The Village Websmith - At Home Near You for St Briavels,, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
Dedicated to small businesses.
At the Village Websmith, we only work with small businesses. It is far simpler and much more rewarding. It is far easier to get information about what is good about a business when you are talking to the person who IS the business. We are proud to have helped hundreds of small business people expose themselves more effectively on the Internet since 2003.
Giving word of mouth a helping hand.
As do many small businesses, most of our customers are certain that Word Of Mouth Marketing is the best way to get business. We strongly agree. After all, that is how we get most of our work. However, there is no harm in giving WOMM a helping hand. That is how we see the web presence here at the Village Websmith. It is an easy way for your customers to share your business with their friends and family.
Easy, easy, easy!
The hallmark of all our work is that the experience for visitors is easy. Your information is expertly presented not only in the form of words used and the images associated, but just as importantly, in the places where people look and where they expect to find the information. Nothing gets hidden in unnecessary, distracting animations and the pages follow a stable, comfortable structure, developed with just your site in mind. The most important part is that it is also extremely easy for visitors to respond to you via your chosen communication channel. You choose the option that suits best your availability to handle the enquiries.
Like Baby Bear's Porridge
How customers perceive your business is fundamental in how they respond to it. An impoartant part of our job is to make customers look just the right size for everyone. Small enough to be cherished by existing customers but substantial and professional enough to reassure potential new customers. This is a delicate balance that is only achieved through decades of experience in creating web presences promoting small businesses.
Getting found can also help
With unique functions to associate what you do, for whom and where, Webinthebox® from The Village Websmith helps even the smallest business find its way to the forefront of search engine results. Come and visit us, we will be happy to show some examples of how this works. You will also find that it is explained in plain language and not Jargonese.
Last but not least
The subject of money in many cases can present a surprise. You will find the surprise a pleasant one when presented with your Village Websmith invoice. Your site is built using Webinthebox®, our own content management system, developed since 2003. This makes creation and customisation of sites very quick. As time is money, this leads to small, manageable bills.
Expand and achieve
As your business develops, your Webinthebox® site can develop with it. Options can be added at any time for:
- Online shopping cart
- Payments and deposit taking
- Quote configuration
- Invoicing and contact management
- Interactive maps
- Broadcast emails and newsletters
- Live chat
- Calendars of events
- Video galleries
- Time lapse sequences
Google+ Local. Take charge of your search engine performance!
In killing off the Google Local Business Centre (Google Places) record, Google has made what we consider a major step forward in giving businesses the tools to promote themselves locally.
Google+ Local has now replaced the original listing, and combines elements of social networking with search engine capability. This means that you can now actively reach out to your market rather than just leave your website sitting there for the search engine robots to find.
By having a carefully constructed Google+ Local page, which combines elements of your website and images of current work, you can create a strategy of sharing links to tell the world about yourself.
If you don't have the time or the resources to do this regularly, don't worry. As a part of the Fully Managed Websites programme, your Village Websmith will post to your main site, Google+ page and social networking pages at a frequency you choose to make sure you get the best possible value out of all sources.
Check out this link to an example of how we are using the Google+ Local page ourselves...
St. Briavels stands on the edge of a limestone plateau 800 feet above the Wye Valley, with spectacular views.
The village shelters behind the remains of a 12th century castle which is now used as a youth hostel.
The entrance gateway dates back to 1275 and the castle was the administrative centre of the Royal Hunting Forest.
The founder of the castle was Milo Fitz Walter, the Earl of Hereford, who in the reign of Henry VIII found it necessary to monitor the infringements of the Welsh.
The flat grass platform to the west of the castle is actually composed of a pile of cinders thrown out in the days of iron ore smelting.
An ancient connection connected with Hudnalls Woods involves the throwing of bread and cheese from the pound wall on Whitsunday evening. Records state that this custom follows the rights given by King John, and later confirmed by Charles II to the parishioners of the village. It was necessary for the rights of local people to continue to cut wood from the Hudnalls, nearby.
The village has a small post office and a typical village garage, which inevitably adds to the rural character and charm. Within the village of St. Briavels, is a local craft outlet, and hostelries offering refreshment. For more information, please call us on the number shown, or click in the header of any page to email St Briavels-forest-of-dean@villagewebsmith.co.uk.
