I was looking for a payroll service so I spoke to him; liked his prices and no fuss approach so instructed him to do the payroll for Thinking Virtually.

Anyway, the other day Scott sent me a letter asking if I knew anybody that may be interested in his services. I did think about it but in truth couldn’t really think of anybody that I could pass him onto – so rather than ignoring his request I thought I would pass it on via my blog!

The payroll service from Scott is great, it doesn’t matter if you are in Southend, Harlow or Nottingham; his service is easily conducted via email so if you want a reliable payroll service and a reasonable price call Scott today!

Michelle Crockett receives a monthly update on how her keywords are performing from our automated keyword/phrase system; and I am copied into it for information purposes.

This month I emailed Michelle when the system email came into me and also mentioned that if you type ‘Bookkeepers Essex’ into Google she is in the #1 position on Google Maps.

This morning I had a lovely email from Michelle saying that she signed her first client up that she knew had come from the website because her contact with him started from the contact form on her site.

It’s the small things sometimes that make your day and I have to say that the email from Michelle has made mine today – thanks!

This looks so cool, it looks like a bigger, better itouch (or iPhone if thats what you have...).

Watching the promo video was honestly the first time I have ever thought I can see the end of the PC dominance!

I can see the scenario where apple devices like this mean that the MAC environment won’t be so alien to us – watch out Microsoft...

And the prices, it could well be in the UK for little more than £300... either that or we will all just buy from the US!

Online blog suggest we could have it as soon as March, I think it’s a little way off yet but I know what I want for Christmas 2010!

So click here to add your name to the list of people that want one of these puppies!

PS. Here is a link to her website: http://www.jocurtisphotographer.co.uk

I didn’t believe it and don’t expect you will straight away

I was a real sceptic but my wife saved something like £40 on a recent work lunch – and the more I read about it the more stories like that I have read.

And the best bit...

They have a funky app for the iPhone that shows you restaurants that are signed up to the scheme in your vicinity.

So if I’m in London and click on the app it will show me a list of restaurants that I can use the card at, it will tell me their address, telephone number and distance from me!

Ok, ok, we are not all based in London...

I’m told that the scheme is going to go national, right now if I put in Southend I get restaurants offering the discounts, the same for many areas.

The Cost?

It seems that a single membership is £70 per year but I am told that there are corporate cards available that start from £30 per year... don’t quote me on that but that’s what I have heard!

Where to find out more?

Simple, if you have an iPhone just look for the tastelondon app, its free and will tell you who is on the scheme wherever you are based. Otherwise go to their website: www.tastelondon.co.uk.

Have fun!

In the Past

Typically we have Google or MSN or Yahoo (or the like) as our home page. The internet was filled with HTML sites that offered us the ability to book holidays, buy clothes, find out about the world we live in and get expert opinions.

This is still the case but there may be a change on the horizon...

In the Future

How do past browsing trends comparing to current browsing trends? How could social networking have affected the way people use the internet?

For me it is interesting to think that more and more we are using Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. So more and more we are possibly not using Google, Yahoo and MSN...

Could this change the way companies get their message to us? Who gets to benefit from the social networking revolution?

I’m a big fan of Facebook (and many are). I use it to keep in contact with large groups of friends that are not always connected by a common theme. I got to the gym so there are people I like to keep up to date with from there, I also do Karate, talk with old school friends that are no longer in my area and much, much more.

Twitter allows me to follow the thoughts of people and organisations I like – I don’t need to search for news anymore; it is delivered to me in 140 character snippets.

When I want to find out how to do something I am more inclined to use YouTube to see if somebody has uploaded a video demo rather than search through reams of text based articles on how to do it!

So how is this or could this effect you? Those with big budgets are always going to be able to take advantage of new marketing opportunities, but I think the biggest opportunity is actually for local organisations.

Is the Big Bang Contracting?

The internet boom made the world our market place for everything we need, I can see a trend that suggests people will start to look in their local area for what they need – and to me there is the opportunity.

I have a rule of trying not to go over a single A4 page for my posts (knowing that I can procrastinate) so I’m going to leave it there. The next couple of entries I make will explore my thoughts on the internet and what to think about next!

Chances are you can’t or rather don’t.

