Today I would like to demonstrate how I create breadcrumbs link trails in my Weebly websites. I have seen a few others try this but without complete success. I am indebted to Jack Woon's blog article on this subject and I use the Javascript code he used adding some refinements to his code and methodology.

This is the code I use in this website to setup Breadcrumbs.

You can copy the code above by saving the weeblybreadcrumbs.js file below to your Weebly Code Editor Files directory accessible via: DESIGN > Edit HTML/CCS > Files

There are a few variations to this code available to those of us who are not experienced Javascript coders. For instance:

• <h4>...</h4> could be <h3>...</h3> if you want a larger font size.
• "You Are Here: " can be changed  or deleted.
• UpperCase can be changed to LowerCase - there are three places where this change can be made.
• <font color="#555555"> (towards the bottom of the above code - this controls the font of the page name you are on) can be changed to any color code you wish as long as it contrasts with your page content background.

Having loaded the .js file above, you need to add code to your HTML pages above your Files folder.

The secret to creating Weebly Breadcrumb Trails is to treat each top level menu link in conjunction with the sublinks above (or beside) it.  

With reference to this website www.valuewebsites.co.nz for instance, I have grouped 'Web Services' with the sublinks below beginning with 'Weebly Websites'. In this case I have used the same Page layout for all these links, 'short-header.html'

Just above the closing </body> tag I have inserted this script.
<script src="/files/theme/weeblybreadcrumbs.js"></script> 

The final piece of code that needs to be added is placed immediately above  the {content} code (usually white) on the html page.
<div topurl="/Web-Services.html" toptitle="Web Services" ></div>
So 'topurl' in this case is '/Web-Services.html' and the top level page's title 'toptitle' is 'Web Services'

Now, this is where it all gets a little more complicated. Some Weebly users will need help with this. Each top level link, in my websites e.g. 'About Us', 'VW News', etc. needs to have a different Page Layout. If you want to use the same graphical design and page layout as 'short-header.html' for another top level menu link, you will need to copy the html code in that layout and create another page layout, e.g. 'short-header2.html'. I have done that for my 'About Us' page. I then changed the 'div' (2nd) red code above to:
<div topurl="/About-Us.html" toptitle="About Us" ></div>
while adding the 'script' (1st) code as is.

Furthermore, you may choose to have No Header for the sub link/s below (beside) a Top Level Link, as I have done for the pages below 'About Us'. Please do not use the 'no-header.html' Page Layout - this is needed for Store Products/Services if you need your website for eCommerce.

Copy the code from your existing 'no-header.html' page and create, 'no-header2.html' before adding in:
<div topurl="/About-Us.html" toptitle="About Us" ></div>
<script src="/files/theme/weeblybreadcrumbs.js"></script> 
as above.

And so on....

You will need to Publish your website to see your Breadcrumbs Trail - it does not appear when you are in Editing mode.

Three things to note:

1. You may choose not to have a breadcrumb trail on your Home page, or any other page that does not have menu sub-links. If you do have a 'Trail' on Home, you need to act in the same way as above because 'Home' is a top level menu link just like 'About Us' and 'Web Services' on this website.
   
2. If you have products for sale, your eCommerce 'Cart' is a 'no-header.html' page like the Product pages. Your 'Cart' breadcrumb trail 'Store' or 'equivalent' link may throw up a 404 error message. I have not figured how to get around this. Suggestions are welcome.
3. I have tried to offer a careful explanation of how to add breadcrumb trails to Weebly websites. Those of you unfamiliar with using html and javascript code may be encouraged to try implementing this breadcrumbs methodology. Don't waste too much time if your time is valuable. In most cases I can add this code to your Weebly website in less than an hour. You may choose to spend NZ$50 with me to have the code installed on your Weebly website.

Jack Woon also offers an alternative method which involves coding page by page. This is okay if there are say less than 15 pages in your website. Beyond that it becomes tedious and time consuming. As you develop your website it may also be frustrating to have to manually change or add code as you add new pages and/or change top level links, etc.
Alternative Method
Load the .js file as above to the 'Files' folder. 
Add the first code once at the bottom of one of your page footer elements:
<script src="/files/theme/weeblybreadcrumbs.js"></script> 
This code will automatically repeat on the footer of all pages.
Add the second code, adjusted for each of the top level menu links, to each web page, eg.:
<div topurl="/About-Us.html" toptitle="About Us" ></div>
For this alternative method top (2nd) code:

1. You can use the element Copy function to more quickly move the top level link code to the top of sub-menu pages;
   
2. You can add the code to the RH sidebar of any 'Blog' page - not top left;
   
3. You can add the code to your Store page, but you will not be able to place  it in Product pages nor in the Checkout Cart.

To view the results of coding using this alternative method visit our sister website Edit Your Webs

Please use the comments facility associated with this Post if you have questions or suggestions about this topic. 

