Merry Christmas to all our customers!

FEEDBACK: The Twisted Spoon

Some lovely feedback received from a long standing customer:

"Force 4 Computing are a key component in the success of our businesses when it comes to online presence and we have been absolutely delighted with the end result of The Twisted Spoon's website, which was cleverly created in a swift yet considered manner with a minimum of fuss. 

Force 4 also proactively assist us with data management generated by the site and have their finger on the pulse when it comes to SEO procedures and site promotion. We are delighted to have continually worked with Force 4 Computing over a number of years. Thank you yet again to Mike and his team for another excellent site!"

Kate Wood FBII
Marketing support for British Country Inns http://www.twisted-spoon.co.uk/

SERVICE: Christmas Message

Well, today the Christmas lights are being put up in Yatton high street!!!  With only 7 weeks to go until the big day, does your business need to get a Christmas message or promotion out to customers?

EMail marketing is a great way to do this - F4 are highly experienced in creating email campaigns, checking deliverability and managing customer email databases. You are also able to view statistics after your mailing - track open rates, click throughs etc to see how your email message has performed.  We can personalise your message, with for example, your customers first name and every email is sent on behalf of your business - from your email address.  We always include a unsubscribe link at the bottom.

So whether it is a Christmas message (to save on cards and pricey stamps), or promoting seasonal goods or services (for example, a pub’s Christmas menu), get in touch with F4 today!

Example mailing sent this week: 

http://whitehartironbridge.com/newsletters/WH_newsletter_nov15.html

SERVICE: Hosted Exchange eMail Service

Force 4 offer a UK based, industry leading integrated email service to our clients.  Take a look below at the options and benefits of our "Hosted Exchange" service:

The Hosted Exchange environment is super-resilient, is fully managed, and every email is scanned for viruses and spam before it arrives in your inbox.   

With:

·         Enhanced security

·         Mobile email 'push' technology

·         No upgrades or repairs

·         Shared calendars and contacts

·         Easy mailbox control

·         Public folders and subfolders

Mobile Health Check: Pick up your smartphone and go to your website. Ask yourself these questions:

• Does it load in less than three seconds?

• Does it draw your eye to your key selling points or message?

• Is the content easy to read?

• Is it easy to navigate?

• Is it easy to recognise and activate the call to action?

• Does it provide a good user experience?

• Is it a website you would spend time on if it was not your own?

If you mostly answered "no", then it's time to get in touch so we can optimise your mobile site to capture the traffic and sales you've been missing out on. 

NEWS: Timelapse Camera!

We recently were asked to oversee the installation of a Timelapse Camera to record the building of a new Asphalt Plant at Avonmouth, Bristol.  This we have provided along with PdH Photography, one of our trusted associates.

This has proved to be very effective BUT… we’re also providing the client with traditional photography services, which we’re told they’re also delighted with!

If we’ve tweaked your interest… (you may just like to see the moving cloud formations), but either way, why not take a look at some of these great images, just go to:

http://www.wainwright.co.uk/asphalt-rockingham-wainwright.html

Over the next few weeks we’re also going to be merging timelapse from a second camera and merging this with still photography to create a movie to show the development of the site, from several vantage points.  We know you won’t want to miss this… so watch this space!

TIP: Receive 5 or more Google+ Business reviews from your customers to rank higher in search results...

Please see the screenshot for our customer - Jackrey Green Energy, who, before receiving less than 5 Google+ reviews, ranked lower than their current position (number 1 after paid sponsored links).  This is proof, that after a little work, you can achieve the same for your business!

We created Jackrey a custom-made one-page handout that they gave to their customers, which…

• Shows them how to set up a Google Plus account, in just 7 easy steps
• Shows them exactly where to find your Google page; and
• Instructs them how to post a review – so that you don’t have to explain the instructions to every customer! (You can print it out or email it to them).

TIPS AND NEWS: Google Business View

Google have taken it to the next level, you can now show the INSIDE of your business on Google with a 360º virtual tour!

You have been able to view "Street View" on Google for some time, but take a look at the interior footage that is now available:

TIP: Use this new Facebook feature to increase your business’s visibility & Learn about Facebook's new payment feature:

GET YOUR POSTS NOTICED:  After spending time and effort on creating a page post, do you worry as a business that it goes into a black hole in your fans' newsfeed and doesn't get noticed/read?  Facebook now allows people to customise their news feed to prioritise updates from particular friends, groups and pages. This is great news for pages with good content, so fans can prioritise YOUR posts.   

Educate your audience on how to select to see your posts first in their news feed.  Tell fans how to add your page to their "See First" list ....

