SunSpaces is a well-established part of the Greensquares family of brands, offering a range of high-quality garden rooms, verandas and awnings to help residential and commercial property owners make the most of their outdoor living spaces. SunSpaces stand out from their competitors because their products can be customised to suit every client’s unique requirements and preferences.

We were recently asked to re-design and update the SunSpaces website. Many elements of the site including the colour scheme, page layout and menus have been refreshed by our web designers to create a contemporary, professional-looking new website.  

You will notice that the new website includes many products that have always been a part of the SunSpaces brand, like the Aspire garden rooms and Compact awnings. However, in addition to these longstanding favourites, their new website incorporates a variety of new products and accessories, such as the Avant-Garde and Ultra garden rooms.

The new SunSpaces website is packed with features that make it enjoyable and easy to use. Our development team used the very latest coding techniques and schema tags to build a bespoke, responsive website that stands out in the search results and works seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices.

We included a content management system (CMS) so staff can control products and prices, categories, photo galleries, banners, landing pages, performance reports and more. We integrated Salesforce so that staff can easily manage quotes and follow up requests.

We also added intelligent landing page control and advertisement tracking so that advertising campaigns can be monitored and altered effortlessly. The new site is also integrated with conversion tracking so that its performance is continually recorded and easy to assess whenever necessary.

With these new features and a modern re-design, we are confident that the SunSpaces team and future SunSpaces customers will take pleasure in using the site. We have been able to create a new website for SunSpaces without compromising any of the features that made the old site such a success!

You can visit the new SunSpaces website here: https://www.sunspaces.co.uk/

If you’re looking for a professional website for your business, look no further. Get in touch with the team here at Designer Websites for a free, no-obligation web design quote.

Contact Us >

AlfrescoPlus is the new e-commerce addition to the ever-growing Greensquares online presence.  This brand-new site allows those DIY-enthusiast and self-builders to purchase high-quality outdoor living products online, quickly, and hassle-free. The built-in area calculators and suggested accessories sections provide a super-quick way to get everything you need in just a few clicks.

The site showcases the unique brands that have helped to build the high-quality reputation of Greensquares, such as PrimaPorcelain, TimberTech and SunSpaces. These are all high-quality products that have not previously been readily available to buy online before now.

AlfrescoPlus is driven by the idea that beautiful outdoor living spaces should be accessible to everyone. When the AlfrescoPlus team approached us, they emphasised the need for a user-friendly e-commerce site that would make their extensive product range easy to browse, and hassle-free to purchase.

What did we do for them?

To provide AlfrescoPlus customers with the best possible experience, we created a truly responsive e-commerce website, that works seamlessly across all devices.

The feature-packed website is not only user friendly, responsive and optimised for the search engines, but also contains clever landing page functionality, custom built and highly sophisticated ad/event tracking, sample ordering as well as product ordering, a comprehensive bespoke content management system, integration into Salesforce, order and sample reports, order tracking, automated Google Merchant Centre integration, and much more besides!

Our SEO team optimised the website copy to give every page the best possible chance of showing up in the search engine results and ranking highly for industry-specific keywords and phrases. Optimising AlfrescoPlus in this way will drive relevant customers to the site, improve overall user satisfaction and increase the likelihood of successful sales.

We believe visitors will find navigating the site a doddle, and equally, they’ll find the normally complex world of ordering something like decking, effortless! The site has a blog and social media feeds integrated so that Alfresco can provide inspiration via gallery images, which will hopefully be useful for those just in the planning stages of their outdoor living space.

You can visit AlfrescoPlus here at https://www.alfrescoplus.co.uk/

If you need a bespoke, practical and professional-looking e-commerce website for your business, then contact us for a FREE, no-obligation web design quote.

Jobs in the IT sector have grown at almost twice the rate of jobs in other industries in the UK. Access Training Academies, a long-time client of ours, is passionate about helping people to retrain and pursue exciting new careers, and they recently asked us to create a website dedicated to promoting a new selection of IT training courses.

Access IT Careers aims to give each student a comprehensive introduction to their chosen profession and set them up for a long, successful career. They offer courses in the following disciplines:

• Network Engineering
• Cyber Security Engineering
• Infrastructure Engineering

Why did Access Training Academies come to us?

We have worked with Access Training Academies before – their main website, which was also created by Designer Websites, offers training courses in trades such as plumbing and plastering. We were thrilled when they asked us to work with them again on their latest exciting venture.

We made Access Training Academies’ IT site mobile friendly so that users can check out these exciting IT courses with ease even when they’re on the go. In addition to the design and development of the site, we also optimised the website to rank well on search engines like Google and Bing.

If you need a professional website for your business, please get in touch with the Designer Websites Team. Request a free, no-obligation quote for your project here.

