Clockwork DesignClockwork

As technology continues to evolve, websites need to stay up to date with the latest trends and SEO best practice techniques to stay relevant. With your website often acting as the first port of call for a new customer, it is crucial that your customer has a positive first interaction. If your website is not performing at its best, you may lose potential customers along the way. Below we have listed the four main signs that your website may need an update:

Outdated website design

1. Outdated design

As mentioned, your website is often the first stop on a prospective customer’s journey. Therefore, it is crucial that your website reflects exactly who your business is at this present time. By having an outdated design, it can be easy to misrepresent your business and the services it offers, which can quickly end a prospective customer’s journey.

By deploying a modern design that carefully considers the user's experience, we can design you a site that is easy to navigate and best represents the services you offer. Also, by ensuring that your business’ logo, fonts, colour scheme, and branding are present throughout the design, customers can get an instant feel of who your business is and the services they offer, maximising your conversion rate.

Slow loading website

2. Slow loading speed

In today’s world, people don’t have the patience to wait for a webpage to load. A delay of a couple of seconds is enough for customers to navigate elsewhere and seek similar services from a competitor.

If you’ve noticed that your website can take a long time to load, then it’s time to start optimising it. The team here at Clockwork are experts at optimising each website to ensure it is operating at its maximum potential. Plus Google loves quick loading websites so with an optimised website, your business will quickly be climbing the search engine rankings, allowing you to reach more customers efficiently.

Poor performance on mobile devices

3. Poor performance on mobile devices

With over 70% of internet traffic generated from mobile phones, if your website hasn’t been optimised for mobile, you are missing out on a significant number of potential customers. A site that isn’t mobile-friendly results in slow loading speeds, challenging navigation, and unresponsive performance.  To make sure you are capturing prospective customers using their mobile phones, you want to ensure that your website has been designed to champion the mobile users’ journey. By deploying a responsive design, we ensure that your website adjusts to fit the screen size of the device used to access your website.

Low converting website

4. Low conversion rates

As you already know, the primary function of any website is to convert prospective customers into actual customers. If you find that your website is not providing you with the results you would like to see, it is most likely that your website is not currently up to date.

Improving your website’s conversion rate can be done in several ways, such as simplifying your checkout process or adding clear call-to-actions throughout to make the user’s journey more straightforward. The team here at Clockwork work with you to identify each area which could be contributing to a low conversion rate and remedy them to increase performance.

To conclude, in order to stay competitive in this digital age, your website needs to be up-to-date and performing well. An outdated website can be harmful to your business and lead to a decrease in sales. Whereas an updated website offers several benefits, such as an improved user experience, higher website traffic, and ultimately an increase in revenue. If you noticed that any of the four signs listed above currently apply to your business’ website, contact our team to discuss how we can optimise your website.

Does your business have a WordPress website? If yes, then the chances are that you already know that you have two options when it comes to maintaining your WordPress website. You can do it yourself, or you can choose to use a business that offers website hosting and maintenance like us here at Clockwork. Although doing it for yourself may seem like the most cost-effective option, it can quickly become stressful and time-consuming. When you choose Clockwork to take care of your managed website hosting and maintenance, you can be reassured that your business will be able to enjoy the below benefits.

1. Security

All websites are at risk of hacking attempts, which have the potential to compromise a website and significantly impact a business. When you choose one of our website maintenance packages, we are able to provide the latest security protection including taking care of all WordPress, theme and plug-in updates on a monthly basis, whilst monitoring your website regularly for potential threats. By conducting daily secure off-site cloud back-ups, we are also able to restore your website back to a previous version should your website be hacked or damaged.

2. Expertise and experience

Here at Clockwork, we are experts in WordPress website maintenance. This means that our team are able to use our expertise to offer the latest best practice techniques. We understand how WordPress sites operate and can diagnose and fix any potential issues promptly and effectively, saving you time and worry should an issue arise. Plus, with our team of specialists available to offer on demand support, you can be reassured that your business can have the level of assistance it requires to operate at maximum efficiency.

3. Cost savings

Although the cost of outsourcing your WordPress website managed hosting is higher than doing it yourself, we can almost guarantee it will save you money in the long run. By having a team of WordPress experts on-hand managing all of your business website maintenance needs, you can avoid costly mistakes that could easily arise with DIY maintenance. Our team will use their knowledge to handle the technical aspects, allowing you to redirect the time and effort you would spend maintaining your site into other areas of your business, increasing your revenue and productivity.

