Now, personally, I find SEO to be dull as dishwater, but it is an essential element for all web designers and is something not to be ignored. I think most (if not all) web designers would agree. We’re artists (!), why should we get involved in SEO?

Well, if a site isn’t optimised correctly, who’s going to see it? There’s no point in building a beautiful site if it just sits in some obscure part of the web where nobody but the client and the designer can find it. Yes, the client has some responsibility in marketing the site correctly, but as the designer, there is a responsibility to ensure that the site has a modicum of SEO before the site goes live.

This includes the following:

1. Indexing the site on all major Search Engines
2. Ensuring all code is valid
3. Ensuring that all relevant meta tags (<title>, <description>, etc) contain the correct information

Obviously, this is very basic SEO and won’t get a site on to the first page of Google, but we have to start somewhere.

Don’t ignore SEO. It may bore you rigid, but it is a necessity. Unfortunately.

Now, WordPress is an extremely powerful tool that can be used for a huge range of needs – from CMS’s to E-commerce, WordPress is THE essential web-designers tool (IMHO). And the best thing about WordPress? It’s open source which means it’s free. Yes, that’s right, I said FREE. Of course, you can pay for themes, templates, widgets etc but WP is simple enough for anyone, and I mean anyone, to get a site up and running within minutes.

Of course, if you think that this might be too much for you, or you don’t have enough time, then you could always turn to a WordPress developer (like me!) and get them to do all the hard work for you.

Anyway, check back soon for more details on the custom theme….

Much more work on at the moment, 4 sites in the pipeline and I’m aiming to get them live by the end of this month, all being well.

I’ll keep you updated.

I’m currently creating my first custom WordPress theme and this list will be invaluable to me. With WordPress, knowledge is definitely power as you only need to be armed with a little bit of coding, and you can create some amazing themes and plugins.

I’ll keep you updated on how my theme progresses….

I had some real trouble trying to implement my modal windows with IE7 (Internet Explorer still sucks by the way….) I tried Shadowbox and  Thickbox and finally settled on Fancybox, which was very easy to set up and actually get working. I hate IE.

I used a Flash gallery for the slideshows for each project on the website and it works very well. I’m quite pleased with the site and the client is very happy (which is the main thing, honest….).

You can visit the site here: MWS Contracts.

The website – www.smileydiscounts.co.uk – is now live and features a bit of JQuery trickery as well as an online version of the magazine, which is built using the FlippingBook flash engine. The artwork for the adverts and the magazine itself was designed by your truly, as was the logo and I’m very proud of it.

If you live in Ripon and Harrogate, you’ll be receiving your copy through the door any day now. If you don’t, then why not visit the website and see what you think.

It’s quite a daunting prospect, but one I’m going to grab with both hands. I never expected that when I started out as a web designer 3 years ago, I would get this kind of opportunity so soon.

First task is a full rebrand of a local company. They are introducing a new brand to their product range and would like Premier to come up a with a new brand identity for this new product. This includes a website, brochures and stationery. They are a national recognised company so this is a really good way to show the world what I can do.

I’ll keep you posted.

I remember when I heard “Ten” for the first time, back in 1992. It changed the way I listened to music. That album had a really profound effect on me and inspired me to pick up the guitar and learn to play (which took much longer than I thought it would….).

17 years later and Pearl Jam have released their 9th album, “Backspacer“. And it’s brill. A real return to form and it’s probably the best album since “No Code”.  Highlights include the single “The Fixer” – currently in my ears as I write this – “Got Some” and “Supersonic”. Eddie Vedder actually sounds a little bit….hopeful, dare I say it. The last couple of albums have been pretty political and quite heavy in their lyrical content, but “Backspacer” is almost a joyful record. And I love it…..

First thing’s first though, and that’s to redesign the look of this blog. I love the theme – its the Agregado theme by the lovely and informative chaps at Smashing Magazine – a must read for any aspiring designers. I’ll be working on the design over the next week so the site will hopefully have a nice new look by this time next week.

Well, that’s the plan anyway…