A survey has revealed that many more shoppers are checking on-line recommendations before making a purchase. Marketing firm Cone found that 81% of Americans go on-line to verify recommendations. The figures are further broken down:

• Just over 60% of these people research product/service information
• 55% read user reviews
• 43% search ratings websites.

It seems that personal recommendations alone are no longer enough to guarantee a purchase, as 77% of consumers say they are more likely to purchase products or services when they can find additional recommendations about them on-line.

Of 
those aged  25 to 34, on-line verification is even more vital as the report found that 91% go on-line to check out recommendations before making a purchase.

There are also some categories of products that  are more likely to encourage people to check out recommendations. These include purchases of products that people hope to own for many years and also products that make health and safety claims.

It seems that these days, more than ever, companies and marketers should pay greater attention to what is being said and reported about their products and services.

For more infomation on online shops and web design, take a look at our ecommerce package.

Do you own a website or website business that is aimed at different countries and cultures? Have you thought about how this website will be received by such a wide range of people? Here we bring you some guidelines about creating a website for a spectrum of cultures.

Content is king
Content should always be relevant and useful but there’s another reason why it needs to be well-written. Content that is easy to read and understand is also easier to translate into other languages. The best way to create great, well-write content is to hire a professional copywriter.

Images
Make sure all images on your website are “appropriate” across a range of cultures. An acceptable picture in western countries might be offensive in other parts of the world. A good example of this might be an image of someone relaxing with their feet up. This could cause offence in Thailand, where it is unacceptable to show the soles of the feet.

Keywords
To ensure SEO campaigns are successful in other languages, you need to work with a professional translator to develop a good list of foreign-language keywords. There is no point in building a great website if no one can find it.

Layout
A website that is created with a left-hand navigation structure will not be easily adapted to countries where their language is read right-to-left or top-to- bottom. The same principle applies to the theory that the eye is naturally drawn to the top-left area of a web page. For an Arabic reader, it may be the top-right. You can avoid usability issues with your navigation structure by employing a horizontal top navigation, which will be more universally usable.

Colour
Most designers know that different colours can have varying psychological effects on the people viewing them. Some colours can also have greater psychological impact because of the influence of cultural factors. For example, in Islamic countries green can have an important religious significance, whereas in Western cultures it’s more often associated with eco issues. In Korea, a name written in red indicates that the person is dead. It’s therefore vital that you research your colour choice – and speak to people from each of the countries/cultures that you plan to target.

* For expert advice about web design why not check out WebCreationUK? The leading web design company has a huge portfolio of design work.

Less can sometimes me more – and when it comes to website design, a simple look and style can often feel more attractive to the visitor. Afterall, the easier it is to use and navigate a website the more likely it is for visitors to stay on your site.
But still businesses “over-do” their websites. Here are some of the most common reasons why a website can seem too big and cumbersome:

* A fear of missing something: The mistaken belief that by putting everything on-line you are giving users easy access to everything they need to know. Unfortunately, with so much to look through, it can often be difficult to actually find anything.
* A fear users will not understand: Endless instructions just turn off visitors, rather than informing them.
* A desperate desire to convince: Over-promotion on websites is a huge no-no. Using big text or corny sales messages just makes your business look desperate to please.

So how can you simplify your website to create a useful, yet attractive resource? Here are three top tips for a simplified website:

Remove unnecessary content: Retain only the truly useful content. Be critical about your website and think about why people are visiting it. So an e-commerce site might include: what you do, why you are better/cheaper than rivals, what you sell, how to buy.

Hide content: One way to serve a range of visitors is to have links from the home page to “extra” information. So while you will display all your prominent messages on the home page there will be links to other pages that include details such as, “about us”, “testimonials” etc.

Shrink content: If a website is likely to serve one larger audience but also a few smaller audiences then there could home page links, but these links could be “shrunken”. So, for example, a university website’s primary audience is prospective students. But they also cater for staff and existing students. These people might need quick access to intranet tools. A small, inconspicuous link on the home page will take this smaller audience to the right content. By keeping the link small (shrunk) the site serves their needs without distracting or confusing the primary audience.

You can speak to WebCreationUK regarding any of your web design needs, stop by for a free quote.

Google has bought a huge new “real-world information database” that it plans to use to create a “smarter, more connected internet”. The search engine giant has acquired Metaweb Technologies, a five-year-old American company that maintains the massive open database.

Google reckons that the Metaweb database – nicknamed Freebase – is the route to improving searches on the internet.

Google is reported as saying: “Over time we’ve improved search by deepening our understanding of queries and web pages. The web isn’t merely words – it’s information about things in the real world, and understanding the relationships between real-world entities can help us deliver relevant information more quickly… Working [with Metaweb], we want to improve search and make the web richer and more meaningful for everyone.”

Freebase stores information on more than 11 million “things in the world”, including films, books, TV shows, celebrities, locations, and companies. The company was set up to help customers use this data to enhance the design of their websites.

Google has also reported that it will continue to maintain Freebase for public use.

For more infomation on search engine optimization take a look at our Advanced SEO package.

There seems to be no stopping Google as it bids to become an even greater king of the information superhighway. Now we’ve heard that Google has set their sights on creating a new Facebook in the shape of “Google Me”.

There hasn’t been an official announcement from Google yet, and this is still a working title, but the gossip in the social media networking world is that Google is not far away from launching something big. It’s believed that Google Me will combine the designs of Google Profiles and Buzz.

The rumour is thought to have started from a tweet by Digg co-founder Kevin Rose.

It’s a brave step, however, as Facebook is now such an established on-line social network and Google’s attempt to compete with Twitter, ie Buzz, didn’t work as well as they had hoped.

But Google does have a few advantages. Google Me will likely integrate a range of other Google tools, such as Gmail, Maps, Profiles, and could have the potential to be something rather special.

We’ll have to wait and see.

WebCreationUK have a social media package available, speak to us for more or any of your other web design needs.

eBay has launched a new social media seller programme that will recognise the sellers who most use Twitter and Facebook.

It’s called the eBay Ink Social Media Seller programme and while still in its infancy the scheme looks like being good news for the most dedicated eBay sellers.

Basically, the sellers who use social media the most to augment their presence on-line will be identified and recognised with special badges – thus gaining greater presence on-line and wider publicity to a greater potential customer base.

While only a handful of eBay sellers have so far been awarded an eBay Ink badge it’s likely that this scheme will be fast-growing.

As all business owners know it can sometimes take only a small increase in publicity to pay huge dividends in terms of new customers.

WebCreationUK can help you spice up your Twitter or Facebook page with one of our social media packages, come speak to us for more!