Business Tips: 08 number regulations 2015

Does you business use an 08 number or do you advertise or promote an 08 number?

If you do then some important changes regarding to these numbers are due to come into effect on 1st July 2015, so you may have to act fairly quickly regarding this information.

As we don't use an 08 number we were not made aware of these changes until a customer got in contact and asked us to amend their website information, which of course we did with immediate effect etc.

The customer also forwarded an email that they had been sent regarding the changes, which showed the following:


"Ofcom have recently made some major regulation changes to telephone charging related to 084 and 087 numbers to make costs much clearer for consumers calling these numbers. The new regulations which come in to effect on 1st July 2015 require any company that advertises or promotes their service using 084 or 087 numbers for incoming calls to display certain call charge information on their websites and publicity material wherever the number is used.

The cost of calling an 084 and 087 number is split in to two parts:

• Service Charge: This is the new rate under the regulation.
• Access Charge:  This is the charge set by the caller’s phone company.

Under the new Ofcom regulations you are required to display the following information in respect of your 084 and/or 087 numbers.

"Calls will cost 7 pence per minute, plus your phone company's access charge."

(The price should be the one relevant to the specific number)"

We're not sure what the penalties will be if these regulations changes are not adhered to, you would probably be warned and given a small time frame to get the changes made, and then fined etc But that is just purely speculation on our part. We would much rather be made aware of these things and make sure we and all of our customers adhere to such regulations when they come into being.

Differing 08 numbers have differing charges etc. The example listed above was 7p per minute, however the website that we added the changes to displayed a number that was 2p per minute. (http://claimssolutionuk.co.uk/).

Now we're pretty sure that 0800 and 0808 numbers are still freephone numbers and as they are used by many charitable organisations will remain unaffected but for every other 08 number there will be a charge and if there is it needs to be shown what it is by the number.


Here is a quick screen shot of the text we added beneath every 08 number:

This is a quick and easy way to adhere to the new regulations and we're sure will be something we all start seeing a lot more of from now on.

We would suggest sending your website designer or administrator this information so they too can adhere to the regulation if you have not done so already, it should only take them a few moments of their time to amend in a similar way (depending on the size of the website of course!).

If you are unsure of what the different start to phone numbers in the UK mean, and what the cost of using these numbers is then take a look at the Ofcom call cost guide: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/how-much-does-a-phone-call-really-cost/

We hope this quick 08 number regulation review helps and if you wish to leave a comment relating to it then please do, or contact us via our main website www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk

The Flinthsire Street Food Company Ltd

We recently put the Flintshire Street Food website live and would like to tell you all about it!

Our client wanted a website to promote their new business within the local and surrounding areas so they came to us. They wanted an up to date website that was responsive and that would also have first class SEO (search engine optimisation), and support as and when they needed, by someone that could actually make changes  to their website and use normal English language not 'computer/geek talk'. So we were extremely pleased they chose us.

When we started working with Flintshire Street Food we noticed that they had just started trading, and a few days after our first visit with them their chalk boards for their marquee arrived and we went with that theme for the website.

We developed a logo and during this time it was made clear that the mobile version of the website was of utmost importance, so we then designed the site for optimum mobile capability then other formats after.

The logo we developed heavily features Crepes. This is because at the moment the Flintshire Street Food Company offer an impressive Creperie service, ideal for weddings, festivals and private hire. The company plans on expanding into different catering areas but for now provide a first class crepe service with sweet, savoury and liqueur crepes.

This kind of logo is easy to adapt to different colours and feature whatever food service they choose to provide in the future while still keeping the companies name involved....so watch this space!

The website also had to feature their activities and types of crepes and services they provide. As the Flintshire Street Food company has great social media coverage we included buttons to take you to their social media accounts. As well as this we update their activities on the latest news section of their website.

Overall we are very pleased with the website and as we get more testimonials we will probably feature a testimonials page for them.


We would like to wish The Flintshire Street Food Company all the best future success and welcome any feedback regarding their website.

