Visit this website: eurofyre.co.uk

“We have used Ballyhoo for many years and have always found them to be responsive, imaginative, and they have always delivered the project on time and on budget. Our latest project with them necessitated a complete rebuild of our site in order to bring us back in line with today’s trends and requirements, and this is exactly what was delivered; a good job well done.” Jon Redfearn.

Brief

Eurofyre Ltd, who specialise in fire detection products, have been Ballyhoo customers for many years. In 2011 they came to us to redevelop their existing website which was starting to look a bit dated.

There were two aspects to this project; Eurofyre wanted us to bring their design up to date to reflect current trends and look at improving their content management system to make the website easier to manage.

Design

Our graphic designer, who originally created the Eurofyre logo and site design several years ago, created a new design concept for this website that looked fresh without losing the familiarity of the existing Eurofyre brand.

Eurofyre have some outstanding images of their products so making these stand out was a priority.

A few years ago many of the graphic effects that we use today just weren’t possible. A range of techniques and new skills our designer has acquired over the years have been adopted in this design to to add an extra dimension and a higher level of interest –  this is something we have also been able to do with the development of the site.

Development

It was decided early on that Eurofyre would not continue using Joomla as the foundation for their website. Instead they would use our new(ish) content management system Ballyhoo Refresh (which wasn’t even a concept when Eurofyre had their first website developed). Refresh is not only much easier to use than Joomla but, as it is our own system, we can adapt it to suit our clients’ needs on a project by project basis.

Eurofyre had a very specific structure in mind for their website and provided us with documentation to help us achieve their vision. The content management system as it stood was not capable of all of the processes needed to make the site work but we were able to customise sections and, where necessary, build new features into the system to make our software perfectly suit this website.

As previously mentioned in the design section, we have been able to introduce new development techniques to this website that were unavailable when we built the first Eurofyre website.

The web development world is constantly evolving and we are becoming capable of creating ever more impressive and useful features. Examples in this site include a JQuery slideshow on the homepage and tabbed product descriptions on deeper pages of the site.

We usually recommend that our clients include a Google Map integration of their location on their contact page. This allows prospective customers to pinpoint offices or shops if they are considering making a visit or purchase.

If you would like to know more about this project or would like to find out how we can help improve your own website, feel free to call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: toysforall.co.uk

Brief

The Captain’s Cabin, a successful beach-front shop in the heart of South Wales’ Mumbles area, approached us to create an e-commerce website so they could start selling their range of toys and beach accessories online.

Design

The design of this site has a maritime feel, with nautical touches like an illustrated anchor and compass. The site is essentially quite basic in layout and design to accommodate the vast number of products that have been added to this website.

Development

This site was built on our e-commerce system Ballyhoo Commerce. Ballyhoo Commerce is a versatile e-commerce system that is intuitive and easy to use – an ideal system for businesses who are new to selling online but still want all the power and features of advanced e-commerce software.

Post-launch, as part of our ongoing support of The Captain’s Cabin, we have integrated social networking links into the site so customers can like the site on Facebook, follow The Captain’s Cabin on Twitter and share the site using Google +1.

For a no-obligation quote for your e-commerce project or to find out more about Ballyhoo and our easy-to-use e-commerce and content management systems, call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: discountfiresupplies.co.uk/blog

As part of the recent redevelopment of Discount Fire Supplies we created a new custom template for their WordPress blog.

Blogs are a fantastic addition to any website. While they are a good way to provide interest for your customers and create a community around your business, they also have many search engine optimisation benefits such as the regular introduction of fresh content and the inclusion of more keywords on your site.

We would recommend that anybody selling online includes a regular blog on their website.

Discount Fire Supplies have a very active blog and they usually post at least two items a week. They have been using WordPress ever since they decided to introduce a blog to the website. With such a large volume of posts WordPress has worked well for them and provided control and flexibility through a feature-rich control panel.

As part of the main website redevelopment the blog needed to be brought up to date to match the new website design too.

This new WordPress template matches the new DFS website design in appearance and also includes dynamic content such as the shopping basket summary and category navigation meaning customers can switch seamlessly between the main website and the blog.

