Web design

Usability, look & feel, HCI (human computer interaction), intuitive direct manipulation are of high consideration on all our designs, we prototype navigation & understand the elements needed for a financially successful site.

Standards CSS/XHTML

We hand code standards compliant CSS/XHTML so your page is fast loading with low bandwidth, it will work on the vast majority of browsers, search engines will love your site & we implement a long-tail 'meaningful' directory structure where possible as standard.

Search engine optimised pages

All our pages are SEO (search engine optimised), with correct meta tags, keyword density & structure thought of & considered by default, you don't need to request this.

Graphic interface design

The graphic designs we produce for you are custom / bespoke & we supply you with the original source Photoshop files so you can manipulate & modify them later as you wish.

 

 

Web development / applications

We have a decade of experience in web development & have covered the vast majority of web application types. All our developments think of how we can build on budget, but also how we can design so its easy to expand your site/application in the future. We use expert & novice testers to cover a range of user testing types.

Here is a sample of some of the specific areas of development we're involved in:

Directory, portal & general

Links directory / Business directory / Community portal
Events ticket system
Bulk emailer / Templatable newsletter mailer
Membership & subscription management / User management
Quiz & test systems

E-commerce

Online shop / Shopping cart
SSL credit card storage
Affiliate store integrated with own brand product sales

Payment processor integration

Seamless: Authorize.net AIM, Netbilling, PayPal Payments Pro, Worldpay
Gateway: PayPal Standard, NoChex, Authorize.net SIM

Widgets

News & articles / Diary / Ratings Currency conversion
Aggregated domain search
Google calendar integration
Deep linking system (without server component)

Technologies

ASP.NET - Classic ASP - PHP - Vbscript - Javascript
Databases - SQL Server 2000-2008, MS Access, MySQL
JSON - XML - RSS - AJAX - SSL - MooTools - JQuery
Magento - JShop - OsCommerce - Evolve Ecommerce
Wordpress - WebSpell - Joomla

 

Web promotion

We want our clients to have the best search results & encourage them to provide us with original text content that will get their site noticed & keep visitors coming back to their site.

Keyword analysis & competitor research

A sites visibility & popularity to search engines weighs heavily on the keywords & text content used within a web page. We analyse your target market & the keywords people are most searching for in relation to your business type, which also reveals the costs to compete against your competitors. We research your competitors, reviewing their strengths & weaknesses to highlight areas of opportunity for your business.

Link building

An inward link to your site is considered a "vote for the good" by search engines. The more votes the higher your site ranked, the key here is to get votes from 'relevant' high ranking sites that have something to do with your sites main topic.

Submitting to public directories is one of the main avenues to accomplish link building, the better ranked and commercial the directory site, the better value you get for your inward link from them.

Organic inward linking by posting your signature on forums, blog's, or writing articles for sites and accrediting yourself, are good free methods to obtain inward links.

Pay per click (PPC) campaigns

Pay Per Click is a method of advertising your web site in search engines in premium positions when people search for certain keywords relevant to your site i.e. at the top of the listings. We can setup a campaign & adverts in very small amount of time, cap spending on the campaign if you are on a tight budget, monitor the situation and change the keywords we use & target the campaign at specific geographic locations, your local town or your global audience.

Statistic analysis & report reviews

We build sites with goals in mind, so it is vital we review if those goals are being achieved. Such goals could include: - sign ups to your site, sales of a particular item or people signing up to your newsletter.

Statistics analysis will tell us where on your site people are visiting, how long they are staying for & if any of them aren't completing a process, for instance are they leaving a certain page & not going through with a sale or sign-up.

Google Places optimisation & microdata format for Local Search

Are you in the know about the new Microdata & Microformats that boost your sales conversions & Google Places / Local Search rankings? Google, Yahoo & Bing have come together and agree on a common format for rich snippets to increase accurate visibility within search results. We suggest getting ahead of the game, as it will be a long period before the average web designer or business owner knows about or how to implement this standard. Give the search engines the information they need to represent you higher in their results. More information can be found at Schema.org.

 

Business startup

We are happy to offer assistance in starting up your business & can provide you with the information and contacts to get you off to a good start.

