I look at my inbox with new joy, some nameless corporation has sent me a “Seasons Greetings Email”

“Dear Gethan,

Happy Holidays!

You signed up to something that has no relevance to this email which is a thinly veiled spam mail! It’s cost us nothing to send and only wastes your time.

Tacky Corp”

It’s such a shame that these companies don’t get it - if you’re sending an email anyway - fine put “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” - whatever is appropriate for the time of year - but don’t send me spam dressed up in a Santa hat.

And we wonder how?

BBC Report

Today I joined a facebook group. This in itself isn’t momentous, I’ve created 3 and joined about 5 before. Today I joined a group with 100,000 members with one common theme - facebook is becoming spambook - and the users don’t like it. “This has got to stop.” - See the group here - is growing at a rate of 5000 users a day.

Why are facebook users so pissed off?

• Invites from applications - many many every day.
• Pointless annoying items in the newsfeed.
• Beacon - the controversial advertising system that alerts your contacts to actions you have taken on other websites.
• The lack of consideration for privacy.

The problems all boil down to features being added without consideration to the consequences, and an attitude from facebook that really each individual member does not matter.

Why don’t the members just leave?

For every single member of facebook, time and effort has been made to create a profile, to link up with contacts - and facebook are making a lot of money out of this - but enough to justify a valuation of $15 billion? not likely. So facebook continue to develop features most with the ultimate goal of milking the user base - at the expense of privacy and usability.

I resisted joining facebook initially, on maybe the sixth invite I decided maybe I should try it. Lo and behold everyone was there, people I knew from all over the world. So I spent some time, reconnecting with old friends, enjoying facebook as a fantastic new contact management system that trumped the conceited FriendsReunited.com and then some.

I then started work developing applications that would work within facebook, applications that would add value to profiles, that would bring in new users to websites I run. So I’ve invested more than the normal amount of time into learning API’s as well as creating pages and groups, I’ve put too much effort into facebook to just walk away. Damn I wish that wasn’t the case.

I don’t want to play at being a Zombie - please just leave me alone!

A much neglected area of website design is that of structure. In the same way that a well structured essay will aid the reader a well structured web site will aid visitors, search engines and the maintenance of the web site.Visitors will benefit from well thought out structure as navigation will come naturally. Related items will be grouped together in a way that logically allows visitors to follow from one related item to another. For example; visitors to a section of a web site dedicated to information about television sets will be most interested in information about other television sets. These items could then be sub-categorised further by either features, or manufacturers. By using simple and obvious sub-menus to link these related items together will encourage and promote views of these pages.

Search engines such as google like well organised sites that group related content into discrete sets. Pages that link to lots of related content on a similar subject within your site will have the key topic reinforced by the inclusion of the sub-pages. This concept is known within the webmaster community as “themes”. It basically means that a section of a site that contains a large amount of information on a given topic will have more importance than a single page on another site on the same topic. The site is judged as a whole, the context of each page is taken into consideration.

A well thought out structure will make maintenance easier. New pages will automatically have a place to go within the existing site. Expansion of the site is easier as new sections can be added by changing the master menu (the main menu on the first page of the site).

The essence of structuring your site is to categorise the planned content into sections. In most cases this can breakdown into information, products or services, news or press releases. Though this obviously will differ depending on the circumstances and the goal of your site.

An example of this in action can be seen on Norfolk Artists. Norfolk Artists is a site that contains several artists work of different types. The organisation of the site includes to main categories, artists, and galleries. The galleries breakdown further into subsections such as landscape or abstract. The individual artworks themselves are found at this level.

The directory structure and the link structure mirror each other to show the levels in which pages can be found. By using this technique the Landscape Gallery now serves as a central linking page for everyone of the Landscape artworks. As the number of paintings included within the site increases the categories will be further divided into other subsections.

The directory structure is used as follows;

/Gallery/Landscapes/artwork.html

This means that the /Gallery/Landscapes/ index page will now be given additional importance due to the inclusion of many related pages.

A good structure is easier to design and implement when first thinking about your site and should help dictate the organisation of menus and pages, which in turn helps the structure or layout of your individual pages. In many ways the structure of your site is more important than things like the colour scheme and look and feel, ultimately it will have more impact and be more difficult to change at a later stage. Time spent planning the site structure now will reap rewards long after the development of the website is completed.

ewonder has produced web sites for companies based in Benfleet, Wickford, Witham and London. For companies based in Essex ewonder offers a number of advantages over web design agencies from further afield.With the experiences and knowledge gained from web site design for other businesses in Essex, ewonder can arrange for links to be made from the web sites to your own.