Ballyhoo Commerce has a number of essential blog features that can give the average online shop owner the ability to have their own blog on their website. If, however, you are planning to be very proactive with your blog we would recommend using WordPress or a similar system to give you the features you need.

Some online sellers might be tempted to have a WordPress site for their main website and simply use an extension or plugin to give them e-commerce functionality. We would not recommend this however as if you are selling online you need a robust and secure platform for your shop.

Essentially having two sites with matching templates gives you the flexibility and control needed to manage a successful e-commerce venture.

If you would like to introduce a blog on your website and you’d like to discuss your options please get in touch on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: jamesanduzzell.co.uk

Brief

James & Uzzell are chartered certified accountants providing services to mainly small to medium businesses in the Swansea area of South Wales. They wanted to modernise their existing website (a project that Ballyhoo worked on many years ago) and introduce content management so that their team could keep the site up to date in-house. The content on the website would largely remain the same.

Design

Ballyhoo produced a new custom design for the website that reflected James & Uzzell’s professional image. The new design is very clear and allows the user to easily find the pages they are looking for. James & Uzzell contributed to the design by supplying an artist’s watercolour of their head office, this was used as the background of the site to add visual interest.

The right-hand column of the website contains the most frequently sought information on the website, this column is therefore fixed and remains on screen throughout the whole website.

Development

The content management aspect of the website was supplied through our own CMS, Ballyhoo Refresh. An entirely new website was built for the client in a temporary online environment, allowing their existing website to stay online while this project was in development. This way, the disruption to customers looking for James & Uzzell’s services was greatly minimised.

Refresh is a web-based system that allows the administrator to log in to the site and make changes through a web browser. As the admin area is really just an extension of the website itself (once logged in to the site hidden functions become visible to the administrator) it’s very intuitive, easy to use and requires very little training to master.

Features

On the homepage the main area of interest is the Important Dates feature outlining upcoming tax and accounting events. This feature was custom developed for the client to allow them to add/edit and remove dates as necessary. The Important Dates feature automatically outputs relevant dates based on the current month.

A drop down menu was utilised to allow speedy navigation to all areas of the website and we also integrated for James & Uzzell’s customers was a Google Map of the location of their office.

Other website features include an online enquiry form on the Contact page for quick and easy communication with the James & Uzzell team.

Content Population

As previously mentioned, the content of the site would remain the same. As part of our service we transferred all of James & Uzzell’s existing website content and added it to the new website.

We ensured all of the content was formatted correctly and before launch the site was thoroughly tested in all of the major website browsers to ensure the site’s appearance and functions would be consistent no matter who was using it.

If you are interested in learning more about our simple content management system, our design services or any aspects of this project, feel free to call 0121 286 9390 or email info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: discountfiresupplies.co.uk

Discount Fire Supplies are one of the UK’s premier retailers of fire safety products and accessories. Their extensive catalogue includes fire alarm systems, emergency lighting, fire extinguishers and gas detectors.

DFS have been a client of Ballyhoo’s for many years now and are comfortably one of our most successful e-commerce websites. When the time came to re-design their website the owners wanted to continue using our e-commerce system, Ballyhoo Commerce, and asked us to build a new template for their website based on a design they had produced.

The new Discount Fire Supplies website design is clearly a step up from their old design yet it retains their branding and many items will be familiar to existing customers.

Notably, the new design takes the concept of colour-coding the many product categories on the website to a new level. This theme had been tentatively explored in the previous design but has now been fully utilised. Customers using the site will soon identify red with fire detection products and green with emergency lighting for example.

The home page is understandably the most important page on the website as this is where a potential customer will either decide to stay on the site or look elsewhere. An eye-catching slideshow on the homepage instantly attracts the customers attention and conveys a number of tempting messages – Same Day Dispatch, Free Support, Secure Online Ordering and Free Delivery – designed to instill confidence in their purchase.

Customers are also encouraged to join the Discount Fire Supplies community and visit the DFS blog, follow DFS on Twitter and take the opportunity to sign up for the free DFS newsletter.

The sheer number of fire safety products on this website means that users need to be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. The new design makes use of a drop-down category menu allowing customers to browse the majority of product categories without leaving the page.

