tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-195620342024-03-06T08:55:22.621+00:00Web Design MusingsHow to make the web work for you - aimed at SMEs wishing to understand a little more about the web & how to make it work for them.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-46851860920150372312013-12-16T15:28:00.000+00:002013-12-16T15:28:46.401+00:00Christmas DIYMuch like quite a few people no doubt, Xmas also always seems to mean that DIY items have been added to my Christmas list. This year its sanding and varnishing a floor. I think I'll be using <a href="http://www.floorstock.co.uk/brands/bona-products/bona-lacquers-finishes-floor-seals-varnishes/bona-traffic.html">Bona Traffic HD</a> which I'll order from a local supplier.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-87470481037186270182013-09-06T17:23:00.001+01:002013-09-06T17:26:19.981+01:00Skip Hire Leicester - An SEO Experiment #6As you may recall, I've written several updates on the task of getting my client onto Google's first page for the term "<a href="http://bakerswaste.co.uk/leicester-skip-hire/order-skip-online.html" rel="nofollow">skip hire leicester</a>". For quite some time his site was 6th in the natural rankings, but because of Google Places, his listing was actually appearing on page 2.<br />
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After some time and a number of content tweaks, his site is now appearing on page one of Google - his other site is now 4th in the local rankings as well.<br />
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While this can be considered a relative success, his site is not number one! However, the difficulty that the local listings presented us is an increasingly common problem. Google is continuing to innovate with the first page rankings - to the extent that its rumoured that soon only 7 'natural' listings will be shown on page one. This means first page rankings will become even harder to secure.<br />
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In response, many are looking to safeguard their position by using Google AdWords. However, alternative strategies are also emerging, with the focus more clearly on using social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc) as ways of gaining traffic.<br />
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The viability of social media depends upon the nature of your target demographics, sector, etc. However, it's becoming increasingly clear that a Google only marketing strategy is increasingly risky.<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-3041388549584063072013-02-19T15:00:00.000+00:002013-02-19T15:00:22.098+00:00SEO Success For Carter Design GroupAs well as building the Wordpress template for <a href="http://www.carterdesign.co.uk/">point of purchase designers</a> Carter Design Group, I've also been tasked with improving their search engine ranking and overall conversion rate optimisation.<br />
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The point of sale sector is hugely competitive. The search term 'point of sale design' has some 237 million results in Google. So, its a daunting task optimising for this particular sector. That said, at present Carter Design Group are <b>fourth place on page 1</b> for this particular term on Google. For point of purchase designers they are #1 on Google!<br />
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So, a very promising start to my search engine optimisation campaign for the Carter Design Group website.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0Carters Design Group Ltd, 3-5 North Lane, Foxton, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7RF, UK52.505792 -0.9684750999999778332.500889 -42.277069099999977 72.510695 40.340118900000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-86882221375040596822013-02-08T18:40:00.001+00:002013-02-08T18:42:14.336+00:00Northants Skip Hire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZYCpSNpYLQUsLODXmSks0c-QUjpza1aAxlOzO338DeVjB0SvnmW1moYQp5JVrmny-FP58otylbq8D5xnIsuzzK8YxjNsCOKRTQOGFfhXmti2l_Co5_H_aDRGdTDx7kF0zxQ6/s1600/northants-homepage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZYCpSNpYLQUsLODXmSks0c-QUjpza1aAxlOzO338DeVjB0SvnmW1moYQp5JVrmny-FP58otylbq8D5xnIsuzzK8YxjNsCOKRTQOGFfhXmti2l_Co5_H_aDRGdTDx7kF0zxQ6/s1600/northants-homepage.jpg" height="320" width="293" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/">Leicester's leading independent waste management company</a>, Bakers Waste Services, has expanded its skip hire service to neighbouring Northamptonshire with the acquisition of Bailey's skip hire. In line with the company's expansion into Northants, a new <a href="http://www.northants-skips.co.uk/">Northampton skip hire</a> website has been launched.<br />
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Designed by Fresh Web Services, this Joomla! website joins the wider stable of websites run by the company.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0Spencer Bridge Road, Northampton NN5, UK52.242387099999988 -0.9125985000000582752.242387099999988 -0.91259850000005827 52.242387099999988 -0.91259850000005827tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-22299404063032945762013-02-08T17:30:00.000+00:002013-02-08T17:30:34.346+00:00Point of sale designersRecently I had the pleasure of working on a Wordpress design for a <a href="http://www%2Ccarterdesign.co.uk/">Leicestershire point of sale designer</a>. The Carter Design Group design, manufacture and install shop displays, counters, point of purchase furniture, etc for leading brands such as Dior, Estee Lauder, Sekonda, amongst many others.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBedRx6d96QBOCuzmrGJDYdkDTK9xwkVOWT4l9NW52_-U4EWgY01wTGDKXnqy-ltBLBBoLyzkhREujUxlk6cTJcdzCJj4dZgQpTH6F81cvNxj8AgvLwK6vfAwk9AD5xihWdqtS/s1600/home_thumb.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBedRx6d96QBOCuzmrGJDYdkDTK9xwkVOWT4l9NW52_-U4EWgY01wTGDKXnqy-ltBLBBoLyzkhREujUxlk6cTJcdzCJj4dZgQpTH6F81cvNxj8AgvLwK6vfAwk9AD5xihWdqtS/s1600/home_thumb.png" /></a></div>