When you're trying to succeed in the world of ecommerce, there are lots of different factors to consider. Nowadays, most online shoppers expect ecommerce websites to meet each of the following criteria:

• Secure checkout system
• Appealing, mobile-friendly design
• Minimal loading times
• User-friendly site navigation
• Extensive product information (so that people know exactly what they're buying)
• Competitive prices
• Positive feedback from other customers
• Ability to contact the seller with ease

Consumer trust is key to the success of any ecommerce website, and you will probably need to tick all of the above boxes in order to earn the trust of the average online shopper in this day and age.

With this in mind, here are three helpful ecommerce website design ideas from the ecommerce experts here at Designer Websites:

Use engaging, good-quality product images.

Most people won't purchase something online unless they're certain of what they're paying for. Detailed product descriptions are important, but a picture is worth a thousand words, and a few good images will generally sell your product a lot more effectively than a few paragraphs of text.

Both quality and quantity are important here. You need detailed images that make your items look enticing, but you should also try to offer a variety of images for each product. Try to cover all bases: one no-frills image that clearly shows what the product looks like; one or two photos of the product in use; a picture to show what the product looks like in its packaging, and another to show what's actually inside the box. You get the idea - your product images should aim to answer every question the average customer might ask.

Of course, you should also ensure that the images on your website aren’t so large that they slow the whole page down. Loading speed is a critical issue for Internet users these days, and even an extra second or two can have a disastrous impact on your website’s conversion rate, so make sure those beautiful images are optimised for a smooth, speedy browsing experience!

Put lots of emphasis on customer reviews.

We all seek approval from other people, and this tendency can be clearly seen in the behaviour of online shoppers: by and large, we're far more likely to buy something if several other people say they did the same and had a good experience.

For this reason, you not only need to gather reviews from your satisfied customers, you need to put those reviews right where everyone will see them. Your ecommerce website design should ensure that every potential customer sees all the 5-star ratings and positive comments that your other customers have left. It should also be clear how many people have reviewed each product, since a 5-star average rating is a lot more persuasive if multiple people have given the product full marks.

Shoppers see positive reviews as seals of approval - they have a hugely reassuring effect on the potential buyer, so make sure those ratings and recommendations aren't buried way down at the bottom of the page.

Make it easy for users to find what they're looking for.

The modern Internet user is an impatient creature, and the more barriers you put between them and what they're looking for, the more likely it becomes that they'll leave your website and shop with one of your competitors instead. As we mentioned before, it's important to ensure that your pages load quickly, but it's just as important to make the journey from one page to the next as seamless as possible.

This can be achieved in a number of different ways:

• Make sure your website's search function works properly, and ensure that the search bar is easy to find no matter what page the user is on
  
  
• List 'related products' (or similar) on your product pages. That way, if the user decides that the product they're looking at isn't quite what they need, it's easy for them to find a suitable alternative.
  
  
• Put important information - your delivery options, your returns policy, and so on - somewhere that's reasonably easy to spot so users don't waste time trying to find it.
  
  
• When designing your site hierarchy (i.e. your categories and sub-categories), put yourself in the shoes of your average user and try to come up with a sensible structure that's easy to navigate even if you've never seen it before.
  
  
• Make your homepage as helpful as possible. It may be tempting to simply fill your homepage with the products you're most keen to sell, but this may not be best for the user. Again, you should endeavour to put yourself in their shoes: if someone arrives on your homepage, are they looking for a specific product or piece of information, or are they just browsing for ideas? Do they want to know about your company, or do they want to see the newest additions to your range?

Essentially, your aim should be to minimise the number of clicks / actions the user has to perform in order to achieve their goal.

If you need a bespoke ecommerce website designed by professionals, we at Designer Websites are the people to call. Request an ecommerce quote here!

In this modern day and age, we are all very much accustomed to using apps on a daily basis.

We use native apps on our phones for waking us up, planning appointments, tracking our fitness, speaking with our friends, checking public transport times, the weather, the news… the list is endless! It is for this reason that companies are often drawn to developing Apps for their customers, because it allows for better interaction with those customers, or at least that is the theory.

One of the problems with Apps is that they are very expensive to develop and maintain, especially as they have to be developed for multiple platforms i.e. Android and iOS. Another significant drawback is that it is often impossible to gauge how useful the intended audience will find the App, or whether it will be used at all. On top of this they are not indexed in the major search engines, so you have to do some level of marketing to create awareness of the App, which again is another cost.

Progressive Web Apps are significantly cheaper to develop, are very easy and cost-effective to scale, are directly integrated by default with your website, and can be indexed by the likes of Google. This makes having an App considerably more cost effective for your business.

If you’re up to date with the latest development technologies then you may have heard about Progressive Web Apps before now, but if not, and you are considering having an App developed for your business then read on.

