Chatbots - An Overview
27 Jun
Chatbots are now the most popular method of connecting with your audience. As chatbots grow in popularity, more and more features, benefits and options are developed and added.
Blog
Five Tips for Improving your Customers’ Experience
12 Jun
Just as a shopfront is important for showcasing your business to customers, your online presence is the virtual shopfront for your business, and this extends to more than just your website.
Five Important Features of Great Shopping Carts
05 Jun
Here at AimHigher we love developing web experiences for customers, and shopping carts have now become an online staple. If you have an online business, a shopping cart can make or break your site. So how do you balance a great shopping experience with customer retention, sales follow-ups and failed transactions?
Why Can’t I Pay an Hourly Rate for a Web Developer?
23 May
When hiring a web developer for the first time, you may wonder why most web developers give you a flat rate for the whole project. There’s a lot of reasons for this including ease of mind about budgets, experience in these types of projects, and hidden costs every small business owner faces.
Getting the Best from your Web Developer
26 Apr
Previously we talked about how to select a great web developer, and today we look at what to do when you have found one!
Hello World of Web Pages
18 Apr
Have you ever heard of the phrase “Hello World”? Back in the 70s and 80s, it was the first program that children wrote on the Commodore 64, and still exists as one of the first things you do when learning a new programming language today.
Seven Tips on Picking a Great Web Developer
11 Apr
As a web development company, we have a few thoughts on how you can select a great developer to work with you on your professional website. The decision to hire, and then select a developer is a process that takes time.
Under the Hood - Dynamic Websites
04 Apr
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at static websites, and how you can tell if a static website is the right choice for you and your business, now we’re going to take a look at dynamic websites, for those who don’t quite fit with static websites.
Under the Hood - Static Websites
28 Mar
These days, websites will typically come in two different flavours – static or dynamic. We’re going to have more of a look at dynamic websites later, but today we’ll look at what is means when someone says static site.
How to Know Your Project is Progressing
17 Mar
Upgrading or creating a new website can be a massive project with a number of people involved, key performance indicators and project milestones. For businesses who are new to a professionally developed website, the path can be full of uncertainty and worries. This post looks briefly into the ways you can work with your developer to feel confident that you understand the undertaking, the process, and progress of your project.
Shared Workflows - Working with Others
07 Mar
Work is no longer something that happens in a business at a desk with a manager and colleagues, but now also happens with multiple managers, multiple colleagues, and all of them using their own systems to manage their business work.
Snapshot - What is Google Analytics and How is it Useful
28 Feb
Google Analytics is a free service offered by Google that shows you how, when and why your customers visit your site.
Under the Hood - Maintenance
09 Feb
When we first create a webpage, we think it will last forever. It’s done, the website is live and now I don’t have to think about it for another 5-10 years.
4 Things You Don't Know About Website Hosting
02 Feb
Hosting your website is the most important step in creating a successful site. Whether you are running a small blog or an online store, hosting will be what holds it all together. In this article we'll discuss everything you need to know about hosting and why it’s so important and the different types available, from shared hosting, VPS servers, dedicated servers and cloud computing to reseller accounts and WordPress hosts.
How to Build a Website: Tips for Beginners
26 Jan
In order to have a successful business, you need to have a website. But how do you go about building one? If you're new to the world of websites, don't worry - we've got you covered.
The Basics of Branding
05 Jan
The way that you present yourself on the internet can make or break whether people are interested in your content and messaging.
Search Engine Optimisation 101
13 Dec
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and refers to how search engines like Google or Bing interact with and rank your website among the rest of the millions of search results.
What is a Webhook 101
07 Dec
The internet evolves in new and exciting ways, and as more apps and work based software becomes web enabled, a growing requirement for cross-software actions has lead to the development of a number of ways services can share data and actions with each other.
Suggestions for Online Celebration E-mails and Cards
30 Nov
Are you thinking of sending cards, holidays greetings or e-Cards to your customers this year? All business in the end is about relationships, and sending something meaningful can be a lovely way to show your appreciation to your clients, staff and vendors.
Under the Hood - Domain Names
23 Nov
Domain names are the streets of the internet, and are a lot more flexible than people imagine. Today we're going under the hood to look domain names.
Under the Hood - Content
16 Nov
As part of our Under the Hood series, we're taking a look at some of the important parts of great webpage design. Content seems to be one of the hardest parts, primarily because many people think creating content is intuitive and that writing is a natural talent. That's not true! Writing great content is a skill any one can learn if they choose to.*
PHP Updates: What, Why, How?
09 Nov
PHP is a critical part of almost 80% of all webpages, and crucial to upgrade and maintain. It's a way for your host to manage, and then create your webpage upon request. As a layer of programming language between request and the web page files, it adds extra complexity and value to your pages.
Under the Hood - Hosting
03 Nov
In this series we will explore what goes on under the obvious in Web Design.