Carter Design in-house the entire point of sale design, build and installation process, having their own in-house team of designers, manufacture workshops and on-site installers. Having the teams in one location makes the Carter Design Group process incredibly responsive, especially during prototyping. Its a clear advantage over other POS designers, who outsource the build and installation. It also means that Carter Design are able to experiment more freely with materials and approaches than many of their competitors, while ensuring product compliance and trouble free installations.<br />
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This seamless design to installation capability is just one of the reasons that Carter Design standout in the POS design industry. The quality of their work is another standout feature of the Carter Design Group.<br />
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Why not visit their new website and see what excellent <a href="http://www.carterdesign.co.uk/">point of sale design</a> looks like.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0Carters Design Group Ltd, 3-5 North Lane, Foxton, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7RF, UK52.505792 -0.9684750999999778326.9837575 -42.277069099999977 78.0278265 40.340118900000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-88055716634699511212012-10-16T18:37:00.001+01:002012-10-16T18:43:46.086+01:00Will Oracle Kill Off MySQL?<a href="http://freshwebservices.blogspot.co.uk/2009/04/new-dawn-fades-as-sun-goes-down.html">Sometime ago</a> I asked a number of questions about the implications of Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems, the "owner" of the popular MySQL database and Java programming language. In particular I mused about the potential conflict of interest between Oracle's database and MySQL - the most popular database in the open source world. Would Oracle seek to downgrade MySQL as a potential rival or even allow it to wither on the vine?<br />
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Why should you be worried? Because MySQL is the main database powering the vast majority of dynamic sites on the internet. MySQL is the 'M' in the LAMP hosting stack. Most open source projects such as Joomla, Magento, Drupal, Wordpress, etc, etc, use MySQL as their database. Most hosting companies provide MySQL support but few offer other databases. A closed source MySQL would be hugely disruptive.<br />
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Well, Oracle's recent <a href="http://www.forlinux.co.uk/expertise/blog/2012/10/15/is-oracle-trying-to-kill-open-source/">shenanigans</a> of releasing MySQL bug fixes without test cases is causing renewed concern in the open source world. Without proper test cases developers cannot be sure that bug fixes actually work. This has the effect of removing transparency in the development and quality assurance processes - a key feature of open source software. If Oracle extends this attitude towards Java, then it's really troubling for a huge software ecosystems, not least Google's Android.<br />
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The decision of Joomla's developers to include a PostgreSQL adapter seems like a sensible step and other open source projects are likewise exploring the option of enabling other databases. Its now for hosting companies to step up to the plate and begin offering reasonably priced PostreSQL hosting as an alternative LAMP stack.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-14799003656885371032012-04-23T17:14:00.000+01:002012-04-23T17:14:23.845+01:00Need to write a web design brief - here's some helpIf you've been tasked with writing a web design brief for a new website, here's a <a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com/writing-a-web-design-brief.html">web design brief template</a> that might help you.<br />
It's based on experience and research, and is geared to the SME or SMB market website. You might find that it doesn't cover everything that you need to include in your own brief but it should be a good starting point.<br />
It's also worth remembering that the brief does require a good deal of thought - you should think carefully about what you want your website to achieve before you start writing your web design brief. You should also be honest about acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of your existing website.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-40128231212383073242011-12-22T19:42:00.001+00:002013-08-13T16:57:05.866+01:00The Warehouse High StreetSometime ago in this blog I predicted the end of the high street - <a href="http://freshwebservices.blogspot.com/2008/10/woe-woe-thrice-woe.html">Woe, woe & thrice woe!</a> In that post I wrote, <br />
