East Devon Online Planet

We have been busy over the last couple of months working on a range of projects for the York Inn, Exmouth oldest, independantly owned pub. Beside the posters, the advertising screens and Facebook activitiy we are working on with them, we asked to make a new website for them.

The biggest requirments for the York Pub was to showcase the latest offers, the latest events and to build up a mailing list as a new form of marketing. This was coupled with the use of Facebook and in-house promotion to help promote the York to a wider range of people.

Although the features on the site are many, by using the VP CMS system, we have made them easy to use. With all the features built into the VP CMS they are able to control what images show on the slideshow, per page with where they link to, the events feature with social integration, the mailing list, the coupon and gallery sytem (currently being populated with the first album photographs with the starts of a Facebook campaign) and the page content.

We have also taken care of the website hosting and Google Business Center listing for the pub which will have a great impact on the website traffic whilst the website populates the search engines.

We will now be working closely with the York and staying in contact with them on a regular basis recommending methods for how to use the website for the benefit of the business.

So then, 2012 is here. I have heard this year mentioned so much over 2011 and I honestly think it is going to be a great year for the UK but what about 2011?

Last year was a mixed year. Some clients reporting slow times, others reporting a growth. What is good, is many are not reporting a massive downturn in trade. For us, we have changed a massive amount from our humble beginnings, we now are offering an extended range of services and have continued to make improvements to the service we are offering. 2011 has seen the launch of the VP CMS which has gone down FAR better than expected. Version 1 is already approaching the later stages of it’s life and we are now planning Version 2 with more features. All in all, we can say 2011 has been a good year for us.

So what off 2012? Are we going into the Euro Crisis with Europe or will we be OK? I personally feel, that dispite more cuts, we, as a country, will be OK not mainly, due to the 2 huge dates on the UK calendar this year. The olympics and Queens Diamond Jubilee are both set to act as a draw of focus to the UK and showcase us to the world. How will this affect us on a local level though? How do you feel 2012 will be and what do you think it will bring for you and your business?

So what I am really asking myself is simple, sum up 2011 in no more than 10 words. Answer, a mixed year with 2012 looking better. How would you answer it?

What a brilliant hour we all had down the beach. The crowds were huge and all in a christmas spirit that could rival the higest of christmas celebrations. This is the 5th year in a row we have gone to the Xmas day swim with the photography from Daniel Smith Photography. if you are lucky enough to have been captured on camera, you will see your photograph on the gallery below. You can also buy any photographs direct from the Daniel Smith Photography website.

There is nothing to say but a very merry christmas to one and all and enjoy your day together. I will personally be drying myself off and warming up! That water was freezing!

You will be able to buy all the photographs at Daniel Smith Photography

Click here to View photographs

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Vibrant Pulse have been operating from our town centre location in Exmouth for a number of years and during this time, we have built a reputation locally for the quality of work we do and the results we get with the website we launch.

This is the point of this blog post to say we do not just operate in  Exmouth but have a number of clients in Exeter too.

We have helped a number of businesses in the Exeter area with a range of different websites. Basic information sites through to eCommerce sites have been completed for a range of clients.

Vibrant Pulse offer website design, development and marketing solutions to meet your specific needs from our design studio.

With your input and our clear, tested workflow system, we will build your website to be rich in information, imagination and design with the power to make the impact your business wants. We are so confident, we even offer a gaurantee to say it will; carry on reading to learn more.

From studio, our website designers will work with you to promote your business on the web in an effective and efficient way and teach you how to make the most out of your website, even after the website is complete.

We offer effective website design and development solutions for:

• Sole Traders - helping start-up businesses to grow, targeting specific audiences perhaps in one particular geographic area. We support you to develop a logo design and market your website.
• Small Businesses - building your business history and helping you to start a brand.
• Medium Businesses - to add more functionality to your website and develop the role it plays within your business.
• Large Businesses - strengthening your brand identity, driving your sales and marketing objectives.

Whatever the size of your business, we will help you address your aims and goals.

We were approached by the York in Exmouth to have a look at some beer pump advertising screens for them. We were set the task of assessing the screens to get them into a working condition in order to display some of the latest offers and opening times. Upon inspection, it was found that a variety of aspects would have to be addressed which, working with the York, we both sorted.

The new advert system now is easy to update displaying clear, easy to read slides advertising some of the latest offers the York has to offer. The system spans, currently, across 2 screens but maybe expanded in the future.

We all love seeing photographs taken from high vantage points and this is exactly what Elevated Aerial Photography do. With quality photographic masts, they are able to travel to almost any location and take elevated photographs you would not be able to achieve using conventional methods.

With a site built to help showcase the type of photograph and use, the site is targetting very competitive search terms with a range of tools to help them acheive strong search engine placements.

The website is designed and built using the Simple yet powerful VP CMS which allows Elevated Aerial Photography to edit and control the content of his website easily and quickly.

We are going to be working very closely with them in the future to help them achieve the positions needed in the search engines but this will require time given the difficult nature of the task, not all search terms are achieved over night!

The website comes complete with contact and quote form and some photography by Vibrant Pulse.

We will update you as to the success of the website as we continue to monitor the success the site is having in it’s early stages of it’s life.