For more information regarding our services please visit our main website www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk and thanks for reading :)

Spencer Kim Hair

Spencer Kim Hair is a mobile hairdresser based in Shotton, Deeside in Flintshire. When we began working on this website the brief was to make a styling, responsive website which was easy to navigate. The main purpose was to add exposure to the mobile hairdressing and barbering business so our all important SEO that we provide was essential to getting this business noticed online.

Spencer Kim Hair already had social media representation and we incorporated buttons onto the website so there customers could view them, add them, follow them and friend them. We know that Spencer Kim Hair regularly take bookings through their social media so it was important to add these by the menu of the website to ensure they were noticed by the user.

We would like to wish Spencer Kim Hair all the best future success and we would appreciate any feedback regarding this website.

Thanks for reading

What's happening for us in 2015

Well, we have been a little quiet on the blog front, that is because we have been so busy we simply haven't had time.

We can only apologise for this and let you know that we have been busy with website designs, developments, SEO and Logo design, in fact the Logo design is proving extremely popular so we will be featuring a blog on the Logo design we do as well as featuring each of the websites we have been working on too.

Don't forget that is you want one of the services mentioned above to get in contact with us via our websites contact page http://www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk/html-default/contact.html

Thanks for reading :)

Interesting Facebook Facts: The Good, The bad and the Ugly (weird!)

Whether good, bad or ugly ( or weird), here's some facebook facts that we found interesting:

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg via Getty Images

1. Facebook has more monthly users (1.32 billion) than India—the world's second-most populous country—has people (1.24 billion). As of 2012, China had 1.35 billion people.


2. There are more than one trillion posts on Facebook (1,000,000,000,000!!!).


3. At 1.35 billion, Facebook has more monthly active users than WhatsApp (500 million), Twitter (255 million) and Instagram (200 million)—combined. The social giant spent $20 billion over the last two years on WhatsApp and Instagram.

Yes, a billion more active users than Twitter!

4. More than 1 billion people use Facebook on a mobile device on a monthly basis. That's about 1/7 of the people on planet Earth.
(Above all found here: http://www.cnbc.com/id/101611586#.)

5.You can change your language to 'pirate' me hearties!! http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Your-Facebook-Speak-Pirate

6. Al Pacino was the first "face" on Facebook. http://www.oddee.com/item_97980.aspx

7. Smartphone users check Facebook 14 times a day. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2300466/Smartphone-users-check-Facebook-14-times-day-admit-looking-movies.html

8. 64% of Facebook users visit the site on a daily basis. According to a 2014 Pew study

9. Half of all adult Facebook users have more than 200 friends in their network.


Facebook users differ greatly when it comes to the number of friends in their networks:

• 39% of adult Facebook users have between 1 and 100 Facebook friends
• 23% have 101-250 friends
• 20% have 251-500 friends
• 15% have more than 500 friends

Among adult Facebook users, the average (mean) number of friends is 338, and the median (midpoint) number of friends is 200. In other words, half of all Facebook users have more than 200 friends, and half have less than 200.

Younger users tend to have significantly larger friend networks than older users: 27% of 18-29 year old Facebook users have more than 500 friends in their network, while 72% of users age 65+ have 100 friends or fewer.


10. Facebook is named as a factor in one of three divorces. Only in Ameri....Oh this is a UK Survey!!

The social network was implicated in a third of all divorce filings last year, according to Divorce-Online, a survey by a British legal service. The reason? Social networking is making it way easier to track down former flames and communicate with potential new flings. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/surprising-things-you-didnt-know-about-facebook

11. People have been murdered for unfriending someone on Facebook.

realitytvgifs.tumblr.com

In 2012, a Tennessee man fatally shot a couple who had unfriended his 30-year-old daughter on the social network.

  http://gizmodo.com/5883546/two-people-are-dead-because-they-unfriended-this-mans-adult-daughter-on-facebook

12. Adding /4 to the end of Facebook’s URL will automatically direct you to Mark Zuckerberg’s wall.

Facebook: zuck

There’s more! Adding 5 or 6 to the end of the URL will take you to the respective profiles of Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz, who are Facebook co-founders and Mark’s former college roommates. Adding 7 to the web address takes you to the profile of Arie Hasit, another good friend of Zuckerberg from his days at Harvard.

13. Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg suffers from red-green colorblindness.

Zuck told New Yorker reporter Jose Antonio Vargas in 2010 that “blue is the richest color for me — I can see all of blue.”

14. You Can't Block Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook. http://mashable.com/2010/08/23/block-mark-zuckerberg/

15. 83% of prostitutes have Facebook pages.

fanpop.com

(According to a 2011 study at Columbia University.)

16. Someday there will be more dead people on Facebook than living ones. 

It’ll probably happen in either the 2060s or the 2130s. http://gizmodo.com/will-there-ever-be-more-dead-people-than-living-ones-on-1455816826

Wow some shocker in there!! And in conclusion to these mighty impressive stats we have learnt that facebook is massive, if you business is not on facebook your missing out. (So get it on FB and get a mobile version of your website!!).

Younger people have more friends, which I kind of thought anyway!

Be careful who you befriend, because unfriending them may be very hazardous to your health!!!

Thanks for reading.

P G Framing Ltd

P G Framing is predominantly a picture framers based in Mold, Flintshire. However, P G Framing has built up an impressive reputation for high quality framing of pictures and framing of a more bespoke nature too.

Their less obvious portfolio of framing includes cricket bats, sports shirts, tapestries, and CD's to name a few, all very impressive and provide excellent ideas for unusual gifts or auction lots.

P G Framing have not only built up an excellent reputation for their exquisite work but they have a reputation for working within their local community. P G Framing promote local artists work within their art galley that is housed within their shop. P G Framing have sponsored local sporting events, including a football for Wrexham Football Club and have been involved with local charity events, (most recently donating the framing costs for a picture for Hope House charitable organization).

We were recommended to build P G Framing Ltd a website by a previous work colleague and we were happy to do so. The owner of P G Framing had quite clear design ideas of a less formal website that could include social media updates (essentially face-book and twitter), be capable of displaying a large collection of images and that would be easy to navigate.

The website we built for P G Framing is a bespoke, fully responsive website that has the capability of housing thousands of images, it has the social media aspect included as well as an excellent contact form with captcha security to reduce spam messages. We provide access to an easy to use content management system, but we are regularly sent updates that we perform to the website as and when required. This insures that P G Framing has maximum time to concentrate on their framing and customer service as we take care of any updates to their site etc.

We also provide regular emails to P G Framing showing analytical information that shows how the website is performing and how many visits it receives etc. This is a great tool that helps to show a wide range of data, how the data is interpreted is always open to debate but essentially you can assess how well your website is performing, when interest peaks and gain insight into how to improve your online presence. You could assess either when it is best to promote your business or maybe when's best to book that holiday as to not effect trade.

Ultimately we are happy with the website results, but more importantly P G Framing are happy that we could portray their digital desires properly, which is of course our main objective. Please check out the website www.pgframing.com and if you like what we have done contact us on our main website www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk. We would love to build you a website that looks and operates the way that you want it to.

Thanks for reading. :)

What do I need for a Website?

Getting your business online, or just getting a website can be confusing. Often people are not aware of what you need to get yourself online and how each one of these different criteria may cost you. Indeed quite often I approach businesses that simply cannot believe the low cost service we provide. Others sometimes exclaim that they can get it cheaper, but they are always referring to a part of getting yourself online and not the whole picture.

To get online there are a few things you need for your online presence to be felt. (Please be aware that this is a brief guide and very basics like having a computer and internet access is assumed!!)

Firstly you will need a website address otherwise known as a URL. This is usually related to your companies name or field you wish to be found in. For example out mother site is Above Website Design so we own the address www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk (and a few others that direct to our .co.uk address).

These can cost anywhere from cost anywhere from a couple of £s to tens of ££s depending on the domain ending eg .com, .co.uk, .eu etc. And usually you renew the domain name (www.) every year, and if you sign up for multiple years the cost comes down...usually.

