Web sites do not magically appear on the first page of Google. The art of getting a site ranked highly in the search engines is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and we know how to do it the right way. There is no area of design or implementation that doesn't have an affect on SEO, so it is integral to every step in our web development process.

We design and structure sites to ensure that there is every incentive for visitors to hang around. This means an attractive design, good functionality, easy navigation, and good content.

The web has changed, and websites are not what they used to be. Much of the content on the web is not browsed directly on the web sites it comes from, but in feed readers and other applications.

We make the most of blog feeds, product feeds, newsletter signup forms, and feedback forms, to involve the visitor in the experience and gain return visits from subscribers.

You can't control how people will view your site, so we test for compatibility across multiple platforms, browsers, and devices, throughout the build process.

As it's impossible to mimic every user's experience, we ensure maximum compatibility and accessibility by using well-structured semantic HTML, tested for W3C standards-compliance and following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

The end result is that our sites cope well when viewed and used in a variety of ways:

One of the biggest turn-offs is a site that has been left to stagnate. If there's even a hint that information, contact details, product descriptions or links are out-of-date, this can seriously damage your reputation and compromise any trust you might have built up.

Content management is key to making a long-term success of a web site, allowing you to keep on top of things without having to pay your web designer every time you need a change.

Wordpress

Wordpress is the most popular blog publishing platform and open-source CMS in the world, and winner of the 2009 best Open Source CMS Award. It is used by the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo, Ford, Sony, Ebay and many other big names.

jQuery

jQuery is a JavaScript library which allows us to provide cross-browser compatible interactivity. We use jQuery for: AJAX to make pages more responsive; interactive interfaces for calendars, tables and forms; and getting data and media from Twitter, Flickr and other services to display on web pages.

MODx

While Wordpress is a blogging platform which can also be used as a CMS, MODx is a full CMS and our platform of choice for sites that require a lot of content management aside from just blogging. Equally as configurable as Wordpress, MODx provides a sound basis for the development of search-engine-friendly web sites, and provides you with an interface that makes managing content quick and easy.

PHP

PHP is a programming language designed for web development. Wordpress and MODx, as well as thousands of other software products, are built on PHP, and it also powers many high-profile web sites, such as Facebook, Flickr and Wikipedia.

FoxyCart

FoxyCart is a shopping cart and checkout solution that can be integrated into any web site and completely customized in terms of both design and functionality. It massively simplifies the process of setting up an online shop, but still enables you to provide a completely integrated experience for your customers, without requiring them to go to an external site to make their transaction.

Based in Argyll, Tilly & Rose sell handcrafted gifts from independent artisans around the UK. They wanted a fun and approachable - but solid and professional - web site, geared towards selling products, making the most of the product photographs.

It was a treat for us to work with the owners of our favourite restaurant in Edinburgh, the award-winning Chop Chop, which has breen going from strength-to-strength over the past few years, not hindered by their appearance on Gordon Ramsay's F-word

Alistair's work on the web site, which we launched in January 2011, was focussed on bringing the style up-to-date without compromising the restaurant's no-nonsense reputation.

This is an ongoing project of Alistair's, based on a blog engine that he has developed with the Django web application framework, for sites that require more customization, efficiency and simplicity than normal Wordpress blogs.

Capital Window Cleaners, a great wee company who use the Reach-and-Wash pole system, wanted a quality web presence to help them in their quest for a paperless business.

The owner of this Edinburgh shop approached us to completely redevelop their old rudimentary web site, with an emphasis on quality, to fit with the style and product range of the shop itself. We drew much of the inspiration for the design from visiting the shop, and from the owner's boundless enthusiasm about her business and its future in online sales.

This site, for the "Club at The World's Oldest Golf Course," went live in March 2010 and took the content from their old site and presents it in a modern, clean, easy-to-use design. The site was built with MODx CMS and this allows full content management, which we customized to fit the requirements. Customizations included an image gallery for every page, a news section (effectively a mini-blog), and Google Calendar integration for clubhouse, competition and training events.

Launched in early 2010, this was a really interesting project for 1672 Golf Management Solutions, promoting their golf festival - which took place in July 2010 - to golfers worldwide. The two crucial parts of the site were the shop, selling merchandise from Musselburgh Old Course Golf Club, and the event sign-up process.

Building the sign-up process involved the creation of a multi-stage form for the registration of teams competing in the competition, and the optional booking of hotels and transfers.

Launched in January 2010, this information-centred site is aimed at potential investors in the Pinnacle Telecom Group. Essential components were the integration of live share price data from the London Stock Exchange, scheduled publishing of regulatory news announcements, and the publication of company reports.

When the owner of this holiday apartment in Side, Turkey, approached us to build a web site from scratch, we knew that photographs had to be essential. Photographs are displayed in sliding galleries in various parts of the site, showing the surrounding area as well as the interior of the apartment. Background-loading of images is used to keep the page load times fast.

We originally built this web site and administration system to advertise, promote and manage a series of seminars that hypnotherapist Jeannie Spencer held in early 2009. Features included a registration form, PayPal integration and an online pre-seminar questionnaire.