<blockquote>
Soon the bricks and mortar shop will double up as a warehouse for the online shop(s) as internet sales see a decisive shift to predominance. The high street is where the window shopping will occur while the transaction is done online. ... Their physical shops are now provisioning hubs for their online outlets, busy with actual shoppers only one or two days a week.</blockquote>
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This is now an emerging trend, with retailers offering "Click & Collect" points within existing stores, and some "thin" shops opening, where the shop is little more than a display window, and staff act as "consultants". The shop is effectively little more than a "click and collect" warehouse.<br />
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The high street has been caught in the middle of a number of trends and policies that discriminated against traditional high street retailers. Planning policy, almost non existent regulatory controls on anti-competitive trading practices, & economies of scale favours the out of town hypermarkets, parking charges and congestion further undermine the town centre, while high rates discriminate against the small, "boutique" offerings that might make the high street an interesting "shopping destination". Most high street and town centre mall offerings are sterile, uniform experiences that are less and less appealing to consumers.<br />
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One high street retailer that has done something interesting and successful is Apple. Their stores appear overrun with enthusiastic staff, who seem to be incentivised to help customers as well as sell stuff. Nor do they discriminate against customers who have bought an Apple product online or even second hand - once you own one of their products, you become part of the Apple "family". I recently took an iPhone I'd bought off eBay into an Apple store & a member of staff spent an hour resolving an issue I had - that's customer service normally restricted to in-store purchases (if you're lucky). <br />
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It might be this kind of approach to retailing that helps to save the smaller type of high street retailer. The move to online "click and collect" is sold as customer convenience but its really about reducing costs via cutting stock and staff levels. The loss of customer service that this will entail is where the smaller retailers may be able to offer an "experience" advantage to their customers - that's if there's a high street left after this recession is over.<br />
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UPDATE: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/jun/04/new-look-profit">Recent report</a> on New Look says that 25% of their online sales are "Click & Collect", while they plan to reduce their shop portfolio by approximately 100 stores.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-41734902556166083112011-09-06T11:08:00.000+01:002011-09-06T11:08:20.447+01:00Web Design Musings: Skip Hire Leicester<a href="http://freshwebservices.blogspot.com/2011/09/skip-hire-leicester.html">Web Design Musings: Skip Hire Leicester</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-41239713461811520592011-09-06T11:07:00.000+01:002011-09-06T11:07:41.774+01:00Skip Hire Leicester<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVZ_UZv77_Qxf9lhnKFRPk4VIa_6RwHo0SqZWqKKk9KzfOsIaePEkdYIhAMpfil16KieIIHppDxODOh5hDKX5oveHa4UOjyqFjyg3iCc0j5CmAJQUmqQfabcgDPgEluxV9Ync/s1600/lskips-home-s.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="271" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVZ_UZv77_Qxf9lhnKFRPk4VIa_6RwHo0SqZWqKKk9KzfOsIaePEkdYIhAMpfil16KieIIHppDxODOh5hDKX5oveHa4UOjyqFjyg3iCc0j5CmAJQUmqQfabcgDPgEluxV9Ync/s320/lskips-home-s.png" alt="leicester skip hire home page" /></a></div><br />
Leicester Skips, a new website for <a href="http://www.leicester-skips.com">Leicester skip hire company</a>, Bakers Waste, has just gone live.<br />
<a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com/web-design-leicester.html">Leicester web designers</a>, Fresh Web Services, designed the Joomla website to be optimised for both search engines and for customer conversions. Using 'conversion led design' customers are gently guided to request a callback or use the online skip hire order form.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0Wharf Way, Glen Parva, Leicester LE2 9TF, UK52.583423 -1.165090999999961252.5830575 -1.1670694999999613 52.583788500000004 -1.1631124999999611tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-29715225039061204762011-06-01T10:16:00.000+01:002011-06-01T10:16:40.577+01:00Google update & social mediaAs you may recall, we've been doing an seo experiment, trying to get our client on page one for <a href="www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire leicester</a> using only on-page optimisation.<br />
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We've had some success, getting to #6 on the first page. However, a recent update (Panda) by Google may be a game changer. Google is now taking greater account of what is termed "user signals" when ranking a website.<br />
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"User signals" has been interpreted as "Social signals", meaning how many "likes" and links to your website you have from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It might also include such things as bounce rates (if people don't "engage" with your website, why should Google send anymore people there, etc).<br />