The easiest way is to go directly to your Facebook page, click the "Liked" button and then select the "See First" option:

Recent Project: Tafarn-y-Deri

We were instructed to produce this new site by Suzette, the landlady of The Butchers Arms in Alltwen, who's website we also manage.

In addition to The Butchers, Suzette and her partner Steve took ownership of Tafarn-y-Deri Public House in Llanedi, Carmarthenshire.

Tafarn-y-Deri is a family run business and the owners are passionate about serving fresh, local & Welsh meals to their customers. 

We produced, from scratch this modern, clear site to co-inside with their logo, which captures their popular public house very well. We have included Tripadvisor widgets, so customers can view their most recent 5 star reviews and rolling galleries.

Please do take a look - http://www.tafarnyderi.com

Charity Project: Fearless Beauty

You may remember us posting a couple of months ago regarding a website for Fearless Beauty, a local fashion show in aid of Penny Brohn, we are pleased to say they raised £1500 with our help, along with other local businesses!

https://www.facebook.com/FearlessBeautyFashionShow

Recent Project: The Twisted Spoon

You may remember sometime back we posted about The Twisted Spoon's interesting "Floral Teas"....

A long standing client of ours set up a characterful and quirky new Tea House, serving all day food with High Teas, Tapas and a fine range of Teas and Coffees.

The brief was to capture the essence of the Twisted Spoon with a modern attractive website with a "Mad Hatters" feel, while most importantly allowing customers to see their specialist menus online.
 
The site has some fancy widgets and galleries, has a Facebook feed and is also connected to our online Content Management System, enabling the client to make changes to agreed pages of the site.

Please do take a look -http://www.twisted-spoon.co.uk/index.html.

Proof that a Business Google+ Listing WORKS for improving your Local Search Result!

Here are some screenshots of recent emails received on behalf of the business listings we manage for our customers, stating how many online searches (last month) have resulted in potential customers asking Google for directions and phone calls to their business, very impressive!

 

NEW - "Menu Maker" Website Tool

F4 have been busy adding a demo of our "Menu Maker" script to our Website Tool page.

This tool allows the user to categorise, add and change food dishes very simply from a control panel, with the added benefit of it being fully responsive (adapts to mobile/tablet screen sizes).

Save Money & Steal the Lead on your Competition!

With 1st Class postage at 62p a time, email newsletters are considerably cheaper than traditional mail!  You don’t have to deal with printing or postage and you can include links directly to other components of your web presence.

What F4 can do for you:

• Custom sign-up - We can create a custom sign-up form and fields to add to your website,  or we can import your contact lists from external databases.

Cranmoor Campsite

As it's hotting up out there, we thought we would show you a website we produced a while back for a local campsite..... 

Cranmoor Campsite is located in the small local village of Kingston Seymour, with rural views and its own fishing lake! 

LATEST TREND: Have you heard of Place Tips on Facebook?

"Place Tips" gather useful information about a local business or landmark—like posts from the business’ Facebook Page, upcoming events and friends’ recommendations and check-ins—and show it at the top of Facebook News Feed to potential customers nearby.

The Place Tip could, for example,  help customers find business hours, locate popular items and learn about upcoming events. 

Business Networking Breakfast - Next Thursday - 25th June

We are members of a very successful business breakfast group (and have been for the last ten years, so we can say that from personal experience) There are several business categories that would really benefit from joining our group.

We would like to hear from any business that would be interested in our BNI (Business Network International) Visitor Day meeting on Thursday 25th June where you will be warmly welcomed by the group members. This meeting kicks off at 6:45 a.m. ends at 9:00am and includes either a cooked full English Breakfast or a continental breakfast, at a cost of just £10.00 per person. If you have not heard of BNI before and you would like some more information, then you really need to attend!

Bespoke Function Scripts we can offer you for your website:

Restaurant Table Booking
Holiday / Lettings Booking
Event Calendar
Post Comment / Feedback
Appointment Scheduler

Improving your Google+ Profile - Valuable Tips:

As we have emphasised before, Google Plus is now too important to ignore. It’s deeply linked to SEO, local business listings, and the second largest network of people on the internet.   

Enhanced Google+ profiles and pages can have a significant impact on search rankings. Here are a few tips to improve your ranking:

• Add people to your" Circles" - Google's  “Circles” concept is more in line with the way we make friends in real life. We have many different kinds of friends, and we interact with them and communicate with them in very different ways.  Add people you know to your "Circles", this can be done in your Google Plus page whilst signed in, go to the left drop down and select:
  
  Stay active and add influential people and pages to your circles. +1 and comment on other people’s and pages’ content on Google+ and often they will reciprocate. The more activity and engagement you receive on your content, the more +1s you receive, and the better Google treats you in search results!