May all your breadcrumbs be tasty ones!

Terry Alve
Value Websites

The Weebly website development and management system is much more powerful than most Kiwi users appreciate. While Weebly is one of the simplest website builders to use, many business and other users often give up without realising they are sitting on a goldmine. With a little perseverence and advice your Weebly website can be a very effective marketing and selling tool for you and your business.

Terry Alve from Value Websites has been using and profiting from Weebly Websites for over 10 years. During that time, he notes, Weebly have developed their website platform in leaps and bounds. Despite that they have maintained core values of simplicity, ease of use, along with clear and concise help systems. The end result is a wonderfully functional and effective, user-friendly website builder.

So, why do some struggle with their Weebly? 

A core issue, Terry notes, is that many small business Weebly owners and users are quite time poor. When they run into a website development issue they often give up when the solution is relatively simple. Issues we have been able to assist with include (with relevant links): getting header graphics sorted, tweaking the new and powerful Weebly eCommerce system, improving links to a payment processor and creatively adding documentation like product lists.

We can help troubleshoot and develop your Weebly website. Whether its advice, detailed instruction or asking us to do some hands on work; Value Websites are available to assist you. In working with us you will work with a Company that has designed and developed 50+ Weebly websites. We consider ourselves amongst the most experienced and knowledgeable Weebly developers in New Zealand.

Finally, a piece of valuable free advice.

One of the most under-rated components of a Weebly website is their Blog component. This very user-friendly facility is a great Weebly website back door to good search engine rankings. While we rank well in Google search engine first pages for a number of search terms (especially for Weebly related terms), a good news blog post - like this - will quickly rank on Google and other SEs. This will provide your website with a valuable entry point from which searchers will visit, explore and respond to some of your web pages. One of the reasons why we regularly write VW News posts.

And it costs you nothing (but a little time) to discuss your Weebly website issue with Terry. 

Want to talk ...?

Last week we did a review of Shopify Online Store Builder which we had been using on behalf a client for the first time. We had been spending time search engine optimising a tyvek wristbands site. It is pleasing to see that some of the search terms we optimised for are beginning to show up already on the first page of Google. Some of these shows are directly related tot he article we published here last week - one of the values of using this blog software!

Today, we want to return to the eCommerce builder we are more familiar with: Weebly and our own Designer Version we have on www.edityourwebs.com domain. This week much of our time has been spent upgrading www.louknzclothing.co.nz who are our major eCommerce client. In particular in addition to adding new products, we have been working on inventory. It had become apparent that some product variations were out-of-stock. So we are working with our client to make sure that where stock is unavailable or in transit, no one can order and pay for product that cannot be delivered promptly. At this point it is a customer relations issue.

We are also working with this client preparing to issue their first online eNewsletter. We have their client elist on Mail Chimp and are currently reviewing content, including a bonus reward for those on their list. If you visit their site, now might be a good time to join their elist. Whether we will use the Coupon redemption component of the software is undecided but that feature is there if needed. Either way there will be a subscriber benefit out within the week.

While we have talked about this website before in this eNews, you may enjoy visiting to see how it has developed nearly six months on from launch.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) of a website takes focused time and some skill but you do not have to be a professional to get the basics right.

In our experience, and we have made the mistake too, we can be temped to take a deep breath when we have finished putting the words and images together to create our website, without paying needful attention to SEO. 

Many of us are using content management systems to develop and edit our websites. Thankfully most of these do assist us greatly to get SEO started at least. However, we still need to complete the detailed work:

• checking that the key terms in the text and tags of each web page are consistent with the page's title and description tags;
• in other words, the meta title, description and keyword tags need to accurately reflect the page content;
• having unique meta tags for each page - often I find that a set of universal meta tags are applied to all pages which is better than nothing, but not enough;
• ensuring that every  image has an alt tag not only to advise those who have turned images off or who are blind, but also to added relevant content to the web page - assuming the image has something to do with the page subject;
• making sure that Head tags are there containing main key terms for the web page - another way of telling the search engines what we think are the key terms for this page;
• linking your website to Google Analytics and Webmaser Tools to ensure that you can check down the track periodically that your website is performing as you wish;
• working to ensure that clients and others interested link to your website from theirs, especially if their content is in any way relevant to yours, offering to reciprocate by placing a link to their site on yours - this is called back linking;
• if possible, trying to get back links from Google Page Rank (PR) 4+ websites to your web site which will contribute to your page rank growing and you getting more page one listings for your key terms.

If you pay attention to getting these SEO factors done well, you be well on the way to making your website work for you as the marketing and promotional tool it should be.

By the way, why don't we swap links on our websites. Value Websites has PR4 with Google, so it may well be worth your while. Place the code below on your website and let us know. We will respond by linking back to you. Happy to do this as a freebie - win: win for both of us!

