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Brochure Design

Brochures can be incredibly successful marketing tools. The design can give an impression of what kind of company you are, and the type of products or services on offer. A beautifully designed brochure with clear, relevant content will lead to sales enquiries, and eventually new clients.

Creating a great brochure is not an easy task. It requires a multitude of skills, including copy writing, branding, typography, photo manipulation, graphic design and marketing - to name but a few! When thinking about the design of your brochure, there are three important customer stages to bear in mind:

1. Look at me - your brochure needs to catch the eye of the customer
2. Quick scan - your brochure needs to be easy to scan and get a general impression of as the customer decides whether to read on
3. OK, I'm interested - your brochure needs to be well written and thoughtfully structured to make it simple for the customer to read

There are several points to bear in mind when designing a brochure, all of which will help achieve the above mentioned stages.

RESEARCH

You should always be aware of your competition, but this is never more important than when you are embarking upon a new marketing strategy. Collect as many of your competitors' brochures as you can. What do you like about them? What don't you like? It is very important not to copy what your competitors are doing, but you can certainly take inspiration from good ideas.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Who is your target audience? Who purchases your product or service now? Who would you like to purchase it in the future? What is their age, sex, ethnic group, economic level? Your target audience now and in the future will direct much of your marketing. Never forget that YOU are not necessarily your target audience, and just because you like something, that doesn't mean your target audience will! Based on your target audience you can choose a lot of the important features for your brochure, including tone of voice, typeface, colours, imagery, and so on. All these should combine to give the effect you desire; professional, humorous, casual etc.

FONT

Choose one or two fonts that meet your style criteria. Vary the size and type of font to distinguish different parts of the text, but don't get carried away. Too many changes in font size or type make content difficult to read. Also try to avoid excessive use of italics or underlining because this can make text look cluttered.

CONTENT

Once you have written your brochure copy, highlight the important words and phrases. You will probably find that you have a lot of copy which is not very important. Try and cut back as much as you can. Customers will not want to read reams of information, so just include the essential points.

NEGATIVE SPACE

Sometimes this is referred to as white space, but negative space is much more descriptive term because the space is sometimes coloured, not white. Negative space is essential to good design. Your content, both words and pictures, will have a better impact if you include negative space. Without it your design will be confusing. The reader's eye must have a resting space.

SIMPLICITY

Simplicity is key. Do not over complicate your brochure. This applies to all parts of your brochure, from copy to photography, print finishes to backgrounds. Keep your message in mind and only include those elements which are important to the message. Before you add anything to your brochure - think: does this help the reader, or simply distract them?

COLOUR

Colour can be used in many ways; monotone, duo tone, full colour, special colours, metallics. Even the paper you print on can be coloured. Before deciding on the colours in your brochure, make sure you have obtained a print quote, because some colours can make a big difference to the cost. Once again, use colour carefully and don't go overboard. Use the colour wheel to ensure you use complementary or contrasting colours.

PRINTING

Print must be considered before you start your brochure design. Once you have an outline idea of what you want to achieve get a price. There is no point in designing the whole brochure only to find you can't afford to get it printed. Remember, everything you add to the specification - more pages, better paper, special finishes - will add cost.

Research your printer carefully. Your design agency may be able to source print for you and get better prices than you can obtain for yourself. Just because a printer is expensive, it doesn't mean they are good. Equally, a cheap printer may not be bad, but as in life, you do normally get what you pay for, so bear that in mind when making your decision. If in doubt, get a referral from a trusted partner.

PROOF READING

Always proof read your brochure before it is printed. Don't just rely on the spell-check, because this is not fool-proof. Get a friend or colleague to read it too, because familiarity can lead to missing mistakes. If you can afford to, it might be worth getting a professional proof reader to check the brochure. Once printed, mistakes cannot be corrected!

So, in conclusion, the basic rules of brochure design:

Carry out extensive research
Know your target audience
Choose fonts carefully
Write engaging content
Use negative space
Keep it simple
Think about colour
Choose your printer with care
Proof read!

If you want further advice about brochure design or printing, call Dusza on 0845 094 6442, the brochure specialists in Bournemouth.

Hand crafted Web Development

Web development is generally divided into two key areas: front-end development and back-end development.

Front-end development is sometimes referred to as public facing, and this literally describes the website that your visitors will see. Front-end programming is all about aesthetic design and programming. The back end development is often where the time-consuming programming is.

Back end development describes programming the Content Management System that will manage your entire website, from enquiry processing to website content.

For any of you with programming knowledge, Dusza programme using a combination of the following technologies:

CSS
XHTML
Javascript
Ajax
PHP
ASP
XML
MySQL
Flash

Utilising any one of these coding techniques or a combination thereof, Dusza are able to meet the requirements of even the most complex websites. Dusza also hand codes their websites, which means we do not rely on applications to write the underlying code for us. We are skilled at writing code!

The main advantage achieved from this is that our websites contain no redundant code. Good quality code should be clean, intelligently laid out, easy to edit and well optimised, allowing it to be quickly processed by Browsers and Search Engines alike.

Furthermore, it is a requirement by law (through the Disability Discriminations Act) that websites must be accessible to the less able, so Dusza take this into consideration and program websites to standards set out by governing bodies like the W3C.

Easy to use content management systems

Bespoke Content management systems (CMS) are the only type of CMS you will find at Dusza. Our approach is a vastly different approach to building CMS than others.

We have developed our own hand-coded code library from which we build each CMS as an individual unit, tailored to the exacting needs of our clients. We continuously improve our library and when new technology emerges we integrate only the elements that have true commercial value. These have recently included extensive Usability and Accessibility Modules, Advanced Search Engine Marketing Modules, Comprehensive Individual User Tracking Modules and HTML Email Management to name just a few.

The only blue-print we follow when considering the functionality of any CMS is what brings the best return on investment for the client coupled simply with what the client wants. This approach has helped achieve a real transparent working relationship with our client base which has brought return custom for Dusza other web and print orientated services. Our CMS are a flat one-off fee for a lifetime license and because they are built modularly can be extended with ease.

As much effort goes into the usability and intuitiveness of our CMS as the public facing website. We combine what ever technologies we require to get the job completed correctly including PHP, MySQL, Ajax, Javascript and Flash to create hybrid ecommerce websites that utilise the very slickest of technologies.

Our bespoke CMS can be built so that you can maintain, in-house, all the management of your website or if budgets are more restrictive only core sections that update frequently can be content managed.

Our CMS are intuitive and really are very easy to use, we have found that our clients rarely require more than only a single hours training session (our training session is included free of charge), but if you are concerned with technical ability and would prefer, with Dusza, you can always have the experts on hand when ever you need them!

Secure resiliant hosting

Hosting is typically such an under-valued service as many ecommerce owners never see behind the scenes and therefore, understandably, rarely realise the difference between good hosting and inadequate hosting.
Depending on whether or not a website and email is mission critical to the success of that business fundamentally underpins where the hosting should be placed. If the host server fails then there is no website - it is as simple as that.