The Twisted Spoon and their "Flora" teas!

Please forgive us for not posting recently ... The Force 4 team have currently quite a few projects they are working on.  One being, this interesting Cafe in Upton Snodsbury.   

We thought you may like to see their tea menu - "Flora Teas" something we have not heard of here - would you fancy one?  Which would you choose?!   

Recent project in aid of Penny Brohn Cancer Care

For final year Fashion and Textile students at Somerset College of Arts and Technology, the annual fashion show was their highlight of the year. When the college pulled out of organising the 2015 show in London, they decided to organise it themselves with help from local companies such as Force 4 Computing!

How to improve your website search result by getting more Google reviews from customers

Customer reviews matter to your local rankings. 

Your business should be encouraging reviews from your customers on Google+. Reviews increase the authority of your Google+ page and increase the likelihood of ranking well in the local search result.  

When potential customers see your listing in Google’s local search results, they’ll see the number of Google Plus reviews you have.  Google tend to rank those businesses with Google reviews and a Google Plus page higher:

Recent Project - Bristol Short Stays

This website involved the integration of one our Force 4 Booking Scripts, enabling the client to have complete control over the management of their lettings properties. Our trusted associate: Peter de Halle' (http://www.pdhphotography.co.uk) provided some of the photography for the site. Advice was also given regarding payment gateway integration.

Please see: http://www.bristolshortstays.co.uk to see the end result.

Recent project - Wainwright Quarry

This long established quarry business were keen to replace their dated old website. The project involved confirming requirements by interviewing key personnel, co-ordinating with a copywriter, providing some initial photography services and then on-going post live support.

Please take a look at this impressive re-make: http://www.wainwright.co.uk

Our trusted associate: Peter de Halle' (http://www.pdhphotography.co.uk) provided some of the photography for the site.

Services Force 4 can provide you - Copywriting

Engaging web content is vital if your website is to perform well for your business – but writing content for your own site is a notoriously onerous task. The benefits:

• Gets the job done quickly
• Saves you time
• Creates fresh material with an objective view
• Writes content focussed on value and benefits
• Costs less than hiring someone full-time in your business

EMail Marketing - Examples

Further to our Email Marketing post, here is a link to some recent newsletters F4 have produced, please take a look!:

http://www.watkins-tasker-vets.co.uk/…/WTV_Feb15_newsletter…

http://www.crystalwm.com/newslet…/CWM_Feb2015_Newletter.html

EMail Marketing

Recent Project - PMG Services

This long established tanker and road sweeper hire company had undergone large scale investment and wanted a new website to highlight this change. Search engine performance was paramount - results have been excellent....

"We are delighted with the support that we received...

Force 4 Computing have been providing us with website support services for several years and have recently completed our brand new website.

Importance of a "mobile friendly" website

A recent study by iAquire and SurveyMonkey revealed that a massive 70% of mobile searches lead to actions on websites within one hour. This is an incredible statistic and one that underlines just how important it is for your website to be mobile-friendly.

Did you know - Your website could earn a search rankings boost - Google has started to give prominence to those website that provide a good mobile experience!

Before and after shots - appearance on a mobile

Recent Project for the White Hart

Force 4 took on a re-build of an existing website for the White Hart in Ironbridge on behalf of Country Inns Management, whom we have done several websites for in the past.

Here is some feedback from Alex, owner of the White Hart and Country Inns Management:

"I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Mike and his team over the last 6 years during which time he has built and designed innumerable websites, created digital marketing solutions to support products and generally made things happen on time and on budget. I am very pleased with the latest website he has created for my gorgeous White Hart pub in Ironbridge.  I have always tended to think of Force 4 as part of my team."

The new wide screen website makes use of the attractive pub images supplied to us.  We incorporated their existing logo and matched their green and neutral colour scheme.

The website features:

New year, new logo?

Does your company need some fresh new branding?  Or are you starting up in business?  Look no further!

We can provide several logo design proofs for your perusal, at a fixed price!

Here at Force 4 we have a Graphic Designer - Mark Hornby, with more than twenty five years experience.  Mark has a wide range of experience in both web design and print media, especially concentrating on corporate identity, logo design and photographic manipulation.   

Join us at a local Business Breakfast Networking event on Thursday 5th March!

We've been a member of this group for more than 10 years and it has been a great way to meet other businesses, spread the word and win new work.  One of each business category is allowed to join the group... so it's easy to know who to pass the business to.

Are you interested?... or just intrigued to find more!... Then it would be great to see you.  You can find out more on our website: www.bni-horizon-networking.co.uk