THE HTML CODE

<p><strong><a target="_blank" href="http://www.valuewebsites.co.nz/">Value Websites</a></strong>design, develop and edit professional websites.</p>

Value Websites works with several small to medium sized businesses. In fact we are one ourselves. We offer you some of our learnings and obersvations in this article.

Do you know that there are various mistakes you can make as your business develops that can slowly kill it over time if you are not alert and watching out for them?

These mistakes are not just reserved for new companies and their operators.  Even seemingly “successful” businesses that have been around for several years can still be making these mistakes as they lose money and valuable time along the way.

Although some of these common mistakes are more prevalent in service type companies, they can exist in almost any business endeavour.  Perhaps you will notice a few challenges for your business as you consider these 8 BIG small business mistakes.

1. Underestimating Project/Service Time
This mistake is a big one and it applies to companies that sell a service as well as to those that sell a product. Time is often a company’s bread and butter. Estimating time to perform each and every service in your repertoire realistically is vital.  The best way to estimate time is to do it once yourself or watch your best employee do the task and allow for extra time to cover the unexpected on top of it.  For businesses selling products, logistics time needs to be determined accurately and carefully.


2. Not Knowing YOUR Company Numbers and/or Incorrectly Setting Prices
Note the emphasis on the word “YOUR”. Don’t use a competitor’s pricing as your benchmark without actually knowing why they use the numbers they do.  What if the competitor has a bad pricing structure and is barely making money or even losing money?!  It’s not good enough to know a competitor’s price, cut it by 10%, and then start selling without robust research. Your costs may be more than theirs!  You can use a competitor’s pricing as a starting point but you can’t base your whole strategy on it.

Different industries have their own variables as far as costs go and you need to be aware of them for your service or product pricing.  Cost price is not the only cost to have in your head when you are pricing products.  How much your labour and materials cost for a service is only a piece of an hourly rate.  Employees cost more than just salary and not every employee is part of your labour cost. There are plenty of overhead expenses that need to be built into your price like insurance, office expenses, rates, insurance, telco fees, etc. And don’t forget to factor in a value for the quality factor. Especially if a selling or service point in your business is your above-average product or service quality. For instance, if service and/or quality is part of your unique service proposition and/or unique selling point (USP) then expect people will be happy to pay for it, so charge for it.

Our June promotion is about adding value to your website or website assets like email list, email newsletter, copywriting, form assets, SEO, Adwords, imagery, audio visual resources, etc.

When we talk about adding value, we are essentially on about increasing: 

1. Traffic and hits to your website or web property; 
2. Usability - improving user experience so users stay longer and explore deeper into your web and abandon making a desired response less often ; 
   
3. SEO effectiveness so that you have page one ranking in search engines for more key terms;
4. Adwords campaign responses through choosing effective key terms and testing them to achieve better performance;
5. Business and website profitability.

In short, ensuring your website assets increase in value.

Recently we have been thinking a lot about website valuations and the factors that contribute to an increasingly valuable website asset. As the web matures and as web owners consider selling their website/s and businesses with a website, our focus is moving more to ensuring that we work with web owners to establish and achieve both short and longer term goals. It is not just about getting a website up and running and optimised for immediate traffic, service delivery and sales. It is also about building in sustainability through testing, tweaking, editing, rewriting, improving SEO and generally taking a broad approach to improving the web/site asset value.

Two resources we offer clients are:

Building a Website You Can Sell in 2013
Todd  Malicoat - 8 Jan 2013

This is a summary and brief review of a relatively recent (Jan. 2013) blog post about considerations that a web developer and a business owner should have in mind when building a new website. When planning a website these factors, if heeded, may make a significant difference to the sale price achieved at some future date. Value Websites recommends that if this summary whets your appetite for more, you read Malicoat's full article. The headings below are Malicoat's.

General thoughts on website appraisal
Malicoat begins with Rule #1 – "You can’t sell potential."  Take the word out of your vocabulary, he asserts.  Cringe when you hear it from others. Most sites currently sell for between 12-36 months of revenue, or a 1-3x annual revenue multiple - you’ll be lucky to get a 3x multiple!

He offers a helpful Primer on valuation principles: 10 Rules for Valuation by Tim Berry
 
Online Business and Revenue Models
A list to consider.

• No current model – Informational or resource site.
• Subscription.
• Advertising.
• Service.
• Lead generation.
• Product (eCommerce).
• Donation.

Questions for Appraising a Website – The Buyer’s Perspective
A series of questions to ask of a website which are helpful when appraising a website's real value.....

Website Appraisal Tools
9 are identified and explained, including Alexa, Google Analytics and Google Adwords' Tool ....

(Potential) Website Valuation Equations
A few ways of putting a price tag on a website:

• Content site (no current revenue model)
• Content site (advertising revenue model)
• Subscription site
• Service site
• Lead generation site
• Product site