Let’s think about your emails... How many do you send? In a given week how many emails are sent to existing clients, to prospects or to service providers?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the link to your website in your email signature could identify where it came from?

I like to think that the better I understand how and where the visitors to my website have come from the better placed I am to understand my website.

So here is what I do...

My email signature contains a link to the Thinking Virtually website. When somebody follows that link I know that it came from my email signature as Google Analytics records the Source, Media and Campaign.

Here are the things you need to decide on:

Name for Source – for me that is ‘davidemailsig’

Type of Media – in this case we identify it as ‘email

Name of Campaign – we kind of cheat here as we simply call is ‘davidemailsig’

So my signature shows www.thinkingvirtually.co.uk but when you click on it you are sent to www.thinkingvirtually.co.uk/?utm_source=davidemailsig&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=davidemailsig.

Right, so now do one for yourself.

Source: ?utm_source=your-source

&utm_medium=your-media

&utm_campaign=your-campaign

To make life even easier Google have provided a page that will create the link! Click here to get started.

What if I don’t do this?

Then nothing will change. However Google Analytics records email click though vists as ‘Direct Traffic’ (unless clicked on through Google Mail).

Suppose 90% of your direct traffic is from your email signature, would this make you think differently about your email signature? Would you consider what is said and the possibility of adding offers there as well?

If you don’t do it you won’t lose as you’ll never know. Spend 10 mins and do it and you’ll start capturing data and you will know – even better is now you can start playing with it!

I know if somebody has visited my site because of links in my emails – do you?

The main reason for the new website back in 2008 was to ensure that the members could access all the information they would need. There is a strong emphasis on the members section of the website, providing Chigwell Golf Club members with course information, upcoming events, news and different blogs.

For me the website conveys the spirit of the club. The images taken by a member of staff capture the course, really showing it off in its full spender.

Chigwell Golf Course is respected throughout Essex as a top golfing venue; click below to find out more about:

• Corporate and Society Golf Days
• The Chigwell Golf Club Opens
• Their Pro Shop
• Course Info

Or to just find our more about Chigwell Golf Club click here.

The website that we built for them was designed to win them searches such as ‘hotel linen hire essex’ as this is their primary business.

The Belmont Laundry site is a simple design that we feel really works well with their existing branding.

We’d like to thank the Team at Belmont Laundry and wish the all the best of luck at their new premises.

The Baytree is a lovely restaurant in Melbourne, Derbyshire. The owners and staff are passionate about everything they do; and it really shows.

Some time ago we were asked to look at a website for them by Baseline Creative. Baseline had come up with an exquisite design and had arranged some delightful photography; all that was needed was the development.

The site is fully content managed and benefits from a really nice slideshow on the home page.

If you are ever in the area and want somewhere friendly and good to eat – get yourself to the Baytree.

You may say (and you would be true) that electric cars really aren’t that new but these puppies are!

If you Google ‘Electric Cars’ you will see sponsored links from Smart, Nissan, Renault, Honda, Toyota, Fiat and even Volvo.

Electric Car Options

• The ‘Electric Drive’ Smart Car boasts an effective 300 mpg with Zero emissions.
• The Nissan offering is a little harder to understand from their website but seems to be built around the Nissan Leaf.
• Renault has launched Renault Z.E, a range of 4 electric concept vehicles; each more futuristic and larger than the last.
• Honda and Toyota have hybrid offerings that in truth seem more like conventional cars but still seem better for the environment that a standard vehicle – a friend of mine said that it drives like a car, has the same range, doesn’t cost less to run except I don’t have to pay the London Congestion Charge and as I’m in town most days that saves me a fortune (every days, 48 weeks per year is a saving of £1,920!)

But in truth my favourite, after looking around was what seems to be an independent company called Aixam Mega.

Aixam Mega have a range of private and light commercial vehicles, that put the focus on being friendly to the environment. It’s debatable but I wouldn’t think they will win many awards for the design of their vehicles but I think they are 100% fit for purpose.

I don’t know why they are not more popular in the cities. They are an ideal replacement for small vans and city run-arounds.

Planet Leasing Ltd

So what’s the point of this entry? Simple really, I like the idea of electric cars and it highlights something we can all do – think ahead.