Knowledge of Essex is also valuable, the web sites that are popular in the region, the working patterns of the locals, and the geography, towns and villages.

Essex talk - is a discussion website provided by ewonder free to the community. By giving webmasters producing local web sites as hobbies, access to a professional, high quality message board, Essex Talk serves as a hub for Essex sites, bringing in extra visitors to the local Essex sites. If your company offers a relevant service your website will feature in the sponsored by section of Essex Talk. If you are the webmaster of a local site and wish to have a message board as part of your web site please contact webmaster@essextalk.co.uk - and we’ll be only to pleased to arrange a new board.

Add to this over 6 years of web design experience, expertise in database design, internet application design, business processes and you can see why ewonder should be your choice for web design in Essex.

Deciding what content and features to include on a web site is key. It is more important than the graphic design or look and feel of your site. This can be seen easily by looking at some of the most visited sites on the web, such as Yahoo! - the design is minimal, content draws the visitors back time and time again. For large corporations the production of content is far easier than for the small business so here are some suggestions to start with.The most obvious and commonly seen use of a website is that of advertisement. Even though most web users will rapidly retreat from any kind of sales pitch, advertising is still one of the most valid applications. Visitors to your web site will be there for a reason, this reason is determined before arriving so although advertising is useful, information is better.

Thinking along the lines of infomercials is more appropriate. Visitors of your website will want information about your product or service as fast as possible. If they don’t get it from you in a manner that makes them happy, they will go to someone else’s website. Everyone using your website is there by choice, equally at anytime the choice can be made to leave. If you have sales presentations put them on the web by all means but ensure that the user chooses to view them and knows what they are getting in to before viewing it. Sales presentations on the web can be done very successfully using Flash animations. But a mistake is to show a sales presentation on the first page of your site. Many sites currently force visitors to view several minutes of “flying logos” and scrolling sales pitches when first visiting. Generally visitors will click “skip intro” if the designer is kind enough to offer the option.

Information on your products or services is also needed. Give as much information as possible, if nessecary provide information at a very basic level. Visitors to your sites may not be expert in your field. Spend time thinking about what the average visitor needs to know to understand what service or product is being offered by your company. If possible try the information out on people who don’t have the level of understanding of your business that you do.

How often do the same questions get asked of your company? The top ten questions being asked 90% of the time. This is an ideal use for your website. Put the questions and answers on the web, many users like getting the answers for themselves any way. Many web sites have a section specifically for this, FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Whilst the web and websites are still emerging technologies, make it easy for the user to drop out of the web and use a more traditional method to get in contact with you. Remember that a user of a website is not always just a customer. Potentially the user could be a supplier, existing customer, potential customer, an investor or one of many other possibilities. Contact details such as telephone number, fax, and address can be given here, as well as the option to email or fill in a response form.

The web really comes into its own if you can use it as a distribution device for your material. Being able to distribute your product means that all the sales advantages are now channelled into fulfilment as well. There are a new breed of computer applications being given away on the web (either as free versions, or trial versions), see WinZip or WinAmp. But this can be extended, if you a are design company, electronic samples of your designs can be distributed.

Finally the web can help you build brand awareness, put something on your website that is purely a gimmick, a game for example. Several web based companies have built up strong brands purely by word of mouth or email by having a gimmick that everyone wants to see on their website. This is known as viral marketing.

All this can done before starting to think about e-commerce (selling your product over the web) and can have a great positive impact with out changing the way you do business.

Using the web has a huge number of advantages over traditional media. Part of this question has to be which of those advantages are relevant to your business. The main advantages are; low cost per view, flexibility, global audience , can create a mass market from a niche, can allow savings in other areas. Understanding what benefits having website can offer your business is key. It will allow you to make the decision of whether to get a website and what to do with it.

Key to any business decision is cost. Website costs can be split into three areas, set-up, maintenance and running costs. The set-up costs depend on what you want to accomplish with your website, and who you get to realise your requirements. A typical website (20ish pages) with no dynamic content should cost less than £1000 GBP, whereas a site with dynamic web applications or linking in with a database could cost up to tens of thousands.

The low cost of a website does count on a number of things being done in the right way. The initial design and planning of a website has to be done in the same way as any other product. Establish the requirements, get the basics right, the framework for the site, ensure that the styling of the site matches the look and feel that your company has. Do your research ensure that you choose a design company that has produced sites that you like.

