Net66 at 12: A Dozen Reasons to Celebrate

Net66’s progress from bedroom to city centre premises

Happy Birthday Net66 — Not our birthday cake unfortunately, but the work of johndoeforty1’s from 2008 (Creative Commons License – Some Rights Reserved). Still, it looks gorgeous and has least one-fifth of your Five A Day on top of its icing.

In the last twelve years, the SEO world has changed dramatically. We have seen search engines and algorithms come and go; the demise of IE6 and the rise of Google Chrome; and, most importantly, the rise of social media. Back in 2004, social media meant MySpace and LiveJournal. After the flurry of the DotCom Boom, the internets started to grow up (though found time for cat pictures and video clips). Meanwhile, from a spare bedroom in Heywood, Lancashire, came Net66. Continue reading “Net66 at 12: A Dozen Reasons to Celebrate”

New Website is now live!

It is important for a business to constantly evolve to keep up with an ever changing world, especially in a fast paced industry such as internet marketing. This is one of the reasons that here at Net66 we have now released our brand new website.

When we design websites for our clients, we design one that will last the test of time. However, as one of the leaders in website design Manchester wide, we want to showcase our design skills. We know that sites need to be easier to read and navigate to be effective, but we also believe that the way a website looks is just as important. It is essentially your shop window, and can draw people in or push them away.

We are also one of the most established companies for SEO in Manchester. Our website has gone to the top of Google in record time. SEO is a competitive market in Manchester, and if we can get ourselves to the first page of Google within a matter of days, we are more then confident we can do the same for our customers.

We know that our new website projects how we see ourselves. Modern, forward thinking and state of the art. We are linked to all of the social networks in the way we would for our customers, using the skills of our sister company The Social Media People. Our website will continue to develop, as will we, to keep up with the exciting, fast paced world of online marketing.

Website Design Experts

Throughout the recession most businesses have struggled and even the most successful blue chip companies have had to tighten their belt to weather the storm. A few of the fripperies should have to be cut out, but your online presence should 100% not be one of them.

As you’re trying to save money, so are your customers. Instead of wandering the shops they will be shrewdly calculating how they can afford the products and services they want and/or need, and looking online is one way they will do this. If you think you cannot afford a website at this time, I’m telling you you can’t afford not to have a website.

Web design companies are offering more and more competitive packages. Net66 provides some of the leading services for website design Manchester wide, and have seen the benefit of companies using the internet for advertising. For example, if you have a company that sells bespoke kitchens in Manchester, you need to be the most prominent, most professional kitchen supplying company on the web Manchester wide. You can only do this with a well designed website, show casing your work and inspiring people to buy from you instead of the guy down the road.

These days, a website is more likely to be what introduces a potential customer to your business then either your shop front of your staff. First impressions are everything, and you need to stand out. Your website should be professional, work well with search engines, project your brand image and reflect your business. You only get this from a professional website design company, and a professional designed website is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.

SEO in Manchester

There are many companies claiming to offer the best services for SEO in Manchester, but few follow up by providing the results to back up this claim. The aim of Search Engine Optimisation, or SEO, is to achieve as high a ranking on the major search engines as possible. Here at Net66 we are number one if you search ‘SEO Manchester‘. If we can do that for a competitive industry such as ours in an area where this service is widely provided, think what we can do for you.

Over 97% of people with access to the Internet use it to find products and services they need, instead of using methods such as telephone directories, local papers or notice boards. The majority of people would look at the top three first, and would very rarely go past the first page if they found what they needed. Getting yourself in the position where you are at the top of these search engines is in no way simple or easy. Search engines such as Google or Bing are always changing how they chose to rank you on their listings, and using a company that keeps it’s finger on the pulse of search engine’s criteria for indexing websites, such as ourselves, is invaluable.

A visible online presence is not just an asset these days, it’s practically a necessity. Creating a website and promoting it to the extent that you are the first people potential customers see is an investment well worth making. Redirecting your funds from antiquated forms of advertising such as direct mail, radio, newspapers and even television, is a sensible step for any business wanting to flourish in this new digital age.

Importance of Mobile Websites | Net66

The growth of mobile browsing has been phenomenal. An astounding 77% of the world’s population now own a mobile phone, and over half a billion of these users regularly access the web via their hand-held device. Thus, ignoring this market is a huge error and can severely limit both your traffic and business success.

Unfortunately, mobile browsing can be somewhat difficult for both web developers and designers to accommodate. While some mobile devices can handle websites designed for laptop or desktop users, many cannot. One of the primary reasons for this is that many websites are designed in a way that ignores the emerging platform. The use of table and copy rich websites often result in tightly crammed webpages that simply cannot adapt to the smaller, touch screens.

Generally, there are two options; firstly, you could design a dedicated mobile site for handheld devices. Secondly, and more practically, you could design your initial site with multiple browsing platforms in mind. Nevertheless, here at Net66, we believe that a combination of both methods presents the best return. Therefore, your website ought to be designed in the knowledge that your website will be accessed across multiple platforms and you could provide an alternative site should your initial site fail on the platform. For instance, a click-able redirect to the mobile site at the top of the page would allow users that cannot fully explore your website to go to a compatible site with minimal fuss.

Some important considerations:

Websites that over-use tables for the main layout will often not look right on mobile phones
Your website must use CSS to ensure maximum cross-platform browsing
It is preferable to code your website in HTML
Design your website with users in mind. For instance, put the most important information at the top of the page.
It can often be more difficult to enter text on a mobile website. Keep this in mind a fully utilise other methods.
If your website has images, it is preferable to use JPEG or GIF files.
Be aware that the maximum page size for many mobile devices is 20 kb.