Web Designers, Social Networks, West London Web Design

New Galileo Satellite bodes well for the mobile web

Russell — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:49:10 +0000

The awards of the contracts for the new Galileo Satellites bodes well for the mobile web in the UK and Europe. The satellite will enable much greater precision of location allowing mobile devices such as Blackberries and iPhones to identify both where they are being used and the location of nearby resources. And read those resources as mobile web pages.

This will further drive the development of websites optimised for viewing on the small screens of iPhones and ensure the steady growth of new and innovative mobile applications.

Galileo is Europe’s initiative for a state-of-the-art global satellite navigation system, providing a highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning service under civilian control. While providing autonomous navigation and positioning services, Galileo will at the same time be interoperable with GPS and GLONASS, the two other global satellite navigation systems. The fully deployed Galileo system will consist of 30 satellites and the associated ground infrastructure.
EU Transport Commision

There’s even a chance to go to Brussels to discuss the possibilities this opens up: http://www.application-days.eu/

Technorati Tags: Blog, mobile web

Social Network Designers in London

Russell — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:06:39 +0000

WLW build social networks using a range of open source and proprietary tools. These include Wordpress, Elgg, Drupal and Jive SBS. These suite of social software tools can support small and medium sized businesses through to large scale enterprises.

These applications deliver social networking solutions via the following Enterprise 2.0 tools:

Wikis
Blogs
Discussion Forums / Threads
RSS
Tags
Video Blogs (Vlogs)

If you wish to enhance your business productivity with E 2.0 tools contact us today to learn how effective these tools can be in helping you maintain your business’ competitive edge.

Technorati Tags: Drupal, Elgg, Enterprise 2.0, Jive SBS, ROI, Social Network Design, Wordpress

Enterprise 2.0 Rollout: 2.0 Adoption Council

Russell — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:46:56 +0000

An interesting report from the 2.0 Adoption Council on the rollout of E 2.0 in the Enterprise:
Enterprise 2.0: Study Shows Adoption is Real

Enterprise 2.0 rollout by sector

This was garnered from members of the Council (to which one person at WLW is a member). Transportation has zero rollout, but that probably reflects the fact that there are no 2.0 Adoption Council members from that sector yet.

Technorati Tags: 2.0 Adoption Council, Blog, Enterprise 2.0, rollout

Jive SBS – Enterprise 2.0 @ work

Russell — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:23:52 +0000

Jive SBS is one of the market leaders in Enterprise 2.0 software. West London Web Design have first hand (and hands-on experience) deploying, using and evangelizing Jive as an Enterprise 2.0 tool in 2 global deployments.

The software features highly in recent analyst reports from Forrester and Gartner, where it is Forester’s leading wave and Gartner’s Maqic Quadrant for Social Software.

The software is feature-rich providing Wikis, Discussion Forums, Blogs, Polls, Profiles and Tagging in a unified Enterprise 2.0 package. Extra modules for Jive SharePoint integration, Analytics or Mobile (iPhone) can also be configured.

If you’d like to learn more about how Jive SBS can help your business and how West London Web Design can help you deploy this winning Enterprise 2.0 application, please contact us today.

Forrester Wave Social Software

Gartner Magic Quadrant Social Software

Technorati Tags: Blog, Enterprise 2.0, Forum, Jive, SBS, Wiki

Wordpress wins 2 best CMS awards

Russell — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:19:29 +0000

Wordpress wins 2 prestigious Content Management System (CMS) awards, beating more dedicated CMS platforms such as Drupal and Joomla in the bidding. The first of the awards was made by CMS Wire: Most Popular Open Source CMS 2009, where Wordpress’ brand and market strength made it the clear winner, but with Joomla a close second. Joomla they report missed out due to a higher negative rating (not good) and it’s weakness as a social networking application.

The second award was from Packt 2009 Open Source CMS Award:

WordPress has won this Award for the first time in the past four years, earning itself a place in the Hall of Fame category for the Award next year.

What’s notable about these awards is that Wordpress began life as blogging software but has slowly transformed itself into a both a full-blown CMS and in the form of Wordpress Multi User (WPMU) into a social networking tool too. Indeed, WPMU when used in conjunction with Buddypress, makes for a powerful combination and a duo that we use to great effect.

Wordpress’s strength is its elegant simplicity and the sheer quantity of feature rich Wordpress plugins available from Wordpress.org. Our web designers use Wordpress as our primary CMS platform and craft themes to suit our client’s needs and populate these with the right range of plugins – be these photo galleries, Twitter applications or more back-end security applications.

The administrative and security side of all CMS development are not ones to be taken lightly. Part of our service as web designers is to ensure that we not only produce highly attractive and functional web sites – ones that you can administer yourself if needed, but also sites that are structurally sound. This means search engine optimization (SEO) and security. We ensure that any Wordpress website build is optimized to the full for search engines such as Google and also highly secure.

If you’re interested in the web design or social media sites that West London Web design can provide you with, using Wordpress, Elgg, or a wide range of other open source CMS tools such as Joomla or Drupal, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Technorati Tags: Blog, CMS, CMS_Wire, Drupal, Joomla, Packt, Social Media, social networking, West London Web Design, Wordpress

Website Design & Project Management

Russell — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

We makes sure your site brings in leads and orders by using a methodology geared to getting the best results for your business. This process is built on a foundation of proven project management techniques (from a qualified Prince2 Practitioner) and a winning website build methodology.

A winning four step process.
The build methodology has four steps:

Define what needs to be done.We ask questions and listen, questions like:

What are your objectives?
What do you want to achieve?
Who are your customers?
Who are your competitors?
Where is your market?
Why do you need a new website or rebuild?

