Toward the end of 2009 I realised that Ubisan Management’s unique recession-savvy approach to web design was the perfect response to the current economic climate and I started attending various business networking groups in and around the Glasgow area to widen my network and increase my clientbase.

The truth is you could spend practically ALL of your working week attending business networking events and following up on conversations you had at them…often with little or no return.  By far and away the most effective business networking group I’ve been attending has been the BNI Glasgow Trailblazers group.

BNI isn’t for everyone.  On the face of it, BNI does seem a bit rigid and structured but I wouldn’t be dragging myself out of bed at 6am for a 6.45am meetup every Thursday morning if it wasn’t working out for me.

There’s a bit of a push on for more members of our great business networking group so to help out with that and because I’m an all-round good guy, I knocked up a quick WordPress install so we have a web presence in advance of the impending big push.

Do you need a clean, distinctive web presence in a hurry? Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Just been checking out a great article from the ever-reliable Jeffrey Zeldman about The Puzzle of Japanese Web Design.  He writes about how the Japanese have always been well ahead of everyone else when it comes to fine art and graphic design but that this doesn’t really translate to web design.  One of the examples he uses is the Japan Airlines website:

What’s the Japanese for confused by it’s higgledy-piggledy-ness? How do the Japanese cope with so much clutter?

Some ten years ago, the rock band I was managing  dabbled in providing a Japanese version of it’s UK website.  Primarily to boost the chances of getting a visit out there (it worked) but also to try to engender the crazy sort of devotion that Japanese music fans accord to bands they like (that worked too).

We sorted out a Japanese translator based in Glasgow and even went so far as to acquire a Japanese keyboard.  We gave up after a few months as it just didn’t generate a decent enough audience to justify the expense.

Maybe the design (which mirrored the UK design) was just too straight-laced?

The latest business from the hotel, bar and leisure industry to benefit from our extensive web design and marketing experience is Ardlui Retreat; a premium self catering holiday park located on the North-westerly shores of Loch Lomond.

It’s a quality location for a holiday and we really wanted to transmit that sense of that  quality through the website design and I think we’ve done that pretty successfully.

We’ve also integrated the Supercontrol booking system into the site to enable the owners to take online bookings directly.  With third party organisations such as Hoseasons and Visit Scotland taking upwards of a 20% share of any booking, it really makes sense to try to capture bookings independently and the Supercontrol system offered the flexibility and speed of implementation that the client really needed.

Ardlui Retreat has already seen a 150% year-on-year increase in website visitors since our involvement and this has also translated into a  similar rise in occupancy rates.

Over the coming months we’ll be working hard at further increases to traffic via SEO and more traditional forms of marketing.

We’re very excited about the latest version of UBIshop – our own full feature e-commerce system.

It’s been a while in production as we wanted to get it right, but it’s now being implemented into a number of client sites, the latest of which is Electric Fencing Direct (EFD), one of the country’s leading electric fencing and agricultural supplies specialists.

What sets EFD apart from the competition is their dedication to their customers.  The free advice they offer and the lengths they go to to satisfy their ever-growing customer base is second to none.   We can relate to that here at Ubisan!   Their old system relied heavily on a positively creaking Microsoft Access database and this has been replaced by a fast and user friendly e-commerce and customer management system which will help the company grow it’s online profile, and sales  considerably.

Further features are also in the pipeline to maximise the online shop’s sales potential and this will be further boosted by our involvement in ensuring EFD remain ahead of the pack when it comes to marketing their products and search engine optimisation

We’re currently working on a couple of projects at the moment with previous clients Contently Managed, the latest of which is a WordPress blog customisation for Whyte and Mackay’s ethical vodka brand, Snow Leopard Vodka.

Contently Managed work with a number of beverage companies helping them make the most out of the marketing opportunities that social media provides and expect to see more fully customised, beautiful booze blogs soon….

After the launch last week of a new website for Scotland’s Chauffeur, we’re delighted to follow this up with the launch of a website for their sister company,  Ecosse Travel.