The Romagnola Breeders Society came to us needing a brighter, fresher website that was easy to keep up to date. Their old site hadn’t been updated in about 12 months and was just looking a bit tired (as old websites tend to do after a while).

So we developed a new site that’s much friendlier and more inviting, and is also easy to keep up to date thanks to our locally developed Content Management System.

The new site features:

• A new photo gallery
• Calendar of events
• News and results
• Information about the breed
• Membership information

And of course the Society can add to it anytime they need to!

Visit www.romagnola.com.au.

You’ve probably noticed an influx in spam lately. Well, you’re not alone.

Spam has skyrocketed over the last month. The Sydney Morning Herald reports an increase of 12% - and other sources quote up to a 70% increase!

Whichever way you look at it - it’s a lot of extra spam around globally at the moment. Spam filters are having to deal with a huge volume of extra mail and consuming a high proportion of server resources in the process.

From th SMH:

Technology market analyst IDC estimated in April that of the nearly 97 billion emails expected to be sent around the world each day … 40 billion would be spam messages.

Nobody likes the extra spam - but if faced with a choice it’s better to let some through rather then potentially delete legitimate email.

According to the article in the SMH a virus is the main trigger for the increase, so once that’s under control hopefully our email volumes can return to normal.

In the meantime:

1. Keep your Anti-virus software up to date.
2. Don’t click links in emails from people you don’t know.
3. If the email is from someone you know, but still looks suspicious - confirm that it’s actually from who it says before opening anything.

Gladstone Area Promotion and Development Limited recently launched a new initiative - Make The Move - designed to help attract people to move to the region.

Of course, one of the most important questions before moving is: “What’s it like to live there?”

This website is designed to answer that question, and with many stakeholders from various local government bodies it’s also designed to grow as more information is prepared and available.

GAPDL can log in and update the website whenever they need to. This includes adding new pages, new photos, uploading fact sheets, and pretty much anything else needed.

Visit makethemove.info.

The Gladstone Engineering Alliance approached us with an existing website that was really showing signs of age. Like many clients, they needed to be able to update it themselves with a minimum of fuss.

Their new website not only allows them to do this, but also features a members area that:

• Allows their members to collaborate on joint projects
• Features job boards and notice boards
• Enables board members to access specific information and documentation

There is also a full detailed members list that lets the general public locate any service providers too.

Visit www.gea.asn.au.

YesCanDo’s new website was launched yesterday.
As well as featuring the scope of their service offering, there is also:

• An online quote request form
• Franchise expression of interest
• Positions vacant

The staff at YesCanDo can also update any of these details themselves via our simple website management facility.

Visit www.yescando.com.au.

We were contacted this week by someone for whom we had previously quoted on developing their website. They chose a cheaper option, which is fine (we all have budgets) but as it turns out the “cheaper” option was not really that at all.

Sure, the up-front costs were less. But then the unexpected bills started coming in. Not to mention hugely inflated web hosting fees.

When considering your options, it pays to look at the bigger picture. What are the ongoing costs? How much are updates going to be? Can you update it yourself?

To make matters worse, when the firm chosen to do the website found out that the hosting was been transferred over to us they turned everything off there and then. Website. Email. The lot. And they can’t or won’t tell us the details to access the domain name either, so we can’t even actually initiate the transfer!

Some things to check:

1. Make sure any domain names are registered in your name, with your contact details (not the web designer’s).
2. Find out how much is being charged for web hosting. Depending on how much space you need, anything more than about $300 per year is probably too much.
3. Double check before proceeding if there are any other ongoing costs besides these 2.

While we’re on the subject of domain names, we charge $90 every 2 years for a “.com.au” and $30 per year for “.com” names. See what’s available here.

Your logo and branding can be very powerful in building your business.

It happens all the time - in the supermarket you might be a bit unsure about buying a brand you’ve never heard of as opposed to one that’s familiar. Is the ‘known’ one any better? Not necessarily. But you recognise it, and feel more comfortable buying it.

If you doubt the subliminal effects in play, watch this video from Derren Brown, an English psychological illusionist who focuses on perceptual manipulation and persuasive techniques.

You need be consistent with your branding, and use your logo everywhere you can.