"How much would it cost to build me an extension to my home in Bath?"

A common question for many builders. And a very good question indeed. If you are asking a psychic builder that is.

The impossible question

You see phoning a builder to ask how much an extension costs is an impossible question to answer. And that’s because the builder will need to know from you, what requirements you have. Things like size, types of materials, type of roof, preparation work, amount of floors, window preferences etc.

So maybe the question you should be asking is; 

"Based on all the information I have given you, how much would it cost to build me an extension which meets my current needs and requirements?"

Therefore before you even consider asking this question, you will need to consider what are your requirements? Or at the very least phone the builder to help you work out exactly what those requirements are. This will then give him a better understanding of what is needed. Thereby, allowing him to clearly estimate any costs involved.

When building an extension you will of course need to think just  how do you want an extension to work for you?  How will it function to improve the quality of home life? How is an extension going to add value to your home?

Two floors

Depending on the materials used in the build will determine the look and ultimately the cost of the project.



Ground floor annexe

You need to let the builder know what you want before he can tell you how much.

Remember, it's all down to your needs and requirements.

That and that alone will be the deciding factor on overall cost.


Whether one floor or two, prices are going to vary


So depending on what you want to use it for, how luxurious or high spec you want it inside, the quality of the building materials or how much room you need, will ultimately dictate how much the overall cost will be.

If you want to build a pre-fabricated or flat pack extension, then it will cost a lot less than a timber frame or glass extension. If you build one storey it will cost less than a two storey extension of the same size.

Other costs to consider would be any digging and excavation, specialised vehicle hire (such as diggers or cranes), concrete foundations, roofing and tiling, guttering and down pipes, windows, doors, internal and external plastering and rendering, plumbing and gas or electrical work.

Diggers to rent

So before phoning a builder, maybe you need to ask yourself a few questions about your needs and your requirements which an extension would fulfil.
 
Then your builder will be able to sit down with you and go through a well planned and well estimated cost to all the materials, tools and time needed to complete the project in the way YOU want it done.

You as the customer hold the key to the cost to all project work based on personal requirements. You decide the quality and quantity of work completed.

Therefore, you and only you will determine the final cost to any project based on the way you want it to turn out. The way you want it to work for you, both now and into the future.



Crane for hire

You see building an extension is like building a bespoke car, a tailored suit, a website or even a house. It all boils down to your personal preferences and needs.


Phone a builder in Bath

So by all means get on the phone to your local builder in Bath.





But remember, when you do, tell him you want to discuss building an extension, based on your personal needs and requirements. And once he has that information he can quote you a price to complete the job.

Bath Business Web brings customers and businesses together to fulfil those needs

Bath Business Web Ltd - Bringing your Business to Life 

Call for a free consultation and find out more about how you can help your business grow

 

01225 920 503

THINKING BIG

Donald Trump put it like this, “I think big, most people think small, this gives me a distinct advantage.” He’s absolutely spot on – and when I first heard him say those words, back in 2004, it changed my life. Because I started thinking big too.

Today’s circumstances bring a lot of potential for new ideas, new tipping points in communication, and new ways of building communities of buyers. But without big thinking, you won’t be able to take advantage of any of it. Today, it’s about exploring challenges and opportunities in new ways, not in doing things like we did five years ago!

Mediocre is ordinary. But you know what? That’s the standard of the vast majority of businesses. They’re ordinary. They don’t have the balls for big thinking.

Do you?

If you’re not setting big and bold goals, having big and bold thoughts and putting your plans into action in big and bold ways, then you’re running just another ordinary business. You’re aspiring to the status quo. And I can tell you what your results will be. Mediocre. Ordinary. Normal. If you’re lucky.

Be among the elite

Here’s the truth: if you think big and set ambitious goals, you’re going to be among a select group of businesses. That’s because there’s less competition for the big goals. Most businesses are chasing mediocrity.

And here’s some more truth: Everyone knows it. Their customers, their employees. Everyone.