You should register yourself as a company, be it sole trader, limited company or partnership, then apply for a business bank account, hire an accountant & it is also advisable to write a small business plan.

Register as sole trader

You should register yourself employed within 3 months of starting your business. You can do this by downloading, filling in & posting the "CWF1 - Becoming self employed" form. View Details

This is a painless process, do not be frightened by it. Once you are registered, you can expect to pay £31.20 a quarter National Insurance (class 2 nics), these are the staple contributions to developing a pension. There are extra national insurance contributions (class 4 nics) which are calculated on your tax return, they are based on what you have earned in the year.

Register business bank account

It is advisable to register a business bank account to keep personal & business finances separated. This doesn't cost anything as there are several free business banking options available:

Santander / Abbey National - Free business banking - View Details
- require a photocopy of a passport / driving license
- recent bill with address on
- a simple letterhead with your company logo and/or details

You receive:  Cheque book, Debit Card, Internet banking, free envelopes & balance book

Payment gateways

Taking money from your business is your primary activity usually, having a payment gateway allows you to take transactions from credit & debit cards.
To process payments you will need:

• Business bank account
• Merchant ID / Arrangement so you can take transactions
• Payment Gateway - this is the device, software or web site that allows you to enter the card/payers details

SagePay (ProtX) - View Prices / Details
£20 per month for merchants processing up to 1,000 transactions per quarter
Per Transaction: Credit card 2.5% - Debit card 40p
Merchant ID/Arrangement with Bank of Scotland bank account - View Details

Streamline via the Federation of Small Businesses - View Details
£150 first year, £120 there after - £12.50 / £10.00 per month
Per Transaction: 2%
Merchant ID/Arrangement via Natwest bank account

PayPoint.net (SecPay) - View Prices / Details
£20 per month: 350 free transactions, 15p per subsequent transactions
Merchant ID/Arrangement via your chosen business bank - can cost £100-£200 per year.

 

IT Services

We offer practical business services, to keep your enterprise running from day to day. Hosting, data input, database conversion/import, data mapping, pc construction & repair, software installation, maintenance.

Hosting

We know each of our customers by name, no overcrowding, no undercutting other companies, we offer quality hosting, to those who take up other services with us. We are flexible, and look after your interests, you don't have to do a thing if you don't want to, sit back & send requests for changes & it will be done. You receive support from those whom own and manage the hosting service directly, not employed amateurs.

Domains

Godaddy is our preferred domain registration partner, we can register the domain on your behalf (£27 + cost of domain), or you can register it yourself and pass on the details, which ever is preferred.

Data input

We have a dedicated data inputter who can work with most web applications, web site admin systems, CMS's, blogs, linux/windows software. Any kind of system, with any size of data be it small or bulk.

Database conversion

If you require movement of data from one source to another, or are upgrading your system form an old to a new database, or from a text/xml file into a database, then we understand & can solve the complications & possible pitfalls.

Data mapping

If your existing system is ad-hoc, out of control, or you are simply reorganizing, we can map old data on mass to the new structure without any loss or corruption. We have successfully mapped highly disorganised systems to new future proofed orderly databases/application structures.

 

Documentation

Technical authoring, help file creation, article writing, blog updating, testing script creation & proofing.

Technical Authoring

Technical authors interpret technical information & translate it so specific audience levels can understand complex theory & instructions. The author is required to analyse aspects of a system very much like a tester would to understand it fully then present it in an easy to read manor. Once translated it can then be published to physical paper documentation, manuals, presentations, DVD or online help.

Help file creation

Utilising RoboHelp our technical author can document your web site, application or training presentations. We can convert old help formats to new, or output to web help pro, chm, java help, html, pdf, or other sources.

Article writing

Article writing is major force in search engine optimisation as it is the root of fresh original content. We can take your keyword & target audience into account, to effectively write around your key promotion areas. Any subject can be written about, and for any medium, be it forums, blog's, your web site, newsletters, brochures or publications.

Test scripts & proofing

Dedicated experience in analysing and reviewing test scripts for large organisations allowing the creation of faultless test processes.