In my opinion having the ownership of your domain is of utmost importance, make sure you own your website, or if you let someone register the domain name for you, make sure that if you leave there services you get domain ownership. The last thing you need is to get a popular domain name and the provider sell it from under your feet and you can do nothing about it, or your choose to leave and they won't release the URL without you paying and extortionate amount.

Another way you can be caught out is by companies offering to register a domain name for you that is actually part of their domain, so they become more popular on the back of you putting effort in to promote your site. eg www.yourdomainname/RIPOFFCOMPANY.com These type of companies offer extremely cheap of free domain names and you can have absolutely no rights to the URL and what they do with it and they get further exposure off the back of your hard work promoting it online.

So own it yourself or make sure you have the rights to it from the start.

Secondly you need to have a website created or designed. There are several companies and organizations that provide free websites. These are usually fairly basic websites, with limited design and feature options, but could be adequate for your needs. These 'free' sites may have a limited time offer for them to remain free or options to pay to upgrade features or designs etc. Also if the site is 'free' check out the support they provide.

Free sites are great if your just starting out on the internet, but expect to spend a lot of time yourself adding and changing content to get the best out of them. If you have the time to experiment than great and do so, if not then expect to pay someone with experience to do it for you.

Thirdly you need to have your website 'hosted'. Basically put when you have a website design you like you could put it on your won computer (host it or run it) and everyone could view it. But when you turned your computer off they would no longer be able to see your website. When you host it you place the website onto a 'server' which is a computer that is constantly running. So as it is never turned off people can view your website anytime of the day everyday....in theory.

Hosting your site for free is possible but you better get used to seeing adverts! Hosting costs vary massively depending on your needs, or the needs of your website. As a general rule the more data on your website and people interacting with it the more it will cost, memory or space required to keep running your website and features has always cost and always will. Find out what you need for your site and only get what is required, if you don't know what you need the
n, again, expect to pay someone with experience to provide you with advice or to do it for you.

With these first three steps in place your on-line! But in order to get your website noticed you will need step four: Off site SEO or on-line marketing.

This is essential and costs vary massively. It can be done for free but expect to spend a lot of hours to do a successful job yourself.

This is a basic guide, but I thought it would be a good idea to make non-internet savvy people aware of the costs that can be involved and what the cost are for. Maybe you can do some of the work yourself to lower the cost but it can be an expensive past time getting your business online.

We presently offer a 'package' that covers all of the above for a mere £30 a month, but this offer is due to expire in October 2014.

If you have any further question you would like Above Website Design team to answer please contact us on here or on our main website www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk and we will be happy to help.

Website Re-design: Claims Solution UK

We recently redesigned Claims Solution UK's website, bringing it up to date with the current web design standards and including modern features.

When Claims Solution UK got in contact with us they already had a website which, unfortunately, had largely been neglected and was under performing. Although when it was originally designed it was probably sufficient for the companies needs, however Claims Solution has grown into a successful company and the website had not been updated in many years and did not portray the image of the company.

With this being a legal firm the website was designed to have a corporate feel, with a clean design and elegant finish. It is designed to show the services that Claims Solution UK offer as well as answer any initial queries that anyone making a claim may have.

We also created and introduced a social media aspect to this UK based firm and implemented Facebook and Twitter to the website. This was for two main reasons; to show that the company is approachable and engages with the general public, and also to aid with search engine optimization.

Although the market that Claims Solution UK operate is highly competitive it is still possible to have great success with certain search terms that directly relate to this company, and it has been a testament to the company that they have been so successful despite not have an up to date website.

Claims Solution UK are a claims company that bring a gateway to justice for anyone that has suffered an injury that wasn't their fault. So if you have been involved in an accident then they are the company to contact.

Claims Solution UK deal with slips and trip claims, work placed accidents and road traffic accidents. Some of which can be of a sensitive nature, so Claims Solution UK offer a home visiting service.

The advantages of home visits mean their clients remain at ease in surroundings they are comfortable with, if they have been injured too badly to leave their home they need not worry and if you are making a claim against your workplace the client may feel less attention is drawn be having someone visit their home rather than going into a claims office. It's a feature that shows how much this claims company focuses on customer service.