If you’re going to succeed big, you need to think big. You need to surround yourself with successful, positive people. Surround yourself with people who also think big and, importantly, people who’ve created big success and who inspire you!

These personalities are contagious. They’ll lift you up and encourage you so that you can not only think big, but do big.

You’ll also want to avoid those who “think small”. Just as big bold thinkers will lift you up, small and dim thinkers will bring you down to their level. So much of success is who you surround yourself with, and who you have on your team, not only in the game, but at your side and behind the scenes.

You have a choice. You can choose where you aim for. If you shoot for mediocrity, you won’t be lonely. But you won’t be successful either.                                                                                                                                                                         From the book “It’s all changed” by Nigel Botterill 2011

We found this book by Nigel Botterill, owner of the Entrepreneur’s Circle and owner of other million pound businesses, very interesting and a lot of it makes sense.

www.websitedesigninbath.com

www.nigelbotterill.com 

The Grass Isn't Always Greener

In Wiktionary it explains the proverb as “others circumstances seem more desirable than one’s own but in reality are often not”

We would like to tell you about some good news we have had recently.

Several customers have recently returned to us having tried other companies or friends but found the skills and product we provide are superior. Maybe they wanted to pay less for website services but realised we offered a lot of background work, management, after care and they had not appreciated how valuable or complete our services were.

They found that their business started to suffer from not being on Google’s front page. Our SEO work is renowned  and the many years of  knowledge gained at Bath Business Web and our proven results has played a major part in their business and having their company on Google’s front page was priceless. Pay Per Click has its place but we prefer to achieve a natural, organic result. Through recent research we have found people are more inclined to choose a natural result in their searches.

The success of the online directories, the ability for a customer to update website pages themselves, the guide to social media, are also included in our services and training is given upon request to help your web presence .

We work hard to understand the needs of each individual customer and their business to achieve the best website and relationship. Our ultimate aim is to help them expand their business and achieve great success, so we welcome them back with open arms and look forward to working with them again.

Why does my Business in Bath need Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Do you know what to do to help your business website in Bath reach the first page of Google or any other search engine? Does your website for your business in Bath have a strong presence on the internet? If not, read on….

You being good, honest, reliable and sensible business people of Bath want to know that you are doing your best to ensure the business in Bath that you own or manage works efficiently and productively. This of course, includes the marketing and advertising of your business on the internet.



Front page results

Once you have a website built you will want it fit for purpose and fully functioning to meet your business and ecommerce needs. 

This includes how to show it off to the world and make it very visible and accessible to any potential new client’s or customers. 

To me it’s a bit like how best to place an advert in a newspaper or where to distribute those leaflets for maximum effect. 

As a business person you know better than most the need to maximise your advertising and marketing potential, while taking into account the time input or financial costs of doing so.

In the online world this is where SEO or Search Engine Optimisation comes in. 

It is just one element of helping your business get the most out of the internet and the most out of your website. That’s where a team of professionals known as SEO Bath come in to their own. 


Click on here to find out more about SEO Bath

SEO Bath are part of the business website designers and online business directories known as Bath Business Web Ltd. They know all there is to know about the internal workings of the internet and good sound SEO. 

Bath SEO support hundreds of local business entrepreneurs to maximise their websites true potential. They not only operate in Bath, but have business connections that stretch across Somerset, Wiltshire and Bristol to help their clients achieve front page results in Google, Yahoo and all the most used search engines throughout the UK and the world.

The good people at SEO Bath, aka Bath Business Web Ltd, know full well that successful search engine optimisation (SEO) is one of the many vital components which help your business website outperform your competitors. 


Bath Business Web SEO, Web Design & Directories

They have encountered too many business owners over the years who have not considered the SEO needs of their website. 

They have experienced first hand the results of business people who have struggled to get any sort of return on the investment they made in the build and construction of a well-designed website. 

No use having an all singing all dancing website if it can’t find the dance floor to perform its best.


So good business men and women of Bath, Bristol, Wiltshire and Somerset, don’t in any way assume it is good enough to build a website and think that people will be able to find it. Let’s face it your website has to do battle amongst the hundreds of other websites on the internet which are selling or offering products or services just like yours.  

