At Look Sharp Designs, we provide expert affordable custom SEO website design services to small and medium-sized businesses. That sounds good, doesn’t it? But what does expert affordable custom SEO website design services mean to you, the prospective client?

Expert Affordable Custom SEO Website Design Services

We’ve been involved in web design since 1996, a time when websites were built with table-based layouts, lots of spacer graphics, and no one cared much about search engine rankings. We experiment with the latest web development standards and techniques. We embraced cascading style sheets (CSS) as early as 2000. We design websites from the content out, ensuring content comes first and the design complements the content. We deliver functional websites that are both user and spider [search engine] friendly that LOOK SHARP by using semantic HTML markup and placing all design, layout and behavior markup in external files. While we will provide you with our expert guidance and advice on what we think looks good and works best, we ultimately deliver exactly what you want.*

Expert Affordable Custom SEO Website Design Services

We use a variety of tools, including open source applications, such as WordPress, to keep costs down. We ensure you receive high value at an affordable cost. We have an expansive library of website templates that we may use as the base of your design solution. This not only speeds up development, but also can help keep your costs down.

Expert Affordable Custom SEO Website Design Services

While we have an expansive library of custom built templates, we only use them as a starting point. We don’t feel that using templates compromises our value of providing custom solutions for every client. We limit the use of each template so that they remain unique. In addition, we often modify our templates to suit our clients, so, in reality, we’re still creating custom web design solutions, even though we’re using templates. Templates simply speed up development and keep your costs down. If we don’t have a template that’s representative of your vision, we’ll create something from scratch.

Expert Affordable Custom SEO Website Design Services

We don’t offer full service search engine optimization services like we once did, but we strive to ensure that each website we build has basic search engine optimization qualities: semantic HTML markup and separating content from design, layout and behavior. We still offer offer keyword research, website analysis, link building and other search engine optimization services.

Expert Affordable Custom SEO Website Design Services

We offer the following services:

• Website Design and Development
• Graphic Design
• Logo Design
• Technical and Creative Copywriting and Editing
• Search Engine Optimization
• Website Hosting

We’ll create the site you want, guaranteed.* We’ll keep working on it until you are completely happy with what you are getting. And you’ll know what you are getting every step of the way. You’ll have access to the development site so you can see exactly what we’ve done so far. We also keep you informed through our project management application. Inside our project management application, we define the tasks to meet your project requirements. Each task has a projected start date, finish date and duration. As we work through a task, we update the status (percent complete) and add any pertinent comments. You can add comments to the project, tender approvals, complete client tasks and enter new work order requests. Communication through the project management application is encouraged as it prevents lost emails and forgotten phone calls. In all, your project site keeps you completely informed about the status of your project.

Now you know what we mean when we say we offer expert affordable custom SEO website design services. Simply put, we make websites that LOOK SHARP, and we’ll make you LOOK SHARP, guaranteed. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today about our expert affordable custom SEO website design services. Inquiries don’t cost you a single penny!

*Guarantee

We guarantee that you will be 100% satisfied with our website design and development, graphic design, logo design and technical and creative copywriting services. We’re not satisfied until you are. However, because there is so little we can actually control in a search engine optimization campaign, we cannot guarantee specific search engine results. What we can guarantee with regards to our search engine optimization services is that we will do everything that we can to give your website the best opportunity to rank and perform well in the major search engines.

Since, Stephanie’s website is hosted on GoDaddy.com, there were limitations on what we could do for her. Here’s what we did…

• Rewrote the content – it was written too much like a resume and not enough like a business website.
• Create some additional visual appeal by adding a professional photo of Stephanie and some property photos from her projects.
• Rearranged the layout for visual appeal and better flow.
• Added information about her services and some of the clients/projects she worked on/with.
• Added a call to action on every page – after all this is a business website. If you need her services, she wants you to call her!
• We looked at the other templates available on GoDaddy.com, but decided to stick with the one Stephanie originally selected.

Besides the addition to our portfolio and Stephanie’s testimonial, we did get paid… with cookies. They were delicious! I must say that this our yummiest project yet!

Web designers and developers are often chained to a desktop computer or have to lug around a laptop computer. With warmer weather returning, who wants to be stuck inside working or have to carry around a somewhat bulky laptop. I think you can ditch the desktop and laptop computers at home occasionally. Welcome to iPad website design and development.

In this article I’ll provide some suggestions for truly mobile website development and design, and I’ll provide a list of essential and useful tools and apps you’ll need to design and develop websites with nothing more than your fingers and an iPad.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I realize that there are limitations to designing and developing great websites on an iPad, especially graphics and photos. But there are some good graphics and photo apps available that can handle basic and intermediate graphics needs. I’m not saying that you can do everything on an iPad that you do when developing and designing websites on your desktop/laptop computer, but you can do more than you think.

Obviously the first thing you need is an iPad. No other hardware is needed, but here are a few iPad accessories that might help you out. You might want other hardware, but the whole idea is for less hardware and more mobility. The hardware suggested below are a) less than $100 and b) attach to an iPad or can be carried in a pocket.

• Kensington Keyfolio Pro2 Removable Keyboard – the keyboard works well, but I found that the case and keyboard get in the way when you just want to use your iPad for recreational uses (games, reading, videos, movies, etc.). That’s probably going to be the case for any keyboard/case combination. I eventually ditched the case and carry the keyboard in my backpack.
• Stylus – I purchased a Wacom stylus. It works well, but lack precision due to its large nib. I’m hoping someone makes one win smaller nibs, or perhaps even interghangeable nibs.
• 5 in 1 Card Reader – the biggest benefit of using one of these is the ability to transfer photos from your camera’s storage card, because sometimes you need to take photos with something better than a smartphone camera.

My iPad 2 is Wifi only. That’s because I’m a Sprint customer and, as of this writing, there isn’t a 3G iPad for Sprint’s Now Network. So if I need internet access, I need to work where there is a Wifi hotspot nearby, or create a Wifi hotspot with my cell phone. If you’re iPad is 3G capable, excellent, but if it’s not, you too will need to work near a Wifi hotspot or create a Wifi hotspot with your cell phone. Since you can’t create a web server, like WAMP or MAMP on your iPad, you’ll likely need access to an Internet server, preferably your development server or site and not a live site. So you’ll probably need a Wifi hotspot if you don’t have a 3G iPad.

Now for the essential services… I’ve found that these services are extremely useful for IPad web design and development

• Dropbox – You’ll definitely want cloud storage of some kind. Box.net and others are also decent, but my pick is Dropbox because many apps integrate it. Most give you 2 to 5 gigabytes for free. That should be sufficient. Dropbox is FREE for both the app and 2Gb of storage space. $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for 50Gb. More plans for more space available. Here is my referral link to Dropbox. For each person who signs up through that link, I get 500 Mb of additional space for free, up to 16 Gb. So click through my referral link, please. Thank you!
• Log Me In – This service allows you to log into your computer remotely. There is a free version; the paid version is fairly expensive. Log Me In is extremely useful when you have a task that you absolutely cannot do on your iPad or are having difficulty accomplishing on your iPad. Simply open the Log Me In app, connect to your computer at home (you did leave it on, right?) and use your computer remotely. Use Log Me In to access programs on your computer that you cannot get for the iPad. I also use it occasionally if I’m having trouble with FTP from my iPad. Theoretically, with Log Me In, you don’t need any other apps, but there can be lag between your computer and iPad. So you’ll want to read the rest of this article for some excellent and useful apps. Price: FREE, but for more features the price starts at $69.95 per year for 1 computer. Discounts for additional computers or if you pay for a year at a time. App is FREE.

Next, the essential apps… Each of the apps (or a suitable sub) in this list are absolutely necessary.

• Gusto – Gusto is a code editor. You can write and edit HTML, CSS, PHP and other code right on your iPad. It also has built in FTP so you can upload new and updated files to your server without an external FTP app. It has many of the same features as top desktop/laptop code editors: color coding, line numbering, syntax libraries, tabbed editor and more. Gusto reminds me of Coda, which I use on my MacBook Pro. Price: $9.99 [NOTE: Diet Coda came out after this article was written and is quite similar to Gusto.]
• Adobe PhotoShop Touch – I bought this app and it’s pretty powerful for an iPad graphic design app. Worth the price. Still, a scaled down PhotoShop for the iPad has to be an essential app. Price: $9.99
• SafeWallet – A cross-platform password manager and generator. Everyone needs a password manager and this is one of the best ones that works on iOS, Mac OS, Windows and Android. It’s a bit pricey if you have more than a couple of platforms, but it’s well worth the price. You can save your wallets to Dropbox so you don’t have to update multiple devices when you change an entry or create a new one. Price: $3.99
• FTP Client Pro – Even though Gusto has a built in FTP client, there will be times when you need a more robust, stand alone FTP client. FTP Client Pro is your best choice. easyFTP is a good alternative, but as of this writing it does not allow you to transfer folders of files. Otherwise it’s a decent FTP client. Price: $1.99 (easyFTP is $3.99)
• iUnarchiveLite – At some point you’re going to need to unpack or create an archive (zip) file. This one is free and until 7-Zip is available for iPad, it’s a good choice. Has Dropbox and other cloud service integration. Price: FREE

That’s pretty much all you need to develop and design websites on an iPad. But there are some other apps that are nice to have when you need them or inspiration strikes. Here are some useful blogging apps.

• WordPress – If you build WordPress powered websites and post regularly, you might want to get the WordPress app. It’s not super powerful. You can’t manage your WordPress site with it. [WordPress for iPad was updated in Aug 2012 and allows you to manage your WordPress powered site completely.] But you can write new posts and pages, update existing posts and pages, create new categories and manage comments. For that it’s useful, even though you can use the web interface with an iPad. However, it’s especially useful when you don’t have Wifi or 3G access since you can save a post locally and upload it when you do have access. Price: FREE
• BlogPress – If you blog on a variety of CMS’s such as WordPress, Blogger, Drupal and Joomla, then BlogPress is the app for you. Price: $2.99
• Joomla Admin Mobile (JAM)Lite – If you use Joomla exclusively, then this app is for you. Price: FREE
• Onyx – Onyx allows you to build color palettes and schemes. I don’t know a web designer who doesn’t need help with color palettes every now and then. At $1.99 Onyx is a bargain.