Dusza have a range of hosting suppliers and thus we have a range of packages. We have cultivated relationships with tried and tested suppliers and we only use the best. It is worth realising that there is sometimes a compromise to be made when budgets are entered into the equation - as with hosting you really do get what you pay for. Server up-time, Server loads and redundancy, configurable back up options and Support considerations will help us choose where your website is placed.

Our fully managed hosting packages start from £149.00 per annum for base packages. Fully managed means exactly that - we look after everything!

We prefer you to host with us, because we have in-depth knowledge both of the servers and the companies behind the servers. We know what to expect and how to overcome problems more efficiently in a familiar server environment. Our hosting packages cover all your hosting support costs.

Secure hosting requires a secure certificate and static IP. Both of which Dusza are skilled at setting up. Depending on where we host your website the process of setting up secure certificates can take between 24 hours to 5 days. A secure certificate encrypts your confidential data whilst in transit over the web so that the information is inaccessible to data thieves. A secure certificate authenticates your website and adds credibility to your company and helps to safeguard your business and your visitors.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search Engine Marketing (SeM) encompasses any activity that will effectively market your website utilising any approaches via Search Engines.

We try never to daunt our clients with geeky terminology or technology and we never attempt to baffle them. SEM is not a black art, it is simply a complicated-ever-evolving art. It takes time and resources to accomplish truly successful websites.

A fundamental Search Engine Marketing principle is to always follow a strategy.

Duszas is always:
Plan > Implement > Track > Analyse > Refine

Without analysis as the focus, SEM success will always be compromised. Targeting too many services or keywords will create data sets that are almost impossible to analyse. As a general rule, DUSZA and the client collectively focus and narrow the initial marketing activity.

This aides measurability; so you, as the client, can clearly understand the return on investment and judge the success of search engine marketing.

Search engines represent a very unique medium, which allows you to precisely target an interested audience. In other media, the audience is looking at something, and your advertisement is simply a distraction. With search engines, people are looking for something, and are far more likely to respond to an appropriately targeted offer.

The various activities within SEM should all be implemented to achieve the highest rate of success. Budgets, however, may dictate a slimmed down approach. Luckily for Dusza clients, the ability to Search Engine Optimise can be built into our content managed websites. Dusza follows a holistic approach to Search Engine Optimisation.

Our websites have always ranked well in Search Engines because we always take a lot of time helping to structure the content correctly, follow Search Engine guidelines and draw on our extensive experience.

Fundamentals of a Great Website

Welcome to this comprehensive introduction to websites, this article intends to give you the skills to empower you to make critical decisions regarding your website. Covering the essentials is not a small task because a great website combines core marketing, creative design and programming ability. Everyone intending to have a website should have a grasp of the basic concepts and this article goes some way to building your knowledge base. If you find this article of interest we welcome your comments, if you feel we can help you and your company please don't hesitate to get in touch, call us on 0845 094 6442.

What is a website?
Put simply, a website is a collection of web pages, often on the same subject. However, a website could offer a service which aggregates different types of information in the same fashion, for example thetelegraph.co.uk.

Most websites fall into one of two categories; either they are a resource of information or they aim to make money. The most successful websites are in fact both, and make money by providing information and products or services to users.

It is important to determine how your website will fall into this categorisation. It is your web agency's job to guide you through this decision. You may be thinking you have already made this decision and your website aims to make money for your company and has no concern with providing information except information about your company and its products or services. However, before you set that in stone, consider this; Google gets 90 million search queries a day, many of the top websites returned in search results provide a considerable amount of information on those particular search terms. For example; simply by typing in 'recipe' into Google we get in the top 10 results (at the time of writing) a collection of information websites based on recipes. Now consider our website is for a cookery store and it has a large section of recipe books. It would be incredibly difficult to break into the top ranks, as competition is fierce, without providing a great deal of information on this subject. Providing an information and product focused balance can increase your chances of higher rankings in Google and as a result increase the number of visitors to your website, which means more sales for your cookery store. This is a very simplistic example, and achieving visibility on Search Engine Results Pages does require substantial resources, but this is an example of how a little guidance quickly changes the direction of your website. This is why its crucial that your chosen web agency dedicates a great deal of time to actually planning your website with you in order to achieve its maximum potential.

Website goals
The goal of your website can depend greatly on the goals of your business, but they may also differ slightly. Many clients underestimate the potential of their website and this can lead to losses in terms of time or money. This is understandable, if you can't see the return on investment then making an investment is not going to happen. We have come across clients that feel they need to have a website but don't actually understand why. More importantly some clients think of their website as a minor consideration and miss revenue opportunities.

Using your business goals as a starting point your web agency should help you to develop these goals into practical, worthwhile ventures utilising technology only where it can help reap rewards for your business. Your web agency should empower you with the knowledge of the internet and its potential. With this knowledge you can, together with your web agency, make crucial decisions with regard to its direction, and if applicable enlighten colleagues or superiors in this marketing opportunity.

Something which we often hear from clients is 'this website just needs to be a place for clients to get our contact details'. This is where many companies are failing with regards to the internet. Typically this single goal approach stems from two restrictions, tight budgets and incorrect assessment of the internet opportunity. DUSZA completely empathises with clients in this situation and believe that clear, honest guidance will allow clients to fully understand the prospective potential of their website even with restrictive budgets.

Your chosen web agency should be working with you to create a killer opportunity for your business on the internet, utilising your goals and empowering you with the knowledge you need.

Design methodology
A website's design will have a dramatic impact on your company's brand. Visitors may have never been exposed to your brand before, so first impressions are very important. A bad design will effect the success of your website and ultimately cost your business money.

Recognising bad design on the internet can sometimes be difficult. The problem is that there are so many poorly designed websites on the internet, often our clients take this as 'what websites should look like'. Following other website trends without fully understanding the thought process behind a website is a dangerous exercise and one we avoid. What works for one company may not work for another, and it is worth noting that a company's success may not solely be driven by their website. Identifying website goals, analysing the target audience and being guided by marketing principles will help develop a unique design which will work hard to achieve your business goals. If you want to have a look at some stunning website designs head over to our portfolio. Although this gallery of fantastic websites is great for giving you a showcase of beautiful designs many or all of these websites will not match your business. Every business is different, every brand is different. Simply copying another website's design will not create a great website.

The ability to create a fantastic, unique design for every client should be second nature to your chosen web agency. The easiest way to spot whether your web agency can cut it or not, is to check out their previous work. If many of their websites look the same then they simply aren't up to scratch and won't produce a website which truly communicates the persona of your business effectively.