Not to mention all the websites, directories or social media links which appear in-between those websites on the search engines. It’s a minefield out there and one where you need to have the right gear and the up to date technology to get through it to reach the top and be safe in the knowledge that your business is up there with the best of them.


Contact SEO Bath by clicking here

Every day in Bath many people use the internet as a means to find the services, products or professionals in their local area. A search engine such as Google is often the first place the go to. They can do this at home on their PC, on the move with their laptop or tablet. But more and more they are just using that very common device, the mobile phone to search the internet and download the websites the wish to view. 

The websites they view may or may not include yours. I mean to say, do you know how many people are visiting your website every month? Do you know how many are going beyond the first page? Do you know how many people who contact  you have done so because they found your website? 


Ensure search engines find your business website

Some of this information you can get 
through the use of Google analytics and a good business person will analyse the performance of their website. 

It’s also good to get feedback from new callers. Remember some may have seen your website, but how did they know about it? 

It’s no good just asking did you get our details by visiting our website. Because it doesn’t tell you if a friend gave them the details, if they saw a leaflet or flyer or an advert in Yellow Pages. 



So there is a need to ask very precise questions on how they came across your website if you are going to gain insight to the effectiveness of the sites ability to perform. 



Google Analytics for your Bath business website

So if people are going onto a search engine, in what ways does SEO help you once they get there?

Well search engine optimisation has a number of key elements. Far too many and sometimes a tad complicated to explain in a simple blog. 

As well as an ever changing way which Google change the ‘rules of engagement’ on the internet and the changes they want it to achieve for the future of their own business.

Remember Google is a business like any other and can make even more money from the likes of you and me if it too is to keep up to date with the demands of the people who browse the internet. After all Google is a business worth millions and will continually progress and change to fill that financial pot and help it stay at the top of its game.



Getting the keywords right helps with search engine optimisation

So the easiest and most common element to understand with search engine optimisation (SEO), is that of ‘keywords’. 

Keywords are the words people use when searching on the internet. 

Keywords are also the words that best describe your business, products or services which are most likely to be used by the general public. 

So if I am Joe Bloggs and I want someone to come and service my central heating boiler the keywords I use are likely to be ‘plumber Bath’ (as I know plumbers do that sort of thing and I live I Bath).

Am I likely to type ‘central heating technicians Bath’, well not really as a majority of the public may not use that terminology. They may use ‘central heating engineers bath’, that is more common. See what I mean?

So it doesn’t matter what you call yourselves, its what the public are currently calling your type of business or profession that counts. People are also a bit lazy, as well as time demanding and will want to use as little words as possible. Generally people will think of the one word that describes to a T what they are looking for as well as the town or area they live. 


SEO by Bath Business Web Ltd

If people type in ‘plumber’ on its own they will get everything there is to do with the word plumber in the whole of the world on the internet. That will include papers or articles written with the word plumber in them. 

This will include businesses throughout the globe with the word plumber, some of which may or may not actually be plumbers of course. 

There will be all manner of websites and any from Bath will be totally lost in the sea of websites and links in the search engine. 

That’s why if they type Bath as well as the word plumber it narrows the each down immensely. As you can imagine lol. 



When your business has its website built make sure there is text in the website which reflects and reproduces the words which the public use when searching on Google. If not, get in touch with the SEO professionals like SEO Bath who will put it right.

If you are a plumber in Bath and you don’t have these words strategically written throughout your website, then it is more than likely our site will not be found by Google. That is to say Google will only relate the words used by the people typing in their keywords and who are looking for sites with those words in the text and content of a website, regardless of whether or not it is a plumber or not. Google will prioritise websites which follow these simples ‘rules of engagement’ and your website will be there somewhere. It’s just where? And if it is 3, 4 or 10 pages from the top, well what can I say? Who do you know ever goes looking on those?

Keywords as I say are just one element of search engine optimisation. And just because you have the right keywords in your website now doesn’t means that the will be the keywords you need to consider for the future. Google is constantly changing, the internet is constantly progressing. So you and your website needs to keep up and change with it. 



