Shotan - Profile

This is a very current topic and the short answer is definitely maybe

That's because there are many approaches to the problem and to talk of a generic "mobile site" can be confusing!

Very few people just a couple of years ago could have foreseen the meteoric growth in the use of mobile devices for the internet. Phones then were small, with tiny low res screens, slow connections, low bandwidth. crude and not really the tool for the job. BUT look now at what we have! AND most importantly, try to imagine what will soon be in its place!

Mobile internet usage is evolving at a crazy pace and anyone who buries their head in the sand will be left behind with the dinosaurs.

My job as a web designer involves keeping up with this avalanche of technology. it's fast and furious and if you take a break you get buried! So my advice to you is keep up!

Okay a mobile website is a vague term when what we really need to look at is how does your site look and function across the whole range of devices out there from clunky old desktops to the latest Apple / Android / Whizzo device?
How does it cope with being viewed on a 2 inch screen and then on a bank of monitors on a wall?

Do you rely on Flash in your current site? Oh dear!!!!! What do you see on an iphone? Nothing? Do you use all singing all dancing gizmos, and whirling gifs.. how slow is your site now? What once was easily visible on most browsers suddenly became a maze of incompatability and frustration in navigation.

There are a hundred ways to tackle the dilemma but the crucial point is TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL DEVICES. Ignore at your (business) peril !

Whether that means simply adding a Wordpress plugin, or using device detecting to call up a duplicate mobile honed site, or if it's moving to a responsive layout will depend on your business and your site. It could be any or all of these approaches so the scope is wide.

If in doubt ask for advice and see what fits your particular needs and budget.
All the best ....... Web Designer - Paul Shotan 0121 453 5264

I've been to several breakfast networking events to see what it's all about. Up at the crack of dawn for a breakfast I couldn't face at that hour, nice though it looked. After the third visit I saw he same faces, the same intros, the same Boy Scouts almosphere, the same expectation to have brought referrals to the table, the same ceremony and hard sell for the sign up.
My instinct was to get the hell out of there and not get roped into the club mentality. It was a self limiting membership and made no allowance for anyone you couldn't stand or had no confidence in. PLUS it was

My mainstay for website design is Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Flash and an assortment of smaller software packages but I've also started using Wordpress more often recently for it's CMS simplicity.
I'd agree that Wordpress will do anthing you want BUT you do need to know your way around it very well. Otherwise I can appreciate how it might be frustrating in comparison to the complete "from scratch" creative freedom of Dreamweaver or other html editors.
The great plus for WP is the availablity of so many plugins and templates that even complete novices can handle. plus of course the ease of adding new pages, images, backend admin and so on.
As a representative of that type of website design tool I'd say that WP is one of the easiest ad quickest to produce good results. It can be confusing at first when you want to do something simple like place images accurately or layout div and tables but that's true of any unfamiliar software.
I'd second the opinion.... get to grips with WP and it'll serve you well.
If you nend any help please contact me any time.
Cheers, Paul Shotan - web design www.artworks-unlimited.co.uk

Hi Rebecca, very simplistically .... organic listings (Google or any other) are those that appear in the search result list beneath the sponsored links. They get there through their own merits. The sponsored links pay to get there irrespective of their ranking, good or bad.

I personally don't even look at the sponsored lists. It's a personal thing, some people would disagree but I always go straight to the organic listings. I feel I get a better chance of selecting somebody who has earned the right to their position and not bought it.

cheers, Paul

Hi Steve, this is a shameless plug for my own hosting company!!!

I was in the same situation as you when I started up. I signed up with one supposedly number one (aren't they all?) host and got so confused and frustrated with gobbledegook and waiting on hold for help (ha!) I dumped them and started my own web hosting business.

There are excellent hosts out there so if you choose a large company, stick with the known ones and avoid the $1 a week cowboys despite the temptation to save cash (you won't , they'll nickel and dime you in the end) .. you'll get what you pay for.