Design takes skill, time and practice to master, and it is an unfortunate fact is that website design over the past decade has left a lot to be desired. True programmers are rarely skilled designers and skilled designers are not true programmers, it's the difference between an artist and a mechanic. Now throw into the mix that a great designer can miss the website goals without comprehensive marketing skills, so profitable websites need marketeers and more importantly, marketeers that understand the web. The common perception that web design is easy is simply not true. It is easy to 'have a go', whether it is good or not is another matter entirely. We're not going to attempt to explain what great design is because in truth, there is no list of specifications that will make a design good. However simply looking at our portfolio should give you a good idea of what is possible with web design and how each website design should reiterate the individuality of each brand.

Web agencies should take considerable time in creating a stunning design for your website. To make a stunning design possible there must be design and marketing rationale behind their decisions. It's always worth getting a rationale from your web agency and asking the difficult question of why the design looks the way it does? From the design rationale you should understand the proposed design. A strong rationale should reinforce your decision to work with that web agency, it should prove to you that they have taken the time to understand your needs and taken them into account when creating the design. The rationale should also help you to suggest possible alterations to the design. In web design changing certain key aspects could affect other areas of the design or website functionality and your web agency should advise you on this. Your web agency should advise you on any changes you wish to make and how they may affect the balance, consistency and effectiveness of your website. That said, if after taking their advice into consideration you still want an alteration to happen, they should do it. For an informative read on creativity and innovation you may like to read our article 'Creative Concepts - The Ideas People'.

In this section we have established that perfect design should require time, refinement and exceptional communication between both parties. Design is often overlooked and that allows poor design to ruin websites, don't let it happen to you, take the time to see what's out there and make sure your web agency advises you all the way.

Accessibility
Website Accessibility has exploded in recent years, it should now be a major consideration for every website. Not only should your website look great and work brilliantly, but it should also degrade gracefully and work effectively for less able users. These issues should be handled solely by your web agency but if you understand website accessibility then you are ensuring your website does not discriminate.

An accessible website should be included at no extra charge to yourself. It does take a little extra time to ensure a website works correctly for less able users but if your web agency has integrity then accessible websites should be important to them. Making your website accessible also means, of course, that your website is available to the largest possible audience. You may have seen on some websites special text controls allowing you to alter the text size and change the colour to a 'friendlier' version. This is normally an added extra for websites as it isn't compulsory to make the website appear in high contrast for visually impaired users, but in some cases it can be desirable. The text size can actually be changed in all modern browsers, so having a button on the website is not necessarily required. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 & 8 have extended their zoom capabilities which has really improved website accessibility without additional programming requirements, however it is worth remembering not all visitors have the latest browsers.

There are many different types of internet browser from Internet Explorer (IE) to Mobile Phone Browsers. Unfortunately for your chosen web agency, each browser will interpret your website code differently. You should not have to worry about this, your web agency should ensure your website supports the most common set of browsers (IE 6 and IE 7, Firefox, Safari etc). It is always worth asking your web agency what browsers they do support when comparing them to their competitors. You don't need to worry about every browser ever made (for example less than 1.7% of internet users use IE 5), but concentrate on the most popular like IE 6+ (52.7% of the internet population use these browsers). There are two categories of browsers; standards compliant and non-standards browsers. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) set-up a specification list to ensure that all new browsers display websites in the same way. However this is not compulsory. Some companies (i.e. Microsoft) chose to ignore this specification, set out for the benefit of users, which meant their early browsers did not correctly interpret some websites. These browsers are considered non-standards compliant. Any good web agency will create your website to first support standards compliant browsers and then modify the website (behind the scenes) to work in non-standards browsers. From your point of view you have to either accept your chosen web agency has done this or test for yousrelf by viewing every page of your website on the browsers which your web agency support.

Marketing
The importance of traditional marketing techniques and strategies can be overlooked by web agencies as they perceive online and offline to be worlds apart. From reading the previous sections we have learned that a website can be as important as a new high street store and subsequently, adequate marketing for the 'new store' should be conducted as well as thoroughly planned product, service or information layout and navigation.

Marketing should be a consideration in all aspects of your website. Ensure that your web agency has made reference to marketing in their design rationale. For example, they have placed a featured product near the main logo in the top left hand position because it creates a strong brand-product relationship and English speaking consumers read top-left to bottom-right. It can be worth questioning the web agencies pitching for your website about their marketing background and credentials, as marketing experience is hugely beneficial to every web project. When we talk about marketing in this sense we refer to traditional marketing. Many web agencies will boast search engine marketing skills, and so they should, as this is very important, but ensure they also have experience in and understand the importance of traditional marketing.

It is this traditional marketing which actually generates you business, traditional marketing methods allows your website to convert your visitors into clients. Search engine marketing involves drawing users to your website, it does not necessarily convert them to clients, which is ultimately why your chosen web agency should have credentials in both areas in order to maximise your traffic and conversion rates.It is this traditional marketing which actually generates you business, traditional marketing methods allows your website to convert your visitors into clients. Search engine marketing involves drawing users to your website, it does not necessarily convert them to clients, which is ultimately why your chosen web agency should have credentials in both areas in order to maximise your traffic and conversion rates.

Content
Content is king. A beautiful website needs quality content to back up its stunning looks. Fantastic copy can increase visibility on search engine result pages. The more honed your web copy the more captive your audience will be.

When you select your web agency, you are putting your faith in another company to aid you in getting your message across on the internet. It is your web agency's responsibility to aid you in writing fantastic web copy as they should have superior experience in the internet as a medium. This coupled with your in-depth knowledge of your company's offerings, should enable you to work with your web agency's guidance to fill your website with perfectly targeted content.

Writing great copy goes beyond just filling the pages of your website. It should fit perfectly in the context of the page, for example a resource should educate and a product description should sell. However this is the internet, you can't just write content for humans. You have to write content with Search Engines in mind, if you want to use your website to its full potential. Writing copy for your website on a regular basis makes a big impact on the likelihood of success. Writing copy for your website in the beginning and then not committing to regular updates will not generate consistent users and business for your company. Users and Search Engines must have a reason to return to your website, so frequently adding relevant content to your website is essential.

Writing perfect web copy is in itself a big subject and we haven't even touched the sides. There is so much to consider when writing content for the web, so much in fact that DUSZA have authored a paper dedicated to this practice and should you choose us as your web agency, you will receive a copy for free.

Architecture
Architecture is the structure and organisation of your pages as a collection of information. Your users should breeze through your website finding the information they want with ease, as if it were second nature.

Ease of use in websites is not something which happens naturally. It takes considerable planning to achieve an intuitive information structure for medium to large websites. Your web agency's expertise in this area is invaluable. They should be able to create a structure that suits your information. It should be a collaboration between you and your web agency to refine their proposed structure to achieve perfection. It is also important to note that refining your website structure before your web agency commences build will avoid functionality amendments in the future which could save you money.

With all the planning that goes into the architecture of the website it would be inappropriate to ignore the structure at a later date. Many websites have content management systems allowing you (or any member of your team) to update your website. You need to ensure your team members understand the structure and only add content within the appropriate context. For example; a resource to 'Resources' and not the 'About us' section. Sounds simple, but consider adding an article on 'car mechanics' to an 'applied mechanics' category, the two categories are similar but vastly different.