SEO Bath leading the way on the Internet

That’s why a number of companies use professional SEO experts to do it for them and keep their websites up to date and maximise visibility on the internet search engines. After all I said keywords is just one element. Other things which help the SEO process are well written and keyword effective blogs, social media input, use of effective back end coding and front end content, correct use of alt tags and meta descriptions. 

Some of these things I realise, will not mean anything to you, but website designers and engineers will klnow exactly what they are and the necessity to use them effectively and in accordance with search engine requirements. 

Bath Business Web's SEO specialists are experts in search engine optimisation and have successfully built and optimised hundreds of websites for clients in Bath. We achieve countless front page results for Bath businesses in search engines such as Google and Yahoo thanks to our expert knowledge of SEO.

There are lots of SEO techniques that can benefit the search engine optimisation of a website, and it is certainly not as simple as adding a few keywords to your metadata. SEO Bath know what it takes to get your website onto the front pages of major search engines like Google. In fact Bath Business Web's SEO experts in Bath have gained such great results for so many clients in and around Bath by using our SEO methods, that our websites dominate the listings for many popular search terms in Bath.

How can a business in Bath improve on what it has already?

One way to do this is let the good people at SEO Bath can help you set up Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a free tool to allow you to follow the flow of people traffic coming to your website.

 

Front page results from SEO Bath

This includes detailed analysis and information on number of visitors, whether they got to you through a mobile phone or otherwise as well as much more regarding the activity on the site.

 

Having this tool from Google will give you the edge over the competition.

 

Your business websites ability to rank highly on any of the search engines will of course have a dramatic effect on the traffic to your website.

This traffic of human visitors and potential customers of the future, can then be turned into custom or trade. It’s worth noting that over 70% of web users say that after the third page of a search engine they abandon the search. That means that if your website doesn't appear on the first three pages of that search engine, people won't find your site.

 

Remember, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is equally as important to the end results of your website as the design itself. You will want your business website in Bath to look good, function well and be very visible on the internet.

 



SEO Bath

How the website looks is irrelevant if it is never going to be found or seen by any potential customers. The only way to make sure people will find your Bath business website is to ensure it is optimised using the latest SEO methods.

 

When Google, Yahoo and other search engines look at your business website, they don’t view it in the same way as you or I do. Instead they send out crawlers to view the source code of the site.

The source code, or html, is a website code language used to dictate how elements such as text or images should be laid out on the various webpages of your Bath business website.

There are certain factors in the source code which will give the crawlers extra information about the content of your business website.

If Google finds lots of relevant references (such as the keywords used) to a particular topic throughout the source code of the site, then it will rank that page highly for that particular subject.


So don't go leaving it to chance with your own business in Bah website.Do what you can to make the most of the expertise and tools available, to ensure your website has great visibility on the internet.


Expertise in Search Engine Optimisation of your Bath Business Website

I am looking forward to seeing your Bath business website on the internet very soon. Why not contact me and let me know how you are getting on reaching that top spot on the first page of Google. See what you can do to knock out the competition and take the lead for you, your business and your future.

All the best,

Bingham

Blogger for Bath Business Web Ltd
Your local Internet Marketing Specialist, Business Directory and Website Design Company

Bath Business Web Ltd - Bringing your Business to Life 

Call for a free consultation and find out more about how you can help your business grow

 

01225 920 503

Professional Web Design and Web Designers in Bath Separating the Professionals from the Amateurs

Professional Web Design and Web Designers in Bath Separating the Professionals from the Amateurs

What distinguishes a professional web designer and therefore a professional web design, from the amateur web designer and therefore an amateur web design?

As with all walks of life there are those who can and those who try to

In this context those who can mean professionally trained and qualified people who have spent years developing and refining their skills. Those who try to, are people who have good intentions, but lack the knowledge and intellectual design capacity to come up with little more than a reasonable attempt at the real thing.

