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School Website Design – 7 Things To Consider. March 9th, 2012.

These days, pupils and parents spend more time on the Internet than they do reading a newspaper or watching television, and the majority of school websites do not project the correct image of the school.

Great websites have a strong design and are content-driven; they should provide parents, pupils, staff, OFSTED and governors with all the information they need – after all, the school website is it’s 24 hour window.

There are several key elements to consider when getting a school website designed. 7 of the most important are:

1. Visual

The visual impact of your site is very important. It gives an overall impression of your school in the first few seconds and if it doesn’t look good you can instantly put people off.

2. Content

Good content is essential to give the right impression. After the visual signals, the next thing that visitors will take on board is the wording. It needs to be informative, engaging and obviously have the correct spelling and grammar – after all a school is the place that children go to learn how to write!

3. USP

Your website needs to show your unique selling points. If you are well known for sport or specialise in I.T. this needs to be clear. It helps set you apart from other schools in your area.

4. Branding

Your look and message needs to be consistent across all channels, from letter heads to adverts. Your website needs to look like it belongs to your brand identity.

5. Navigation

Pupils, parents and other visitors want to find content quickly and so your site needs to make this easy.

6. Social media presence

Schools today need to interact with pupils and parents on platforms of their choice and this includes social media. Consider setting up a Twitter and Facebook profile.

7. Freshness

No-one wants to see out of date content.  Schools need to be able to make quick and easy updates to flag up such things such as school closures and give  information about school trips. By using a CMS (Content Management System), you will be able to make simple text changes and upload pictures, keeping your website fresh and up to date. This can be done without the need for specialist I.T. knowledge and can be done at any time of the day or night without the need for a third party (and the costs associated with that).

Giant Peach can help you attract new pupils, give you a professional online look and help with the job of keeping current pupils and parents informed.

See what we did for The Stonehenge School www.stonehenge.wilts.sch.uk

What is HTML5? Is it ready & who’s using it…. February 22nd, 2012.

There’s a lot of chat in the web world about the ‘magical’ HTML5. So what exactly is HTML5? For those not in the industry I’d say it’s a new standard for creating improved feature-rich websites. For example, native support for video and audio which have previously only been possible with plug-ins such as Flash. The fact that HTML5 is an unfinished standard, with varying degrees of support is something I’d probably leave out of the conversation. Good old Wiki is always there to deal with the technicalities.

HTML5 sticker - I've seen the future, it's in my browser

For those who do work in the web industry, HTML5 means a lot of different things. Hopefully like me, HTML5 is seen as a positive. As a designer it fundamentally means a new set of HTML tags such as <section>, <nav>, <article>, etc. It means studying boilerplate’s and help-guides like the excellent html5doctor to learn how to implement these new tags correctly. read more…

Using Twitter for Business. February 14th, 2012.

You can use Twitter effectively to grow your business but only if you use it in the right way. These tips are designed to help you get the most out of Twitter:

read more…

We’re hiring – Web Developer. November 1st, 2011.

Role: PHP Web Developer (position filled 18 Jan 2011)
Salary: negotiable based on experience

At Giant Peach it’s our people that make us, and thanks to our passionate team we’re continuing to grow – developing and improving every day. It’s an ongoing journey, and we’re always looking to invite bright new talent on board.

We are currently seeking an experienced PHP developer to join our dynamic and friendly team. You will have the opportunity to further your skills and work on some exciting and challenging projects.

read more…

Email Etiquette For Businesses. October 10th, 2011.

How you respond to people by email affects how others perceive you and your company. By following a few simple points you can ensure that your emails provide the information needed and portray you in the way that you want to be seen.

Answer quickly

Always reply to an email within 24 hours (better still, do it on the same day). Even if you only say when you will get back to them about their query, some sort of quick response is needed.

This shows that you are taking the person seriously and, in the case of a more in-depth answer being needed, that you are taking the time to answer correctly.

Outcome: people are normally a lot more patient.

Use the Reply facility – don’t start a fresh subject

If somebody has emailed you about a specific issue, having their email beneath yours ensures that you can both reference where the conversation has got to.

Outcome: no hunting around the mail box for the previous email, allowing simple follow-up. read more…

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