Planet Leasing have looked ahead and thought if the main line manufacturers are getting in on this should they?

They have looked at what is coming up and have decided that they need to put themselves in a place that allows them to not only position themselves in what might be a new market but at the same time allow themselves to be there when their customers want/need them.

If you look at it this is at least a year off, probably two or more. What Planet Leasing have done is decided to establish themselves online they need the time to establish a website so that search engines know about them.

Thinking ahead may well put them in a great organic position, ready for when people go looking for Electric Cars...

I’ve worked with companies and organisations website for some time now and the simple fact of the matter is that as technology gets more and more integrated into the psyche of society the more of a potential disadvantage you are if you are not seem to be everywhere.

Understand the Mindset

100 years ago you would have possibly read a paper, some years later cinemas presented the news, a little later still and the news was brought into the home through the TV – on the 5th Feb 1989 Sky News started broadcasting 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

Today, through you mobile phone you can be fed news...

Why do I say understand the mindset? It’s simple really, what is important to know is that we have unprecedented access to information; the net result being we can do more in less time.

Do more in less time is the standard, forget multi-tasking; think hypertasking!

Hypertasking

Think about it, how many times have you read a text, whilst watching TV, doing the ironing, helping with the kids homework and drinking a cup of tea?

In the workplace how many times are you reading several emails, speaking to colleagues, thinking about what needs to be done for the rest of the day and possibly on the phone?

Does all this apply to Me?

Possibly, probably: almost definitely.

I think it’s more than fair to say that most people will see this as a business issue but in reality it is a human condition as it seems to be at the core of our Mindset. Most people will say they don’t have a website or have a blog. I’d ask them if they have a Facebook account or a twitter account, if they have I’d ask if they have ever updated their status; if they have then they have a website and a blog.

Clearly business has the most to gain from extending the reach of their online or new media activates but social networking for the purpose of keeping in contact with friends, contacts and loved ones can be extremely fulfilling.

What Should You Do?

It’s hard to say, you don’t have to do anything.

If you are a domestic service orientated business try integrating Facebook into your marketing mix; invite customers to provide feedback via Facebook Pages.

If you are a product driven organisation can you send product updates and offers via Twitter?

If your commodity is your knowledge or opinion think about your blog – how can you connect with people that value your thoughts; how can you syndicate this information?

A final thought...

There are many experts out there, I would consider myself reasonably knowledgeable but as I have already said there is so much information out there that I would be a fool to consider myself as an expert.

My recommendation is to look at all options, look at how others employ new media tools and above all else remember just 100 years ago the new media was the tabloid paper (over the broadsheets), 50 years ago it was the Televison, 25 years ago it was the internet, a little over 5 years ago Facebook came on the scene.

Don’t assume you know, don’t put all your eggs in one basket; try to think ‘what’s coming next’.

PS: I’ll let you into a secret; I think the next thing to look at is Video, but I’ll speak more about this another time.

Recently we worked with Baseline Creative to develop the new NRSB website.

During the build we looked an many applications and devices that the visually impaired use on a day to day basis. One of the items that caught my eye was screen readers.

In general screen readers seemed to be bulky devices that were not overly portable – but the Intel® Reader seems to be something slightly different.

I read about it from the Guardian’s website and then on the Intel® website.

Why make a fuss about the Intel® Reader?

As the Intel® Reader is portable it can be used anywhere; on a bus to read the paper, in a restaurant to understand the menu – just about anywhere.

What is the cost?

Currently you can buy the Intel® Reader from Amazon.com for £999.

Overview:

• The Intel® Reader can play most audio files as well, so can act as a portable music player
• Its display is 4.3” (10.9cm) (16:9)
• Its storage capacity is 4GB. It can hold up to 600 processed pages (images and text) with up to 20 pages waiting to be processed or up to 500,000 text-only pages
• It has USB ports for connectivity
• Audio playback is delivered through integrated speakers or a 1/8” (.35mm) audio jack
• Standby lasts for 5 days and playback is around 4 hours
• It is supplied with a carrying case and weighs around 1.38 kgs

Want to see it?

If you would like to see the Intel® Reader click here.

We have Google Analytics setup on our Content Management System’s home page so that every time we log-in we are presented with a snapshot of what is going on.