Separating the Professionals from the Amateurs

Its a bit like those times when you have gone into the home of someone who is a keen DIY enthusiast. 

On the surface what they have built looks good. You are initially impressed with their efforts and even congratulate them on such an amazing achievement. 

Not only that, but they tell you they have spent half what it would have cost if they had got a professional. 

Then you look a little closer. The finish of the build is a bit shabby. The doors don’t quite fit and the drawers stick somewhat.

There are gaps here and there and you can’t help noticing that the work surface, well it looks like its sloping to the left. Not quite the professional and high spec finish you would like for your home. Maybe it will be worth spending that extra money to ensure it looks right and everything works as it should. Not so impressed now, are you?

Well with professional web design it is even more important to get it right. As its about your business, your profits, your living, your way of life. There is so much more riding on the fact that it needs to work. I guess there lies the difference with the DIY homemaker. At the end of the day it is only he who has to see it and use it. With a website thousands, if not millions of people have the chance to scrutinise it. That’s if they can find it in the first place. 

Professional Web Design - Bath Business Web

What do you need to know about professional web designers? 

Remember, I am not talking about your sixteen year old son who has impressed you with his latest computer technology project at school. 

Just because you were born in the dark ages before the rise of the world wide web it doesn’t mean your sons efforts, as good as they are, warrants you taking the risk with your business.

Getting back to my point about professional web designers. Professional web designers are going to need to now a lot more than you may think. Below is just some of what they need to know and do to build you a fit for purpose professional website.

Initial planning stage of the professional web design process - a crucial element if you are going to get a professionally built website in Bath

This is the beginning. Getting the ideas flowing and starting to get an idea of design. All that knowledge, all that skill and all that design knowhow and flare will come to the fore with a professional web designer. As soon as you start talking to them about your business and what you want it to achieve will kick start their web design mind into gear. 

This stage is crucial as it is the planning stage and you need to get an idea of the structure of your website. How many navigational pages it will contain and what will these pages be called?  Will there be any pages contained within the main pages of the site? Ideas for links to other sites. What type of information is needed for pages and how much content will they need? 

This conceptualisation of the project will ultimately help the organisation and structure layout of the build. It will determine the usability of the website and determine the volume of content required.

Mainstream Search Engines

During this stage the web designer will also be creating an initial draft of the first page of the website, the home page, for you to look over to make any adjustments to the design or layout. 

There are many aspects to a website which need consideration, such as do you have a logo and where will it go on the site? Where will the content sit in relation to any pictures or images? Will you have a contact page for customers to email you directly via the website? 

The professional web designer will know all this and map out all the things you want, you require and which are necessary to ensure your website works well for your business.

What you’re looking for is a clean, well-organised, user friendly layout. You will need text which captures the essence of your business and at the same time talks to the search engines to make them sit up and listen, so they place your website high up in their rankings.

 

Some of what's needed for a professional website build

Once satisfied that they have the required content and images for the site, a professional website designer will then begin the construction using the following methods:
 

Create a site map and graphical user interface

Wireframe pages and assign a domain name

Set up customer email and create email setting information sheet

Write or edit copy for pages and write SEO meta date

Add focus keywords and activate plugins

Create child theme and design favicon

Set up header and footer information

Add layout template

Getting the idea why people train and become professionals in the field of web design? And there's more:

Header CSS styling, footer styling and home page styles 

Typography, background images and mobile/tablet styles

Create sliders and add graphic and buttons

Optimise pages and activate mobile menu

Create social media account and email account

Build in social media links and activate google places

Add cookie warning notice, site counter and customer login

Still not there yet as we haven’t taken into account any cross browser testing or carried out a website visibility test. Then of course there are those other little jobs such as assign a domain name, park domain cpanel/gridhost, map domain WP multisite, check site-map.xml works or test & submit site-map.xml.

Seriously though are you telling me that your sixteen year old knows about all this? How to do it, when to do it, how much of it to do, what links with what and the relationship between all the different aspects of the build? Well if they do they should contact Bath Business Web because we may well be able to offer them a position within the Company. The chances are they will have knowledge of some of the things I have listed. 