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The implications are that seo has just got harder! You will certainly now need to focus on "social" link building, keeping your "social" profile updated, with more tweeting and "sharing" and extending your social network.<br />
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Therefore its time to consider your social media strategy as part of your more general seo strategy. In short, work harder!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-28536676539807278542011-05-08T12:10:00.001+01:002011-07-16T10:37:31.173+01:00Bowl Feeder Sensors from Olympic AutomationOur <a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com/search-engine-optimisation.html">web design and seo client</a>, Olympic Automation, asked us to add another page to their website. This page is about <a href="http://www.olympicautomation.co.uk/bowl-feeder-sensors.shtml ">vibratory bowl sensors</a>, which are used conjunction with vibratory bowl feeders and linear or conveyor feed tracks.<br />
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We've had tremendous success with our seo efforts for Olympic Automation, who rank #1 in Google for their key phrases such as vibratory bowl feeders. We expect to repeat this success with this new campaign.<br />
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Contact us to see out how we might help your <a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com/search-engine-optimisation.html">search engine optimisation</a>.<br />
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UPDATE - Olympic Automation are now #1 on Google for the search terms 'vibratory bowl sensors' & 'bowl feeder sensors'!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-61776538612386601132011-02-09T21:22:00.000+00:002011-02-09T21:22:20.726+00:00Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 5Well, Bakers Waste Services are now 6th in Google's natural search results for the term "<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk">skip hire leicester</a>". Three cheers all round - well nearly. <br />
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The problem is that while 6th position is normally page one rankings, in this case Google's local search pushes 6th position onto the second page! So, the quest now is to improve Bakers Waste Services' local search rankings. <br />
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However, what this experiment does seem to indicate is that things such as page rank, number of inbound links, etc, are not necessarily the key to good rankings. Rather, in this instance it would seem that good, relevant content is the key to success.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-66586795766061396072010-11-29T15:19:00.001+00:002010-11-29T15:20:55.956+00:00The decline of Internet Explorer?One swallow does not a summer make, & so today's quick gander at my website's Google Analytics does not herald a decisive trend, but ..... for the first time that I can recall, Internet Explorer (IE) is no longer the main browser used to view my <a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Leicester web design company</a> site. Well, its still has the largest market share, just under 40%, but FireFox, Chrome and Safari collectively account for almost 57% of users. A year ago, IE would have had about 70-80% of market share, so that is a considerable decline. <br />
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Is my site unique? Is the demographic different? Well, yes and no. Looking at the statistics from some of our client's sites, the decline of IE market share is also visible but not quite so pronounced. The trend appears downward but not uniformly. IE still accounts for approx 60-70% of visitors on some sites but is much lower on others (50-60%). On those sites where IE usage is higher, these sites tend to cater to the B2B user. On those sites where IE usage is lower, their target market is more broadly defined, encompassing B2B & B2C, as well as 'artistic' markets. On one technology consultancy website, Firefox accounts for 51% of visitors while IE only 11%.<br />
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As I said at the start, this is too small a snap shot to say definitively that IE is in terminal decline. But one straw in the wind - no Windows based mobile device was recorded in any of the visitor stats on any of the sites I sampled, only iPhone & Android devices were logged. As mobile internet usage grows, IE & its Windows operating system may become irrelevant in mobile market share.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-61402091474324315672010-11-20T07:31:00.002+00:002010-11-20T07:36:35.793+00:00Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 4Well, good news for <a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">Leicester skip hire company</a> Bakers Waste Services. They are now ranked 13th in Google's natural search results for the search term <a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">Leicester skip hire</a>.<br />
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So, within less than a month, they have gone from nowhere to page 2, with on page optimisation only. There has been no link building strategy, apart from this one blog. So, that raises interesting questions about the importance of link building - how essential is it, or are quality links the key to higher page 1 rankings?<br />