Maintenance costs vary. At one end it could be bought into the company and performed by anyone with basic computer literacy, or it can be completely outsourced. Using a WYSIWIG html editor such as FrontPage will allow modifications to be made easily by someone with little technical knowledge, but for more complicated changes or additions it is often quicker and cheaper to call back the original design company to do this. The reasons why the web offers such a low comparative running costs compared to other media are best illustrated on a per page basis, with one page view of a website being equated to one of any other media. With the web the on going costs for a simple site can be very low. Hosting packages start at about £7 GBP pcm and often include a host of additional features. Its usual to have some kind of monthly cap, but it will work out that for your £7 you can get tens of thousands of views. With the Web there are no print runs, postage costs. Also say for example you print off ten thousand brochure’s and then attempt to change one small detail, such as a telephone number. The whole run is wasted and has to be written off. This doesn’t happen with the web. The change can be made as soon as its discovered and any subsequent views of this material have changed to reflect this. You have control of the documents. The web is global, there are millions of users already, you’re not just limited to markets where you have established a base. Its also multi-lingual, if your site is written in one language never fear there are other websites out there that will translate your work into the native language of the user. With the web a niche market can be transformed into a mass market. People interested in your product will seek you out using search engines, referring their friends, or by a mass of other methods.

So the reasons why every company is attempting to get on the web as quickly as possible are becoming clear. But this is where the next set of mistakes are being made. A poorly thought through structure and design can be as limiting and damaging as none at all (arguably more so). Start with the basic’s what do you want to do with your website? What are its objectives?

Search Engine Optimization.

Did you mean: search engine optimisation?

What is search engine optimization?

When looking for information or products on the web, users will turn to either, well known brands such as amazon, search engines such as google, or directories such as Yahoo!. Every visitor to your site from search engines has looked for something to do with your site, possibly your company name or a product that you sell. Search engine optimisation refers to designing or modifying your site in such a way that will ensure that for relevant queries on search engines your site features as close to the top as possible.

Several basic stages exist in this process;

Determining what terms would be searched on to reach your site, and provide targeted visitors. Incorporating these terms into your site in ways which promote the ranking of your pages for these terms. Ensuring the structure of your site is such that search engines can discover all the pages within your site. Obtaining links to your site from others that are considered important. Submitting your site to the search engines.

This is a basic description of the process and can involve much more subtle techniques.

What can be expected from the successful use of search engine optimization?

Successful search engine optimization will result in more visitors to your site. The additional numbers will range from a doubling to a 10 fold or more in number of visitors. Assuming your site holds relevant products or services this could result in a corresponding increase in sales or business.

Expectations have to be realistic and targeted. On extremely popular searches such as “mp3″ thousands of sites have already been optimised on this term. Some using highly dubious techniques. Getting to the number one position in search results is not likely, without having better products and bigger budgets than those in the position already. But for less competitive terms even basic search engine optimisation can have some astounding results. The trade off is that the more focused search terms are less competitive are more likely to be converted into sales, but will result in less visitors.

What search engine optimization services does ewonder offer?

Every web site produced by ewonder features the appropriate level of search engine optimization. For sites that are dynamically generated from a database ewonder ensures that this content that is so often hidden from the search engines is accessible, and will rank in the search engines as well as any static page. By ensuring that the level of optimisation is appropriate for your web site ewonder’s search engine optimisation service will improve your company’s profile, the number of visitors and the number of successful sales for your business.

It doesn’t just have to be a new site. If your site is not performing in the search eninges as well as you had hoped. ewonder can optimise existing sites for performance in the search engines, contact us for more information on search engine optimisation for your site.

ewonder’s coming soon sites:
Xepi
Xepi UK
Jeber
Jeber UK
Bojor
Bojor UK
Laulima
Gethan
Gethan UK
Acorn Lead Roofing

Visit Domain Name Generator - http://www.domain-generator.net/

You wanted www.cars.com, but its gone. Finding the right name for your website is important. But your first choice of domain has been registered. Well help is here. The domain generator is a free web based application that generates sensible alternative domains. You enter in up to five words that describe your business, website or even just words you happen to like. The domain name generator then produces sensible combinations and checks whether they have been registered.

The domain generator helps you to use lateral thinking to get a catchy, readable and memorable domain name that is relevant to your needs. Type in some words and click generate to give it a try.