However, the professional web designer in Bath Business Web will have knowledge of all these things and more. And I have left out some of the good bits. The internal bits of a website which really get that site up the rankings of Google, Firefox and other mainstream search engines. 


Professional Web Design in Bath and the South West

Ensuring to follow a well-structured and planned website design process is the mark of the professional. To follow this process will mean your website will be well organised, easy to navigate and have all the relevant parts. It will work efficiently and effectively and be very user friendly. 

As the customer you will want and require a ‘high quality design’. Remember the DIY handyman. Not that. We are talking a professional web designer in Bath Business Web. Our web designers in Bath Business Web will follow a number of simple rules within the conceptualisation of your website to achieve this:

• They will create balance. This means the equal distribution of the heavy and light elements on each individual page
• They ensure unity. This refers to the way they keep all of the similar elements in a website alike and those that are diverse further apart, thus pulling everything into one integrated whole
• They craft emphasis. This emphasis involves all of the main points where the eye of the viewer is drawn into the design (also now as the focal points)
• They use design flare for contrast. That is the contract of colour, contrasting shapes, sizes, textures and typography
• They build in rhythm. Otherwise known as repetition. Rhythm brings an internal consistency into the web design

The professional web designers at Bath Business Web know of these elements and use them each time they design and build a website. They also know that getting the balance of content and imagery is crucial, not just for the look of the design, but for the everyday functionality of the website itself. 

Cramming too much information or text into a website can lessen its chances of being found, or totally baffle and confuse the viewer. Sometimes less is definitely more. 

A website needs to be clean and easy on the eye. For years in marketing and advertising they have talked about ‘white space’. That is literally the space around text or images which is all part and parcel of the overall design. White space is crucial when creating a professional layout for your website. 

Professional web designers know how to manipulate the white space and make it work to your advantage and make it a key element in each and every design.

Bath Business Web - Websites

One of the most difficult and time consuming aspects of professional website design is making sure the website is standards compliant. 

In other words if you want your website to be considered as a professional one, then it must look and function the same in all major browsers. 

Professionally designed websites need solid SEO (search engine optimisation) friendly foundations.

Attention to detail is crucial. It will be the detail in the design which will make your website designed by a professional website designer at Bath Business Web stand out from the competition. 

People get bored with the same old designs being pumped out into the internet. 



The general public are not fools and want something different, unique and appealing to look at. They will recognise a website which has a strong identity and image and will go back to it time and time again. 

The success of any website is usability

Basically the usability of a website refers to how well viewers learn to navigate it to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that. This means doing so swiftly and easily to accomplish and fulfil their online needs. If a website is not built to the necessary standards, then the viewer (a potential customer for your business), can easily become frustrated and move away from your website.

 

The web designers at Bath Business Web place a great deal of importance on positive and productive website usability. They do this knowing that if they do it will lead to a website of professional quality and design. It is this, which often highlights the difference between the amateur and the professional built websites. Everything that has been done previously with the design and build of the website is totally wasted if the finished product does not achieve usability. This one element is by far the most crucial aspect of a professionally designed website.

What separates people like the professional web design company of Bath Business Web, from non-professional people, is whether or not the web designer or the web design company takes into account all of the above, whilst constructing a customer’s website. 

Bath Business Web - Professional Website Design Company
 

Web design companies such as Bath Business Web do cost more than the amateurs or less qualified professionals. And there’s a reason for that. Because you then get a much superior product, which will make you money not waste it. After all with a professional web design company you’re getting more than a website, you’re getting the total package of web design professionalism. That professionalism will show itself more easily to the untrained eye, by the nature of the website which they construct that will have all the necessary features that ensures its usability for you and your customers. 

All the best,                           

Bingham

Blogger for Bath Business Web Ltd 
Your local Internet Marketing Specialist, Business Directory and Website Design Company

Bath Business Web Ltd - Bringing your Business to Life 

Call for a free consultation and find out more about how you can help your business grow

 

01225 920 503