Google Analytics can tell you the number of actual visitors, the average time spent on your website, the entry pages and exit pages – and used with a little thought this information can be very powerful.

We have a client that we work with on a monthly basis to understand what is going on with his site. To look for trends and anticipate what is going on. A short time ago we noticed that once page was regularly being used as the entry page – so we looked at it.

The long and short was that the page did what it needed to and said what it needed to if it was just another page on the website BUT as it was drawing so much attention we decided to add some calls to action intended to increase the conversion rate from browser  to prospect.

Google do and provide many tools, some better than others – this one is a star, an absolute winner so if you don’t have it set yourself up with a Google account, follow their easy instructions and get going!

This is Dennis Hwang, he is one of two people that do the Doodles on Google.

He and another design the Doodles that sometimes take over the Google logo. I like it because school kids can get involved, use their imagination and even see their design on the Google Home Page.

The Philip K. Dick’s estate believes that the book in question "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” was referred to when actually naming the 'superphone', and sought no permission, which they feel is an infringment of their intellectual-property rights.

But the more severe blow for Google in my opinion is the major security flaw in the Andriod operating system. Just yesterday a Trojan within a banking application was found by the bank in question and they themselves had to inform Google to take the app off.

The reason this app seemed to have made it into the public domain seems to be the laxed vetting controls when submitting an app, all you have to pay is $25 and you are able to submitt an app ready to be downloaded around the world whereas the Apples App Store has a rigorous vetting system which make it near impossible for these type of malicious applications from being available. So is it time for Google to take away some of the freedom for the developers in return for a safer experience for the phone owner? Google has not commented on how they will improve the security as of yet!

About a year ago we redesigned and developed the Edward Lloyd Trust website. The design was in the capable hands of Baseline Creative and the development was carried out by us using ExpressionEngine.

In the last year there have been many new features added to ExpressionEngine as well as trends generally changing.

Last month we spoke with the team at ELT and proposed that we intergrate their news and events section with Facebook and Twitter so that they could spread the word about what they are doing quickly and easily!

So here it is, ELT v.2: http://www.edward-lloyd-trust.co.uk/.

It now sports links to its Facebook and Twitter account and whenever a News article or Event is put on the site both are updated.

As well as this we have done one or two things in the background that will make administering ExpressionEngine even easier!

Michelle Crockett, from Beaumont Business Services (Maldon based Bookkeerers) had very kindly taken the time to drop me a note to say that she was about to start marketing her business more and appreciated the work that we have done for her business.

Michelle is a bookkeeper that is based in Maldon Essex and was only really looking for a simple site that would stand a chance of being found when people searched for bookkeepers Maldon or Maldon Bookkeepers.

Here is her website http://www.beaumont-bookkeeping.co.uk/.

I would suggest if anybody is based in the Maldon area and are looking for a bookkeeper, they could do a lot worse that dropping her a line and getting a bookkeeping quote!

Thanks Michelle.

In recent times IE has dropped to around 62% which is taking into account IE6, IE7 and IE8 and within the last 6 months alone it has dropped in use by around 5% while its main rival FireFox has just pass the 25% milestone and seems to be going from strength to strength.  

But the browser to watch seems to be Googles Chrome which was released just 16 months ago and is now the third most used browser in the world taking over from safari (some may ask safari? Whats safari? To answer It is Apples attempt at a web browser) with 4.63% over the market share.

So is now the time to ask yourself as a website owner, how does my site look in browsers other than Microsoft IE? As believe me there can be a drastic difference. If you like many others would like to make sure your site still functions currently check out browsershots which will allow you to take a screenshot from as many different web browsers as you would like.

If this is you and it’s too much then end it all, quickly and easily with the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine!

I first saw this website on the Guardian’s website, I was amused by it and then further still when a business coach (Gill Tiney) from Steps to Success said on her inaugural tweet that if she gets addicted she’ll blame me!

So here you are, if you answer yes to the following perhaps you should consider the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine:

• Do you Tweet rather than speaking to friends and contacts?
• If you stub your toe do you update your Facebook status?
• Do you envy peoples contacts on Linked-In?

My thoughts on Social Networking websites...