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Watch this space!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-71358380591921662822010-11-08T13:51:00.000+00:002010-11-08T13:51:36.726+00:00Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 3We're pleased to announce two developments in relation to this experiment. The first is that a new design of the website has now gone live. The second is that Bakers Waste now has first page ranking for terms such as "<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip collection leicester</a>".<br />
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So, some significant signs of improvement and it will be interesting to see what influence, if any, the new design has on its Google rankings.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-66003468377466727782010-10-29T15:14:00.000+01:002010-10-29T15:14:00.627+01:00Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 2Its been 2 weeks since we started the experiment to get Bakers Waste Services on page 1 for search terms such as "<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire leicester</a>" using only on-page optimisation and the "power of one" - one external link, that is, this blog.<br />
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Well, rankings have improved! Bakers Waste is now on page 2 (from nowhere) for terms such as "skip hire leicestershire" but were still not yet there for "<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Leicester-Skip-Hire/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire leicester</a>".<br />
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So the quest continues ....<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-89414931440669357252010-10-29T14:57:00.001+01:002010-10-29T15:00:05.252+01:00Nuneaton Properties Manager Website<a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Leicester web design company</a> Fresh Web Services are proud to announce the launch of a <a href="http://www.properties-manager.co.uk">Properties Manager</a> powered website, <a href="http://www.longshootproperties.com">Longshoot Properties</a>. Designed by our friends at <a href="http://www.rgdesign.co.uk">R&G Design</a>, the website allows administrators to quickly and easily add new properties and news articles, while tenants looking for property to rent in Nuneaton can quickly find what they want.<br />
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<a href="http://www.properties-manager.co.uk">Properties Manager</a> is a simple and affordable <a href="http://www.properties-manager.co.uk">online property management tool</a>, enabling landlords, estate agents and villa owners to easily advertise their property portfolio online.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-78258552806850347222010-10-12T19:33:00.000+01:002010-10-12T19:33:12.947+01:00Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experimentI've been tasked with improving the search engine rankings for the term '<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Waste-Management/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire leicester</a>' by a client. So, I've created a single page about <a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Waste-Management/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire in leicestershire</a> on his website, and was wondering what influence a single blog post on Google's own blogging platform might have on its Google rankings.<br />
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This page has some basic information about the type of skips that can be hired and what each skip is best used for. I've not gone in for over the top 'on page optimisations' (like loads of headers, etc) & I've also tried to ensure that all the content is original - ie, not lifted from a highly ranking competitor. So, the page has some good, original and useful content. But good content is not usually enough, especially in a competitive search sector.<br />
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Good quality inbound links are usually thought to be key factors in improving page rank. That's one reason why almost all the comments on this blog tend to be spam, with links through to some site or other. The spammers are trying to gain inbound links for their own campaigns. So, I thought I'd experiment with the power of one - one deliberate inbound link.<br />
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Todate, this website only has one 1st page Google ranking, for the term '<a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Waste-Management/skip-hire-leicester.html">commercial skip hire leicester</a>'. Domestic skip hire leicester is another key phrase, but the real target is <a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Waste-Management/skip-hire-leicester.html">skip hire leicester</a> or <a href="http://www.bakerswaste.co.uk/Skip-Hire/Waste-Management/skip-hire-leicester.html">leicester skip hire</a>.<br />
