August 4th, 2009
Here at PanoConsulting we have a diverse range of skills and are not limited to purely web design and web hosting for example. That is why when we were approached by a Startup company and asked if we could develop a branding package for them that included a colour scheme, logo, business cards, website, and web hosting we immediately informed them that they were in safe hands if they chose us to work alongside them to give their new business an identity.
A few weeks down the line and the end result is another happy client for PanoConsulting, Fast Lane Fitness, run by Nick Lane a recent University graduate. Have a look at there website for yourself at www.fastlane-fitness.co.uk.
How do we know that Fast Lane Fitness are a happy client? Simple… the level of service and skill we provide ensures that our clients are always happy.
Below is the testimonial that we have just received from the client:
I was given Nicks number after speaking to a friend who had recently had a website made by Nick. After the initial consultation I was pleased to know that Nick catered not only for websites, but business cards and logos as well.
Nick developed a great brand image, which reflects my business and style. Being a personal trainer, I had to have the website looking inviting and friendly, whilst getting across all my information. Nick picked a great format for the site, which is easy to navigate for potential clients, and a neat little blog for me to update whenever I need to.
The logo, business cards and website were done quickly and at a great price. Nick has a rare creative style and I would recommend him to anyone.
Nick Lane – Fast Lane Fitness
July 10th, 2009
I play in the 2nd violins section of the Tavistock Orchestra and we had our first concert tonight. It was just an informal gathering where we played three pieces. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to September when we will meet again after the summer break. The pieces we played were:
1. Pirate of the Carribean medley.
2. Pavane by Gabriel Faure.
3. Jamaican Rumba by Arthur Benjamin.
May 30th, 2009
According to The Times newspaper today 40% of UK households do not have broadband and, of the UK customers that do have broadband 44% of them do not know what broadband speed they receive.
The percentage of households without broadband should be taken into account when a website is designed. The reason being is that for the users without broadband it takes a lot longer for a web page to load on their computer than it does for a person with high-speed broadband. Therefore, If a website does not cater for the current 40% of households without broadband then this will have a negative impact on the website. For example, users simply may not wait for a website to load if it is taking a while and, they may be frustrated when it actually does load so the website is already facing an uphill struggle to gain that users trust and affection.
There are many factors to take into consideration to optimise a website for users with and without broadband but, the key word is optimisation:
- For example photos need to be optimised for the website and not used unnecessarily. Optimising a photo for a website (in a nutshell) is all about balancing an acceptable image quality with an acceptable file size. So, the higher the image quality the higher the file size will be which means the longer it will take to download.
- Also, a website that is hand-coded rather than created with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) software will reap dividends. Hand-coded websites is a way to separate the wheat from the chaff so-to-speak as WYSIWYG software adds a lot of “code” that is surplus to requirements and just inflates file sizes which inflates loading times.
One final word from me on broadband. Research conducted by the BBC found that roughly 3 million households in the UK have broadband speeds of less than 2 megabits per second (2Mbps). The Government has pledged that all UK citizens will have access to broadband speeds of at least 2Mbps by the year 2012.
May 24th, 2009
Below are some tips to help you choose a domain name:
1. Keep it short and simple
You need to do what you can to help people find your website so a memorable website address is imperative. Give some thought to the shortest name that your target market will associate with your website.
2. Register similar domain names
The most popular domain name extensions are “.co.uk”, “.com”, “.eu”, and “.net”. Ideally you should have all of these registered at least. By registering all of them you can help to prevent cyber squatters and losing traffic.
3. Consider common typos
Do you have a domain name that can be misspelt or has a few ways of spelling it? If so, consider registering those as well to stop your potential website traffic not being able to find your website or even going elsewhere.
4. Act NOW
Ensure you register your domain name as soon as possible. The longer you leave it the more you risk somebody else registering it before you. Contact us on 0800 756 9999 if you require assistance and we will be happy to help you.
May 23rd, 2009
http://www.panoconsulting.co.uk/demo/time-sensitive-websites/
When making a website it is important to keep visitors returning to your website. The best way to achieve this is through the content on your website. Make sure the website content is engaging and updated regularly. Basically keep the website fresh.
