With over 65 million current users of the iPad, and millions more set to invest in one, plus a whole heap of people using an iPhone to surf the web,  it's always worth checking that the whole of your website works on the iPad or iPhone.

If your website has been designed using Adobe Flash a blank page is presented to iPad or iPhone users, since Apple products do not support Flash. Going forwards, this will be come more of an issue, since the new generation Android phones and tablet computers will not support Flash based websites either. This means that many more people using a mobile device will not be able to see websites that have been designed using Flash.

The good news is that similar animations can be achieved without using Flash, and Focal Strategy have consistently designed all of our websites without Flash to ensure they work on all mobile devices.

Here is an example of a blank Flash-based website shown on the iPad:

Here is a website with are a series of animations which work on the iPad and iPhone, because we designed it without the use of Flash - watch the bee fly down the page, and the business cards move when you click on them:

Do get in touch if you would like to redesign your website to work on all mobile devices, info@focalstrategy.com or 02380 844982 / 07946 427553

We are delighted that Jane Bidwell Flowers of Hythe have chosen Focal Strategy to design and launch a new website for them. The project, which will begin in the Autumn will see their website completely re-designed. Our brief is to create a 'lovely website, which is funky, stylish, modern, clean and simple'. 

The new website will include an online shop where visitors can quickly and easily order and pay for flowers, bouquets and floral tributes online. It will also have a blog with links into social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, plus we will ensure that web visitors are directed to Jane's beautiful 'real-life' shop in the village to maximise the marketing potential from the website for their business.

All of our sites are designed and coded to be found more easily in search engines (SEO). We never use templates, each of our sites uses our own code and visual designs, making them stand out as something really special.  Take a look at some of our recent projects, and do get in touch for a chat if you are looking for a new website, or a website re-design. Call Sue or Peter on 02380 844982 / info@focalstrategy.com

Focal Strategy are very pleased to have been chosen to design and build 2 brand new websites for a large packaging company based in both Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. The business who deals with large corporate clients, are looking for a complete website redesign to modernise their existing websites.

Why choose Focal Strategy to build your website?

• Excellent personal service both now and in the future
• In depth, in-house knowledge of up to the minute coding techniques
• Creative thinking and extensive use of design tools - every website design is a one off
• We take time to get to know you and your business
• Optimisation of all content (images, graphics and media) for fast loading on the web
• Easy to use content management system - you can make changes to your web pages
• Every design is built from scratch especially for you - we don't use template designs
• We do not charge per page/item designed or limit your hosting space
• Websites are designed to work on all popular devices including iPhones and iPads
• Our sites are designed to make it easy for Google to find you - Search Engine Optimisation
• We help with all the mechanics of setting up your website

All this and much more...Looking to update your website? Get in touch to discuss your ideas with us 02380 844982, we are in Hythe, Hampshire and can work with you wherever you are based. 

They say 'a picture paints a thousand words' and...Great images are absolutely vital when marketing your business online and in hardcopy printed materials.

Focal Strategy are able to offer our professional photography services to businesses, indeed over 65% of the websites we build include our pro photos.

Yesterday Easton Residential Estate Agents based in Holbury and Hythe commissioned us to take photos of their staff and removals vans to publicise their company online.

 from standard portrait shots

To funky and dynamic images of the staff...

to photos of the companies removals vans, we ensured they had a variety of high quality imagery to promote their company.

Looking for images to get your business noticed?

Get in touch with us today! 02380 844982 / info@focalstrategy.com

Here at Focal Strategy we often write about how writing on a blog incorporated into your website can get your business noticed online.

Well here goes with another blogging success story...Buchanans Jewellers of Lymington, whose website we launched last year, now consistenty use their blog to share news about the products and services they offer. Yesterday we ran a couple of random incognito searches on Google, and Buchanans is coming up on page 1 for all of the following search terms, which are important for their business:

• Engagement ring Lymington
• Kokkino Jewellery Hampshire
• Nanni Jewellery Hampshire
• Wedding ring Lymington
• Wedding ring New Forest
• Diamonds Lymington
• Jewellery valuation Lymington
• Earrings Lymington
• Bespoke Jewellery Design Lymington
• Skagen Watches Hampshire

...and best of all since they only posted a blog about it yesterday afternoon, Buchanans were number 1 on page 1 of Google for 'Christening Gift Lymington' yesterday, within just 2 hours of them posting this item on their blog:

Our websites are designed to alert Google each time an entry is posted to the blog, ensuring the new website information is indexed very quickly to assist with search engine optimisation (SEO). Interested in harnessing the power of a blog for your business? Why not give Sue or Peter a call on 02380 844982 / 07946 427553 or contact us here.