I think they are great, but need to be respected:

Facebook can be like being at the pub or round a friends place enjoying a curry: the only problem is that your boss is there and so are prospective employers.

Twitter is a great way of getting your message out to many people – far more than most of us could ever speak to but why does ‘Ting Tong’ from Tooting want to follow me and how does it help either of us?

Linked-In helps you to see your connections in the business world but surly it also lets predators see who you are connected to?

Social networking works well for speaking to many friends and contacts at once and viral marketing can spread your offer, service or product far and wide and will probably put you in front of somebody in need very cost effectively.

I think that web 2.0 sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linked-In will start to settle down over a period of time. Social networking sites will always be popular and will continue to be used by the general public.

For me the most interesting thing is how businesses will use them. I believe passionately that if use responsibly social networking and viral marketing can be a great tool for all sorts of organisations. Personally I’d like to see charities use sites such as Facebook and Twitter more that and small businesses that thrive in referrals.

So there you are, commit ‘Web 2.0 Suicide’ if you feel you need to connect more with the chap next to you on the train in the morning or think about how you could use it better in your life!

Today Google is celebrating Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday with a Doodle of a falling apple.

At Thinking Virtually we are really big fans of the Google Doodles but this one didn’t really work for us. Recently Google celebrated ‘Sesame Street’ with a torrent of Doodles that we great and the annual Doodle 4 Google competition winner was fab!

For us the doodle doesn’t seem integrated, it feels like a ‘bolt on’.

This being said celebrating the birth of Sir Isaac Newton on 25th December 1642 is a worthy thing to do indeed. Isaac Newton was a mathematician, physicist and one of the foremost scientific intellects of all time.

He was born in Woolsthorpe, near Grantham in Lincolnshire and passed away at the age of 84. Considering the average life expectancy in the 1700’s was 45 to 50 years Sir Isaac Newton clearly lead a full life!

Either way – Happy Birthday Sir Isaac Newton and well done to Google for bringing it to all our attention.

I had a problem the other day that I thought my iPhone would laugh at… I had taken a picture in the wrong aspect, I’d used it to take a picture that I wanted to put on Facebook but didn’t realise that I couldn’t edit (rotate) the photo once I had taken it.

I looked at the apps and found something that I just had to have – Photoshop Mobile. Adobe have embraced and lead new media tools but this is an absolute must have – and best of all it’s FREE!

Photoshop Mobile will let you crop, rotate or change colours at the touch of a finger. You can even open a Photoshop.com account and upload your images for future use so they don’t take up room on your phone – Great!

Photoshop Mobile is available for the iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile devices.

I have an iPhone and really like this little app – thanks Adobe.

Planet Leasing are our longest standing customer. This was the first site we built back in January 2007. It was rebuilt mid 2008 using ExpressionEngine so that they could update the leasing offers but otherwise is pretty much the same design as it has always been.

In addition to vehicle leasing and contract hire Planet leasing can offer great insurance deals and gap insurance. Their insurance deals work in much the same way as the lease, that is to say that providing you don’t change your circumstances the quote you get on day 1 can last for the full period of the contract hire or lease – think of that, fixed prices for the life of your car, van or 4x4 lease!

Darren and Gary setup the business and are now complicated by a number of team members, if you are looking to change your vehicle in the next few months, are looking for one now or are coming to the end of your contract hire/lease agreement give them a call to find out how they can help you.

Click here to see BMW Lease offers, Audi Lease offer or offers by price range (Lease Offers Under £150, Lease office £150 to £200, Lease Offers £200 to £250, Lease Offers £250 to £300, Lease Offers £300 to £350, Lease Offers £350 to £400 and Lease Offers over £400).

Liberty Washroom Services provide washroom services to companies both large and small. Based in Southend, Essex they cover all of Essex, London and Kent.

The site was designed by Baseline Creative and has been changed a little since originally going live.

The site performs extremely well in the search engines on a large number of keywords and phrases and we wish Liberty Washroom Services the best of luck in the future.

That means that we are officially on our way back to long summer evenings...

We are now rapidly approaching June 21st (Summer Solstice) which is the longest day!

For those that are particularly interested (I think that is geeks like me) each day will be up to 7 or 8 mins longer now but apparently it is not a uniform increase...

