Wireframes and wire framing fall into this category. They’re an essential step in any large digital project but, too often, their true value is undersold.

From Wikipedia: A wireframe is a visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website. The wireframe depicts the page layout or arrangement of the website’s content, including interface elements and navigational systems, and how they work together.

The idea of a wireframe is simple: let’s decide how a web site, iPhone app, back office system etc. should work before we write a line of code.

It’s a lot easier to add a new ‘box’ (to represent a Twitter feed, a video etc) to a ‘sketch’ than it is to add new functionality to a database-driven web site which has already had 200 man hours put into it.

At Inphinet we use a variety of tools for wireframing, with our favourite being Omnigraffle; indeed we’re currently using it to plan out a mobile web site, a back office membership system and a specialist software application.

By wireframing all of these before lifting a crayon or firing up the developers, both client and ourselves have a firm idea how a ‘product’ will function, how users will interact with it and where potential problems may occur. The time spent in this planning and testing phasing saves considerable time – and money – when beginning the heavy lifting of turning the wireframes into digital reality.

As well as doing some wonderful work for fantastic clients (of course), we’ve also been busy designing, developing and refining a new suite of content management systems (CMS).

Designed from the ground up to meet a variety of needs, the systems will be used for the vast majority of our new sites beginning this month.

And… we’ll also be developing white label versions for any marketing agency interested in using our tried and tested software.

Hopefully we’ve got a product to keep all marketers and IT departments happy.

1. Penguin

This is our PHP-based CMS, built upon a number of open source offerings. Simple. Slick. Extremely user-friendly. Out of the box, Penguin’s core system provides clients with a powerful content management system suitable for everything from simple brochure sites through to basic e-commerce.

Hosted on our own servers, Penguin is modular, helping to ensure all clients benefit from the constant updates.

2. Parrot 

Offering broadly the same functionality as Penguin, Parrot is the .Net version, for those who prefer a Microsoft-based solution.

Similarly extensible, Parrot is the perfect solution for clients with existing in-house Microsoft-based systems they wish to seamlessly connect to their new web site.

3. Elephant

The ultimate system, suitable for enterprise-grade requirements.

Elephant uses drag and drop to create pages, has a fully-integrated e-commerce store and allows you to design, run and track email marketing campaigns.

If there’s something it doesn’t do – then you probably don’t need it.

With these three solutions, we believe that Inphinet has a CMS to suit every client – and their budget – and, with our white label offering, can provide marketing agencies with a fully-branded product they can sell to their clients.

If you want to find out more, then please contact us.

The rest of us don’t see the attraction personally. But it keeps Dan happy. And a happy Dan is a productive Dan. So we’re not complaining.

1. Update copyright information. Usually in the footer of your web site, changing the date ensures visitors know the site is kept up to date – and it doesn’t hurt to let the search engines know this too.

2. Tidy up your page titles. Does every page of your web site have the same name (usually your company’s) ? Not good. Not only does this harm your search engine ranking, when people bookmark a page the title that is stored won’t explain what the page contains.

3. Read your pages. Put yourself in the shoes of both potential customers and the search engines. Are the pages well written? Do they explain the benefits of using your products and services in simple terms? Does the language ‘sound’ as professional as you are? Do the pages contain the keywords people will use in Google to find you? There’s little point using your own company terminology if everybody else uses other terms.

If you’re not happy with what you see it could be time to get a professional writer in.

4. Use the data your visitors are giving you. If you don’t have tracking software such as Google Analytics installed – do it now. Stop whatever you’re doing. If you can’t do it, find someone who can. I’ll wait…

Having an insight into what your visitors do when they visit your site is vitally important. How did they reach you? Which pages did they read? How long did they stay? What page were they on when they left to go elsewhere?

This information should be used to guide all your improvements. If you’re not creating a web site for your customers, then who else is it for?

5. Is this site fit for purpose? This takes a little longer but is well worth doing. Step away from your site. Now write up an outline of what your web site is meant to achieve. If you were creating a new site from scratch, what would it need to do?

