Besondere Grabsteine – WP Template Design Case Study
February 28, 2011
WordPress Template Design for Besondere Grabsteine Case Study
Designing website or a WordPress template for a new client can be an utterly fascinating journey; from the initial meeting, administering web design client questionnaire to find out the objective of the client to one-to-one interview with the client to flesh out the clients requirements.
The web design process is even more fascinating when the client is also a designer in a completely different industry. This was the case with a recent project called Besondere Grabsteine , where the client is a an award winning master stonemason who had designed monuments, grave stones and other stone based designs.
When working on a web design project where the client is also a designer, the potential for conflicts is great, there is also the opportunity to create creative Sparks by bouncing ideas of each other. Luckily, the conflict scenario was not the one besondere grabsteine project too.
Working on this case was simplicity itself because the client had advanced understanding or web design principles and he is quite adept at using image manipulation software, a skill he put to very good use by producing an excellent mockup design for his project. From the mockup provided by the client, coding and optimising besondere grabsteine was plain sailing.
The final website created from the client’s design concept was not identical to first mock-up the client came to us with mainly due to some limitations of WordPress template but it was remarkably similar. You can see the final concept which was then coded and ported into the genesis framework and then deployed on the client’s website.
You feedback and comments about the final template is welcomed.
Donate
February 25, 2011
Sponsor Temi Odurinde to run Berlin Marathon by donating to Concern Universal
Concern Universal is one of the most exciting charities I came across recently. Their main focus is helping alleviate extreme poverty in developing countries. There is a number of charities working in this sector (Including the government’s overseas development department). What I find most refreshing about Concern Universal’s approach is the fact that of all the charities working in this sector, Concern Universal spends significantly more portion of each pound you donate on getting things done on the ground in the countries they work, their overheads is cut right to the barest minimum.
To support Concern Universal, I am fundraising for them. I hope to raise £5,000 by the end of September 2011. My fundraising activity centres around running Berlin Marathon 2011, which takes place in early September. You can donate to sponsor by clicking on this link, it will take you to a page where you can donate by credit card payment.
Donate £200 or more and get an SEO friendly presell page as a thank you!
For small businesses, sponsoring me to the tune of £200 or more is a fantastic way of supporting a good cause and getting a high quality presell page created for your business. As a ‘thank you’ I will create a presell crafted to attract organic search engine traffic for your business.
The presell page is carefully written using the latest SEO technique. It is guaranteed to attract traffic from your business niche, with all the traffic then forwarded to your website. You can see and example presell page created for and ecommerce shopping cart vendor here.
To sponsor me and get the thank you presell page, please go to the donation page and donate £200 or more to Concern Universal. Once notification of the donation is received, I will contact you to discuss details of your presell page.
Brits are one of the kindest people on Earth! OECD Survey
According to an OECD survey released recently (12th April 2011) Britain is one of the kindest nation on earth when it come to giving. We are in the top five kindest nation along with:
Ireland
US
New Zealand
Australia
David Amerland about WebmasterServe UK SEO Contest
February 11, 2011
There is only one day left until one of the most waited UK SEO competition is about to get started and David Amerland, writer of Amazon best-selling “SEO Help” and one of the fantastic folks that lend a hand for this competition to kick-off has shared some insightful thoughts about it in the video above.
This contest will last for 3 months, 3 whole months in which each SEO guy that has something to say in this niche can prove its knowledge and expertise. The question that comes however is why taking part to an SEO contest, what are the benefits of doing this?
First of all, these contests are here for like ages, most of them being launched by community forums based on search engine optimisation, communities that can really make a difference when it’s coming to helping alike folks with tips, advices, tutorials and not only. An SEO contest can be also considered a way to become a part of community, make new friends and not only learning to be competitive.
Second, there are some great prices on table, from £1,000 to other smaller prices for the next competitors reaching the top SEO guys from this competition. However the real prize that comes with winning this contest (and not only, while this is a massive gain for all participants as well) is the fact that you gain valuable knowledge that can be used when trying to skyrocket your own website in top of search engines’ results or even when dealing with clients for your services. This last benefit is considered priceless – you learn what exactly works nowadays (in terms of SEO) and how to apply it.
You can still grab a place at UK SEO forum, hurry up, only 1 day left!
Local Searches & Local Groups (Groupon) The New Internet Super Powers?
February 9, 2011
When Internet search was at its infancy, often when you search for say “web hosting” in Google UK or any other search engine for tat matter, you will often get more US businesses listed on the SERP pages, sometimes you even get more US websites than UK website. To reduce the number non-UK sites on your search result pages you would have to add the word “UK” as a prefer or post fix to your search. Thanks to improved technology such as geo IP address location and improvement in search engine algorithms you don’t need to add pre or post fixes t your search to get high quality relevant websites in your search engine searches.
As a matter of fact, in recent time, introduction of Google Local meant that businesses local to you are listed above the regular organic search results, making websites and resources served on SERPS more relevant to you than itt has ever been. An example to illustrate this was done for this website buy searching the keyword “office plants” and “office plants London”. The search result for the second keyword demonstrate the emphasis currently placed on Google Local as the entire search result page was pulled from Google Local, the first regular organic search result was not visible till you browse page 2 of the SERPS.
This is part of the treads of shifting emphasis on the Internet from national and international focus to local community. Another good examples is the phenomenon of group buying is Groupon which is currently gaining buying clout by group of people who want to buy a particular item coming together to buy in bulk from a supplier thereby saving a lot of money.
What is the catch with group buying websites?
February 7, 2011
Group buying sites are not something new in the online environment; you sign up for a free daily email and receive different discounted offers from local businesses promoting their products through this type of websites. Sometimes the discounts reach crazy amounts like “80% off” so this is usually a best deal indeed. The discounted products range from laser hair removal to clothes, food and so on and one of the major players in this field is the well-known Groupon.
Groupon is believed to be the fastest growing company ever, reaching over 5 million users in United Kingdom only and tens of millions worldwide. Groupon features different discounted offers, the users enter their payment details and once the minimum accepted number of people have signed up for that deal you receive the voucher by email.
As simple as it may sound, Groupon had some problems in the past when The Advertising Standards Authority banned some misleading adverts, however Groupon officials claim they are closely working with the ASA in order to stay under their guidelines in the future. Other problems are related to customers having problems redeeming their discounts, but as in any business there are negative voices and positive ones as well, just that the first ones tend to have a longer echo in the online environment.
Groupon is not the only website in this niche though, names like LivingSocial or Groupola being among its top competitors and lately it seems that Google and Facebook figured out they could fit great in this business and claim a piece of the profits for themselves. But competition is nothing but good for customers therefore larger discounts are to be expected in the future from sites in this business.
Although small businesses entering partnerships with the group buying websites must definitely cut their prices for being accepted, it seems it really worth while they can address to a new group of customers, customers that once satisfied by a service/product can definitely come back for more and thus increasing a certain business’ sales.