Development
development is the stage in website production where the design and structure come together into a prototype website. We have briefly discussed how your chosen web agency should ensure your website works across many browsers, but the quality of their code is also very important.

Up until this stage the visual you should have seen will have been designed in Adobe Photoshop (this practice is common across many good creative/web agencies). Development involves taking this design and converting it into the real thing through complex coding.

Lets look roughly at what happens when you visit a website. You type in the address for that website and you are sent a web page by a server in what is called HTML and CSS (front-side code). For most websites the server takes the websites server-side code and turns it into HTML and CSS, before sending it to your computer, which your web browser displays.

The quality of the code is what you should be concerned with. Your web agency should take care of quality when it comes to the server-side code; all you need to worry about is that everything works how you expect it to on the front end. Your web agency will produce your website in their chosen programming language. There are different types of programming language, for example; one website may be built in PHP, another in ASP, both these websites could look identical and have the same functionality, but will appear different to a developer. Normally each web agency specialises in one programming language. This means that if you were to move your website from one agency to another you should ensure they are able to program in the same language. DUSZA have chosen PHP as their programming language of choice but also are skilled in ASP, just in case we find a client who needs our help!

The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) has created several specifications for HTML and CSS. At the time of writing, the best specification for your website is XHTML Strict 1.0, your web agency should be able to advise you on this specification and what it means. The W3C has developed a testing program where you simply enter the address of your website and it validates your HTML and CSS. The importance of ensuring your pages validate means screen readers used by less able users and search engines will interpret your information as intended.

The performance of your website also hinges on the quality of the code developed. Good quality code is error free and very lean. This means servers translate and send the HTML pages to your web browser very quickly. The volume of users you are expecting on your website is also something you need to discuss with your web agency. The server architecture behind your website can differ if you are receiving 100 unique visitors or 10 million. It's your agency's job to take care of this for you, ensuring that your website can cope with millions of users if necessary.

It is also important to discuss the procedures your web agency has in place if your website were to fail. The value of this point weighs heavily on the volume of users you expect to receive, as solutions for 24/7 redundancy can be expensive. However if you have high volumes of traffic, a ten minute website failure can have a huge impact; so ensuring you have a 24/7 fail-safe may be mission critical to your business. Your web agency should be able to advise you on this, the best will produce a bespoke hosting and support solution to fit your requirements.

Conclusion
OK, this may have seemed an extensive article but really it is only an overview. You should now be ready and have an understanding of a website which enables you to ask the right questions of your web agency.

This article serves as a great introduction to creating a brilliant website. However its only the start, your chosen web agency should be your North star throughout your website journey, guiding you every step of the way.

Hopefully you now appreciate that a fantastic website takes time, refinement and doesn't stop once it goes live. Constant additions to content and ongoing search engine marketing can rocket your website to success providing your company with a massive revenue opportunity.

Obtaining the perfect website often means selecting the best web agency to work with. Sometimes it can be the most expensive, sometimes the cheapest, but more often than not its those who are willing to bend over backwards to provide you with a service beyond your expectations. They provide the opportunities for your business to expand via the web and sometimes the extra budget goes a long way to getting the most return value.

DUSZA are not the cheapest agency, but we believe we offer outstanding value. Before you get in touch with us have a quick read of our vision and mission statements. These offer you an opportunity to find out the personality behind DUSZA. Alternatively get in touch now on 0845 094 6442 or email hello@dusza.co.uk and book a free, no obligation web consultation with the lovely people at DUSZA.

Achieving Stunning Print

Achieving Stunning Print
Welcome to DUSZA's article on achieving stunning print. This article intends to give you an insight into what great print is, what it can offer you and what it takes to achieve it. Fantastic print isn't a coincidence, it is the culmination of creative concept, interpreted into a relevant communication, skillfully designed and art worked to a high standard that will allow printers to be able to accomplish a perfect printed finish.

But it doesn't stop there.

Who do you get to print your finely crafted communication? Placing print is actually as important as creating the design and can cost you, both in terms of time and money, if it is wrong.

If you find this article of interest we welcome your comments, if you feel we can help you and your company please don't hesitate to get in touch, call us on 0845 094 6442.

What is a print?
printing is a process for reproducing text and image. The traditional print method is ink on paper using a lithographic process. More recently another method of paper-based printing has been developed. Digital printing predominantly uses toner, which through electrical charge, is applied to the material it is printed on. There are positives and negatives for both paper based print processes, which we will look into in more detail below.

However there is another print process, which can be used for printing on materials such as plastic, fabric, and ceramics. This is known as screen-printing and has it's own set of benefits and possible problems. If you would like more information on other print processes please call us on 0845 094 6442 or email hello@dusza.co.uk.

Lithographical print process
Lithographic printing is more economical for medium to large print runs. In simple terms lithographic (sometimes referred to as litho) is similar to potato printing. In essence each colour that is printed is coated on a plate, which in this instance is the potato. Pressing the coated plate or potato onto the paper creates an impression of the 'potatoes' surface and there it is, a single colour print. A typical photograph is made up of four colours. These colours are cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black (cmyk). When printed onto white paper, the paper mimics a white light source. When using the cmyk process, depending on how a printer sets up the press, variations in finished colour can and will occur. Slight percentage variances of colour strength in one of the colours will change the overall colour of the print.

It is because of this variance that the Pantone Colour System was created. Pantone colours allow for exact colour reproduction because the overall colour is not made up of cmyk. However even with Pantone colours the finished colour can still vary depending on the print press, paper and finishing processes used. When printing one or two colours it can be more economical, both in terms of time and money, to use Pantone Colours rather than Four Colour Process (cmyk). Pantone 072, for example, is a vibrant red and only made from a single colour and thus a single plate. Each plate incurs a charge for setting up and applying colour. Once printed each piece of print requires a drying time before the next colour can be applied. Drying times can vary widely between paper materials (stock), inks and the quality of the printing press itself.

It quickly becomes evident why a single Pantone colour could be more economical than the four colour process, because less ink and drying time is required, which equates to less technician hours and therefore less money. Also the larger the print run the cheaper the printer can buy in the stock because it is being bought in bulk. It is for these reasons that the larger the print-run the more economical the cost per unit.

What if you can't afford a larger print run or simply do not require thousands printed items? The answer is that you probably want to go digital...

Digital print process
Digital printing is more economical for small print runs. All the benefits of litho for large scale printing are completely reversed for small scale printing. For instance computers do most of the maths with digital print machines, much like a home printer. There is less of a need for a skilled technician as digital printing presses are generally more user friendly and targeted at a wider audience of user. Digital printing costs per copy and by increasing the quantity of the print run broadly speaking the cost per unit remains fairly constant. The cost of mistakes are minimised because of the nature of smaller runs. Committing to a litho print run means you are likely to be spending a substantial amount of money so getting it wrong really is not an option and if it happens it can be disastrous. Digital printing is just not the same financial commitment and whilst no one wants to waste money, if digital goes wrong it rarely is financially disastrous.