Business Name Generator

home | portfolio | web design | domain name generator | search engine optimisation

CGI Applications
On the web you will often use CGI applications, they are applications that run on a webserver and produce web pages dynamically. They can retrieve information from databases, process the contents of a form that a user has just filled in and much, much more. They allow web developers to do things like allow customers to fill forms which are then sent to a email addresses. The Contact us page on this website is an example of a CGI application that does exactly this. You will also find more subtle examples on other web sites, for example when a website remembers and greets visitors by name a CGI application has been used.Intranets and the Internet
The Internet is basically a massive number of computers that are connected. As well as being physically connected they have been setup to all talk the same language. The Internet is accessible by anyone, Intranets still use the same language as the Internet but differ by the fact that only people and computers within a single organisation can see and use these computers. What this means is that there are Web sites that only people within a given company can view.

Hosting
A Web page is a computer file, that is sent upon request to a Web browser. These files have to live on a computer that is connected to the Internet continuously. In most cases it isn’t feasible for a small business to have this. This is where Hosting companies come in. They, for a price, place your website on a computer which is connected to the Internet 24hrs a day, every day of the year. Some companies offer to do this service for free, but very often there is either a catch or poor performance. ewonder will ensure that your business gets the hosting it needs.

Domain Names
When typing in a Web address to visit a website, part of that address is the domain name. For example with http://www.bbc.co.uk/ the bbc.co.uk section is the domain name. The www part is the machine upon which the website lives. The uk part of the domain name refers to the country which domain is registered in. A company that trades internationally would typically look for one of the generic TLD’s (Top Level Domains) such as .com or .net. Domain names are distributed on a first come first serve basis, upon the payment of a registration fee, with the holder being allowed to renew the registration indefinetly.

Domain names are becoming increasingly important in the success of websites. It needs to be something relevant to your business, for example your business name. In many cases the domain name that you want will have already been registered by someone else. In this case you have a number of options, buy the domain from the holder, if infriging on your trade marks, take them to court, or more usually find a name that is close enough although not perfect.ewonder can act on your behalf in negotiations with existing domain name holders, or provide technical advice in the event of a court case, finally and more commonly, find an alternative domain name that works for your company.

Search Engines
Search engines attempt to catalog all the Web Pages on the Internet, they then allow vistors to them to search this catalog. AltaVista and Google are good examples of this. To get the best positions in a list of results from a search engine, web sites and pages have to be carefully constructed, ewonder does this. Also as part of the service ewonder ensures that pages and sites that it produces are added to some of the top search engines for free, and will if required arrange additional paid placement.

Web Applications
Web Applications are programs designed to run over the Internet with a Web based user interface. They don’t need to be installed on your Computer explicitly and in many cases don’t care which hardware or operating system you are using. CGI is one type of application that runs on the Web Server. JavaScript runs in the web browser. Knowing which technology to use in which circumstance is key.

Email Accounts
Email accounts allow you to transmit and receive email (Electronic Mail). Often you are given an email account by a dial up ISP (Internet Service Provider). Your email address is often along the lines of john034@myisp.com. ewonder can setup yourname@yourcompany.com or sales@yourcompany.com allowing you to be more professional in your email correspondence.

On-Line
Just a quick way of saying “Connected to the Internet”, which has come to cover many ideas from having a web site, to using email.

Gimmicks
Often a Website will use “Gimmicks” to grab the interest of people viewing a web page. It could be an impressive animation, an on-line game or some kind of offer. It is important that a Website is not used as one big “Gimmick”, there are many sites that fall into this catagory, where usability is sacrificed for gimmicks.

Website
The term website is used to describe a collection of web pages belonging together. Very often a website is single themed and purposed, for example all of the pages that start with http://www.ewonder.co.uk/ are part of the ewonder website. The purpose of these pages is to show you what our company is capable of and hopefully inspire you to use our expertise.

Web Browser
A Web Browser is an application that is installed on your computer that requests, receives and displays Web pages. Without a Web Browser the information on the web is much harder to understand (Click view source to see what this page would look like without a web browser). Recent Web Browsers are Netscape 4.7 and MS Internet Explorer 5, they are available for free. Different Web Browsers have different capabilities, the same web page can look very different in one browser to the other. Sometimes Web pages don’t even get displayed.

ewonder uses both years of experience and a comprehensive testing process to ensure that pages produced are usable in many different browsers and systems.