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So, I'll check back in a week or so & see if this little contribution has had any noticeable effect. Although how I quantify the effect is something I frankly don't know yet!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-62036191066198018352010-10-05T13:24:00.002+01:002010-10-05T13:35:46.272+01:00LiveLink WCM - new roadmapWell, OpenText recently announced a new roadmap for their LiveLink WCM product. Sometime after announcing its likely demise, it has now risen, not quite Phoenix like, from the ashes and will have a facelift & other cosmetic enhancements. To celebrate, OpenText are now selling new licences for LiveLInk WCM, almost a couple of years after saying no new licences would be sold.<br /><br />This announcement can't be good news for RedDot, another WCM offering owned by OpenText - it was RedDot that LiveLink users were meant to migrate to. So, not a vote of confidence in RedDot then.<br /><br />Frankly, if I was an OpenText customer, I'd be more than a little cheesed off, especially if I'd followed their advice and spent big on migrating to RedDot. I'd also be really annoyed if I was a LiveLink developer who had followed their lead & prepared for the end of LiveLink WCM. What now for those that have invested in training and developing LiveLink - RedDot migration services and technologies?<br /><br />On the upside, LiveLink WCM customers may save themselves quite a bit by not having to consider migration to another platform. On the downside, can they trust OpenText again?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-18478989760851983592010-08-22T10:58:00.002+01:002010-08-22T11:06:42.891+01:00Magento Eccomerce Website LauncedFresh Web Services are pleased to announce the launch of several websites in recent weeks.<br /><br />First, is the Magento powered <a href="http://www.goldmarkbooks.com">Goldmark Books</a>, selling the beautifully produced books published by the Uppingham art gallery and publisher. This is the first of a series of Magento powered ecommerce websites we will be rolling out for <a href="http://www.goldmarkart.com">Goldmark Art Gallery</a>.<br /><br />Our most recent project is a <a href="http://www.properties-manager.co.uk">Properties Manager</a> holiday cottage rentals software service, appropriately called <a href="http://www.lookb4ubook.co.uk">LookB4UBook</a>. Those searching for a UK holiday cottage can view videos of the cottages and the surrounding area, as well as viewing pictures and reading descriptions, etc.<br /><br />Last, but not least, <a href="http://www.northantsprobation.org.uk" target="_blank" title="opens in a new window">Northampton Probation Trust</a> website is live. Powered by the award winning Joomla!<sup>™</sup> content management system, we were responsible for the design, hosting, training and implementation of the project.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-38190989142228058872010-02-26T06:21:00.004+00:002010-02-26T06:29:48.217+00:00Paypal ScamI received an email today purporting to be from PayPal, with the subject of "Your account has been limited and will be suspended."<br /><br />The body of the email is as follows:<br /><blockquote><pre> Dear customer,<br /><br />During our regular screening we have detected that your account <br />has been accessed by<br />different IPs which does not match the IP you've registered <br />your paypal account.<br /><br />PayPal is trying to protect paypal community and your <br />account can be<br />suspended.Please download the attachement, <br />read and fill in the form to avoid suspension.<br />If suspended a copy of your driver license <br />will be required and other documents which confirm your identity.<br /><br />PayPal Validation Department<br />Message ID 8128F<span style="font-family:Georgia,serif;"><br /></span></pre></blockquote>The attached file is 'Restore Access Account.html' Downloading and completing this form would give these criminals access to your Paypal account. Sending a copy of your driving licence would enable them to steal your identity and Lord knows what else.<br /><br />So, please be aware and do not reply to such criminal attempts.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-68203658446150638432009-09-30T07:58:00.002+01:002009-09-30T08:22:26.253+01:00The Revolution Will Not Be TelevisedWe'll all be watching it on the internet instead - and the advertisers will be chasing online eyeballs. The UK is now the first economy where advertising spend on the internet has outstripped TV ad spend according to a report in the Guardian (online) <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/sep/30/internet-biggest-uk-advertising-sector">newspaper</a>.<br /><br />Will this change the nature of the internet? Possibly - more obtrusive advertising possibly, the decline of amateurism as big bucks crowd out the mom n pop sites, a bonanza for SEO agencies as we all scrabble for Google page one, even more noise and less insight ...<br /><br />The pace of the decline of 'traditional' TV will quicken as will the growth of the 'synergy' between TV and its online delivery mechanisms. In the UK the Murdoch war on the BBC will grow noisier. It might well be that the real target of Murdoch is the BBC's online presence, which has consistently set high online standards.<br /><br />Murdoch's abandonment of Labour has more to do with Murdoch's strategy to eliminate competition than it has to do with politics per se, and as the Tories cosy up to Murdoch, they might just throw the old man the bones of the BBC's online output as quid pro quo.