We absolutely love this image and thought you might too!
Many thanks to Shanghai Web Designers at www.go-globe.com.
Sixty seconds in the life of the internet
June 25th, 2011
Web Designers v Web Developers
April 25th, 2011We absolutely love this, but are a little bit torn over where exactly we sit in this picture!
Click on the image for the full size version, or visit the website below.
Many thanks to Six Revisions and Shane Snow for this image.
lisacritcher.co.uk goes live!
March 10th, 2011Lisa Critcher is a couture milliner, living and working in London. She had very definite ideas about how her website should look, opting for simple, sleek design. We at SOT are now pleased to announce that the site has gone live – check it out yourself at www.lisacritcher.co.uk
EfR goes live!
January 9th, 2011We are pleased to announce that our latest website project for learning and development company, Evolution for Revolution, has now gone live – visit Evolution for Revolution.
We have been working closely with EfR to find a web solution that reflect their company’s personality, flair and most importantly, their expertise. We’ve had a great time designing and building this site and look forward to working with EfR in the future.
The Dirt Track Foundation goes live!
October 21st, 2010Here at Skills on Toast we love a challenge… so when the Dirt Track Foundation asked us to create a website to promote their fundraising activities, we jumped straight in…
The lads are trying to raise £100,000 for Sport Relief over the coming months. They kick off their efforts tomorrow (22 October), when they leave for Nairobi and start their journey to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro.
We love getting involved in a good cause and set up this website free of charge.
To find out more about what the guys are doing, or even donate to the cause, visit www.dirttrackfoundation.co.uk.
Skills on Toast exceed fundraising target at the Bristol 10k
May 12th, 2010
After months of hard training, we are proud to announce that including GiftAid, we have been able to raise over £650 for Brainwave.
Based in the South West, Brainwave works with families to deliver individual home based therapy and exercise programmes that help children with disabilities and development delay to achieve their potential, as well as much needed support for families.
Zoe Hoskins from Skills on Toast ran the Bristol 10k with 10,000 other people on Sunday 9 May 2010 in 1 hour 4 minutes.
We would like to take this opportunity to send a great big thank you to everyone that donated – your support kept the juices flowing around the course and will make a big difference to the lives of children and families all over the country.
Don’t panic!
If you didn’t get a chance to donate, fear not! Our Just Giving page is open throughout until mid-August and we will also accept cash donations!!
Trackbacks Explained
April 27th, 2010This article is designed to help the budding blogger to understand what all this talk about ‘trackbacks’ really means, how they work, why you should use them and what’s coming next…
What is a trackback?
A trackback is kind of like an acknowledgement on the web – if I trackback to your website, it means I have used or referenced some of your content. Not only is this common courtesy on the web, it’s a great way to drive more traffic to your site and get to know bloggers interested in the same topics as you.
How do I use trackbacks?
Most blogging packages have a trackback function. All you need to do is locate the trackback URL of the blog that you want to link back to, and insert it into the trackback box. In the latest version of WordPress there is a ‘Send Trackbacks’ box underneath the text editor window.
How do I find the trackback URL?
Most bloggers include their trackback URL at the end of a post. It is often the URL of the post with a ‘/trackback’ added on, e.g., http://www.myblog.com/article/trackback – however if an author hasn’t included a trackback link it might be that they don’t want you to use their material, so check before you guess!
What happens when I submit a trackback?
Usually, as soon as you publish your blog article, the author you ‘trackbacked’ will receive a notification. You can check by visiting the article and checking the comments. Trackbacks appear as a link with a short excerpt from your article. Some authors monitor and screen their comments though, so it could take longer or may never appear!
Can I get people to trackback to me?
If you want people to be able to trackback to your articles, make sure you leave a trackback link somewhere in your post. Most blogging software has an option to include a trackback link at the end of your posts – check for it in whatever package you use. In WordPress it is in the ‘Discussion’ box below the text editor.
Do all websites use trackbacks?
Certainly not – which is why contacting the author is always a good idea. WordPress blogs have an automatic ‘pingback’ system, which means that if anyone links to one of your blog articles in the body of their post, you get a pingback notification.
Why should I bother using trackbacks?
As mentioned above, it’s common courtesy, if you’ve found someone’s content really helpful or it has inspired you to write your own article, to let the author know. If they have trackbacks enabled they will probably really appreciate the reference to them – after all it’s another link to their site!
Using them well helps to build relationships with other bloggers – they might visit your site and find something useful and trackback to you – helping your traffic and your online reputation.