Once we understand your business and what you need to achieve, we move to stage 2.
Selecting the website design that best meets your needs.
Most small and medium-sized business websites can be built quickly and cost effectively by using a content management system and a modular template based approach. This approach keeps down costs but also ensures that you get a very high-quality end product.What we do is look at all the information gathered in stage 1 – what we’ve learned about you and your business and its web needs and suggest a web site design that meets them. There’s lots to select from and each can be customized and tailored to your needs.If you your business needs are more complex, say a large e-commerce or social networking or social media site, then we use this stage to scope out the project and create separate project streams to deal with each aspect. Similarly, if you need something really special – new logos or a whole graphic design refresh, then we set up a separate project stream to deal with this. No mater if your project is large or small, overall the process remains the same – we listen, articulate and then provide a winning solution. Once we’ve presented that, we agree a price. Then we can go to stage 3.
Build.As it says on the box, we build the website. What this means is:

Creating a solid web architecture built on usability best practice
Posting the graphics, logos and any photographic elements
Coding any technical aspects – from contact forms, inserting video, feedback options, 2.0 functionality, e-commerce etc.

Once we’ve built it, we test the site, over and over to make sure all aspects of it work. Once we’re satisfied we hand it over to you for appraisal.
Once all signed-off and any changes agreed made, done and dusted, we move to the final stage 4 – go live.
Go Live!
Here we move the site from its test-bed area and post it live to your own web domain, or one supplied and supported by us. And then we test it again and make sure all aspects work ok.

Technorati Tags: graphics, Methodology & Design, prince 2, project management, web design, website, website design

Social Network Sites

Russell — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:02:06 +0000

WLW provides extensive experience in using social media within the enterprise. See the blog The Parallax View for details and to follow this ongoing engagement. Drawing on this expertise and experience we are now building social network sites. These are social networks that can either be used inside the firewall – ‘enterprise social networks’ or as part of a social media marketing / 2.0 campaign. Or even, to create a new Facebook community.

The social networks we are building include:

Shared homepage / portal
Member / Profile pages
Upload and Share Music/Photos/Video
Create groups and networks
Connect and chat
Personalization

If you are interested in learning more about how social networks can help drive your business, please contact us for more details.

Technorati Tags: build, Facebook, Methodology & Design, Portal, Profile, Social Media, Social Network Sites, The Parallax View, Web 2.0, website design

How we work

Russell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:09:00 +0000

West London Web Design build websites and social networking sites that work. This entails creating a web solution that’s geared to meeting our customers’ specific needs. It means that they get more than simply a website – our customers get a package, a solution. Using modular, managed Enterprise 2.0 components, we build a managed system that is easy to maintain and keep up to date. Using social software as a foundation means that if a client chooses, their site can sustain dialogue and a conversation with their customers.

Partnership and understanding
Our ethos is to help you grow as a business by understanding our customers’ needs and those of their own customers. Our aim is to partner with our clients and to build real and long-lasting relationships and winning solutions. By understanding our clients’ businesses we can leverage the best-in-class web, social software and Internet technologies and deploy creative strategies that deliver measurable and significant value.

As good as its results
Website design is only as good as its results. The best looking site in the world is not much use if it doesn’t generate the leads and bring in sales. We are there to make winning websites for your business – that’s what we’re in business to do!

Creating leads and orders
If you are interested in learning more about how we can help create leads, sales and drive your business, please contact us for more details.

WLW, Chiswick West London

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, build, London, Methodology & Design, website, website design, West

Search Engine Optimization – SEO

Russell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Search Engine Optimization or SEO are internet buzz words. Getting it right means that your web site is easily found when a potential customer searches for your services. The aim is simple – to attract more visitors to your site. These visitors need to be the right ones – they need to be relevant and qualified visitors. You need web traffic that wants to fulfill the aims of your site – to inquire for more details, to download demos, to give you their name and contact details and to place orders and make sales.

Voodoo and Algorithms

A lot of what you’ll hear about said about the topic can sound like a voodoo science. Also, a great deal of what business want to achieve, can end up feeling like nailing jelly to the wall, as the rules and algorithms used by the big search engines such as Google, change all the time. What’s more, if a search engine thinks your site is trying to scam the results, even if done in all innocence, then your site can get penalised.

Basic SEO Rules

There are some basic internet and search engine rules that will help ensure your website is found by the right people at the right time. These entails making sure that the elements of your site all synch up – title, copy and meta tags.

As part of your website solution we’ll be providing a site that meets your needs. Part of this entails looking at your market and customers and how they search for and find businesses such as yours. This data will be built into your site to make sure that it’s as optimized as possible for search. This is at no extra cost, it’s all part of the service.

SEO aims of West London Web Design

Our aims at West London Web Design are simple – to make sure that your site is found by:

Creating sites that perform well in search engines.
Creating people-friendly and search-engine optimized sites.
And that your visitors fulfill the aims of the site – to enquire, to download, to purchase!

Technorati Tags: Add new tag, search engine optimization, SEO, web traffic, website

Debunking some SEO sillyness

Russell — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:58:15 +0000

This is a fun and honest video debunking the ‘voodoo science’ of the search engine optimization ‘experts’. It stresses that easy to read and honestly written text is more important than trying to trick Google with SEO games and tricks.

“Stop The SEO Madness!”

Search and West London Web Design

Our SEO aims at West London Web Design are simple – make sure that your site is found by:

Creating sites that perform well in search engines.
Creating people-friendly and search-engine optimized sites.
And that your visitors fullfil the aims of the site – to enquire, to download, to purchase!

Technorati Tags: Blog, Google, search engine optimization, SEO, web design, website design