To conclude, choosing Clockwork to host and maintain your WordPress website has numerous benefits. With reliable UK based cloud servers, and a team of experts always on hand to offer guidance and support, you have the time required to focus on what makes your business so great. So, if you want to optimise your website’s performance, security and overall customer journey experience, then click here to find out more about our three different website hosting and maintenance packages.

It is no secret how challenging it can be to create a recognisable brand in 2023. With the internet full of content and plenty of competition, it is often an uphill battle to stand out from the crowd. But with recognisable online branding being crucial for a company's success, we have compiled our top recommendations that can help your brand cut through above the noise.

1. Be consistent

Firstly, and arguably most importantly, be consistent! Consistently using your business name, logo, colour palette, and messaging across all of your digital platforms is key when it comes to brand recognition. This must be evident across all of your online channels, including your website, social media channels, and email marketing.

2. Create a strong social media presence 

Social media is one of the most powerful tools for building brand awareness. By understanding who your target audience is and the platforms they most often use, you can invest in a strong content strategy that maximises engagement while highlighting your business’ strengths. Responding to comments and messages on your social media platforms is crucial in developing a trustworthy relationship with your followers.

3. Implement search engine optimisation (SEO)

As mentioned previously, standing out among thousands of similar businesses online is tricky work. One way to increase your business’ visibility is by implementing search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO is essential for increasing visibility in search engine results pages. Here at Clockwork, there are several ways in which we optimise a business’ website to rank higher in the search engine rankings, making prospective customers find you quicker and ahead of other competitors online.

4. Effective email marketing 

Email marketing is an effective way to nurture the relationship between your brand and customer. To maximise these interactions, it is important that your emails are always personalised, regular, and relevant to avoid unsubscribing. By including your business’ branding within these communications, you are going to continuously build your brand awareness.

5. Offer value

It is important to recognise that your brand is more than a logo or distinct colour palette. In order to develop a strong relationship between your brand and customers, you must offer things of value. There are several ways you can offer this additional value, depending on your business. A few examples would be providing exceptional customer service, offering a loyalty programme or incentive scheme, or even having helpful resources available.

To conclude, it is evident that creating a recognisable brand online requires consistency, engaging content on social media, effective SEO, regular email marketing, and providing value to customers. By investing in these different areas, your business can build a strong online presence and stand out in a very competitive digital world. If your business needs help optimising its online presence, then send our friendly team a message today.

Why custom web design is better than template web design

With well over a billion websites currently live, it can be a daunting task to create a website that stands out from the crowd. Each website plays a crucial role in conveying who a business is, as well as providing a platform for marketing and sales. So, when setting up a new website, it’s crucial that a business knows the benefits of opting for custom web design, over a template alternative.

So, what is the difference between custom web design and template web design? Simply put, custom web design gives your business the best opportunity to stand out amongst competitors by creating a unique online presence. Custom-builds provide complete autonomy over the design, layout, functionality, and user experience of a website. This differs from template designs as these are available to every other business online, making it more difficult to highlight your business as an individual. Although custom web design tends to be initially more expensive, there are significantly more long-term benefits for your business.

Here at Clockwork, we custom-design each project to create you a website that is tailored to the unique objectives of your business. We work with you to understand your business’ requirements to deliver a website that aligns with your business’ branding, goals and audience. This is crucial as we are able to deploy the colours, fonts, and visuals that resonate best with your audience type. With set perimeters within most standard web templates, it isn’t always possible to utilise these key branding features with template web design.

Another benefit of opting for custom web design over a template design is enhanced search engine optimisation (SEO). SEO is crucial for the success of any online business and having a completely custom website is one of the most effective ways of achieving this. We ensure your new website has SEO friendly coding, optimised web structure and content, and utilise SEO best practices throughout. When you opt for a template, businesses often rely on third-party SEO plugins which may not always be as effective.

Lastly, custom web design will provide your business with not only flexibility, but scalability. As your business continues to evolve and grow, so can your website. Custom web design allows you to update your website as and when you need to, ensuring you can always keep your audience up to date. This is unlike templates as these can often require constant updates to stay in-line with the latest trends and security features.

Overall, custom web design has substantially more benefits for you and your business. Although templates may seem temporarily beneficial due to their ease of use and affordability, they unfortunately come with many limitations. To find out more about how we can design you a unique and impactful website for your business, send our friendly team a message today.

