Blog
If you find our web design agency blog articles interesting or useful, please feel free to include our content on your website (we just ask that you reference us and link to the original blog item).
20% off our services
Posted 13th December 2011 | Category: Company | 
We know it's Christmas and you're starting to wind down, but if you're planning any changes or even a new website we're offering 20% off services confirmed before Friday 23rd December.
As much as we love Christmas, it can leave our January work schedule a bit quiet, which is why we're offering a discount for this month only. Whether you're already a client or thinking of switching to us; whether you want a whole new website, a new feature or some SEO work: get in touch and confirm the work before 23rd and we'll give you 20% off. It's that simple.
For larger projects we may require a 25% deposit, and this offer does not apply to our discounted rate for upfront hours. If you have any questions call Ben on 01242 244620 or email ben@bluelinemedia.co.uk. Read more...
A dynamic scrolling HTML table With miniview using Mootools JavaScript
Posted 6th December 2011 | Category: Web Design |
Introduction
When developing a site, there are some rare occasions when a plain HTML table just isn't enough. Clients often ask "Can we have it scroll?", "Can we keep the row and column headings in sight?" and "Can we have a minimap with a scrollable window and a perfectly to scale tiny view of the main table that scrolls in sync with it, that the client can click or drag to view different sections?". Ok, that last one might be a bit of an exaggeration, but then that is the point of a client isn't it? To stretch your capabilities, ask for the impossible and then expect nothing less.
Luckily this tutorial will deliver all these things (!) and on the way, we can explore some of the functionality of the MooTools framework and the concept of progressive enhancement using JavaScript. So where do we start? Surprisingly, we'll start with the people who will benefit the least from your newly acquired expertise - people who somehow live with a browser that doesn't run JavaScript. These people will still need to see the table and understand its contents, as will search engines and people using screen readers or other accessibility software. So, lets start with a simple HTML table that everyone can use and understand.
97% of clients would recommend us
Posted 3rd November 2011 | Category: Company |
We carried out a survey with our clients to find out what you think of our service. Responses were provided anonymously to make sure everyone was happy to be honest and point out issues if there were any.
While the content management score was lower than we hoped, in 2011 we have released a new and easier version of the system. We're pleased with the high scores overall but will still be working to improve our service and scores next time.
We also asked if clients would recommend us, and 97% said yes. Read more...
Link building strategy: 10 steps to get more links to your site
Posted 25th October 2011 | Category: Web Marketing |
If you want to appear higher on Google, Bing and Yahoo! for your search terms, you need to do more than just have relevant content. Search engines also take into account the number and quality of websites linking to yours as an indication of how useful your website is going to be to its users. Thankfully, link-building is fairly simple if you're willing to commit the time.
1. Where are you now?
Use Open Site Explorer to find out your current 'domain authority'. This is a score out of 100 that gives a rough indication of your perceived quality against competitors sites. You should also be able to see the number of 'linking domains', which is the number of websites linking to yours as opposed to total individual links. It's this number that you want to increase, and by running the same search for your competitors you can get a goal. For example, if your best-performing competitor has 200 links and you only have 50, then you need to get at least 150 more (assuming the quality of those links is equivalent).
2. Set your link-building goals
Commit to spending regular time on your link-building and aim to generate say 20 links a month. As you submit more links you'll get a better idea of the time you need. Time can be quite varied as some websites will be easier to submit links to than others, and bear in mind that not all of your submissions will be successful. You should not add links too quickly as search engines will be suspicious about a sudden increase in links. Building at what would seem a natural rate is a better idea. Read more...
Canoeing 2011
Posted 19th September 2011 | Category: Company |
Our team building day canoeing on the river Wye last thursday was a success! It didn't rain, it wasn't too cold, nobody drowned and we all feel closer as a team. Now we just can't wait for the results to show in quicker projects and better designs.
In many ways we felt that our canoe journey mirrored our project lifecycle perfectly. We started carefully making sure we knew what we were trying to achieve (survival) and the tools we were using (canoes). Took our time to achieve concensus in the direction we were heading (downriver) and then hammered it at the end to arrive on time and in budget.
Our highlights of the experience include: Read more...