Claims Solution UK is a claims business that is really approachable, they don't mind explaining their services and the legal processes involved, as well as what sort of compensation you could expect when making a claim.

However, every claim is different and although we provide a guide on the website it is important that they treat each claim individually as circumstances will differ in every case, so this had to be taken into account with their website. The website needed to show basically what they do and the services they provide, ultimately it is an ongoing online advertisement to display their business and contact details.

To ensure that these details are readily available the Claims Solution UK website is fully responsive, which allows the website to be viewed and operated on pretty much any device that has connection to the internet.

Claims Solution UK already had a website, which they hosted away from our servers. We accessed the servers they used and uploaded their newly designed website following approval from the MD and the new website is performing exceptionally well for the businesses needs.

The re-design process took less than a month before it went live, and we are very happy with the results and wish www.claimssolutionuk.co.uk all the best possible success for the future.

If you would like to have a website designed or re-designed then please contact us or visit our website for more information. www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Einstein, Arthur Sasse, 1951

Without doubt a picture can effectively put across a message in an instant so getting it right for your website is of the utmost importance.

If you have commercial premises, sell products online or have an online shop it is important to make sure the images you use portray your circumstances in order to negate any possible negative feeling between you and your clients/customers and promote as many leads as possible.

An example of this would be advertising your online business as a warehouse, supermarket or store without including the magical words 'online' or 'digital' etc. I once worked for a company which did this and received many complaints because their customers could not actually visit the business premises to view its wares or return goods to as they were strictly an on-line business but the company owner thought it was better to portray the image of having a physical shop......not a practice I would advise as it appears largely deceptive by most and will catch up with you in the end!

Honesty is the best way forward and showing your business, product or service for what it actually is will pay dividends in the long run, if you have to show it as better than what it actually is then maybe you need to improve rather than deceive!

Lunch atop a Skyscraper

taken by Charles C. Ebbets GE Building at
Rockefeller Center in 1932

This said you should use images that show your business in the best light possible and to help explain what it is your business is involved with. For example if you are a builder use images of clean tools, finished projects and a well presented happy work force. We all know builders get dirty and like a cup of tea, but best not too promote that side of things. Also don't show images of massive structures eg, sky-scrapers or ship yards if your company cannot deliver on these builds. They will make you look like something your not, people may assume your too expensive for their needs and it may cost you custom, (so keep it real).

"The Kiss"Alfred Eisenstaedt, 1945

Keep in mind that reviews will pay a part in your trade when you have a website. Customers will review you and positive reviews will gain you custom, which you should promote on your website. Negative reviews will do the opposite and may be made by competitors so it is important you keep aware of who is saying what about your company and challenge any false reviews to ensure a true representation of your business is shown.

Your website designer, developer or provider should be able to advise you on pictures and images you use on your website as well as legalities and copyrights etc. At Above Website Design we advise and will also provide suitable images for your website use. We even take high quality digital images of your business at no extra charge should you wish to promote your actual shop, product and service. For a free consultation contact us though our main website www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk or click the link to our main site at the top of the page :)

Business Tips: The Financial Year (UK)

If you're new to self employment and business you may wonder what the financial year is. The financial year may also be known as the 'Fiscal' year or even budget year. Although there is  subtle differences between the financial year and the fiscal year for this small business blog we will be using the fiscal year as the financial year.

This period of time in the UK runs from the start of the financial year (6th April) to the end of the financial year (5th April). When I opened my first business (early 2000s), or the naughties as I like to still use! I couldn't grasp why my first financial year ended in April, when the business had only started the previous Christmas. To me it seemed like a very short year as it was only a third of a year really. What was the point of putting together my books when the likely hood was that I was going to make a loss in such a short time period. Well the basic answer is it's the law, and nowadays you have to declare how much your have earned to make sure you pay the tax on profits above a government set amount. It is also important if you claim any benefits to be able to show how much you have earned and are expecting to earn in order to keep receiving the benefit.