Digital printing is only available in cmyk, pantone colours are not available. However the digital Four Colour (cmyk) process does not produce exactly the same colour as a litho Four Colour process as the ink used is different. Digital printing can also cause 'banding' in certain block colours and this will need to be taken into account when creating the design. Finally digital and litho papers are different and it is not often possible to accurately match paper types.

Finishing process
You may decide on a special process to finish your item. A special finish could be a spot varnish (spot UV), foil block, matt or gloss laminate, perforating, folding, stitching, gluing etc. Most printers will not carry out finishing processes in-house. The reason for this is simple. Finishing is as complex and skillful a technique as printing itself. So a company that specialises in print may not specialise in finishing. It is worth asking whether you chosen finishes will be carried out in-house and taking into account what effect this additional supplier may have on your project. For example lets assume that you have finally sourced a printer that you are confident can fulfill your requirements, if the finishing house carries out the finishing process incorrectly the whole print job has to start again. This may lead to deadlines being missed (although most printers would not charge you for a mistake which is theirs).

Even as an experienced print buyer, the only way we ever begin relationships with new printers is to give them a small and relatively simple project. Even placing this project is after seeing samples of previous work, visiting their plant and talking to some of their happy customers. We judge their turn around, quality of print, level of customer service, finishing services and of course their price. We would never place a large, ultra complex or a deadline critical job with a new print supplier. We have printers who are experts in a variety of different mediums that we have worked with since 1996 and the reason is simple, they look after us extremely well. Maintaining good supplier relationships is also something to consider. If we were to continually ask for discounts, we know the level of service we would receive would suffer. That's not to say we don't negotiate, but to us good relationships are worth maintaining and sometimes are worth paying for, because there are always times where we need favours!

Print fulfillment
Print fulfillment is the process of collating and distributing printed materials. Fulfillment is normally only a necessary consideration with direct mail. Fulfillment companies are able to mail-shot hundreds of thousands of unique addresses extremely efficiently. On large-scale projects it is likely that the cost of 'doing-it-yourself' will not be as economic as paying for fulfillment due to the sheer volume of administration time. When deciding on whether or not fulfillment is necessary always consider return on investment. With this in mind, it is unlikely your employee's time is well-spent mail merging addresses onto labels and then sticking address labels and postage to envelopes. It is also worth bearing in mind that fulfillment houses may be able to get bulk postage discounts, which you will not get directly from Royal Mail.

Print goals
Knowing whom you will be using as your print, finishing and fulfillment suppliers is critical, but it could all be a fruitless effort if the items you are having printed do not fulfill your goals. Understanding your goals, what you actually want to achieve from your item of print is the starting point of every print project. Once your design agency understands your goals then they can create a bespoke piece of print that effectively communicates your message. Be it a business card or a vehicle wrap the concept remains constant, to effectively communicate your message to your chosen target audience.

Design methodology
The very nature of design briefs set out parameters and constraints to work within. Once the brief is understood and the medium has been selected the design team can unleash their creativity. Intelligent design is a creative talent. Learning software applications such as Quark, Photoshop or Indesign does not make you a designer. In order to achieve great design, knowledge of composition, marketing, typography, image manipulation and the medium are essential. It is advisable to be wary of 'have-a-go' designers, they can be a false economy and could waste your time, money and damage your brand. For an informative read on creativity and innovation you may like to read our article 'Creative Concepts - The Ideas People'.

Marketing
Each different type of printed material has a different purpose; each business card, flyer, folder or poster has a different aim. Each compliment slip, letterhead, brochure or vehicle livery has its own target audience to communicate with. In order to get the communication as clear and as loud as possible, your chosen design team must be skilled in graphic design and have experience in the medium in which they wish to communicate. Creative executions are very different from art working. Self-respecting designers thrive on challenges and the thought of delivering exciting and beautifully crafted material that stimulates conversation is what drives them.

In order to be able to produce the different types of printed communication your design team must have relationships with the correct type of print supplier and the understanding of how to create print ready art work for that specific supplier. With each type of printing and even with each different printer, the requirements for receiving art work can differ enormously. Sending the wrong file in the wrong format can result in loss of time or possibly incorrectly printed materials and loss of money. Having established relationships, with a high level of understanding between the designer and the supplier ensures the print process can run smoothly.

Content
The quality of content is key to your printed communication. Even if your content is simply an image, if the image is not composed correctly or reproduced at the right quality your message will not be conveyed. If your content is textual then writing clear concise content prepared perfectly for you target audience is crucial. Target audience really plays an important role with text, creating a piece of text that has a reading age of 16 when the target audience is aged 12 years will create serious communication problems. How you set the tone and style of your text and keeping that style consistent is equally important. Advertising companies are extremely well paid because they can create single sentences that communicate more than the sum of their parts. For example, 'Good things come to those who wait' - Guinness' advertising agency took one of the potential pitfalls of their product and spun the idea around, so that waiting was actually a good thing. Waiting would increase the pleasure of drinking Guinness. Words and emotions can go together like fish and chips. Get the words right and the emotions will follow - that is the power of great copy writing.

Conclusion
A question that should be asked before investing any money into print is whether or not you are prepared to contemplate all the potential advantages and disadvantages before you invest. There is a world of difference between in quality from one agency to another and one printer to another. Price does play a major factor in where you place your print project, however it is important not to get caught up in a false economy. Great print can be worth its weight in gold and bad print can create disasters.

DUSZA's only advice here is; if you find a supplier who delivers your expectations and has the ability to exceed them, then time spent cultivating that relationship is always a great investment.

DUSZA are not a budget agency and that is because we believe you get what you pay for. Similarly we would not want all our suppliers to be low cost. We understand where savings can be made in print and where they can't. Ironically, even with this philosophy, because of our great relationships with printers we can source some extremely competitive prices, and we firmly believe we offer great value for money. Before you get in touch with us have a quick read of our vision and mission statements. These offer you an opportunity to find out the personality behind DUSZA. Alternatively get in touch now on 0845 094 6442 or email hello@dusza.co.uk for a free, no obligation print consultation with the lovely people at DUSZA.

Creative Concepts - The Ideas People

Creative Concepts - The Ideas People
Defining creativity is a tricky task. There is much debate regarding the definition of creativity with some arguing that creativity is a gift some are born with, some believe it is linked to mental illness, or genius and some believe that creativity can be taught through processes. This article is based on my perceptions of creativity and not the definition of others. Whatever the definition of creativity, for those that have it, it can give a unique perspective on the world and its contents.

Creativity appears to initially happen randomly, one gem of an idea coming into existence at the most peculiar of moments. It takes time to fully understand your own creativity, to nurture it and develop skills that allow you to tap into it, on demand. In business creativity can help in many ways, from the traditional 'design' to thinking about processes and people.