And now some graphics apps…

• Sketchpad - Price: $4.99
• Inspire Pro – Paint with oils on your iPad. Price: $7.99
• Flowpaper – quite a cool little app that you can use to create large, interesting background art. Price: $0.99
• ColorEffects Pro ($9.99, there is a lite version that is free), PicGrunger ($0.99), Painting Foto ($1.99), Photo Pad (FREE) and Color Splash ($1.99) are all apps that manipulate photos, such as creating black and white or sepia tone photos, adding or removing color, etc
• Collage Pro HD – Use in-app objects and shapes to create large and interesting backgrounds. Price: FREE

Reference Materials – every now and again you’ll need to look up an HTML tag, CSS attribute or get the definition of a word. These are some useful reference apps.

• HTML5 Pro Quick Guide – Price: $1.99
• CSS Pro Quick Guide – Price: $0.99
• Dictionary.com – Price: FREE
• Drupalize.me – If you’re a Drupal developer/designer, it’ll come in handy. Price: FREE
• iJoomla – If you’re a Joomla designer/developer, this one should be useful. Price: $0.99

There are several other Pro Quick Guides, such as JavaScript, PHP, JSON, etc. all reasonably priced at $0.99 – $1.99.

Lastly, here are a few useful utilities…

• Evernote – keep notes from client calls and meetings, save code snippets for later reuse, lists of essential plugins or modules to use for your WordPress, Drupal and Joomla installations, and more. If you have a Livescribe pen, a premium subscription allows you to also save your Livescribe files in Evernote. Very, very useful. App is FREE, premium subscription is $4.99 per month or $44.99 per year.
• Penultimate – if you’d rather write notes, then Penultimate is the app to use. Price: $0.99
• Pencast Player – if you have a Livescribe pen and take audio as you take notes, this app will pull your audio into your iPad for you. Price: FREE
• iThoughts HD – a useful mind mapping app. Use it for brainstorming, site organization, project management and an unlimited number of other uses. While Mindjet for iPad is free, it had lacked functionality. It may have fixed those issues and might be worth a look. iThoughts HD is $9.99.
• Level Me Up – they say it takes 10,000 hours of doing something to become an expert. Use Level Me Up to track your progress in anything, including web design! Price: $1.99 (there is a free lite version). It’s a fun way to measure your skill and expertise.

There you have it. All the essential and optional tools you’ll need to really take your web design mobile. You won’t be able to do everything you can do on your computer at home or office, but with these tools and apps, you can come pretty close. So get out of the office, enjoy nature and the spring weather, and get inspired by your outdoor surroundings and take your website design and development truly mobile with nothing more than your iPad.

In my next article, I’ll take you on a step by step installation and configuration of WordPress done from my iPad. .

DISCLAIMER: you should assume that some or all of the product and app links in this article contain affiliate links to the product and I can earn a commission for each sale.

My first thought was to override the styles in one of the stylesheets I’m using for the site. I used the !important attribute to override the styles since my stylesheets are loaded first and the plugin’s stylesheet is loaded later. This worked until I ran across some styles that the plugin developer also marked !important. As such, the plugin styles in these instances could not be overridden. What to do?

All plugin stylesheets are added to the header using the wp_head() hook. So here’s what I did:

1. Created a separate stylesheet. I called it override-plugin-styles.css
2. Changed the styles as I wanted, still using the !important attribute for each style I changed. If you don’t, any styles the plugin developer marks !important will not be overridden.
3. Below the php code for wp_head(), insert a stylesheet link that links to your plugin override styles.

That’s all there is to overriding WordPress plugin styles that don’t provide a mechanism for overriding the CSS styles included with the plugin. Now you can update the plugin and be reasonably sure that your styles will remain intact. The only way they won’t is if the plugin developer changes the ids and classes of the HTML elements.

Here’s the code for your header:


<?php
/* We add some JavaScript to pages with the comment form
/* to support sites with threaded comments (when in use).
*/
if ( is_singular() && get_option( 'thread_comments' ) )
wp_enqueue_script( 'comment-reply' );

/* Always have wp_head() just before the closing
* tag of your theme, or you will break many plugins, which
* generally use this hook to add elements to such
* as styles, scripts, and meta tags.
*/
wp_head();
?>
<!-- Plugin Style Override CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php bloginfo( 'template_url' ); ?>/css/plugin-style-override.css" media="screen" />
</head>
<body <?php body_class(); ?>>


• From your computer, right click to download
• Connect your Palm Pre for USB
• Transfer to a folder on your /media/internal/ folder
• Open the launcher and tap the Photos app
• Tap the folder where you saved our P90X wallpaper
• Tap the P90X wallpaper
• Tap the button in the lower left of the screen
• Tap "Set wallpaper"
• At the top of the screen, tap the "Set Wallpaper" button