Other fun dates for your diary for the UK in 2010;

Feb. 14th, St. Valentine’s Day – It’s a Sunday so that weekend will be busy so you better get booked now for your favourite restaurant!

Mar. 28th, British Summertime commences – Yeah!
Oct. 23rd, British Summertime ends – thought let’s face it, we are not likely to regard it as summer at the end of October!

Dec. 25th, CHRISTMAS DAY (Saturday) 
Dec. 26th, BOXING DAY (Sunday) 
Dec. 27th, BANK HOLIDAY (Monday) 
Dec. 28th, BANK HOLIDAY (Tuesday)

And before you know it we will be looking squarely at 2011!

With many charities reporting reduced donations at the moment we have decided that rather than sending Christmas cards this year we would do as many have and make a donation to a local charity rather than sending cards.

Our chosen charity is St Luke’s Hospice in Basildon who provide specialist palliative care for those that live in the Basildon & Thurrock area.

If you are lucky enough to be able to have a break over the Christmas period we hope you enjoy it and look forward to making 2010 a great year.

From the Thinking Virtually Team; David, James, Craig, & Darren
http://www.thinkingvirtually.co.uk

Sophie Redford is this year’s overall winner with ‘My Hero’.

Every year school children between the ages of 5 to 16 are able to submit their doodles for Google with different awards and the grand prize of having your design shown on Google for a day.

I really think this is something that kids can engage with and I think more schools should get involved.

Other winners were;

Ellen Blair (aged 5) with "Super-Gran", Harrison Marley (aged 11) with "Everyday heros", Sarah Hendry (aged 13) with "Remembrance" and Rachel Betts (aged 15) with "Anyone can be a hero".

I think my favourite was from Rachel Betts, below is the winning doodle but all can be seen here.

So visually great... but the story was dull as dishwater, it took me a time but it basically boiled down to Pocahontas on a blue alien planet.

And talk about American... ‘Unobtainium’ (fairly sure that is spelt wrong). This is the Pocahontas gold that they covet. The first time I heard it said I thought I was going to be in for a long night!

So whilst I’m being unfair when I say it should have been a straight to DVD film I’m also disappointed that I invested my emotional capital in the prospect of the film as now I feel a little abused.

This film is nearly 3 hours long and has been amazing hyped so it better live up to expectations...

Anyway, just a quick update, will let you know what I think about it tomorrow!

If you Google the question you will find a number of different opinions, ours is relatively simple, the domain name is one of the most important parts of a website for small businesses when you look at optimisation.

We suggest you keep it as simple as you can for the search engines to understand, hyphens are treated as a break in the word so if you are an accountant in Southend the ideal domain would be www.southend-accountants.co.uk as that is a logical search term.

If you use www.southendaccountants.co.uk search engines sill look at the word ‘southendaccountants’ and try to make sense of it – it does not know where one word ends and the other starts.

If you are ‘Alexanders Accounts’ you can have for marketing purposes www.alexandersaccountants.co.uk as your domain name, simply buy that domain and forward it to www.southend-accounts.co.uk, the browser will not know the difference, but the latter will work much better than the former.

There is a cautionary note though, if we wanted to have www.knowitallwebguys.co.uk we would not register www.know-it-all-web-guys.co.uk as this is frowned upon. Our experience is that you can have two hyphens but no more.

So there you are, just a little food for thought, have a great online time!

It’s a small meeting but the members are enthusiastic and the atmosphere is relaxed.

Steve Parker was there from i4 Visual Media as well as Scott Muller from Citylights Payroll, Ian Smith from Coloursmith, Robert Hutchinson from St.James's Place Wealth Management and one or two others that I didn’t manage to get business cards from (sorry guys).

Business to business networking is very important for my business as we really benefit from personal referrals of clients and contacts, so the more opportunity we have to make contacts and build relationships the better!

Anyway, Essex Business Networks, Thursday mornings, 06:45 at the Marygreen Manor, Brentwood – would be good to see you one week!

I’ll let you know later today how it goes but I’m interested in finding out where you go and what you do for business networking.

Typically we are at our busiest in Jan, Feb & March as clients and contacts think about the New Year and what they are doing.