Does it matter that you make a loss? Well no not really, as long as you can project a profit to be made in the future otherwise whats the point in being self employed? Quite often people will use their previous years loss and offset it against the present years profits but look out for future posts for an explanation on this.

The financial year shouldn't really stress you out in any way. It is just the period of time that the records for your business should be kept, most importantly your businesses incoming and outgoing finances.

The secret to keeping good books is keeping on top of them and record as much as possible. Needless to say bank statements and receipts are a must but keep proof of every transaction because should your business be scrutinized by HMRC you want to be able to provide evidence of exactly what transactions your business has made or received to make sure you don't get hit with a fine or a heavy tax bill. In most small business this will not happen, but it could so better safe than sorry.

What do you then do with the financial records? Well you use them for your tax returns which will have to be sent to HMRC by the following October if paper based or the following January for on line submissions. This means you have plenty of time to get your books in order before submitting, but please, for your own sake, don't leave it to last minute.

Here's a small video from the HMRC you tube site that explains the basics:

Business Tips: Simplified Expenses

1988 movie Rain Man © 1988 United Artists Pictures Inc.

If you started your business after April 2013 or you are thinking of starting a business then you may be interested in the Simplified Income Tax Expenses. This can be quite a hard topic to explain if your new to business expenses, but if you expect to earn below the VAT threshold or work on a cash basis then the simplified income tax rules may save you money. It will certainly save you time and probably the need for an accountant, (however I would always advise an accountant if you have any doubt, their fee is tax deductible!!)

HMRC have a good You Tube section with many great videos on hard to understand business topics which I would recommend to any small business owner. Here is the basic video that gives a quick explanation:


And if you can find the time then take a look at:


If you are new to business or wish to find out more regarding you business and your responsibilities then check out the HMRC  youtube videos.

When to get the best Holiday Deal?

Usually after the festive season many of us in the UK start to think of getting away for a break to warmer or sunnier climates and if your not thinking about it you will notice adverts for holidays appearing everywhere.

So when is the best time to book your holiday? If you can book well in advance there's always a good chance you'll save money. But with many of my readers having new businesses you can't always plan when in the year ahead will be best for you to take a break, so a last minute break may be the best, (and cheapest) option for you. But when is best to book and when isn't?

I have had a look at previous years trends and I can show you the results, as each year is different (and this year we have be warned less holidays will be provided by holiday companies) I will provide you with an insight on when is usually the best time to go and where as well!

(I would however advise that although times may be tough when first starting up a business it is important to plan a break, the last thing you want to do is burn out due to becoming a workaholic!)

As a rule if there is a big event in the annual calendar then you need to book well in advance for prime travel times, for example Thursday and Friday train travel is busy every bank holiday. And if you want a good family package holiday choice then book early and don't expect to save very much if anything.

But if you can be flexible by a couple of days for trains and ferries or take a package family holiday outside of peak times then great savings can be made.

January

After the busy end of the year we all have to get back into the regular swing of things. This time of year gym memberships rise and holiday adverts appear. Basically most of us would love to book a holiday to escape the grey skies and the travel companies are fully aware of this.

 January is a gold mine time for travel agents, and many of us book in advance for later in the year as the choice is massive. However not many of us actually go on holiday in January. Probably this is due to lack of finance however it is the same pretty much world wide so it is a great time for last minute holidays nearer the equator. Skiing holidays and European city breaks are very cheap for last minute booking. If you want to get away in January (and if you can find the cash) you will save a bundle. So maybe for next Christmas rather than a gift why not save your money and escape in this month.

February

Love is n the air in February and many take a romantic break during this time, half term in the UK usually falls mid February and the combination of the two means a busy time for travel.

Not much savings to be had in February unless you can go at the start or end of the month. Some great last minute ski deals can be snapped up if that's your cup of tea.

March

The ski deals can still be found with great last minute low prices at the start of march.

Not really great time for travel as a rule and because of this you may pick up a great last minute deal to pretty much anywhere. If you don't mind rolling the dice then you just might get the deal of your dreams this year (2014) in the month of March.