Once you’ve outlined this – and it need be no more than a side of A4 – then answer honestly whether your current site meets these aims. If not, why not?

Of course, if you require advice or assistance, then you only need to ask.

AdWords are those text only ads you see at the right hand side of Google when you’ve performed a search. They’re linked to the keywords or topic you’ve just searched for and can be fantastic way of driving traffic to your web site.

Rather than re-write the words of others, here’s Google’s own overview of Adwords:

Targeted reach
Now you can advertise to people searching on Google. Even if you already appear in Google’s search results, AdWords can help you target new audiences on Google and our advertising network.

Greater control
You can edit your ads and adjust your budget until you get the results that you want. You can also display a variety of ad formats and even target your ads to specific languages and geographic locations.

Measurable value
There’s no minimum spending requirement or time commitment. And with the cost-per-click option, you’re only charged if people click your ads. This means that every pound of your budget goes towards bringing new prospects to you.

Through ‘connections’, we’ve got a number of £50 credit vouchers for advertising on Google AdWords – for new advertisers only.

If you’d like to find out more, please contact us.

We’re all in agreement: the Danish have the happiest looking plug sockets. And the Canadian ones look a little bit frightening. 

All the different standards came about because someone decided to go a different route to the same destination. And why not.

When we work with a client on a new web site we take the time to understand their very specific requirements. Only by getting that understanding of their various needs can we design the right ‘socket’ for them.

Every web site will do a job. But each will do it differently. Sometimes you need to be Canada and sometimes Denmark.

Original image from Imgur.com

When we come back on January 3, as well as concluding a number of projects, we’ll also be putting wheels into motion that will shape the direction of Inphinet for many years to come.

We’re not changing as such. More evolving.

Inphinet has always done more than ‘just’ design web sites – though we’re particularly proud of those we have designed.

We’ve always worked across marketing channels, providing the perfect mix to meet our clients’ needs. But maybe we haven’t shouted as much as we could, or should, have done about the range of services we offer.

So we’re going to get a little more vocal.

Since 1999, Inphinet has provided clients with a broad range of digital marketing services and, as we welcome 2012, we’re going to make things even more joined-up, as we believe this is the best way to effective marketing, deliver strong results and guarantee a high return on investment.

Let’s make 2012 the year we meet to talk cross-channel digital marketing.

To the clients who have worked with us in 2011 we say many thanks for your support. We look forward to continue our relationship over the coming months and years.

2012 will be an exciting period in Inphinet’s long history; there are changes planned and a range of new products and services ready for launch.

Stick around, it’s going to be fun.

See you in 2012,
Inphinet.

You can find out more about Caro Emerald on her web site, over at Wikipedia (apparently she’s third in line to the ancient Dutch throne), on Amazon you can buy her new CD ‘Deleted scenes from the cutting room floor‘ and, if that’s not enough to satisfy you,

Talking to people, encouraging them to think and say positive things about your company, your product, your brand.

It’s about monitoring.

Listening to what is being said, deciding whether it’s positive, negative or neutral. Watching the trends, recording the patterns, preparing answers and responding appropriately.

It’s about crafting a message, steering opinion. Promoting, but subtly. Recognising the individual voices the audience you’re influencing has and working with them, as opposed to attempting to bulldoze them with propaganda.

Is that social media? Or is it public relations?

My background is this world of marketing and media was in journalism and PR. I was gamekeeper turned poacher. So working ‘with’ an audience, as opposed to broadcasting ‘at’ them is nothing new to me.

In old money, that meant working with journalists and editors; hoping they’d see enough worth in the message you wished to promote that they’d do so on your behalf. In our brave new world where everybody can be a journalist or a broadcaster – with Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and YouTube publication a few clicks away – what’s changed, other than the number of editors?

Social media is just public relations, with a 21st century twist.

* For the PR professionals, technically I’ve only really covered media relations here but the points remain valid.

(Image by Kexino, released under a Creative Commons license)