Websights

I came across the following article Why we need standards support in HTML email and can appreciate the argument. The main points raised (see below and I quote directly below) is that standards within HTML email as the following benefits:

1. It removes the guess work from email design
2. Faster loading and reduced bandwidth consumption
3. Make your email accessible to all

We recently launched the following website http://www.servaccomm.co.uk/ which uses a an HTML email. As a company that wants to develop standard compliant sites we were forced in this case and two others currently in development to use non-standard HTML emails to fulfill the brief in a practical and economical time frame.

Our message to email software developers is to catch up with the browser vendors so we can start delivering standard compliant code irrespective of the platform/application it is viewed upon.

Customers who contact us now in the 21st Century want fresh, standards based, SEO (Search Engine Optimised), web sites. And rightly so - it’s often the first impression people have of a company when they visit the site.

But it’s always fun just to see how ermm, interesting, some web site designs seem now looking back to the designs of the early 90s.

They have frames, huge text and spinning gif images, it could all look very scary back then.

So I thought I’d share this link to view more or less any web site design from the beginning of THE INTERNET!

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

Take a look at
http://web.archive.org/web/19991129050057/http://websights.co.uk/Â
to see how Websights looked in 1999 - £85 for a co.uk domain name registration? Those were the days

Then in 2001 we had a bit of a re-vamp
http://web.archive.org/web/20010707052613/http://www.websights.co.uk/
(some images are missing unfortunately).

By 2002 it was another design
http://web.archive.org/web/20010707052613/http://www.websights.co.uk/

2004:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040509150602/http://www.websights.co.uk/

It just goes to show how web standard web design has come along over more than ten years. One interesting aspect is how clean, simple design has come back into fashion - partly thanks to Google where good content triumphs over excessive design.

Hi,

As part of our services, we offer search engine optimisation and PPC campaign setup and management (in fact we will be launching a new comprehensive all-in-one service soon). We have the opportunity of working with one of our longstanding clients to promote the sales of scooters (50cc, 125cc, and 150cc). We have setup a site dedicated to cheap scooters to drive traffic to the main web site and increase online sales.

The site has been setup from scratch and is now undergoing a link building and content exercise to build traffic from the search engines. There is also a dedicated PPC campaign (PPC) running to deliver paid-for traffic as well. We will be monitoring progress closely and analysing things such as the CPA (cost per action - in this case a sale) and the best performing keywords.

The natural traffic (ie, not paid for) is also being carefully monitored and analysed to ensure the site gets the appropriate traffic and that it delivers sales.

Wordpress has been used to build a simple but effective site as quickly as possible, and content is regularly added to keep the search engines coming.

We will use the site as a full case study once we have some meaningful data and post our results here!

If you are interested in increasing the traffic to your web site, please let us know (sales@websights.co.uk or 01430 498231) and we’ll have a chat.

The site is intended to deliver sales for cheap scooters and can be viewed at www.scooterspot.co.uk. Note that it’s not an exercise in stunning design, it’s a demonstration of traffic building and converting!

We are pleased to announce the launch of four new web sites for ChemDry Universal. ChemDry Universal, professional carpet and upholstery cleaners, are based in Beverley, East Yorkshire. They also carry out fire and flood restoration for most of the major Insurance Companies. We were appointed to re-design their main site, as well as regional sites for ChemDry Jorvik, ChemDry Harewood and Roundhay, and ChemDry Barnsley.

With the terrible floods in East Yorkshire recently, ChemDry Universal has been extremely busy helping residents get their houses back in order.

We are pleased to Welcome Daniel to our team over the summer. Dan is studying for his A-levels and has joined us over the summer to gain some valuable work experience and help out with out workload.

Dan’s main area of interest is web standards based web development and coding in PHP. We’ll welcome him the the team properly soon with a Websights night out

I was looking to move house a few months ago and went for a Westbridge Homes New build development.

After moving in I was sorting all the usual stuff out; insurance, post redirecting, and addresses for all my domain names updating etc. I called KC to get a new telephone line put in with a Broadband connection and was told at first I would be called back in the next week to arrange a date for when an engineer can come and connect us.

After all the madness of moving I realised I never got that call, so I called KC in Hull and was told it would be a further 3 weeks at least due to all the flooding in the Yorkshire area, mainly Hull. So I wasn’t too pleased but in the situation of much of Hull been under water they had a fair point.

