The week that was

Posted on Fri Jul 08
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This week has been busy. Not only did I get a bout of food poisoning at the beginning of the week which put me out of action, but it also so the finalisation of two applications.

premiumGallery our industry specific content management system specifically designed for art galleries. Was finally completed.This application took a lot longer then expected as I wanted to get the database schemea correct for future additions. I uploaded it and created a free templated called "Fresh" which houses some of the more propminent features of this application. I am still uploading a lot more data so that it will function as a website but their is no harm in pointing out the demo site to you already. View premiumGallery running Fresh.

The next development was theConsole. A standardised intranet application which we have slowly rolled out to our first client. This application although in it's early stages will soon also control the Customer Relations of Able Net Design as well. It's all very exciting.

Although I have mentioned both applications the official launch of these two aren't until next week.

Spend time contributing to others

Posted on Wed Jun 08
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The title says it all really. Surviving on the internet these days is as much about socialising as the standard networkng practices of any business. The age old saying of "it's not what you know but who you know" still has a presents in todays online companies and successfull websites.

Think of social networking sites as your lunches, dinner drinks, industry events and networking events. Using them correctly just for a short time each day and increase your sites traffic. I get tired of people saying or but we need to be position 1 for Google on all of our keywords. That's all well and good but at the end of the day traffic is what you want.

Look at Able Net Design for example. I recently changed my strategy from worrying about position 1 to making my presence on the internet. I am launching a few applications all with the Able Net Design logo on them, I am actively talking on plurk, twitter, facebook etc... For the first time in my 7 year history of being a web designer I had to extend my Bandwidth for the site. This monring when I logged on I had exceeded my bandwidth. Let me tell you that is a lot of traffic. I can also say that with this increase in traffic I have also seen a large increase in new work coming my way.

To further capitalise on this I am changing one of my sites moozel.com into a more generalised lifestyle blog, and I will be moving all of the current posts over to this blog. Which will become not just my outlet for work related posts but also some fantastic tips for those wanting to monetise their blogs and websites.

You could look at it as though I am creating my own mini Able Net Design Network with a variety of different sites. I like to have different sites my point is though that I have been forced to do this simply because of my new marketing strategy. This doesn't mean that you need to. I have a few clients that are on the same strategy as mine and I can safely say that their traffic in increasing steadily. More pages are being index via search engines, so at this stage it is win win.

I keep saying this the internet is about Trust. Get yourself out their and you start to be trusted by others.

Just around the corner

Posted on Thu Apr 08
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It has been a busy time over the past few months at the Able Net Design studios. Not only have we been busy with client work but we also launched Moozel a blog about blogging.

Also in the works are two online projects which are in their final stages of development which I feel will be of great benefit to the community. Which is something I personnally feel is very important.

We are also spreading our wings and moving into the Sydney market a little more. Which is something that I have always wanted to do so why not I thought to me self.

On another note I am also involved in SeekSpace which is an online realestate search database. I developed the first version of the site but now I am further developing the backend to simplyfy the Administration side of things and allow us to expand our reaches even further. This is something that I am very excited about.

We have also started to completely manage some of our clients websites. We have sort of done this before but now we have a single package which we can use to get things done. The results have been amazing in terms of site traffic and search results, to make things better our clients are also saving alot of money by doning it this way so if you are interested contact me and we can get the ball rolling.

On that note I must be off I have some reports to read.

Happy Easter

Posted on Wed Mar 08
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I know it is a little late. As they say it is better late then never.

As you would have noticed there have been a few new sites added to the portfolio. There are still another 4 to add before it is up to date so i'll get stuck into it tomorrow.

Something that might be of interest to most of you is a new blog I started up focusing on making money online. I know a lot of you have been taking advantage of the SnowFLake CMS and it's blogging abilities which is the new face of the web. For those that haven't get in contact with me and we can start getting you up to speed.

Now about the new site. Moozel.com I know funny name I had the domain already from a previous project that I didn't have the time to complete. The site is a perfect example how online marketing and a decent layout can start to bring in rewards. The site has been live for just over one week and has managed to have 200 visitors to it already.

It just shows that with the right methods anything can be achieved. 200 visitors in one week to a new website is outstanding for those that don't know. I personally nevery expected such a statistic, but I'm not complaining.