A word of warning
There is an increasing amount of ‘Trackback SPAM’ hitting the web now – which is kind of spoiling it for the rest of us… there are filters you can use, and of course you can monitor all your comments to prevent this, but it is looking more and more likely that Pingbacks will be the way forward in the future… at the moment in WordPress you can either have trackbacks and pingbacks or neither – watch this space!!
Here to help
If you’re reading this article because you’re setting up a blog, Skills on Toast is here to help – we pride ourselves on providing jargon-free, no-nonesense help and advice on all things on the web, so don’t hesitate to get in touch!
SEO FAQ – A Beginners’ Guide to Search Engine Optimisation
April 14th, 2010We have put together this list of frequently asked questions to try and help our readers understand a bit more about SEO. If you don’t find the answer to your question, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help. Your question might even end up on this page!
What is SEO?
SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimisation, encompasses all the things you can do to increase traffic to your website, by making it more attractive to search engines.
Are there different types of SEO?
In a word, yes! The two basic groups are on-page and off-page SEO.
On-page SEO, as you may have guessed, includes the things you can do to the website itself, such as optimising the layout, code and content for search engines, use of titles, keywords and descriptions and a whole host of other things.
Off-page SEO includes all the things you can do away from your website, such as search engine and directory submissions, link building, social media and a whole lot more.
Can I get to the first page of search results?
That is a very difficult question to answer, because of course you can get to the first page of search engine results, if the user enters the right keywords. Type ‘Skills on Toast’ into Google and you will find us on the first page – getting the site onto the first page for other keywords is a bit more tricky.
There are a lot of factors to consider, such as how many other people are competing for the same keywords, how well established your website is, and so on. Although the aim of any search engine optimisation is to get your page high up in the rankings, I am very wary of any company that guarantees to get you on the first page, and Skills on Toast is not in the business of misleading our clients! For second opinion, please see this great article on SEO scams.
As a guide, in the last 6 months we have achieved first page rankings for all our clients within 1-3 months of SEO work for their chosen keyword phrases.
How long will it take to see results?
SEO is not something that happens over night – it takes time to slowly build a place for yourself on the web, as well as a lot of tweaking of all the right elements. You will be able to see some improvements very quickly, others will take a while to filter through, which is why, in my opinion, long term investment in SEO, rather than a one-off push, is much better value for money.
What is Pay Per Click (PPC)?
Pay Per Click (PPC) adverts can be set up for different search engines, and they work on the basis that if the right keywords are entered, your advert displays either at the top, or the side of the search engine listings – they are called ‘Sponsored links’ on Google. Every time someone clicks on your link, you pay a fee to the search engine, ranging from a few pence to a few pounds, depending on the competitiveness of your keywords.
Should I use pay per click (ppc)?
Pay Per Click adverts can be a wonderful tool to boost traffic to your website, but I tend to see them as a last resort. I hear from a lot of clients that they totally ignore the sponsored links in Google and go straight to the ‘Organic’ listings, which are the free ones. I tend to focus more on improving organic rankings, but in some cases PPC is the best option.
How do I see results from SEO?
One of the first things I do when taking on any SEO client, is to set them up with website traffic reports so that they can see which efforts are working the best. These reports show where people came from to get to your site, which keywords they put into the search engine, how long they stayed, where they went and a lot more besides.
If you’re going to invest in search engine optimisation, you need to be able to see measureable results – otherwise how do you know whether it’s worth the effort?
What else can I do to drive traffic to my website?
Never underestimate the power of good old word-of-mouth – tell everyone you meet about your site, hand out business cards and shout about it from the rooftops!
Should I buy lots of domain names?
Having a really good, keyword-rich domain name is a great way to get traffic to your website. One of the reasons this site comes up when you search for ‘Skills on Toast’ is that it’s in the domain name.
In my opinion, buying some good domain names and pointing them all to one website can be very effective, but you have to use a permanent 301-redirect, otherwise search engines may see you as ‘deceptive’.
I’m a bit new to all this – what things can I do to boost rankings myself?
If you’re a bit website savvy, there are lots of things that you can do yourself, without the help of a professional. Check out our ‘Simple SEO’ series for lots of tips, and if you get stuck, contact us for help!
Is SEO expensive?
Not at all! One of the major benefits of SEO is that your traffic is more targeted – you get relevant visitors that are actually interested in what you have to offer, so the resulting enquiries should more than cover the cost of ongoing SEO.
We agree targets with our clients before we start to ensure that they know what they can expect to see, and we can tailor how much we do for you to suit your needs and budget.
How can Skills on Toast help?
We tailor all our ongoing SEO plans in order to meet our clients’ expectations. If your budget is small you can still see great results, it just might take a little longer.
We are always happy to hear from our blog followers, so if you would like help or advice, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.