If you have a blog and are not sure how best to use it, or would like us to write entries on your behalf drop an email to sue@focalstrategy.com

Do you run a Bed & Breakfast or Hotel? Did you know there's no need to pay commission to someone else on every booking you take...You can save money by having your own online booking system on your website.  

Focal Strategy have developed an easy to use online booking system for B&B's and small hotels. Recently we launched one for The Post House Bed & Breakfast in Somerset. Our bespoke online booking system enables customers to select different rooms by date, and then book and pay directly with the owner online. Payments are taken securely by Google Checkout.

We have developed the booking system to automatically include the discounts and special offers this particular B&B offer, such as 3 nights for 2, or 10% off when staying for 4 or more nights, or for booking out all of the rooms together. It also knows there is a minimum 2 night stay at weekends.

The great thing is the B&B owner can easily make adjustments in her offering, whether it be pricing, altering discounts, changing when discounts apply or altering the minimum stay policy whenever and as often as she likes. We have designed a really simple to use admin interface (the backend of which uses Google Calendars,) which gives her complete flexibility in managing her bookings.

If you are interested in finding out more about our  cost effective online booking solution, why not give us a call? 02380 844982 /07946 427553 or get in touch info@focalstrategy.com

There's no need to pay commission to someone else.

Ask Focal Strategy to design an online booking system for your B&B or hotel, it's easy to use and very cost effective!

Focal Strategy have just launched an Interactive Website called Blackbrook Babies.

The site has been created to enable people who had a baby at Blackbrook House (near Fareham) between 1950 and 2006 to share their baby photos and memories.  People who were born there can upload their own photos and stories too.

The hope is that the website will eventually grow to become a celebration of Blackbrook when it was a Maternity Home.

Were you born at Blackbrook House near Fareham, Hampshire?

Perhaps you had a baby there, or spent time convalescing there after having a baby? Why not share your memories and photos.

Take a look at how Blackbrook House looks today, now that it is a Residential Care Home on another new website we have designed and launched.

We are very pleased to launch a brand new website for Blackbrook House Residential Care Home in Fareham today.

This stunning home offers elderly people care in a truly splendid setting.  The website has been designed to reflect The Georgian era, when the house was built - we chose a Georgian style typeface and have used subtle embellishments inspired by printed articles from the 1700-1800's to highlight certain information.

The colour scheme for the website has been taken from the high quality interior design of Blackbrook House, which includes sumptuous warm reds, golds and creams, and we have incorporated a wallpaper background which actually matches some of that used in the house itself.

The site includes all of our professional photographs which not only appear on the website, but will feature in the hardcopy publicity materials which are being produced by Simon of Ceratopia. We have created some movement in the site by adding slowly changing images, whilst a large image gallery gives visitors a real flavour of Blackbrook, before paying the home a visit.

The website includes lots of information including the history of Blackbrook House, keep an eye on our blog for the launch of Blackbrook Babies a website where people who were born at Blackbrook when it was a maternity home, can share their memories and photographs - coming soon!

Focal Strategy based in Hythe, Hampshire are very pleased to have been selected to build a new website for a Taekwon-do Club in Slough, Berkshire. The club wants to update their site, and move away from the limiting templated design that they have at the moment. They are looking forwards to having a swish new website, and to using a news and events blog to publicise their organisation.

If you run a martial arts club or any other sport or leisure activity and need a website to promote your organisation, why not get in touch? We are able to create a website for you wherever you are based. Call us for a chat on 02380 844982 / 07946 427553

Get the most out of your blog - it's free, it's fun and you never know, you might be surprised at the interest it generates!

No Time? Not sure what to write? Need a few hints and tips? Ask about out great value blog writing service! sue@focalstrategy.com

Wow!  Not got a blog?! Get in touch with Peter for a new website or a website revamp info@focalstrategy.com ;o)