Here at Clockwork, we know how important branding is in conveying the values of a business to new and existing customers.

After over 10 years of having our current branding, we thought it was the perfect time to showcase our skillset and give our own business the unique Clockwork touch.

Clockwork logo design

Fresh lime, lemon, orange and grapefruit colours are at the forefront of our rebrand, these colours encompass everything that Clockwork is: fresh, bold, fun, and packing a zesty punch.

The entire team were excited to deploy this new branding across all of our assets, with each colour successfully showcasing each of the different areas that Clockwork offers specialist services in.

Clockwork Design branding

Lime green remains as the core Clockwork colour with lemon yellow highlighting our branding skills, orange showcasing our design solutions and grapefruit pink for our digital and online services.

These punchy colours will also play a key role in our new social media rollout, so be sure to stay up to date with our latest news and updates by following us on Instagram and Facebook.

What do you think? If your business felt inspired by our fresh new look and you are considering a rebrand or a brand new website, then send our friendly team a message today to find out more.

Here at Clockwork, we pride ourselves in designing quality business cards that are unique to both your business' bespoke branding and specific needs.

So, when brackley.co.uk were in need of some new business cards that could effectively promote their website and social media presence, we were excited to get to work on the task at hand.

By taking inspiration and deploying their recognisable two-tone colour palette and identifiable font, our design makes it instantly clear that this business card acts an extension of who brackley.co.uk is.

Receiving a business card is often the first interaction people will have with your business, so by utilising brackley.co.uk's branding and style in a way which is consistent with their existing presence, we were able to provide materials that will help make that first impression count.

Integrating the minimal design that they were after; we created a simple but highly effective business card that encapsulates who brackley.co.uk is - and needless to say, they were thrilled with the end results.

Within the design you can see that the brackey.co.uk social media handles, website, and business owners name are all clear and instantly visible. This cleverly presented design allows for a seamless follow-up from clients and customers alike, making the most of each and every opportunity.

Bespoke business card design

If your business, no matter how big or small, is in need of some fresh new business cards that are guaranteed to impress, then be sure to send our friendly Clockwork team a message today to find out more about our professional design services.

Unsure what benefits a business card can offer your business? Then check out our latest blog post here, in which we take a deeper dive into the plethora of benefits that you and your business could currently be taking advantage of with a business card refresh.

In an almost exclusively digital world, a business card can act as an often needed and welcomed personal touch. A well-designed business card has the power to generate trust and firmly establish your branding, all whilst leaving a positive and professional impression on new clients.

So, with the plethora of benefits a bespoke business card delivers, we have listed 5 reasons why your business should consider some new, professionally designed business cards in 20.

1. Commit your brand to memory

A thoughtfully designed business card can help prospective customers commit your brand to memory.

Through the deployment of bold, powerful graphics that utilise your business’ branding and logo, you can find yourself with a competitive edge over others within your industry.

2. Don’t get lost amongst emails

You can spend the time and effort creating the best email campaign in the world, but unless your email is being opened then it is effectively pointless.

One huge advantage of having business cards is that they act as a constant, physical reminder of your brand. Clients don’t have to scroll through weeks worth of emails to find your key details, instead they are tangible and easily accessible.

3. Make the most of exhibitions

Does your business attend a lot of exhibitions? If so, you already know that these events present the perfect opportunity to network and to build your brand.

With hundreds or possibly thousands of people attending, the time you have to communicate with new clients is limited. So, what better way to be remembered than with a business card that is as unique as your business.

4. Always leave a positive impression

A business card acts an extension of your branding, quality and values. So, when you have unique business card that represents your business’ identity perfectly, you have an unmatchable marketing tool.

When it comes time to end a client meeting with a handshake, you can leave a lasting professional impression by accompanying it with a new and impressive business card.

5. Distribute and Display your business easily

Another brilliant benefit of business cards is how easy they are to display and distribute.
Whether it is on a reception counter top, notice board, or display holder, you can make an instant impression by displaying your cards proudly. Make sure your business cards always stand out to potential new customers by getting them professionally designed by the team here at Clockwork.

A business card is a powerful marketing tool that has the ability to take your business to the next level. If you want to make a positive and long lasting impression on new clients, then a professionally designed business card is the game changer you need. For a free, no obligation quote, send our friendly team a message.