Another way to keep a website fresh is through its design. Now, obviously you don’t want to keep re-designing your website but the good news is, you don’t have to. There are subtle techniques that you can utilise to strike a chord with your website visitors.
One method is to code the website to work out the time of day it is and then display a relevant background image. So, you could have four settings that the website would recognise. Namely “sunrise”, “sunset”, “day”, and “night”. For each of these four states you would have a background image created. Then the website would work out which of the four settings the current time of day falls within and it would then display the relevant background image. So if a visitor visits a website at 22:00 then the website would display the “night” background image.
Website visitors like little nuances like this as it makes a site more original and engaging and it is worthwhile for a webmaster to do as it doesn’t take much time.
Allow us to show you a very simply example of how this can be achieved. We have produced a simple example for you over at the following link, take a look: http://www.panoconsulting.co.uk/demo/time-sensitive-websites/
We won’t bore you with the science behind how it is achieved but when utilised it effectively produces a time sensitive website.
May 22nd, 2009
The portfolio section of this website is not up-to-date. Until I get around to updating it here is a list of some websites we have created in the past few months that are not on our Portfolio page yet:
Hideaway Beds – www.hideaway.co.uk
Nursing Beds – www.nursingbeds.co.uk
Wild – E-vision – www.evisionwild.com
Stainless Steel Fabrication – www.ssfltd.co.uk
Ethical Traveller – www.ethicaltraveller.co.uk
May 22nd, 2009
I have just seen some interesting figures about Twitter. In March alone, worldwide visitors to twitter.com increased by 95%, from 9.8 million visitors the previous month to 19.1 million in March. If this trend continues then Twitter should exceed 50 million visitors by the summer.
Does Your Company Twitter?
Think about the increase in brand awareness you could get for your company! Talk to us for advice on how to use Twitter.
May 22nd, 2009
A new Orchestra has recently formed in Tavistock. I have been to two sessions which are held monthly.
We play a mixture of music in the Orchestra from classical pieces, to contemporary pieces, and movie music.
May 22nd, 2009
Just a quick note to say that I passed my Violin Grade 4 exam with merit at the end of March and am now working towards grade 5 as well as learning the theory for grade 5.
I haven’t started working towards the pieces yet but have chosen my pieces from list “A” and list “B”:
List A piece = Mozart, Bagatelle: German Dance
List B piece = Attrib. Paradis, Sicilienne
I enjoy setting myself challenges and after I passed my Masters degree I set myself the challenge of passing grade 8 violin. It will be a few years yet but a target I am determined to achieve.
March 31st, 2009
Well, I have had a really busy few weeks hence I haven’t been able to add any posts to this blog. The two main things I have been doing are:
Violin Grade 4 Exam
On March 26th I took my Grade 4 Violin exam so I had been practicing like an athlete for the weeks leading up to it. It went well I feel but I won’t get the results for another couple of weeks. For my pieces I played “English Dance” which is 13th-century melody and is very fast-paced and played vigorously. Then, my favourite piece “Mazurka” which is a Polish Dance that has a lively tempo and heavy accents on the first note of each bar. Finally, I played a Cuban piece called “Estes Indifferente” (You Are Indifferent) which is slower than the previous two and is played in a moody style.
Charity Letterbox Walk
I have been organising a Charity Letterbox walk on behalf of The Labrador Rescue Trust. It was a rush to get everything ready in time which I just managed to do. I sited the stamps on the moors the day before the “Spring Meet” and got caught in a heavy hail storm halfway around the route but me and my dog sheltered behind a rock and it passed off eventually. On Sunday 29th March I was in Lee Moor Village Hall at the Spring Meet selling my charity Letterbox walk along with another volunteer who bought some LRT merchandise for us to sell as well as the clue sheets for the walk. Thoroughly enjoyed the day and made a nice amount of money for The Labrador Rescue Trust.
I’m off to see Kenny Rogers at Plymouth Pavilions tomorrow night. Long story…