Help or hinderance?
Without the necessary skills to nurture creativity and channel it, the end result, often, does not bear fruit. Conceptual ideas can change the world, but in business, truly conceptual ideas can be sometimes be met with scepticism. This is usually due to a lack of effective communication between the creative person and their audience.

Creative agencies can only be effective if there is clear communication between the agency and the client. As a measure of an agency's worth, you could argue that if they cannot communicate with the client, so that you understand the concept, then they will not be able to communicate the client's message to the target audience. This is not necessarily the result of a lack of creative skill, but a lack of direction and experience to implement creative ideas into effective solutions. The truth is that creativity, without guidance, is interesting but seldom profitable. Some examples of this failure in implementation are the Abbey National's re-brand, which was withdrawn within months, or, dare I mention it, the 2012 Olympics logo? Both designs are from respected creative agencies, but even large agencies can get it wrong if they have not researched the market, communicated with the client and implemented the creative idea correctly.

Logo creation and development
Logos, otherwise referred to as brand identities, start their existence as the vision of their creator, your design agency. Design agencies usually need to create many identities just to refine them to a set of three. The skill is to only put to paper (or computer) a selection of semi-refined ideas. This becomes the ideas board and a client rarely sees the ideas board. The volume of ideas in a creative person is immense. The skill is to only put to paper (or computer) a selection of semi-refined ideas If a client was to see potentially thirty ideas of their brand they could get distracted and the design process could grind to a halt. Your chosen design agency should ideally present to you a refined set of three to five concepts for an identity. DUSZA lean towards three, as the final two can often be easily discounted as effective brand identities. Dusza's selection usually encompasses one idea that we believe you will feel safe with, which interprets your requirements as you desire. The second idea we present will be what we believe your identity should be. This idea is sometimes a little more radical than the first but it is genuinely creative. As for the third idea, this one is the wild card. It usually is the one that came out of nowhere but could offer a completely different take on the identity.

During the first presentation it is essential that the agency listen carefully to the initial reactions of the client. When looking at prospective logos it is important to bear in mind that the logo is focused to communicate with you target audience and that is not necessarily you, so even if you do not initially identify with the proposed identity, give it time and always consider your design agency's rationale.

Creativity and innovation within your materials
Whether it is a website, printed stationery or business management process, creativity and innovation help you and your company succeed. If you would like to learn more about creativity and innovation within websites we have authored another article that may be of interest titled 'fundamentals of a great website'. If you're interested in printed material then our article 'achieving stunning print' will give you some good information.

Conclusion
So you should now be able to identify a truly creative agency, but also have the skills to know if your chosen agency also can evolve that creativity into something that ultimately will help you communicate with your audience. Your chosen agency should have clear communication with you at all times and create an honest and transparent working relationship, after all you both have the same goals. If your agency helps you to succeed then that will help them to succeed.

If you do not understand a concept then ask to have it clarified. Good communication is fundamental to any relationship so always have your questions answered.

DUSZA are a creative agency, and one that has integrity. If you would like more information on DUSZA have a quick read of our vision statement and our mission statement. These offer you an opportunity to find out the personality behind DUSZA. Alternatively get in touch now on 0845 094 6442 or email hello@dusza.co.uk and book a free, no obligation creative consultation with the lovely people at DUSZA.

The Appropriate Use of Flash

The Appropriate Use Of Flash
Flash is the ultimate plug-in for displaying rich interactive games, video, audio and high quality user experiences. With 99.8% of the internet population (in mature markets) using flash, the fear that users will be excluded is no longer a major concern. Developers can rest assured that their content will be visible by near-as-makes-no-difference everyone.

99.8% is an impressive statistic, however where Flash excels in some areas its falls massively in others. In this article we talk you through the benefits of using Flash on your website and why you shouldn't rely on Flash for everything. DUSZA appreciates the importance of Flash in the web environment, but also understands the limitations imposed. Gone are the days where a complete Flash website is commonplace on the internet. Gone are the days where Flash is all the rage and the hip thing to be using.

User Experience
Creating the ultimate user experience is not down to maximum interactivity or bulking your website out with animations and sliding effects. This is the problem when in-experienced developers create Flash websites; they believe that simply using flash will give your users a brilliant user experience. Scoping your user's to analyse their desired experience is imperative. For example an ecommerce website should not be utilising flash for its entire operation; you shouldn't put any un-necessary obstacles (flash animations) In the way of your users buying products of your website. This is a shining example of using flash incorrectly. The golden rule in flash implementation is, use it when it adds value not because its desirable. Desirable animation often leads to user frustration and can detour users from getting the best user experience possible.

Used correctly flash can create a phenomenal user experience. It is now possible to create virtual worlds within flash which takes interactivity to a whole new level. Users can experience rich 3D animations and complex game play within there web browser. Flash developers can even create atmosphere effects like smoke, fog and dust. Used in this respect Flash is untouchable and cannot be beaten by other methods.

Search Engines
The whole driving force behind building a web project is for users to visit and experience it, search engines help massively in providing your web project with users. The major draw back of Flash is that the content inside a flash file is not easily readable by a search engine, which means if your ecommerce website was built entirely in Flash none of your products would show in search engines. Flash is becoming better at dealing with search engines but its still years behind HTML. Considering Google alone gets 90 million searches a day through its search portal, it would be unrealistic to ignore the potential offered by search engines. Thus already we have established two key areas; user experience and search engines where too much Flash can actually harm your project. Yes, it may look very nice with its colourful and seamless animation, but there are many ways to achieve sleek, non-disruptive animation and stunning design without the drawbacks of flash.

Content Managed Flash
The ability to update and control the information on your website, without the need to use your web agency for every amend, is a desirable feature. DUSZA build most of its website with this functionality built in, we even build it bespoke to your requirements so your not wadeing through unwanted functionality to do something simple. What does this have to do with flash? Well it takes extra time and cost to build functionality of this manner. This means to get a website with the same functionality could cost more in Flash than if you were using HTML.

Conclusion
Flash can be a very powerful tool when used correctly and appropriately. The Most successful websites use Flash in moderation, utilising Flash for small elements of a websites design, when required. Combining Flash elements with a slick HTML template gives you the best of both worlds. Search Engines will index most of your content, users will get a frustration free experience when using your website but they will still get the benefits of interactivity through Flash elements. The most important thing is ensuring your web agency properly scopes the use of Flash and uses it when it adds value not because they want to. DUSZA never use Flash unless its nessacery, we prefer to use lean HTML and reap the benefits of search engines

Web 2.0 is not design

Web 2.0 is NOT Design
If you are a web developer, a web designer, or you work in a company involved with producing material for the web; you will have no doubt heard the phrase, 'Web 2.0'. The hype has been out of control for many months now between individuals within the trade. The problem however, is that it's now our clients who are using the phrase. They want web 2.0, whatever that is? They are doing so because many people in our trade have been using the term in the wrong way. Let me get this straight, web 2.0 is not meant to be a look or style of design, which is what many of clients refer to when they ask for web 2.0.