Expanding your business’ social media presence can be a daunting task when you don’t quite know where to start. But don’t worry, Clockwork is here to help.

With over half of the worlds population now on social media, it is crucial that your business is optimising its online presence in order to capture new customers.

In this blog, we will be highlighting 5 ways in which, when implemented, will not only see your social media presence grow but will also ensure that your business continues to flourish.

1. Understand your audience

Before you start creating content, you need to understand exactly who your audience is. Consider this, what does your target audience look like? This includes their gender, average age, interests, likes, and dislikes.

Once you have this information in mind, you can create content that is specifically tailored to your target audience. Businesses that create content with their target audience at the forefront are far more likely to achieve conversions than those who create content that has no relevance to their audience.

2. Be consistent

One key to expanding your business’ social media presence is consistency. We would recommend that once your business is active on all key social media platforms that you create a social media schedule. You can then ensure that you are positing regularly across each platform, maximising your chances of capturing new customers daily.

3. Show authenticity

Another great way to expand your business’ social media presence is through bridging the gap between being the ‘marketer’ and being the ‘trustworthy friend’. This can be achieved through consistently posting relevant and authentic content. Once a business does this effectively and for long enough, a successful relationship is then formed between the business and the customer, leading to a natural increase in trust and thus conversions.

4. Create engaging graphics

Social media would be a pretty boring place without images. So, why not make sure that you always deploy graphics that are highly engaging and relevant to your customers? This will ensure that your business’ posts always stand out amongst a feed full of content that all looks fairly similar. Some ways in which you can do this is through creating graphics that aren't too busy, that have a clear call-to-action and that showcase exactly who your business is through branding.

5. Make share-worthy content

Do you know the biggest secret behind increasing your social media presence? It’s through creating highly engaging social media posts that people will want to share. Everything from the graphic you deploy to the punchy caption that accompanies it has the power to influence. Every time your post is shared there is an entire new network of potential customers that your business is being exposed to, so you want to ensure that you are impressing every time.

Could your business benefit from a social media revamp to increase its online presence? Then our friendly team would love to hear from you today. Send us a message for a free, no-obligation quote.

Brackley Foodbank has been delivering free food packages to those most vulnerable in our community since 2010.

So, when they decided they were in need of a new logo to celebrate another decade of difference, they created a brilliant challenge for the local school children to design them one.

After selecting their talented winner, the Brackley Foodbank approached Clockwork Design to digitally illustrate it.

Clockwork animated the drawing of the soup can with the heart at the centre, which instantly popped from the screen – creating a logo that will remain memorable in the minds and hearts of the Brackley community.

Also requiring new volunteer cards and vinyl banners which would both work together to encourage donations from new and existing volunteers, the Brackley Foodbank asked Clockwork to take on the rewarding task of designing and printing them.

Ensuring that the new logo design was present across all assets, Clockwork created and printed the colour-popping designs that you can now see on The Brackley Foodbanks’ new volunteer cards and vinyl banners.

These can now be used to further promote the incredible work that the Brackley Foodbank does in and around the Brackley area.

Brackley Foodbank Volunteer cards

If your business is in need of any new design assets, including new logos, banners, or business cards, then be sure to send our friendly team a message today to get started.

As we begin saying goodbye to 2022 and hello to 2023, it is the perfect time to consider our goals and objectives for the new year ahead. So, what better time to tackle the sentiment; 'new year, new you' than with your business’ branding?

Your branding acts as a visual representation of who your business is. So, if your assets do not line up with your business’ values, then it may be time to consider a rebrand in 2023.

Branding encompasses everything that shapes the perception of your business, products and/or services in the minds of your customers. It is effective branding that allows us to highlight who a business is to new and prospective customers.

Something as simple as your business' colour palette influences how your customers feel, think, and ultimately respond. So, if you aren’t seeing the results that you would like or you think there is room to improve, then Clockwork is here to help.

Whether your business could do with a new logo, colour scheme, tagline, website refresh, or anything else in-between or beyond, then Clockwork has the expertise and skill set to revolutionise your business' branding.

Simply click here to see a few hand picked branding projects that are sure to inspire your business. Or, for a more extensive look, navigate to our case study section which showcases some of the most recent projects we have delivered for our extensive clientele.

After you have taken a look and if you think your business could do with a rebrand in 2023, then send our friendly team a message today to get started – we look forward to hearing from you.

linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram