulling people to visit and engage with their websites.

There are a plethora of tools available to aid in bringing prospective clients to your website. Of course anyone can sit down and build a website but you’ll have to decide if it’s worth your time as the business owner to sit and figure out how everything works, or if you should hire a professional company to do it for you.

The trusted voice

At Tech Warrior we get to engage and meet with many people and businesses regarding their websites. And because we have been around for so long (25 years) and have a lot of knowledge on websites and website development we are often asked who are some of the other website builders and competitors we have in our industry.

Our goal is to be the trusted voice and blatantly transparent when it comes to building a website. It is one of our passionate goals. We want our clients and customers to be as informed as possible.

We’ve compiled the following list of companies who we think do some incredible work both in the web design and development space.

Cloudfusion

Based in Bedfordview, Cloudfusion delivers some of the most beautifully designed websites we have ever seen. They have a customer-centric philosophy aiming to deliver the best possible online solutions for their clients as well as their clients’ clients. Services they offer include SEO management and implementation, web design and development, e-commerce and e-governance solutions, brand building. For those interested they also offer mobile app development.

Vaimo

Although not founded in South Africa, Vaimo is one of the largest and most trusted online commerce partners in the world. They have offices in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng across Europe, Asia and North America. Their specialty lies in Business-to-Business and Business-to-Customer experiences; offering great websites and user experiences both for the client and service provider. They have partnered with industry giants such as Adobe, Oracle and Akeneo.

Big Web Media

Operating from Woodstock in Cape Town, Big Web Media, aims to simplify and as they put it, ‘demystify’ the internet industry; specifically web design and search engine optimization. Their focus is to increase brand visibility and monetization through online marketing solutions, guiding their customers every step of the way, ultimately leading to incredibly sleek end products which are bound to keep customers returning.

Cocopine

Operating out of Johannesburg with a service reach to most major business sectors, Cocopine offers affordable website development and mobile app development for small and medium sized enterprises. They aim to empower their customers to edit, manage and update their WordPress websites through online tutorials and courses. If that isn’t for you, they offer to do the heavy lifting and deliver some really great looking websites which are bound to get heads turning and clicks through SEO.

Focus Online

Focus Online has a close connection to the travel industry but an equally impressive affiliation to web development, design and SEO services. They aim to increase brand visibility through search results in all major search engines; they offer content marketing, email marketing and social media services that are designed to pull prospective customers in time and time again.

Visit our learning hub for more articles

The post Who are some great web developers? appeared first on Tech Warrior.

I need a website for my small business. Where do I start?

Matthew Green — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 00:30:00 +0000

A website is a strategic marketing tool

Now-a-days a website is the most important part of any sales and marketing plan or strategy. Whether you are new to having a website built or have had previous experience building a website, knowing where to start can make the difference between a good website and a great website.

A successful website project requires a plan

The key to success in any endeavour is planning and preparation. A website is no different. The starting point for a successful website development project is a plan. You can create this plan digitally using a word processor like Microsoft Word or a simple text editor like Notepad. You can do it on your smartphone or on a piece of paper. The important thing is to start and create a plan.

The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.
—Joe Paterno

What goes into a website development plan?

Your website development plan should take into account the following things.

Who will be building my website?
What is my budget for the website?
What domain name do I want for my website?
Do I have a logo and colour scheme?
What problems am I solving for my customers?
What other content and images do I have?

These questions form the skeleton and framework for a successful website project. Take some time and work through the answers. If you are not sure, ask a trusted partner or colleague. In some instances you will need to put a few answers down, as sometimes happens with a domain name. It might be that your desired name is already taken. Have some options, just in case.

Who will build your website?

You might be able to build your own website but when deciding it’s helpful to ask yourself: Is this the best use of my time? Your business or organisation may be better off with you in the driving seat running and managing it. If this is the case, utilising the services of a professional website development company to build a website for you is a better choice.

Website budget

When it comes to budget, get two or three quotes from different website development companies, if you are not building it yourself. This way you can make a more informed decision around cost. Remember that cost is just one metric (item) in the plan. Don’t base your entire project on just this one variable.

Website branding

As far as the branding goes, you will need a logo and a colour scheme or palette for your website. Do you have this? If not, where will you get it done? As part of our website development process, Tech Warrior can guide you and provide you with a logo and associated branding elements for your website.

Website content

You will need content in the form of text, images and videos for your website. Again, get clear on how you will create this content up front, before you start the process of building a site. A common mistake is to make the website about you and not your customers. Remember a website is there to solve customer problems and answer client questions. It’s much less about you and what you can do. Make sure any content plan covers this approach.

When it comes to building a website, the best place to start is with a comprehensive plan. Work through the elements outlined above and you will have the blueprint for a successful website development project.

Visit our learning hub for more articles

The post I need a website for my small business. Where do I start? appeared first on Tech Warrior.

branding – Tech Warrior

How can I create a website for my business free of cost?

Is it possible to have a free website?

A free website is not all sunshine and rainbows

Issues that could arise when building a free website

Why choose a professional over something free

Be aware of shortcuts

Further reading

What is the difference between a website and a blog?

What is a website?

What is a blog?

Blog comments

Further reading

What is a WordPress theme?

What is WordPress?

How does a WordPress theme work?

How much does a WordPress theme cost?

What is a WordPress plugin?

Further reading

I can get a family member or freelancer to develop a website, why choose you?

Cheap and easy = cheap and ugly?

Quality at competitive prices while building relationships

Experience counts when it comes to building a website

Ask as many questions as you need

Further reading

Who are Tech Warrior’s competitors?

Who will build the website

Family and friends

Professional web design companies

Do-it-yourself-ers

What is the best software or platform for my website?

Website software that is hosted and managed on your behalf

Make the right choice for your business needs

Who are some great web developers?

The competition is heated

The trusted voice

Cloudfusion

Vaimo

Big Web Media

Cocopine

Focus Online

I need a website for my small business. Where do I start?

A website is a strategic marketing tool

Further reading

A successful website project requires a plan

What goes into a website development plan?

Who will build your website?

Website budget

Website branding

Website content