'Web 2.0 refers to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosts services which aim to facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to the change in the ways software developers and end-users use the internet.' This definition was cited from Wikipedia.org, which itself is a 'web 2.0' application. In this definition is design mentioned at all? No, it isn't. The reason web 2.0 has become a term for describing a look or way of design, is the flood of certain design trends across a lot of websites designed around the highest point of the web 2.0 hype. High contrast colours, gloss, gradients, reflected logo's etc etc are all common web 2.0 clichs.

Can we now accept web 2.0 as describing both design and development of web usage? Maybe. Originally web 2.0 was not set out to describe design but because so many people refer to web 2.0 in a design sense, and a lot of design clichs can be traced to the web 2.0 hype era, I think the meaning of the phrase web 2.0 can be development of web usage and design clichs. Of course whether you should use design clichs in the first place is another discussion.

The fact of the matter is the definition of a word can be different (in real life cases) depending on the context in which the word is used. For example, I could say, 'That car is sweet'. Whereby you could obviously fathom I don't mean that the car tastes sweet! The same can be applied to web 2.0 as a definition; many like myself will argue the use of its correct definition. However, people will still use the term with reference to design regardless, and those people are wrong!

Why optimise your website for Search Engines

Why Optimise Your Website For Search Engines
When we get clients asking us not to optimise their website for search engines our response is always the same, our jaws drop. We quickly follow with, why? For many clients their decision is based on two main factors. The first is cost and the second is often a lack in understanding the term SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). In this article we are going to look at the reasons why SEO is important, the benefits of SEO and the drawback (yes there is really only one).

Firstly, let me explain the term SEO. SEO is the practice of constructing a website so that the content is accessible by search engines in the best possible structure and form. The result of great SEO should be a climb in the organic search engine rankings for specific keywords. Organic search engine rankings are the non-sponsored, free listings. SEO is different to PPC (Pay-Per-Click) where you bid on specific search terms, in order to be displayed high on sponsored listings. These are often found in the top three places or in side panels within the search results. Many clients mistakenly believe that these two listings (organic and PPC) are the same and this is normally one of the reasons behind our clients cost worries, as keyword bidding wars can be costly.

The practice of integrating many key SEO features is actually not much more time consuming than developing a website without these in mind. It's really down to knowledge; a web developer who has a good understanding of SEO will build websites with key SEO features already implemented and a developer with a poor understanding will often ignore this functionality. Every developer within the DUSZA team has been trained to a high level of understanding in both SEO and PPC. This enables us to develop every website with many key SEO features already implemented and frees up our SEO specialists, allowing them to concentrate on harder and often more rewarding SEO tasks. This delegation of SEO practices allows us to reduce the cost of basic SEO to almost nothing, thus massively increasing our clients SEO ROI (return on investment), in-fact it's so low basic SEO is a standard practice in every website we build.

With regards to our original question, many of our clients believe that basic SEO is an extra cost. They are under this impression because many agencies offer SEO implementation at a cost, which is understandable. As altering the code and structure of a website so that it is SEO friendly can be a timely task; of course this only applies to pre-built websites. Many clients don't realise basic SEO can just be another way of building a website, not an add-on. Of course there are some agencies that wish to charge extra whether they are altering a website or starting from scratch, which is rather cheeky. This also shows a lack of basic SEO knowledge. After explaining that basic SEO is included for no extra charge in all of our solutions our clients response is always the same, they jump for joy.

Let's look at the benefits of SEO for those who wish to further understand why we should all love SEO and for those who may need to invest in SEO on an existing website. We're first going to look at the sheer volume of users using search engines on the Internet. In March 2006 (and in just the US) over 200 million searches where performed by leading search engines (cite) every day. Considering that since March 2006 the number of Internet users worldwide has gone from 1 billion to nearly 1.3 billion (cite), it would be un-natural, to not want a slice of that cake. However, with so many different search engines which one to target has to be a consideration. For most this is obvious, with a 77% market share as of December 2007, Google is the clear winner. Fortunately for us though, a lot of basic SEO works across the board.

Is SEO really worth all the effort? This question should have been answered for you by now, but in case you're still unsure, yes it is. Even if you have a website and are already running PPC campaigns, SEO can still be beneficial and actually save you a lot of money. A fantastic SEO success story can be exemplified by one of our clients who came to us in 2007. They were spending in the region of £1000 a month on PPC and receiving a good volume of traffic because of it. However they wanted a website which not only reflected their business more accurately but also conveyed their products exceptionally well and performed in organic SEO results without the need for intense PPC campaigns. We developed a pioneering structure and coupled it with highly optimised content to match their targeted keywords. Their website now lists in the top three for each of their targeted key words and was so successful in the first few months that they decided to stop their PPC campaigns altogether as the demand for their services was so high.

This nicely leads me on to the only drawback, too much potential. It is possible to gain so much business via SEO that it could require you to scale back your SEO efforts whilst your business catches up. But can this really be considered a drawback? Is it really a bad thing that your business has to expand to meet the needs of new clients?

So there it is, put simply implementing basic SEO into a new build website requires little or in our case no cost and can reap superb reward. Implementing basic SEO on a current website can have cost implications but can still result in a positive ROI. However, in many cases the restructuring of a website to benefit from SEO can be more expensive than a new build. In either case DUSZA love to give guidance, which is why we offer a free consultation service.

Web Design is like nothing else

Hosting - The Facts

What is hosting?

Web hosting is the term used to describe placing your website on a "Server" (a computer which has a permanent and high speed connection to the Internet). This means that your site can be accessed anywhere around the world at any time.

Are there different types of hosting?

Yes, they are many and varied. Most hosting is carried out on extremely large machines which host many different websites. You purchase space on the server. Generally speaking the more space you need, the more expensive the hosting will be, but there are many other factors which affect the cost of hosting. It is possible to purchase an entire machine, but this is extremely expensive and only necessary for very large websites.

So how much space do I need?

Space on servers is generally measured in terms of bandwidth and disk space.

Bandwidth is a measurement of the amount of data that can be moved between two points in a given period of time. Bandwidth is measured in megabytes and then gigabytes (a thousand megabytes). When referring to websites the amount of bandwidth required will equate to the number of visitors your website receives. The more visitors you have, the more bandwidth you will need.

Disk Space is a measurement of hard drive storage space. Disk Space is also measured in megabytes and then gigabytes (a thousand megabytes). When referring to websites the amount of disk space required will equate to the amount of content (text, images, downloads etc) that you have on your website. The more content your site contains, the more disk space you will need.