So my question to you is simple – what are you doing?

Sewer Installation, Renovation, Repair and Maintenance – possibly not topics that will float around every dinner table but without PSS the underground waterworks would soon fail...

There site is built using our favoured CMS ‘ExpressionEngine’. It is XHTML Transitional and should be compliant with the DDA/WCAG and W3C.

Public Sewer Services can;

• Add/Change Remove Text
• Add/Change Remove Strap line
• Add/Change Remove Banner Image
• Add/Change Remove Banner Image for a flash file (.swf file)
• Add/Change Remove in-page links to other pages
• Add/Change Remove thumbs on right-hand side
• Administer Meta Data
• Add/Change or Remove News Articles
• Assign Articles to Categories
• Add/Change or Replace Services
• Assign Services to ‘Service Groups’

In fact in terms of what they can administer there is very little they can’t do. Add to this that by using different ExpressionEngine modules the administration of the site could not be much easier.

The site was designed by Baseline Creative in 2007, this latest update has not seen any design input, it’s really a function update.

So here you are, Public Sewer Services – go and have a look at them.

They are conveniently based at the Riverside Business Centre in Tilbury Essex. Courses range from forklift truck training to skills training such as plumbing and plastering.

We developed in conjunction with Baseline Creative a great brand for them and then designed their website.

The site is designed to give them visibility for the services they offer, allowing them to promote each and every course.

Take a look at ALM Training today.

Since 1988 they have been committed to providing lifelong care for people with learning disabilities through individual support and independent supported living houses throughout the North East of England.

Thinking Virtually was asked to create a website that would present the Trust as they are, professional, caring and supportive. We worked with Baseline Creative to develop the overall design and then refined the design so that it best fit the needs of the trust.

The site is built on ExpressionEngine and benefits from a simple zoom feature as well as full short-key support.

The site was built to be WCAG/DDA/W3C compliant as well as easy to use by the team.

We build a great number of websites but I have to be honest and say that this is one of my personal favorites. The team at Edward Lloyd Trust are really nice and the support and services they provide are great.

Take a look at their website and see if there is any way you too can get involved.

The brief from NRSB was that they wanted a website that they could administer, that was eye catching but that was something their people they support could use.

They gave us the BBC website as an example... they wanted different colour options, a zoom facility and a text only version of the site. It also had to be as compliant as it could be with W3C web standards and WCAG/DDA standards for accessibility.

The result is a website that in the main is fully compliant with web standards, that has great technical benefits such as the zoom, different colour options and the text only site – but more than this it is also eye catching, it draws the browser into the site to find out more and more and more.

We would like to thank Baseline Creative for giving us the opportunity to work on this project and NRSB for setting the standard for a really engaging website.

Sunday dinner at the mother in laws saw an all out Nerf battle between the forces of good and evil (me and my son Jamie and my brother in law and his girlfriend).

Saturday was a little calmer, helping Jamie to beat me at chess (not going to live that down for a time...).

And knowing that I am just about ready for Christmas.

This week is going to be interesting as we are about to rebuild a long standing clients website using our CMS (ExpressionEngine) as well as play with another clients site. We have a business networking website to build and a storage solutions website to build – so going to be busy, busy, busy!

Thinking Virtually iPhone means that you will soon be able to see our lovely site on your iPhone without having to zoom in and out! 

Is it a gimic.... yes. Was it universally accepted/wanted in the office.... no. Most importantly though is what does your website look like to mobile browsers?

We have been working on a way of getting our blog to update the entries on the social networking sites that we are members of without having to do x, y, z and a combination of other things.

Well thanks to a combination of a new module for ExpressionEngine, Ping.fm and our bloody minded approach to development we are there!

This is a technical thing so I won’t bore you with it but the long and short is that we can now send anything entered into our preferred CMS to an email recipient or a social networking site.

If you can’t do this or if you have to go through x, y, z, and so on give us a call so we can show you a simpler approach.

Google Sidewiki...

In Googles words ‘Google Sidewiki is a browser sidebar that lets you contribute and read information alongside any web page’.

I think that in reality is another way of adding a popup to my screen when I load a new website or page.