What Are Progressive Web Apps?

Progressive Web Apps are fundamentally web pages that can look and feel like a native app on your phone. They combine the best functions of mobile apps (offline functionality, background updating, push notifications, shortcut icon) with the accessibility and shareable nature of web pages.

Not only is a Progressive Web App highly functional, it is also at the forefront of modern web page design, utilising the very latest technologies and coding practises. Another significant benefit is that through the use of something called ‘Service Workers’ these Apps can be used both offline and online, making them incredibly accessible. In fact, Google themselves vouch for Progressive Web Apps, stating that they are reliable, fast and engaging!

By combining the best parts of the web and mobile apps, Progressive Web Apps provide a seamless and immersive experience for the user.

What Are the Benefits of Progressive Web Apps?

Now you know what a Progressive Web App is, you may be wondering how it could benefit you. Here are a few reasons why you should consider using a Progressive Web App for your business.

• Progressive

They are named Progressive Web Apps because they are built with progressive enhancement as their main goal. By nature, they must work on all devices and take advantage of the user’s device and browser which is what makes them progressive.

• Offline Functionality

As mentioned above, the addition of a Service Worker means that Progressive Web Apps will work on low-quality networks and even offline. The Service Worker essentially allows your device to cache pages and functionality, meaning that they can work without an internet connection, as long as they have been visited/loaded at least once with a connection. The Service Worker also allows the App to take advantage of native device functions, send push notifications and allow background synchronising. These features help to keep your customers engaged.

• Responsive

Progressive Web Apps are built to fit on all devices, meaning they are completely responsive from the very beginning. This extends the reach of your Progressive Web App and will provide a great user experience wherever a customer accesses it.

• App-like Feel

Through the use of an Application Shell, Progressive Web Apps can feel very much like using a native app. An App Shell separates the functionality and the content, meaning the ‘shell’ of the Progressive Web App loads before the content. This is then cached, so it instantly loads on repeat visits. This ensures a great performance for the user each time.

To add to the app-like feel, a shortcut to the Progressive Web App can be added onto any device. This provides easy access and background caching, just like a native app. 

• Easy to share/discover

The main benefit of being a web page that looks like an app is that it can be easily shared and discovered. Progressive Web Apps can be shared through its URL, extending its reach significantly. These Apps can also be indexed by the likes of Google, meaning that you can simply optimise them for additional traffic.

• No Installation

Users also do not need to download Progressive Web Apps in the app store. This is a considerable benefit, because it has been found that on average an app loses 20% of its users for every step between the first contact and beginning to use the app. Progressive Web Apps limit the number of obstacles between your business and the consumer.

Case Studies

Alongside the many impressive benefits, case studies have also proven that Progressive Web Apps are delivering on their promise. Many popular brands have noted the benefits of Progressive Web Apps and have decided to make the change. It has been found that Progressive Web Apps provide higher user engagement, increased time on page and increased conversions.

For example, India’s biggest e-commerce website watched their conversions increase by 70% when they made the change to a Progressive Web App. User time spent on-site also tripled, and their re-engagement rate increased by 40%.

With stats like that, it’s hard to not be convinced by the allure of Progressive Web Apps.

A few more familiar faces such as Whatsapp, Airbnb and Trivago have also developed Progressive Web Apps for their businesses. Just head to any of these websites to get a feel for how seamless and immersive Progressive Web Apps can be for the user.

We have recently delivered a Progressive Web App to a Property Maintenance company, who use complex site audit forms to provide engineer assessments. Their engineers visit sites all over the country and often end up in basements, or in areas with little or no signal, so this App allows them to complete the complex forms on their device and submit them quickly and easily on site.

If the engineer has no signal at the time of submission, the App will save the data and submit it once they do have a signal. This Progressive Web App is a massive time-saving tool, which also saves considerably on printing and hand-completing forms. It is one example of how a Progressive Web App can deliver superb functionality in a very practical solution.

To see more case studies of Progressive Web Apps which have provided great benefits for the businesses, you can just head to Google’s case studies section.

So, are Progressive Web Apps for you?

Progressive Web Apps are redefining the way we look at native apps, and even websites. Since 2015 when the term ‘Progressive Web Apps’ was coined by designer Frances Berriman and Google Chrome Engineer Alex Russell, this new web technology has been on the rise. We think the technology is fantastic for businesses that want to take advantage of an App, whilst keeping costs down, and maintaining use of the very latest in scalable technology.

So, if your business is looking to develop time-saving functionality, or a highly interactive customer App, or even a series of forms that can be submitted offline, then we recommend that you take a close look at Progressive Web Apps, as they bring undisputable benefits to many business processes and client interactions.

If you would like to talk to one of our expert developers about a Progressive Web App project then please give us a call anytime, or drop us an email with your project brief and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can.