Clicking on a main product category, like Fire Alarms for example, directs the customer to a clear and defined page outlining the sub-categories. Each sub-category has an image thumbnail to make identification that bit quicker and these pages are a real pleasure to browse.

Product pages have been given a makeover too and are designed to be a clear as possible. Large product images, highlighted prices and pronounced add to basket buttons combine to make the page inviting and straightforward.

Product descriptions have been condensed into tabs too. When adding a product to the site Discount Fire Supplies have the ability to split the full description into as many tabs as required, including Summary, Specification and FAQs. This layout means that users don’t have to scroll down a huge page and allows them to quickly find the information they need.

At the foot of the website on every page users are reminded of the value Discount Fire Supplies bring to their purchase, whether through the assurance of secure online payments through SagePay or the promise of swift dispatch. Users can also find links to information about the company and their contact details are always on hand if they need assistance.

We’re really proud of this website and the team at Discount Fire Supplies are delighted with their new modern website. To accommodate a number of the design features we had to add develop Ballyhoo Commerce further and re-work existing parts of the system, something we are happy to do when we feel the requested changes will benefit the system as a whole.

In fact, this is one of the major advantages of using our e-commerce system, we are able to quickly and effectively build in new features and functionality to suit our customers and often we will do this free of charge or at a subsidised rate.

To talk to us about your e-commerce project or if you would like further information, please call 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: safety-stair-nosing.co.uk

Contract Flooring Services successfully trades commercial flooring to businesses from their base in South Wales. They came to us to design and build a new e-commerce website so that they could start selling online.

Brief

We were recommended to the owner of the business by his son who happens to work for another e-commerce customer of ours. As such the owner knew all about our easy to use e-commerce system and our brief was to build a website for Contract Flooring Services on Ballyhoo Commerce. We would have to customise the system however to include a new price per metre feature as the majority of products for sale on the website would be customisable by length.

Design

The bold design of this website is based on an other website owned by the flooring company. Using the same dark background and accent colours ties in this site with the rest of the business’ online media.

Development

Before the site could be fully built we had to add the price per metre functionality to the system. This is a relatively simple addition that allows the website administrator to specify a price per metre as an alternative to price each when adding a product to the website. Users of the website are then able to type the length of the item they want to purchase to the mm or cm, depending on what was specified in the admin area, and the system will work out the price they should pay based on the price per metre specified.

Our ability to customise Ballyhoo Commerce in this way is one of the major benefits of having a Ballyhoo e-commerce website. Depending on your circumstances and requirements we can tailor the system to exactly meet your needs and if we think your new features will benefit the system, and in turn our other customers, we might even add it to Ballyhoo Commerce for free!

Content Management

A number of additional content pages were required on this website so Commercial Flooring made full use of the content management features in their e-commerce system. A new content list called Further Information was added to the left column of the site to accommodate this content. Administrators can add and edit pages using an editor very similar in features to a word processor, allowing them to add text, images, bulleted lists and tables.

If you would like to discuss your e-commerce website project or there’s a feature you think would make a great addition to the system, please get in touch by calling 0121 286 9390 or emailing us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: thelettingcompany.co

Ballyhoo were approached to design and build this website by World Renowned for their client, The Letting Company (TLC).

TLC are a residential lettings and management agency based in the Peterborough area.

Brief

The Letting Company needed a website with a property search function and information pages to allow prospective landlords and tenants to learn more about the company. They wanted to be able to keep the content on the website up-to-date themselves and manage the property listings on the site in-house too.

Design

A custom design was created for TLC based on their existing branding. The homepage is bright and inviting and the main areas of the site are clearly labelled.

One of the first things you notice on this site is the Find A Property tool – perfect for potential tenants arriving on the website who want to start searching for suitable properties straight away.

The Landlord, Tenant and Block Management information boxes in the left sidebar are present on every page so that users can quickly navigate to pages expected to have high levels of traffic.

Development

When the website design was approved, we started building the site on our content management system, Ballyhoo Refresh. This would give TLC the content control they were looking for while allowing us to easily build in the custom property search functions they also requested.

