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The Josh.biz Blog
Posted: Thursday, 12th January, 2012, Category: Tech News
 Norfolk has secured a significant amount of funding from the Government to install the infrastructure required to improve broadband speeds and access across Norfolk. The Norfolk County Council now need to attract competitive bids from telecom providers to install the actual infrastructure, but before they do they need individuals and businesses in Norfolk to register their interest so they can show the demand for better broadband.
How?
Click www.sayyestobroadband.co.uk and click on the relevant buttons to ‘Say Yes’ to better broadband in Norfolk.
There will be no obligation to subscribe to the services when launched, but in registering your interest you will be helping Norfolk get better broadband.
And… spread the word. A poster is available for download from: http://www.sayyestobroadband.co.uk/shares/sitepdf_6.pdf
Posted: Friday, 9th December, 2011, Category: Site Launches
Posted: Friday, 9th December, 2011, Category: Site Launches
Tattersett Farm is a family run business which has been growing, harvesting, processing and packaging high quality vegetable produce, including parsnips and carrots, for over 25 years – Three generations of the Hammond family have worked the land and invested in new technology.
Posted: Sunday, 13th November, 2011, Category: Josh.biz News
 Saturday was Christmas shopping day up Norwich, not one of my favourite chores. I decided to get ahead of the game this year, rather than leaving everything to the last minute as usual. Norwich is widely recognised for being one of the best cities in England for shopping and there’s no shortage of shops to trawl around.
One of my main purchases was to be an Apple iPod Touch for our eldest daughter. Initially concerned when she asked for one for Christmas, I’ve realised that she always pinching my iPhone for watching TV, playing games and listening to music. So I have little doubt she’ll make very good use of it. Plus, the parental control settings should avoid any potential problems in that department. But, at £160, she won’t be getting too many others presents!
You can buy them from the Apple Store in Chapelfield (or their website) for £169 but I noticed from a TV advert that Currys are selling them £10 cheaper, with a free speaker dock thrown in.
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Posted: Tuesday, 1st November, 2011, Category: Tips and advice, Web Marketing
 Here’s a couple of questions which are coming up a lot at the moment:
- Should I have a Links page and start a reciprocal links/link exchange campaign?
- I have been asked if I would like to exchange links with my website. Should I do this?
First of all, it’s important to understand that there are almost endless techniques which can be employed to assist your website to achieve higher positions on search engines.
Start with a strong foundation
This process begins by ensuring that your website is constructed professionally, taking advantage of the suggestions given by Google in their Webmaster Guidelines and other recommended industry techniques. For example, it’s always important that pages are given well composed titles and descriptions (read our previous post on this subject).
Page content (words) should be your focus
Of primary concern is page content. Put simply, if a website is packed full of quality content, other websites will naturally (organically) link to your pages. This is one of the reasons why blogging is such an effective tool. It provides website owners with the opportunity to add lots of good quality content on an ongoing basis. By sharing ideas, tips and opinions, this information can act as link bait.
Read More »
Posted: Thursday, 6th October, 2011, Category: Tech News
 It was sad, but not surprising to learn of Steve Jobs’ death today. He had been ill for a long time and his physical appearance on stage didn’t hide this.
But his life should be celebrated as a great example of vision. innovation and love for life.
No ‘Apple fanboy’
I’m certainly not an Apple fanboy but have much admiration for all that Steve Jobs has achieved for the world of technology. Personally, I’ve always been a ‘PC person’, relishing the cost benefits and the ability to upgrade parts of my computer when required. Plus, in the past, using a PC invariably opened the doors to a much bigger range of software.
But it should be pointed out that until Windows 2000 was born, I had never seen a reliable operating system from Microsoft and the cursed blue screen of death was almost a daily expectation. Meanwhile, the Apple operating system bathed in reliability but at a premium price.
Posted: Tuesday, 4th October, 2011, Category: Site Launches
One of our first ever clients, Poppyland Holiday Cottages approached us to redesign their old website for their portfolio of holiday cottage properties. The project would included integrating a new visual identity (brand) and conveying the high quality nature of their product.
As well as putting the client firmly in control of their own content, they can take advantage of all the considerable marketing benefits a blog offers. And in addition to all of this, the new website provides a comprehensive online booking service, with the ability to handle everything – including availability, tariffs, offers, enquiries, bookings and online payments.
The new website boasts a new logo, colour scheme, an organic breakwater wooden background, first class photography and professionally written words. And, it’s tablet-friendly.
Posted: Tuesday, 4th October, 2011, Category: WordPress
Both text and images can be linked to a web address of your choice. But sometimes we like to set the link to open in a new window (making it easier for the user to return to your website).
It’s easy to do this when setting a text link as below:
But, there’s no option to do this when inserting an image. Here’s the answer:
Read More »
Posted: Wednesday, 14th September, 2011, Category: Site Launches
The Holt Youth Project serves young people across north Norfolk. The Project prides itself on their preventative programmes which allow young people to reach their full potential as well as meeting their own aspirations.
Visit their new website to see the achievements that young people can gain, given the opportunity. This is a Project that supports young people to work towards accredited qualifications, training opportunities and projects current and relevant to themselves.
The Project is youth led and their energy and commitment is amazing.
www.holtyouthproject.org.uk
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WordPress and e-commerce
All of these facilities demand a reasonably high level of complexity, and therefore time to develop and design. A high level of care and attention is needed to ensure that the user has the confidence to buy. Any inadequacy or slight scruffiness is enough to put the user off purchasing.
In comparison to the requirements of a brochure website, powered by a content management system (and often running a blog), there are usually many more complexities to be dealt with when it comes to e-commerce.
Whilst some web design companies use their own bespoke shopping carts (developed by themselves), the majority will usually choose from one of the many popular ‘off the shelf’ shopping cart systems available. These include popular systems like Magento, Zen Cart and PrestaShop.
But what if your website is powered by WordPress? Is there an option for integrating a shopping cart into WordPress? Our conclusion is no – well, not at the moment, unless the requirements of your shop are extremely basic (e.g. if you’re only selling a very small range of products).
Read More »