So, how much space do you need? It is not something which can be easily calculated and it is likely to change as your site becomes more popular. DUSZA has a variety of packages with different bandwidth and disk space limits, as a rough guide they are as follows:

250MB of disk space and 500MB of bandwidth per month would be acceptable for a small website (perhaps no more than 5 pages which does not expect to receive high volumes of traffic).

500MB of disk space and 1GB of bandwidth per month would be acceptable for a medium sized website (perhaps featuring 2 content management modules which does not expect to receive high volumes of traffic).

2GB of disk space and 10GB of bandwidth per month would acceptable for a large website (perhaps entirely content managed which expects to receive high volumes of traffic).

Much of the decision on how much space you will need will depend on estimated traffic levels. It is safe to say that if you do not carry out an search engine optimisation (SEO) you will be in the position of not expecting to receive high volumes of traffic. The more SEO you engage in the more traffic you can expect to receive.

DUSZA has the experience to be able to estimated traffic levels and thus bandwidth and disk space required and can recommend the best package for your website. Of course it is always likely that you may require more bandwidth or disk space in the future as your website expands or becomes more popular. If possible you should consider this from day one and choose a solution which is expandable, as changing hosting provider can cause an interruption to your website service.

What other factors do I need to consider?

Other factors which need to be taken into consideration when choosing a hosting provider include:

Configuration of the Account - Do you need to know how to configure the hosting space, or will this be done for you. If your provider is configuring the account will you have to pay extra for this? Are you sure that the standard account configurations will support your website and it's systems.
Uptime and Downtime - Is it critical that my website is live all the time? Does the hosting provider offer any guarantee of uptime? What is the guaranteed up-time of the server?
Redundancy - This means that if the server hosting your website fails for some reason it will detect this failure and transfer your website to a different server, so that your website performance is not affected. Redundancy is normally only a consideration for very large, critical or ecommerce websites and is normally extremely expensive. DUSZA's first package which offers redundancy costs over £5,000 per annum.
Backups - Does the hosting provider offer back-ups? If so, how often do they take place and where is the data stored. If not you will need to take measures to back up the information on your website, so if the worst were to happen you would not have to start from scratch.
Support - What support does the hosting provider offer? Is it in the UK or abroad? Is it available only in office hours or also in the evenings and at weekends? Is it by email only or also on the telephone? Am I going to need technical knowledge to talk to the support team and get any problems solved?
Emails - Does the website hosting come with email hosting? What kind of email accounts do I get (the standard is POP3)? Do I get any help setting up my email accounts? Can I also set up email forwarders?
Parked and Sub Domains - Does the hosting include parked or sub domains, for example your website may be www.thecompany.co.uk, but you also own www.thecompany.com and www.the-company.co.uk. Will your hosting provider charge extras for these domains?
Geographical Location - Where is the server based? Is it in the UK? Problems could take longer to solve if your server is in a different country to you or the support team.
Secure Certificates - This is normally only a concern for ecommerce sites or sites which hold sensitive or confidential information. Does your chosen hosting service allow you to have a secure certificate? Even if you don't need one now, you may in the future.

These are the main factors that need to be considered when choosing a hosting provider, but there are other more complex issues. Unfortunately we don't have space here to go into all of them. If you would like more information about hosting you are welcome to contact us, we are always happy to give help and advice.

So I guess the last question is - what does DUSZA offer? Well we have a variety of packages which we can tailor to meet your individual website needs. Give DUSZA a call on 0845 094 6442 or email hello@dusza.co.uk for more detailed information.

The Business Card

Your business card is one of the most used and least appreciated tools in business. It is one of your most important marketing tools and yet many people still choose to design and produce their business cards in motorway service stations at DIY Business Card machines!

Every person you meet in your business life, will be handed a business card and it is absolutely true that you only get one chance to make a first impression and if that impression is a bad one, then you might as well forget it!

Your business card must represent the values of your company, if it has a shoddy design with no thought to priority of information and with poor printing, on cheap material then the message your prospective client is getting is just that - shoddy, no thought, poor and cheap. Not the words that anyone wants associated with their business!

When it comes to the first impression your company is making on a prospective client image is everything. If you buy the cheapest business cards you can find, the fact is that you are going to get what you paid for - cheap!

Having said that great business cards don't have to cost the earth, but time does need to be spent thinking about your cards. When it comes to business cards there are some important points to bear in mind:

Make sure your business card is the traditional size, so that it fits into people's business card holders/wallets. The standard size is around 88 x 55mm.
Use a quality card, nothing less than 300gsm
Consider matt or gloss lamination for a really quality look and feel
Use a large enough font to make the details easy to read
Including all key information, which could include; your name, job title, telephone number, fax number, mobile number, website, email, address and possibly your skype.
Don't use distracting imagery - your logo and tag line will be enough
Don't forget to ensure your logo and company name are prominently displayed
Keep the design simple - business cards are a small space for a lot of information!
Consider a double sided card to leave more room for all your details, you may even be able to fit a small list of services on the back.

Always carry business cards with you - even at the gym! You never know when a business opportunity will present itself. Invest in a business card holder, so that your cards do not become dog eared - no point in investing in great cards that look like they've been through a mangle!

Even in the digital age most people still want to meet face to face, especially when spending large amounts of their hard earned money, so quality business cards will be a great investment for years to come.

Dusza can print 250 full colour double sided business cards on 350gsm card with matt lamination including delivery for only £43! Get in touch for more information on hello@dusza.co.uk

One Twentieth of a Second

Imagine you are giving a presentation, you have one twentieth of a second to convince your audience that your company is the company for them! After that they will have made a pretty firm decision on whether you are the company for them and if not they will simply walk away, never to be seen or heard from again. Sounds worse than Dragon's Den and American Inventor put together! Welcome to the wonderful world of the internet.

Many people believe that the internet is the place for their business. An easy place to make money. You don't need a shop front, you don't need a massive warehouse, you don't need television adverts or a massive workforce, just get a website, set up a paypal account and start selling - right? Wrong! You don't just need a website - you need a great website!

A Canadian study in 2006 found that it takes a website visitor just one twentieth of a second to decide whether a site appeals to them; and more importantly they found that this first impression is unlikely to change. The study's volunteers were shown a fraction-of-a-second glance at a website and asked to rate how the site appealed to them. They were then allowed to visit the website and look around, after which they rated it again - the two ratings tallied closely!

The study concluded that if a website looks good, professional, reliable etc then that positive impression is carried through the whole website experience.

So, how on earth are you going to win over your visitor in such a tiny space of time! Is it all about design? Not necessarily, most people will spend a few seconds on a site before they click away, but it is certainly important that your first impression is spot on, so here are a few things to bear in mind:

make sure your website looks professional, if it doesn't you would be better off not having one at all
make sure your home page has interesting content
make sure that you have information about your products or services on the home page
if you are an ecommerce business try and give you visitors the ability to buy directly from the home page or within at least 3 clicks
don't use complicated navigation
have easily accessible contact information

First impressions count - if you want to get your website design right contact Dusza the website design specialists on 0845 094 6442