Security in a work place or at home is a must in today’s age and this is what NRS Services of Exmouth, Devon do. They are installers of CCTV and Alarm systems and needed a company website to represent themselves and help attract new customers. The site is built using the Simple yet powerful VP CMS and has now been live for about half a month. With the greatest amount of concentration on the search engines, we have already been able to report strong positions in searches like “CCTV Devon” – page 2 and “Alarm Company South West” – page 2. This is the search engine optimisation (SEO) that has been carried out on the website.

We also looked at the design of the website and made improvements from the first website NRS had. The new site ties in with company image and will help towards building up the image they are after.

With the ability to add content and pictures to the site, the website will now be updated on a regular basis with blog posts and special offers. Linked in with Facebook and eventually, some of the other social media networks, early signs are showing great promise for a website that will perform well for NRS Service.

We will continue to work with NRS Services to grow the website along with the company and offer more guidance as part of our “website hosting plus” service.

To find out more, see vibrantpulse.com

We all love a quick response and that is what QR codes are all about.

What are QR Codes?

QR Codes stand for Quick Response and work in a similar way to barcodes. The main difference being that information is stored within the QR code itself rathe than in a database. As a result, this opens up the world to the use of a QR code where barcodes were open only to those willing to pay.

How do you use QR Codes?

This is the biggest question. Out of the reasons why people scan QR codes, one of the biggest reasons is to find out how to scan them and to test them out. This can be done by holding your smartphone up with the correct application to scan the code. On Android and IPhone, I recommend Google Googles but others are out there.

What are they then?

QR Codes are like the one to the left. They contain the information within the code itself. This one contains a telephone number to one not published anywhere else on the web. It is interesting to here this particular phone ring. They look like barcodes in appearance and are usually found with white and black. They can however, be a variety of colours.

How do you use the codes for business?

They are found more and more in a wider range of uses. Used on DVD’s/Cinema’s to give a review on the film, car dealerships to take the user to a page of information about that car, by companies wanting to promote a special offer… the list of possibilities is endless. Get in touch with us and ask us for QR Training and how to use them for your business.

How do I create one?

I should be saying by coming to companies like us to create the codes for you but in reality, you can generate them from a variety of different methods. There are however some license agreements you have to be careful of as some of these tools will not allow you to use them on a commercial license.

Book an appointment with us to find out the best uses for these new advertising tools today.

1. Use words in your text that people might put into search engines when looking for what they want.
2. That said, don’t stuff your text with keywords. This artificial style will not be appreciated by either the visitor or search engines.
3. Write with a natural flow and with your readers in mind avoiding too much repetition.
4. Web visitors often seek information quickly in answer to particular questions. Content therefore needs to be detailed enough to answer common questions.
5. If you are a business, provide a means for people to contact you for further information. Your website does not need to answer every question a person may have, but it does need to signpost visitors in order to find out more. Make sure you respond to your enquiries.
6. Make your site easy to navigate using menus and links.
7. Make your site useful to a visitor. If it is they may bookmark it, return to it later, or choose to link another website to it. All these activities are positive instances of your website working for you, and search engines may pick up on this and rank your site more highly as a result.
8. Use photographs and other images to illustrate the points you make in the text. This will help visitors to understand your written material. Your web designer can make sure that all important images are sized optimally for the Web and have a textual explanation too, for the benefit of visually impaired people or those who have turned off images on their computer for browsing.
9. Avoid using technologies just for the sake of it. If a site takes too long to download, people may lose patience with it and go elsewhere.
10. Make sure your content is clear on the page. Avoid using quirky fonts or poorly contrasting colour schemes. If the look of the text is a barrier to reading it, visitors will struggle to follow the text, no matter how well it has been written.

1. Use simple, easy to understand language.
2. Make the information readable and interesting.
3. Make your text relevant to your reader.
4. Use headlines and subheadings to grab attention.
5. Break the text into short sections.
6. Use each section to talk about a particular piece of information.
7. Keep your content fresh by regularly updating it.
8. Educate your reader by telling them something new.
9. Pay attention to spelling and grammar.
10. If you are not a natural writer, consider employing someone who is.

Creative writer

My role as creative writer or content editor for Vibrant Pulse is really interesting and I am thrilled by the varied work it involves. Throughout my career my writing experience has included working with written materials in a wide range of fields including health, education, research, charity and business sectors. I also have some experience of working with professional magazine publishers and am currently a volunteer editor for Chipmunka, a social enterprise which publishes books relating to mental health.

A Web magazine

Writing for the Web is a bit like writing for a magazine and you need to make sure that every page that’s written has a purpose in itself and has value related to your goals or brand. This is because a search engine can potentially land your visitor on any particular page of your website. That will be the beginning of your visitor’s experience, and where they go next is up to them.
A visitor to your website may only have a few moments to engage with your content, and if you want them to stay and read on, or bookmark you to return later, you need to engage them super quickly. Probably your visitors will not be analysing your prose but rather judging the whole site for its usefulness, and of course clarity is a part of that. Links and navigation menus entice people to move on somewhere new.
Rather than a novel which is supposed to be read beginning to end, a website can be dipped in an out of in a uniquely individual way, according to the visitor’s needs at the time. The writer of a website has little control over the journey the reader will take, but it is possible and important to make their stops along the way as useful and interesting as possible.