<br /><br />What is certain is that we are witnessing the decline, or perhaps the downgrading, of a once omnipotent medium. For this reason alone, the revolution will not be televised, even if it is taking place within that medium.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-77833875755287837492009-09-15T16:36:00.004+01:002009-09-15T17:05:50.808+01:00Hello Vignette, Goodbye Red DotSometimes one has to feel sorry for a customer base. They buy a product (a difficult and expensive process in the first place), stick with it despite its quirks and its sometimes boneheaded refusal to work, train their staff to use it, and develop systems around it, and integrate it into the core of their business processes. Then, the product gets retired, and the whole shebang starts all over again.<br /><br />This is undoubtedly the roller coaster ride that some customers of Open Text must feel they've been enjoying/enduring* (* delete as appropriate) in the last couple of years. First Open Text buys the Red Dot Content Management System and retires their previous LiveLink WCM. Not to worry, existing customers are reassured about licence transfers and an easy migration path.<br /><br />Then Open Text go and do it all over again! This time they buy Vignette and are now retiring Red Dot sometime after 2010. Instead, a hybrid 'Red Vignette' will be unleashed upon their customer base, again with reassurances about licence transfers and easy migrations. This is just as I warned in an earlier <a href="http://freshwebservices.blogspot.com/2009/05/vignetee-vs-red-dot-open-source.html">posting</a>.<br /><br />Any migration will be difficult and so will any hybridisation - Vignette is Java based while Red Dot is an ASP/.NET application. Open Text talk of using Vignette as the backend and Red Dot as the front end - great, you now need .Net & Java developers on board if you want to customise your implementation!<br /><br />So, perhaps your company is forward looking and you decided to train some staff in .NET in order to prepare the way for the eventual migration from LiveLink WCM to Red Dot. Now, lets send them on a Java course as well so that we're prepped for when Red Vinegar comes around. Few companies have such training largesse in the current economic climate - thanks again Open Text.<br /><br />Does it seem like somebody is taking the piss? You might say this is a valuable lesson that the licence cost is just the start of the expense of owning software. Still, you might think that its also time to start looking at Open Source solutions like <a href="http://www,uiwe.co.uk">Alfresco</a> - which is both an EDRMS and a WCM. Afterall, what's the worst that Open Source could do to you?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19562034.post-1608185052968334842009-09-06T18:21:00.002+01:002009-09-06T18:50:47.789+01:00Institutional MemoryRecently I was watching an episode of the West Wing, where they deal with the 'institutional memory' of the Bartlett administration and the Santos transition. There is indeed a <a href="http://whitehousetransitionproject.org">White House Transition Project</a> for this very purpose, since the US Federal government does not have a permanent civil service in the same was as the UK. New US administrations have always faced the problem of inheriting policies, problems and agendas from the previous incumbents without always knowing the full 'ins and outs' and reasons why certain decisions were made. The government can therefore be handicapped in its approach to these issues.<br /><br />The importance of the 'institutional memory' was further highlighted to me the other day listening to Robert Peston interviewing the head of Barclays Bank, John Varley. Varley, in response to Peston's question as to why Barclays didn't suffer as much as its rivals in the recent financial meltdown, explicitly referenced the bank's 'institutional memory' of the near catastrophic over exposure to the property market in the early 1990s.<br /><br />So how do you capture, nurture and learn from your company's 'institutional memory'? For small or family owned businesses, this may not be a problem, but for larger organisations, with higher staff turnover, this can be a problem. After all, when somebody leaves the company, they may take with them 30 years experience and knowledge with them, and the incumbent, especially if an outsider, may be hamstrung without this knowledge and experience.<br /><br />One method to institutionalise that knowledge is via the exit interview. This has always struck me as too little, too late. Any manager will tell you that the personnel, the human capital, are the most important part of the company, but very little is done to capture and institutionalise their knowledge as part of an ongoing and rationalised process.<br /><br />Another method is via documentation of decision meeting - minute books, and the like. As a one-time historian, I am very aware how quickly the informational context is lost. I've read many minute books, the context and meaning clear to all who attended but vague and often illusive to readers a generation later.<br /><br />So, how do we capture the meaning, context and lessons of daily working practice, experience, knowledge and the rationale behind the decisions made? This is something I'll be turning my attention to later.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://www.freshwebservices.com">Web Design Leicester</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10934639665048779519noreply@blogger.com0