So please take a look at my set up. I won't go into a self promoting lecture. The important points are. . . a real person to talk to in plain English any time you need help for FREE and so on . . .
cheers, Paul

Hi Barney... you sound pretty mad!! I'm guessing you've paid out a wad and received shoddy service?
First of all let's all agree that there are cowboys in every trade and profession, ours and yours included BUT of course there are a multitude of good honest providers as I am sure are you (and us here too). SEO, done properly can give an incredible boost to a business. Done badly it can screw up the best of web sites, not done at all or only at half **** it will drain your wallet for no benefit.
Was there a solid contract with a detailed brief, listing requirements, time scales, and costs etc? If there was then I guess you should be able to demonstrate any failings easily enough. If you didn't have the foundation of a good contract and brief then it's going to be a "he said, no I didn't" head to head with probably no good outcome and a good deal of frustration.
My feeling is that you should consider what you've shelled out so far and if you head into legal action are you likely to recover your costs and retain your hairline? A lawyer is going to cost an arm and a leg and there are no guarantees of a succesful judgement. I suppose you could get advice, set out a letter of intent, listing your grievances and your expectation that wrongs be righted, money refunded or whatever it is you want to achieve and deliver it with the clear declaration of your intent to sue unless the situation is resolved within a reasonable time span. This may well be a bluff on your part but if it's done correctly and you have your facts right it may jolt the other party into action (good or bad remains to be seen).
I've no legal knowledge so this is just a quick thought processing ... what might I do in your situation? I've been through legal wrangles with non payers, theft of copyrighted materials, charlatans, and so on, luckily only rarely but I know that if you can't realistically gain anything, avoid the courts unless it's a simple straight forward County Court Judgement with minimal outlay.
As well as graphics I also operate a swift and anonymous knee-capping sideline if you'd like to book me in!!!
Good luck Barney, please don't tar everyone with the same sticky brush will you, there are some good people here who do SEO properly and will help you out with good advice if they can. cheers, Paul

I agree.... put road tax in the bin and pay through fuel instead (with a suitable and viable alternative for the haulage and other industries relient upon transportaion for their survival). The whole DVLA operation could be shut down, people redeployed and a fortune saved in bureaucratic gogbbledegook and paper shuffling!
Okay I put my sad hand up. I own a gas guzzler.. I'm into my third mid life crisis (this week!) and have a 3 litre soft top...... I drive maybe 50 miles a week in it and so use little fuel, produce minimal pollution and road wear and yet I pay out a bloody fortune in road tax !!!!! Somebody in a low taxed pope mobile can cover a squillion fog producing miles a year and pay peanuts in road tax. How is that logical, environmentally sound or fair? A fuel tax instead would be self regulating. I'm not going to blast around with my foot to the floor with 25mpg am I? If I do then I'm going to pay proportionally more than my softer footed neighbour.... just the way it should be. ....... rant over, nuff sed.

ps I've had many sensible, boring cars in my life and the Beemer is my well earned penile extension, medallion man treat late in life..... and it's F_A_N_T_A_S_T_I_CCCCCCCCC so there !!!!!!

Hi Rebecca, promotion and marketing is a complex, interactive and ongoing process with many different elements. Off-page SEO is just one aspect, on-page is another. The fastest horse in a race is the one which has strength in all its legs. The horse that is lame in any one of them will never win.
Shotan he say... "Pay good attention to ALL aspects of SEO or you will fall frat on honourable face at first hurdle, glasshopper"

Hi guys, you're so right Steve, the world of SEO is NOT simple, NEVER easy, often disappointing and is FREQUENTLY expensive!
On-page SEO is mainly a case of keeping abreast of the trends, applying common and marketing sense to your copy, layout, h1, h2,h2,h3 headings, internal links, ALT tags, META tags, page titles and so on. Avoiding waffle and hype is vital and always bear in mind the purpose of search engines is to seek out, index and rate, correct, true and relevant content.
Where things get dodgy is when confronted by the myriad operations promising top 10 position on Google for your chosen keywords. What happens if you are client number eleven after that same keyword?
My experience of the supposedly leading SEO company in the UK (no names mentioned) is..... promises, promises, promises! Keep paying the cheque (

If the main object of the page is to show that the product is made up of two parts why not go back to basics? ...... an A + B = C layout panel across the page, three diagrams or photos to illustrate the component parts. A few words could then simply explain the concept.

cheers, Paul
www.artworks-unlimited.co.uk
low cost, high quality websites, graphic design and hosting