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My web design service maximizes the potential of your business brand. I provide budget options for small business websites or larger custom made database driven systems to fit your specific feature requirements.I make sure that the design suggestions compliment your branding and print based materials. The design will communicate effectively to your target market using the correct voice for your brand. My designs are also optimised for search performance, usability and clear navigation ensuring your website grows with your business.If you need to make your budget stretch further stock photos and AI tools can be used for video, content writing, illustration and photography. I have made heavy use of AI text and images to produce this website to demonstrate that these tools are completely usable and getting better by the month.

Web Design

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At Goldfish Internet I design and build mobile and tablet optimised websites. This is supported by a range of services to maintain your system, content and communications.<h3>Shopify, WooCommerce and Open Cart</h3>For e-commerce I normally recommend Shopify, Open Cart or WooCommerce. If Shopify does not support your full range of planned features, Open Cart or WooCommerce can often be customised to handle what you need. Each system has its strengths with costs dependent on subscription fees for hosting plus any third party extensions, custom components or plugin licences.<h3>Concrete CMS</h3>If you need a unique design, custom features and perhaps something more powerful I recommend Concrete CMS. Concrete is well suited to extending with a fully custom design theme and packages tailored around your specific needs. Whilst you might build your business needs around Wordpress features, we can build Concrete features around your business needs.<h3>Wordpress</h3>Lets face it Wordpress is still the most popular platform for general websites and for good reason. Great looking "off-the-shelf" templates are widely available which makes this the first stop choice for full feature websites on a budget. I can setup your Wordpress install and also arrange suitable hosting with the essential backup and patching facilities needed to keep your website secure.If you already have a Wordpress website and need help with content or securing, patching and maintaining your system - I can review your setup and propose a suitable plan to fit your budget/needs.

Web Development

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Along with general web design and development services, Goldfish Internet designs and builds database driven web applications, interactive tools and specialised e-commerce and Software as a Service (SaaS) systems for business start-ups.Working directly with clients or as a contractor for agencies and consultants, I have designed and developed systems with the following features:-<ul><li>Online Training Courses and Examination</li><li>Health and Safety Inductions</li><li>Association Group and Individual Member Pages</li><li>Subscription Based Paywall Services</li><li>Automation Tools</li><li>Inventory and Accounting Integrations</li><li>Property Listings</li><li>Booking Facilities</li></ul>I create flexible, robust and secure software systems to meet the full scope of your plans and budget. Call me at Goldfish Internet to discuss your next big idea or business bottlenecks.

Software Systems

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At Goldfish Internet, I can help you connect your systems to your clients or suppliers systems - facilitating sales, inventory, messaging or other specialized data exchanges.Using API technology, selected parts of your data or processes can be secured behind an authentication service and provided to your clients or suppliers, your service would act as a server. Reversely, your scheduled tasks and automation scripts would act as a client to your suppliers API services.Some typical examples might include:-<ul><li>Hybrid Website and Mobile App shared content API</li><li>Database connectors for merging and analysis of separate sales, inventory, CRM and operations</li><li>Data transfer and synchronisation between locations</li><li>Messaging, GEO location and other online tools and services</li><li>Providing sales and drop shipping services to affiliates and associating commissions</li></ul>

Automation and API Integration

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I have worked for various design, marketing and public relations agencies through my career so I know and understand many of your challenges. You may be a single consultant or have a small team working on campaign ideas then outsource your production work. Maybe your developers are focused on other projects or on annual leave when the client expects a new feature or fix. Otherwise you just need an extra pair of hands to help your team and the freedom to book out time as and when needed.&nbsp;

I currently have regular days available through the week having recently completed some projects. If you are local to the Greater Manchester area: Bolton, Chorley, Wigan, Blackburn, Preston I would be happy to work on-site in your offices with you or your team. Otherwise for further afield, occasional visits for meetings and briefings followed by remote work.Here are some reason to consider hiring me for projects<ul><li>I have reasonable rates comparable to full time staff&nbsp;</li><li>Casual or relaxed agreement, you are not committed to employing me long term&nbsp;</li><li>Experience supporting a wide range of code bases with or without documentation and in varying states of quality or repair</li><li>Able to take a project from start to completion, from graphic design to build, deployment, hosting and support</li><li>Versatile having working with OOP for PHP, ASP.NET and Javascript along with SQL, HTML/CSS</li><li>Good Laravel skills</li><li>Increasing React/Next.js skills</li><li>Cloud services AWS Lightsail and Linode</li><li>Debian/Ubuntu Server Admin and some historical Microsoft Server Admin&nbsp;</li><li>Training including video demonstrations</li></ul>If you are potentially interested or have a proposition, give me a call or email me and we can discuss further.

Agency Work

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Building a great looking site is not the end of the story. It will need installing and hosting on a suitable web server and periodic maintenance to keep upto date with security and stability patches.I supply cost effective shared hosting, cloud or dedicated servers and containers with informal support, backup and maintenance included. With informal managed hosting I take care of your install and system setup then monitor, apply security patches and perform periodic backups. Unlike the shared hosting providers, I take care of your website not just the hosting service. I include a reasonable amount ad-hoc support in working hours however, if you need more demanding server resources, or guaranteed support levels I can help you arrange fully managed hosting with other suppliers.

Hosting, Maintenance and Support

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Getting large traffic volumes from search engines is a high priority for most website owners. The majority of on-line purchases begin with a keyword search. Optimising your site for search engines is an ongoing process and at the core is the need for good quality content and developing signals that demonstrate your website's authority and relevance for a specific topic or area. Relevance signals will be directly related to the content of your website whilst authority signals come from a mix of domain trust, inbound links and search visitor behaviour.SEO is a rapidly changing sector with ranking algorithms typically changing many times each year. What was once an important ranking factor may now be obsolete or far less important. Search itself is going through a metamorphoses with users accessing AI tools in place of search engines. In response search engines have started to promote AI answers over links to third party websites in there results pages. This has introduced challenges for internet marketing teams as well as some new opportunities.Here at Goldfish Internet I can help you develop an internet marketing strategy to increase your traffic and sales. If your site is commercial, an ongoing paid search campaign is usually the best way of getting a reliable stream of traffic. I can also help you with target keyword research, content creation plans, search engine optimisation and traffic analysis.

Internet Marketing, Advertising and Analysis

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Goldfish Internet also design and supply printed materials to support your online marketing efforts. From marketing strategies, concepts and visuals through to final artwork and print.&nbsp;

Print-based marketing is often an overlooked component of marketing strategies. Despite the focus on digital media, print materials such as posters, leaflets, brochures, and banners should play an important role in reaching and engaging your target audience.Printed materials are physical items that customers can hold, keep, and refer to, creating a lasting impression. They can be distributed strategically at events, at your business, or through the post, reaching your audience before they might otherwise find you online. Well designed print materials lend credibility to your brand and by integrating print with online, you create some effective opportunities.&nbsp;Here are just a few ideas<ul><li>Send posted leaflets to past customers inviting them to claim online promotions.&nbsp;</li><li>Use QR codes on business cards that link to your review channels or newsletter subscription form. Hand these to customers after completing work or services.</li><li>Create Refer a Friend tear off ticket promotions that rewards referrals</li><li>Merchandise like pens and drink mats</li></ul>

Services

My Technologies