The management functions available to TLC include the ability to nest unlimited information pages. A drop down menu was included in the design to accommodate this.

The Find A Property tool is a simple version of the kind of search functions you would expect to find on major property websites like Right Move.

When adding properties, TLC specify whether the property is a flat or a house, the area it is located in, how many bedrooms it has and the rent payable per month. They can also add multiple images of the property.

When users use Find A Property they can then refine their search using Property Type, Area, Number of Beds and Price fields.

The properties to let are then output in a list with an image thumbnail and essential information. Users can click a More Information button to see the full listing.

Custom website design and development is something we really enjoy at Ballyhoo and we love working with you to create something unique and functional for your website visitors. For more information on custom website development or to discuss your project with us in detail and get a quote, feel free to call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: norfolkconstabularyssc.co.uk

The Norfolk Constabulary Sports & Social Club (NCSSC) approached us to build their new website after we were recommended to them by Norfolk Police Federation.

Brief

The NCSSC needed a website to provide information to the many members of their club, covering three divisions of their county and numerous sports and social activities. They wanted to be able to keep the website up to date in-house and also restrict access to some areas of the website to members only.

Content Management

As this site was to be fairly complex in structure and potentially hold a vast amount of content we proposed to build this website on the Joomla content management system. Joomla is a comprehensive open-source CMS that offers a large amount of flexibility and power to build content managed websites. Using Joomla would also give us scope to incorporate the requested access permissions with ease and at little extra cost.

Design

Our graphic designer created a custom website design to use with the Joomla system. The design was based on the NCSSC’s comments and preferences and aimed to create a sense of consistency with the main Norfolk Constabulary website.

Members Only

As requested, we built functionality into the website so that the NCSSC can restrict access to certain sections of the website to registered members only. A Joomla extension called Community Builder was used to facilitate this.

Members have to register to use the site by filling in an online registration form. This form includes a custom field for their membership number so that the NCSSC can check their details with those already on file. When the form is completed the NCSSC is notified by email and prompted to carry out the necessary checks. They can then approve membership in the admin area allowing the system to inform the member by email that they can now log in to the website.

The NCSSC can mark pages as restricted when they add them to the website or in retrospect at any time.

If you would like to know more about Joomla powered websites or how you can create a members only section on your website feel free to get in touch on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: www.beros.com.br

Brief

Ballyhoo were recommended to Beros by one of our clients when they mentioned they were looking for someone to build their new multilingual e-commerce website.

Beros, based in Brazil, aim to be the premier retailer of fire alarm and safety systems in Brazil. They were already online but their existing website lacked the functionality they needed to take their business forward and start selling online. The new site would have to give them control over their website content, the ability to sell products online and be functional in both English and Brazilian Portuguese. Beros would also require copywriting and translation services.

Beros Homepage – English

Design

Beros already had established branding and company colours so our graphic designer took these factors on board when creating a custom website design. At this stage we had already decided to build the website on Ballyhoo Commerce so the functions available in the e-commerce system were also taken into account.

The result is a clean and colourful website that’s engaging and easy to navigate.

Beros also required a technical diagram for their Technical information page, the finished design shows the products Beros are currently selling online in a circuit to give customers an idea of the kind of devices they could connect to a fire alarm system.

Beros Technical Diagram

Development

Ballyhoo Commerce already supported the majority of the features Beros were looking for, including multiple languages and content management, so we could build the website with only minor updates to the system.

One of the best things about having our own e-commerce system is that if there’s ever a feature a client wants that isn’t currently supported we can add it to the system. More often than not if it’s something we think will benefit other e-commerce clients we’ll build it into Ballyhoo Commerce at no extra cost.

So, the first stage of development was to create an installation of the latest version of Ballyhoo Commerce in a temporary online location. This would be the foundation for the website and allow us to build the site while the existing Beros website was still online. Beros were given access to this temporary location too so they could check our progress whenever they wanted.

Beros Homepage – Brazilian

We then created a custom template for the system based on the design Beros had approved.

Copywriting

Copywriting is a service we provide if required and can cover anything from company profiles to in-depth technical writing.

Initially, Beros needed product descriptions for the first set of products they were going to sell online. They also required a number of content pages to be written.

