Web Design

Web design was a natural progression in my design career. The skills that I accrued through graphic design allowed me to comfortably develop my abilities in the web based format.

I have worked on numerous websites over the years. During my time at Park Leisure, I was the only person with any real web experience. The responsibility fell to me to create and maintain multiple websites for the various branches of the business. This often meant teaching myself different coding languages and techniques in order to build in features that I was previously unable to do. I am a firm believer in ‘learn by doing’, and therefore this was a great education as I frequently had to problem solve to achieve the best results.

I recent years I have moved from fully coding websites into the world of WordPress. Using this tool I have produced numerous websites including those for e-commerce with fully secured payment methods.

The flexibility in being able to not only design the website but also build it has allowed me to streamline my workflow and develop sites which have the user experience (UX) and style that I envisage.

WordPress, HTML & CSS

An example of my WordPress skills is this very website. I created it in a short period of time, including creating the copy, selecting which content to use and making it web ready. I always try to adhere to a set of standards which include optimising images, adding ALT tags and titles where possible and writing the copy in an SEO friendly manner.

I also have experience making websites using Dreamweaver with HTML and CSS. However, since discovering WordPress, I much prefer this method as I believe it helps create a polished product which can be tailored with hints of HTML and CSS. Using the WooCommerce plugin, along with others, I have created e-commerce sites for a fully secure shopping experience.

Park Leisure Website - web design using WordPress

Simon J Hall Creative Portfolio Website Design

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation is crucial for any business that is online. I greatly enjoy the challenge of writing copy and then trying to make it more attractive to search engines. It is extremely satisfying when you can see the results of your work paying off and having a direct impact upon the flow of traffic to a website.

I successfully managed to get results with many of the websites that I have worked on moving from distant pages on search engines to the top of Google with several key phrases. I achieved this with simple organic SEO techniques which did not require spending any money on AdWords or PPC methods.

My aim with web design is to always consider SEO whilst working to help naturally improve visibility. With this mentality I believe a far more fine tuned website is produced from the beginning.

Social Media

More and more people are going to social media websites to look at a business before going to their own website. For this reason, it is important to portray a consistent style and message which mirrors that of the company.

I have created hundreds of social media posts across all the key platforms and earned thousands of impressions, shares and likes through the production of engaging posts with enticing content.

To maximise the impact and visibility of my social media work I have used services such as Sprout Social and Hootsuite to schedule the posts to go live within the optimum window for interaction amongst our customers.

Social Media Post Design – Simon-J-Hall Canterbury Web Designer & Graphic Designer (10)

Social Media Post Design – Simon-J-Hall Canterbury Web Designer & Graphic Designer (1)

Social Media Post Design – Simon-J-Hall Canterbury Web Designer & Graphic Designer (2)

Social Media Post Design – Simon-J-Hall Canterbury Web Designer & Graphic Designer (12)

Email Campaigns & MailChimp

I like to treat emails as one page websites. They have a lot of similarities and experience the same challenges in respect of keeping a customer interested or even getting them to click open in the first place.

As the emails are often opened on mobile device nowadays, I believe it is important to optimise all graphics and make sure your key message is obvious right at the top of the page. People will make a decision within a split second about whether they want to read more of the email or ignore it. Again, I find this a great challenge to to try and impress someone that quickly. It is like a 2 second audition, so you have to make a brilliant first impression.

I have been using MailChimp for about 4 years. I normally create my own templates and incorporate HTML to get the results I want to achieve. I find the tools for monitoring performance help me get the best results with my E-mail campaigns.

Linking with company stationery, I can create E-mail signatures and banners to go at the bottom of correspondence. I incorporate clickable links or buttons with unique URLs to help draw customers towards the company’s website and better understand their path of interaction.

Web Design

WordPress, HTML & CSS

SEO

Social Media

Email Campaigns & MailChimp

About Me

Graphic Design

Web Design

Digital Design