Welcome to 2008

Posted on Mon Jan 08
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I thought today I would start of stating how my christmas was. First of all for those that don't know, I went to Switzerland. IT WAS GREAT. As many of you know I am a Snow Boarder, so the amount of snow that we had was great. I took heaps of photos so I'll post some of them soon.

Enough about my holiday for now, what will 2008 and at mean for Able Net Design. Well we have a new Customer Relations director (hows that for a title) who will be basically the go to person. She will be in contact with you soon. As 2008 is all about continued service. I have taken this step so I can commit more of my time to the design and general running for YOUR websites.

We have some great new packages coming out for those that would like to get more out of their website, which I will be talking about in the not so distant future.

With the success of the SnowFlake CMS those that already have it running will see a new user interface being rolled out over the next few weeks. This will be coupled with a few new add-on features for Flakes like blog etc... For those that are using anything less then WebFast version 3.0 you will receive some information on changing over to SnowFlake.

For those that are managing their own websites, I will be reviewing some great applications to help you. Our first review and recommendation will be in the image editing field. I am going for a quality at low cost approach as there are some great products out their that can really enhance what you are doing.

That is the basis for 2008. I look forward to working with you on further developing your online presence.

Seasons Greetings

Posted on Sun Dec 07
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I have been saying this for a while now but as of Monday the 17th of December we are close for Christmas holidays till the 15th of January 2008. I am off to Switzerland snowboarding, and catching up with family.

Those that have regular set maintenance on a certain date will not be affected, that work will still continue. I will still be checking our email and booking things to start as soon as I and my staff get back from holidays. Yes there are already bookings for next year.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

On a lighter note I hope everyone has a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Be safe with what ever your holiday season brings you and I'll see you all in a few weeks time.

Domain Alert

Posted on Fri Nov 07
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Several client have rung mentioning a domain invoice for $250.00.

This is not for your current domian. My advice is, that if it doesn't have the Able Net Design logo on it you should check with me, because chances are it is a scam.

On another note, this is a quick reminder to all clients that are wanting updates before christmas. We close from the 17th of December through to the 15th of January. Those who have a scheduled maintenance day don't have to worry. We will still be providing those updates. Those that have just a general monthly maintenance plan, you changes need to be in before the 17th of December or After the 15th of January. Sorry for any inconenience.

Just to recap, don't pay any invoices with out the Able Net Design logo and we are closed from the 17th of December through till the 15th of January.

Videocasting for the newbie

Posted on Wed Nov 07
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Videocasting is also known as vlogging or video podcasting. What ever you want to call it, it is probably the biggest step you can take in getting personal with your site visitors.

Most sites by now would have a blog. I know we have developed some sites that are just blogs. The web is changing and site visitors want a more personal website then the old hat faceless sites of yesteryear where companies could hide behind a website.

That is why blogging was created. It was a personal medium which company directors could talk with clients in a personal manner. Well blogging is everywhere now so we are now and they are going to be around for a long time to come.

Those that are really embracing the social side of the website with their blogs and createing company profiles on social networking sites are also now looking for other ways to engage their clients. Some are createing podcasts (which I will talk about at a later date) and others are toying with videocasting (the subject of todays post).

This has all come around because I personally am looking into the videocasting arena. I am looking at not only having the blog but createing a weekly videocast (and maybe podcast) on various subjects to do with web marketing.

The idea behind this is it places a face to Able Net Design.

So if this is something you could be looking at doing then let me run you through a few pointers I have found that could really help you out. I will go into detail about each one but let me first just list them.

1. Planning
2. Appearance
3. Quality

Planning
If you are heading down this road then you are going to have to plan your episodes. For example I am wanting to cast about online marketing so at the moment I am thinking about a series of 8 videocasts and podcasts and what areas I am going to dicsuss.

Appearance
As soon as you cast this to the web you are the face and voice of that company/website. So look good. Now not only do you look good the set and audio need to look good. There are many programs allowing you to create your own videocasts but spend the time making it look simple and professional. There is not point rushing something like this.