The annoying part was I was stuck in a contract for a further 10 months just because I requested a static I.P. from KC otherwise I would have gone for maybe the SKY deal.

The line and BB connection was for general browsing but was also to enable me to work securely from home to remote servers that host websites and relay email for out of hours support.

Otherwise BT could have done it much sooner and it’s no fun browsing web pages on a T-Mobile flex account on my laptop (dial up comes to mind).

Only 5 days to go and counting

We are pleased to announce the launch of a micro-site for Dove House. We have worked with Dove House for several years, and were happy to help when they came to us asking for a mini-site to be created at short notice. Dove House’s main web site can be seen at dovehouse.org.uk and the Dove House Symposium mini-site is at dovehousesymposium.co.uk until after the event.

If you are taking credit & debit card payments online you should already be aware of some changes which are due to be implemented which will affect many online merchants.

These changes were originally planned for June but were put back and are now due to be launched on 1st August 2007. This includes the launch of 3D secure, also known as “Verified by Visa” (VBV) & “MasterCard Secure Code” (MSC)

What is 3D Secure?

3D Secure is the latest fraud prevention initiative launched by the card schemes as a more
secure method for authenticating the shopper at the time of the transaction. Visa and MasterCard will take responsibility for your 3D Secure Authenticated transactions, taking the liability and reducing the risk of chargebacks your receive.

Why do I need 3D Secure Authentication?

3D Secure is becoming an Industry standard. As well as being a free service, 3D Secure is also a value added tool. It is easy to set up and can compliment your existing fraud screening options.

How does it work?

3D Secure is an extra step the customer must take to process their order.

After the shopper has chosen their goods and elected to pay, when submitting their card details, depending on the card type they entered, they will be redirected to a Visa or MasterCard page.

1. If they have registered their card for 3D Secure, they will be asked to enter their 3D Secure password.
2. If they have not registered their card before, they will have the option to do so, there and then.
3. If they have not registered their card and do not wish to do so they can bypass the process.

If the shopper has registered their card for 3D Secure, Visa or MasterCard will verify the shopper and if correct will the transaction will continue as normal and be sent to the bank for authorisation.

If the customer chooses to bypass the scheme they will still be passed to the bank for authorisation unless you have set up a Rule Base to reject them.

Benefits of 3D Secure

• Liability shift: The major benefit to you as the vendor is that a transaction fully 3D- Secure validated, cannot be charged-back to you if it is subsequently found to be fraudulent. You are protected by the card issuer against such chargebacks because the bank themselves assume the liability.
• Flexibility: You have the option of setting up a rule base on your Protx account to automatically accept or reject transactions depending on the 3D Secure results.
• Cards that are part of the scheme: VISA, VISA DELTA, MASTERCARD, UK MAESTRO, SOLO, and VISA ELECTRON.

Limitations of 3D Secure

• Chargebacks can still occur: A 3D secure validated transaction will not protect you in circumstances such as in the event where the customer denies receipt of goods.
• Not all cards are part of the scheme: As yet there are no similar initiatives for American Express, JCB or Diner’s Club.

What do I need to do?

Contact your card processors and they should be able to enable 3D Secure on your merchant account.

You will also need to remove any Switch logos from your site if you are using one. This can be replaced with Maestro if required.

We have been passed around a little between our bank and the card processors but with a little determination we have managed to get the two to liaise with each other and should be setup for the deadline next week.

If you take payments over the phone then this may not apply to you - contact your bank and your card payment processors to find out if this affects you

Our latest team member Rich (Business Development Manager) is based in Whitby, North Yorkshire, so we are now actively seeking web design clients in the North East, including Whitby, Scarborough, Bridlington, Middlesbrough, and Darlington. Rich is well placed to visit clients in the North East from his base in Whitby, as well as working with our existing clients in East Yorkshire.

We have aways had web design clients all over the country, but most of them have traditionally been in the East Yorkshire area. Even with all the benefits of the latest technology at our disposal, we prefer to have regular face-to-face contact with clients. So, if you are based in the North East and want award winning web designers to help achieve your online goals, please let us know!

Sika Solutions approached us to re-vamp their exisiting web site, and we have created a clean, simple site that reflects Sika’s own approach to their clients. The site can be viewed at http://www.sika-sol.co.uk/about.asp.

We are pleased to be working with Sika Solutions, and look forward to having a long relationship with them.