Under the Hood - Websites
26 Oct
In this series we will explore what goes on under the obvious in Web Design.
The Blurring of Boundaries - Working from Home
18 Oct
Who's had an awkward Zoom moment? And by Zoom, I could also mean Jitsi, Whereby, Google Meet, Facebook Live, Teams, or any number of live video where someone has had an unlucky moment and an audience saw it.
Is the Internet Like Water
11 Oct
There’s a lot of discussion about the internet being a utility, rather than service. As a utility the government would have a responsibility to ensure a minimum level of supply, and recognize the value it provides to its people.
Generating SSL Certificates
06 May
I remember a few years back when I first started using SSL certificates on my websites, I spent several hours trying to get stuff working on the command line, eventually finding an online generator and working out what they needed me to do to verify the site and generate the certificate. And once that was done, I still needed to install it on my hosting, the whole process was complicated and confusing, and even once I'd written it down it still took some concentration to get it done (and needed to be repeated every 90 days to renew the certificate).
Fixing Spam on WordPress
04 Feb
As if spam wasn't already infiltrating enough areas of our lives - in our letter boxes, on our phones in our emails - it's now in our website contact forms. But as much as I would like to earn millions of dollars through a cryptocurrency, I'd also like to keep my contact form to legitimate submissions, thankfully WordPress has a few options for this.
How Notion runs my life
23 Mar
During the past year, I've started using Notion to organise both my personal and professional life. I discovered it accidentally while looking for a tool to manage my side projects and now I use it as my wiki, social media calendar, to draft documents, store random bits of information and manage both my blog posts (even this post is written in Notion first) and conference talk submissions.
An Origin Story
07 Jan
Five years ago I decided to rebuild my parents' business' website for their Christmas present. It was very out of date, the instructions the developer had given them were incredibly complicated and they were quoting a minimum of $400 to make any content changes. While rebuilding the site I realised how much I loved doing it, and I had an epiphany
The Importance of Routine
29 Oct
When I first started working for myself fulltime, I was excited for the freedom and flexibility I could have. No rules, no restrictions and no routines, I could do whatever I wanted! But it didn't take me long before I found I was a little lost, and not really getting anything done. Maybe routines aren't necessarily a bad thing...
Being a More Sustainable You
10 Oct
During the past couple of years, I started focusing more on myself and when I burnt out last year I decided to put myself first. Since then I've taken on so many new responsibilities, adventures and stressors, but since making the decision to put myself first I've been in a much better place mentally and emotionally.
How Google runs my Home
26 Aug
In the past year, it's no longer unusual to see a virtual assistant in someone's house, whether it be a Google Home, Amazon Alexa or Apple Homepod, but when someone hears that I have 4 I'm always met with shock and surprise. "But what do you actually do with them?". I have an insanely busy life, and my Google Home(s) help to take care of the things that I shouldn't really have to worry about (or really don't want to). Whether it be while cooking in the kitchen, running around getting ready, working or just chilling on the couch, Google is usually able to take care of something for me (even if it can't do my washing for me yet 😔).
Women in Tech - My Story
08 Mar
The other week I went to an event and got to listen to four amazing women and their experiences of working as women in tech, as well as stories from people in the audience. It was great to hear such amazing stories (especially as I knew two of the women), and it really got me thinking about how I got into tech and the journey I’ve had along the way.
The Pants-Optional Workplace
15 Nov
That’s the dream isn’t it? To be able to work from home, with no pants on. But is it really all it’s cracked up to be? The last couple of weeks, I’ve switched from a 9–5 office job to working as a freelancer from home. So what should you be aware of before you make the switch?
The Need for PageSpeed: A Hot Pursuit
01 Nov
What does Google Pagespeed actually mean? And what do you need to do about your score? Is it all just a scam? Probably
The Art of Project Management
29 Oct
There’s an app for that. I’m not kidding, there’s even an app to find out if there’s an app for that. While we’re a little spoilt for choice, that can often make things harder so I’ve ventured into the world of Project Management software to hopefully make the choice easier for you.
Error! Your connection is not secure
18 Sep
These days, there are more and places offering their website through encrypted protocols, or HTTPS. But what does this actually mean for you? Is this something you should be worried about? And should you be concerned if a site isn’t encrypted?
Setting up Local Dev and Deployment Pipelines
04 Sep
Since I discovered git, everything I do gets recorded on GitHub (it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve learnt in web). I’ve also started using XAMPP so that I can develop on my local machine. But while copying files from my local development onto my server I thought surely there must be an easier way to do this.
All the Balls in the Air
02 Apr
These days your’re expected to manage several different aspects of life and at the same time keep on top of it all. Now the first thing you need to remember is to know your limits, it’s all too easy to take on too much and before too long you end up crashing and burning. I’m not going to cover that now because that’s an entirely different topic, but make sure you know where the line is, because that’s not something you want to cross.