Quality
The content needs to be compelling, easy to understand, and leave people wanting more. The other thing to look at is the hardware used to make this. A webcam can be fine but make sure there is enough light. Not the yellow standard bulbs you need to use something like a tungston or daylight globe. Also audio quality, needs to be there. If you aren't some kind of audio mixer/musician the chances are you are looking to use your inbuilt microphone on your computer. Check the levels, make sure it sounds good. You might find you need something a little better the your standard mic.

Anyway I hope this has shed some light on the subject. By the way how do you like the new site header?

Site Review

Posted on Mon Oct 07
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About every 4 to 6 months you should get a site review down on your website.

A site review can reveal information on what areas of your website a popular and what areas are not. That way you can get a better picture of what is letting you down and where you should push all of your efforts.

I say every 4 to 6 months simply because that provides enough data for us to review your site visitors usage.

Think of it like a second appraisel at the Gym. The trainer will tell you what areas you need to focus on to get the results you want.

This is of course something you can do yourself if you would like but the results that you can achieve with getting your designer (or us) to do it for you is a priceless exercise. With our knowledge of design trends and how to web works, what can seem like a bunch of urls and numbers is actually like a map to us.

In this day and age the web is to important to fall into the trap of wanting to do everything your self. Don't fall into that trap and get your self a site review as soon as possible. You might be missing out on potential customers.

MoozelSpider

Posted on Fri Oct 07
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Today I unleashed the MoozelSpider on the internet. I can happily report that everything seems to be working. It is working its way through the internet indexing as it goes.

We want to bring search engines back to their main focus. All of the major search engines have moved on from just supplying search results. Which begs me to ask the question "where would internet search be if they have spent all their time a resources developing technologies?".

With the launch of the spider it means we are not to far off uploading the search box so it can be used.

With internet search these days people are not just typeing in one word. They are now typeing in phrases. It is these phrases which we are going to use in our algorithum.

For those that are clients of mine or I link to your site from this one your page would have already been indexed.

For those with blogs, remember ensure you use key phrases that people might use to find your post.

The Search World

Posted on Thu Oct 07
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Today I started developing our own Crawler or Spider. Basically a crawler or spider (which is the same thing) is an application that crawls over websites indexing them.

The crawler is in it's final stages of testing at the moment and once that is complete I shall launch the it out into the world wide web to start indexing. The point of all of this is quite simple. I wish to build my own search engine.

I don't expect it to be tackle the Google dominated search market, but I believe that Google has too much market share and if people like myself don't try new things then the internet won't progress.

At the moment there is no name for the search engine. I am hopeing to get teh crawler up and running in the next day or two, unleashing it on my clients sites as a starting block. Hopefully if everything goes to plan it should then proceed to filter through the web and start to generate a large crawl list.

Will it be successful? Well you shall just have to wait and see.

Whats been happening

Posted on Tue Oct 07
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Among other things we have been displayed on CSSsocial.com Which is a gallery for CSS based websites.

Not sure what a CSS based website is? Well if you have had your site developed by us in the last two months or so your website is most probably a CSS based site. CSS is basically another programing language that allows us as designers to seperate content from layout. It also lends itself to some pretty nifty layouts if you have let me run with it.

So how do you like the new website? I do have plans to change a bit of it and add some more features but at the time being I have to focus on your designs, so that might be a job for the Christmas break.

In saying that I have to get on with it.

Security update

Posted on Mon Oct 07
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Today all of those running the new SnowFlake CMS have gotten a security update installed.

This won't have any effect on you however it does close down a hole which we discovered in the code.

Anyone experiencing issues please contact us immediately so that we can resolve this a quickly as possible.

My thoughts and tips are finally online

Posted on Tue Sep 07
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Welcome to those of you who are already clients and those who will soon be. Yes finally after along time we have our own blog up and running.

Subscribe to the RSS feed or via email so you can keep up to date with all that is Able Net Design.

We have a few areas which we are going to cover on a regular basis in this blog.

• Our Latest Web Applications
• Content Management Tips
• Quick Tips
• Marketing Tips
• Blog Tips
• basically we want to help you get the best out of your site

So really is this something you can afford to miss out on?

You would have noticed the new website. It is all about the content really. We aren't into taking up your time with little animations and quite frankley we don't have the time to create them we are so busy building your sites.