April

If you havn't pre-booked a holiday then by April then you will be thinking about a holiday. Why? Well Easter falls in this month and many of us escape with the children (that have another break from their busy studying schedules!!!!)

If your bank account can afford it then a last minute escape to the Caribbean is a must! (I wish!) however more realistically for the majority of us is a trip to the Mediteranean which is beginning to warm up nicely. If you can avoid the peak half term and easter times then you can bag a great last minute deal.

May

With a bank holiday at the start and end of the month savings are hard to find unless you can go mid-month, where bargains yet again to the Mediterranean will be easy to find.


You'll get a good choice and cheaper rate if you book early for Mid May and if you can wait to last minute you may just get the best bargains of the year at this time.

June

Prices begin to rise in June as the travel agents are aware that many of us book early to try to get a deal, but if you don't mind waiting then you could save massively if staying in the UK or traveling within Europe.

(Remember many Med and North African destination are classed as 'Europe' for many travel agents. So if you like it hot, but not expensive, then hold out for the last minute deals.

July

Prices for early bookings show that during July the cost of a holiday increases steadily towards the school holidays towards the end of the month. When the kids break up prices are at a premium so avoid if possible. Although you can still get last minute deals that will be cheaper you will have very little choice as to where you will be going and travel times will be poor.

Many Brits head to Europe via a ferry crossing, which could well save you a little, but be warned it may be best to avoid a France stay if you are looking for a saving and keep driving to one of Frances neighbors for a better saving.

August

A very similar picture to July however August features a bank holiday (25th this year (2014)). This means nightmare road and travel in the UK, but the bank holiday usually signifies a reduction in the cost of package holidays compared to July and the start of August.

If you can wait until after the bank holiday and go last minute on Tuesday or Wednesday then you will get a good saving.

September

Prices climb again to premium rates once again. Not many last minute deals to be had and if they are available there probably is a reason why, so you have been warned! If you want to get away in September expect it's going to cost, I say book early and go to the place you really want to.

October

The UK gets colder and so does Europe. The further South the better for guaranteed warmth. Early bookings for the first week in October will save you money and you will get great choice. Amazing last minute deals in the first week can be had, but you might get the same weather at these destinations that you get at home, still a break away is still great even if it's not the weather you really wished for.
Schools break up again towards the end of this month and prices rise in relation to this. Gamble for a last minute deal over the school holidays at your peril as many holiday resorts close at this time as well.

November

If you want warmth it's a great time to head to the equator areas and again the Caribbean. Whether you book early or last minute it's the time to head that direction. Once the 5th (bonfire night) and weekends either side of it are out of the way the price of your holiday will tumble. Thoughts of Christmas (and the expense) play on most of our minds so great deals to any destinations can be found.

December

Last minute deals are available, but I think a better choice available in November. This is the best time to book for any sporting event or popular trip for the following year. Family holidays for the year ahead are available and great choice and some deals to be had if you can find the extra cash that is!

Conclusion

I have had a good look and throughout the year fuel is going to cost you, which sounds obvious, but after getting to your destination it might shock you just how cheap the accommodation is. So the closer to home the cheaper the holiday (especially with all inclusive).
If you don't mind reduced destination, board and star rating choice then book last minute and you will save. Whether you book early or late the months of May and October have great deals. Avoid any public holidays and school break ups for a cheaper holiday.......this includes the destination you are going to so if you fancy a break in France or Germany make sure their schools are in term to get a saving.

Holiday companies did suggest that less holiday packages would be available for 2014, but if there is a demand they will supply, and once they decide they are going to provide a holiday they will want there hotel and flight as booked up as possible so last minute deals will be available. Holding out for a deal in 2014 is the way to save big! Good luck and happy holidays! :)

Simply, what is SEO?

Search engine optimization is an area of website design and online marketing that is loaded full of acronyms and terminology that are simply not easy to understand if you don't keep in the know. This obviously suits some pompous SEO experts as they get the opportunity to procrastinate whilst explaining within their own importance about topics their audience probably isn't actually interested in! But not all SEO experts are like this, indeed many people who work within the SEO field can find the secrecy that revolves around the subject quite laborious and the constant need to justify the importance of SEO plainly put 'a pain in the bum!!'.