I have to think about the idea that this will at some point be used for advertising, something along the lines of associated website adds being shown based on comments or content!

Then there is people abusing the system, what if I was to go onto my #1 competitors site and comment that they are not worth a light – will that comment be shown when browsers to their site visit? Now I’m not a nasty man but what if my competitors are? Could they leave messages for my visitors to see? 

At the heart of it I think the idea is a good one, my problem is thinking about how it is going to be abused by Google and other web users.

Beaumont Bookkeeping offer bookkeeping services in the Maldon area of Essex. The search phrase ‘Bookkeepers Maldon’ or ‘Maldon Bookkeepers’ was something that Beaumont really wanted to be found for.

The small website that we built for them (http://www.beaumont-bookkeeping.co.uk/) has now raced to the #1 position in Google for ‘Beaumont Bookkeeping’, ‘Maldon Bookkeepers’ and ‘Bookkeepers Maldon’.

For most businesses a website is essential, if for nothing else so that when somebody Google’s them they can be found – in this case the site also gets them found for something that could really help.

We have just sent their new website live, take a look:

http://www.msconstructionlogistics.co.uk

MS Construction Logistics as specialist construction logistics experts. Providing a range of essential services that 'help you build'.

My son has not been well, lots of quotes to send and questions from friends and clients...

Not sure that I’m not a busy fool but the New Year is looking promising.

I swear to be back updating the blog, on a regular basis now – otherwise there was no point putting it here! Sounds like something I would say to a client...

So here is my thought for the day ‘when did you last look at your website?’ clearly I looked today...

I love Sesame Street, it’s characters – everything!

Today I looked and found yet another Sesame Street character, Elmo. This prompted me to look at what the Google doodles were all about.

OK, from what I can see there are two things to know here, there is the original doodler (Dennis Hwang) and then there is a cool competition for local schools (Doodle 4 Google).

I’m no expert on Schools but I think Google 4 Doodle is a great idea. It encourages creativity, teamwork and the prize is really cool – a day on Google for the winning design. What is most interesting for me is that I knew about Dennis Hwang but had no idea about this and wonder how many schools know about it?

So here is the challenge: everybody reading this that have children, know people that have children or that are involved with Schools need to tell the school about Doodle 4 Google.

For now however here is todays 'Doodle 4 Google' - enjoy!

In association with another company we have been looking at doing just this, with the idea that what we are interested in is those that are interested in something that we do...

Sounds a little like double Dutch I know but think of it like this. We are interested in speaking to very small, start-up businesses; the problem is finding them and getting in front of them.

We are considering offering a ‘Free’ report of website development for small businesses. All we want to do is capture their details at the start of the process rather than at the point they are looking for a service provider.

We believe we have a great product to offer, by trying to get in front of a prospect as they are doing their research and giving them something of value we hope to be considered by that person when the day comes to get something done.

So why am I telling you our master plan? Well it’s not something new so we’ve not let the cat out of the bag or anything but is it something you could consider for your business? If you are a roofer could you offer roofing tips in order to find out details of people that are looking at roofing? If you are a wedding photographer could you offer some insight into getting the best from your wedding photographer on the day?

Just a thought...

Today the chatter has been extremely interesting as it has been about stuff that I assumed everybody knew.

‘Keywords’ are part of what a search engine uses to understand a website page. The question in the forum today has been about how to research keywords.

Here are what we would or could use:

Google Adwords – Advanced Keyword Tool

The advanced tool will give you indicative monthly search volumes but is a little limited in how it works – the best thing is it’s another thing that is FREE from Google!

Keyword Spy

Keyword Spy can let you know what other websites are doing. I will tell you what keywords a website is promoting both organically and on a pay per click basis.

Wordtracker

Last but not least is Worktracker. Takes a little more getting used to but will score a page on given keywords as well as giving you keyword trends so you can have a balanced approach.

The reality is that good development, complimented by good content should work. Keep your content original (DON’T COPY) and the search engines will respect you!

If you need any more help – just shout!

(This was posted 1 week, 5 days, 10 hours, 3 minutes's ago.)

I was sent this great article from the BBC that I just had to have on the site...

It's a little (well a lot) geeky but it's very cool and well worth a 5 min read!

Here is the link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8331253.stm