From our research and Beros’ instructions we knew that fire safety in Brazil is generally a subject that the population doesn’t know very much about. The product descriptions in particular would have to be presented in a very easy-to-understand way – especially considering that the reader probably wouldn’t even be familiar with a household smoke alarm.

When writing copy we also take into account search engine optimisation and ensure that the right phrases and keywords are included in the text. This was very important as part of giving Beros the best chances of ranking highly on search engines.

Taking a very technical subject and writing about it so the meaning still came across clearly but simply was a big task but all round everyone was very pleased with the results.

Beros Product Category Page

Translations

As part of producing the content for the website Ballyhoo also sourced Brazilian Portuguese translations of the copy we wrote for the English version of the website. We obtained quotes from several translation companies and liaised with the chosen translator to produce the final copy.

We then added the translations to the website for Beros, ensuring that formatting in the English version of the site was replicated and consistent throughout the entire website.

Custom Features

An extra feature we developed for the site was an online job form so users could submit their contact details, as well as their CV, to Beros for consideration.

This was a fairly easy feature to build into the website and makes a great addition. Users simply have to type their details into the respective fields and can also choose a file from their computer – for example a PDF or word document – and click Continue to submit them. Beros will then receive an email populated with the users details and, if they have uploaded a file, their CV as an email attachment.

Beros Online Job Form

Testimonial

Dear Ballyhoo,

Just a few lines to thank you for dealing with the challenge of developing our dual language site. I have to compliment Alison for her excellent work in copy writing and pitching what is ostensibly a technical site at a level that can be easily understood by a wide audience in order to enhance our sales figures.

As I mentioned in conversation previously, your company came via recommendation to me and Anthony, as project lead, proved to be a very personable individual; which to me is an essential characteristic when looking to do business on a long term basis.

You highlight on your website that Ballyhoo offer various after sales support and site development services and I look forward to discussing further opportunities to develop some of my ideas in order to get massive awareness of BEROS in the market place.

Thank you!

If you would like to sell online in multiple languages or to find out more about e-commerce web design, call us on 0121 286 9390 or email us at info@ballyhoo.ltd.uk.

Visit this website: tacticalwales.co.uk

Brief

Tactical Wales are based in Swansea and sell military surplus goods from their shop on Swansea High Street as well as on the internet. They wanted to improve sales and increase the level of control they had over their online shop by moving away from their current template based e-commerce system and having a brand new website developed.

Selling army surplus means that Tactical Wales has a high stock turnover and many items are one-off or in limited supply. As such, the new e-commerce system would have to be quick and easy to use.

Design

It was decided that the new site would be built on our e-commerce system Ballyhoo Commerce. This meant that a custom website design would have to be created to incorporate all the features that the system is capable of.

Our designer used striking military imagery and an earthy camouflage-based colour palette to appeal to Tactical Wales’ target audience. Function has taken precedence over fancy graphics in this design- much like the military and survival products on sale.

Development

As mentioned, we’ve built this e-commerce website on our own Ballyhoo Commerce system. We started development of the site in a temporary online location where we installed the latest version of Ballyhoo Commerce and then started to build Tactical Wales’ design. There are a number of benefits to building websites in temporary locations:

• Tactical Wales could visit the temporary site and see the site taking shape.
• They were also given access to the e-commerce administration area and could save valuable time by adding products and content to the site while we were building the front-end.
• There was virtually no downtime for the client’s online business – the existing site was still online and taking orders while we were developing the new site, right up until we had fully tested the new site and Tactical Wales gave us the go-ahead to upload the new site to replace the old one.

Tactical Wales decided to continue taking online payments through PayPal and because Ballyhoo Commerce fully supports a number of payment gateways, including others such as SagePay and WorldPay, we could simply integrate their existing account with the new site.

Among Ballyhoo Commerce’s array of great features is a fantastic zoom feature (shown above). By clicking on the main product image a larger high-quality version of the image will open so the product can be seen in all it’s clear and crisp glory, with the rest of the page is left in shadow so the product can take centre stage.

As a lot of the products on this website are second-hand or one-off it was important that Tactical Wales could allow their customers to see every detail of the product for sale.