Rant over!
So, I am going to touch on what I understand to be some of the basics and this will hopefully make the subject a bit easier to understand.

The main purpose I feel of SEO is to get a website found when someone searches for it. SEO takes place in two major parts, it takes place within the website and it takes place within the world wide web:

SEO Within a Website

In order for a website to be found when someone searches for it it has to meet certain criteria that is set by each search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc). As a general rule if you use valid interesting and engaging content your site will get picked up by search engines and begin to move up the rankings.

The coding or language used behind the scenes on your website is very important too. If you use the most up to date code on your website then you are more likely to gain higher rankings and listings then a website using out dated code.

For example HTML 5 uses the most up to date HTML code and it takes into consideration older browser versions, allowing simplified or alternative versions of content to be displayed if the original content is not compatible (with the use of a boiler plate etc *sorry bit of tech speak!!*).

So this is probably the best html code to use if building a website today. But this is not enough, if you want the website to move up the listings or page rankings then your content must be good, keep the reader or website user engaged (or at least on the page) and the content needs to be updated on a regular basis. This is why many websites that have largely static content will include a blog page to ensure the content is updated etc.

SEO Within the World Wide Web

This type of SEO is when a website is marketed or advertised to the wider audience in order for it to be noticed (or viewed) more. This will can rapidly increase your page listings but is by no means a long term solution. If you start to get a website up the page rankings and it immediately drops in the rankings when you stop promoting it then you have to ask why? Is it the content, code or the topic area?
Care must be taken when promoting a website this way, over promoting will damage a websites reputation and it may be permanent damage. Under promoting of a site may mean it won't get listed as high as your competitors and it will be losing potential exposure.
For example when I finish writing this blog I may post it onto face book, twitter or google plus, ideally posting it on these sites across a number of days but either way gaining further exposure for the blog. This will get a few genuine people viewing it and hopefully they will re-post and advertise the blog further, if the like what they are reading then they will return to my blog and so on. This will hopefully have a 'snow ball' effect and my blog about SEO will end up ranking at the top of page one on all search engines when someone searches what is SEO!!!!
However if I was to post my blog across every social networking site, every hour for a week then it would have detrimental effects as search engines are wise to over pushing or advertising your content, particularly if your advertising the same thing over and over (known as duplicate content). This could damage your websites reputation or even get your website banned from some search engines. It will also result in people ignoring your posts and an increase in 'bounce rate' (people that visit your websites page, don't like what they see, and leave straight away!). If your bounce rate increases then search engines think the content on a website isn't what the the search term is looking for, resulting in a loss of page ranking.

Hopefully this installment hasn't blown your mind! After all there is a good reason SEO experts are called experts! This is just the tip of the iceberg and I will continue more in depth SEO blogs in the future. If you are itching to find out more then check out our web crawler and website indexing blogs found on the side of this one -->

Or if you would like Above Website Design to do Some SEO work to boost your websites potential then go to our main website and contact us. www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a fantastic New Years Eve and a prosperous 2014.

Need a website this year then get in contact for the best site, service and price: http://www.abovewebsitedesign.co.uk/contact.html

Many new blogs planned for the new year so keep watching and reading :)

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from Above Website Design. Enjoy it, you deserve too!!!

New blog layout and listings

As this blog isn't very old we have happily been blogging about website topics and we have started to get a few regular readers, which is great!

To improve and expand on our blogs and topics, to hopefully increase our regular readers we are going to shuffle our posts around a little, so we will also be blogging about Business Tips.

These posts will start with Business Tips: then the tip or blog title.

We are deciding to do this as although we have many years experience in IT we are still a fairly new company and we are finding out about many aspects of business as we go along, so if we come across anything that may aid fellow small business we will write a blog about it and post it on here.

Hopefully you will gain some use from these blogs and as ever is you have a topic or question you would like us to tackle then please let us know and we will gladly respond with the best information we can find.