All about Steve
I made my first web site in 1994, and I've been learning about the web ever since. In the early years web was my hobby, while I spent a few years in management roles in Book publishing, and ran my own small businesses, but for the last five years I have managed and taught the National Diploma of Web Development for a prominent PTE. We are very industry focused, and I am continually watching incoming technologies to see if they are going to help us create sites which communicate, because that, in a nutshell, is all a web site does - communicate.
The course was originally written by John Jones who now runs a very good web development business called Twiik. Tell him I sent you.
My background in business gives me insight into your organization's needs, I understand budgets and constraints, and I can help you create a plan for your web site that will define goals and the strategy to achieve them, cost effectively and on time.
My interest in web has always focussed on how web sites actually communicate the message they are designed for. If your site sells something, how do you turn visitors into customers when you're not there in person to greet them at your front door with your big charming smile? If you want them to contact you, how will you tempt them into taking that final step? How do you assess how the true effectiveness of your site, and how do you fine tune it to improve it's performance.
The answer is both simple and complex. Simple, in that a web site that is "simple and direct" works much much better than one which is full of content which is difficult to find, but complex because it is very hard to balance all the needs of a site - search engines, speed, clarity, simplicity, easily accessed content, meaningfully placement in the web with strategic links to and from relevant other sites etc etc.
Setting up a new web site really is a job for a professional with wide experience.
Everything I do, from web architecture to design (consult only) to background coding is focused on making web sites work well for their purpose.
The rest of my life is happily full of fishing, endlessly rebuilding the garden on our sloping section, traveling and all the usual good family stuff.
My current projects include
- Recently completed first stage of Fleur de Mer web site project. Check out their range of cosmeceutical grade natural sunblock.
- Instructional workshop on "Goal-oriented web sites and Google Analytics" for government health organisations.
Plain language advice when it's needed
