Welcome To Digital-8

Our Mission Statement

Digital-8 brings simplicity and cost effective websites to the Small to Medium Enterprise sector. We dare to be different because we can be…

Who We are…

Digital-8 has been created to bring a unique and innovative website solution to the on line industry for Small to Medium Enterprise Companies that need a fully functional and marketable website, but may feel that they cannot afford one. High fees and extensive contracts are a thing of the past. When you become a Digital-8 client, you become a client that is both valued and respected from the very first conversation you have with us and we will design your website around your ideas and your budget, and create your business a website that you will enjoy working with for many years to come.

With over 10 years Expertise in sales & marketing of, and creating websites for companies both large and small, Digital-8, have all the expertise you need to market your company in an attractive and cost effective way. Based in London and Manchester, we are a fast moving dynamic digital agency with expertise in Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), And Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC). Our Latest websites involve the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and Ajax Technology.

This technology provides you with a site which Google finds much easier to crawl, and therefore benefits your websites movement up through the natural listings on the Google search engines, giving you a better chance to get up to that elusive page one position that all businesses crave..

New Technology To Update Your Site Form Your Mobile!!! See Below!

Digital-8 – Contract Free!

Yes, No Contracts…

As surprising as that sounds, Digital-8 does not see any need in business for a client to sign up for a contract in order to own a website. A website is a product, and as such, should be subject to the same purchase conditions as that of any other product, you buy it, and you own it!!! Far too many companies are tying businesses into 1 and 2 year contracts for a website and at the end of that contract, these businesses are finding out that they do not in fact own it, so have to carry on using that company for their hosting and maintenance in order to keep their website on the internet. This is absolutely unacceptable to Digital-8, and we will not be one of those companies that manipulate businesses in this way.

Digital-8 has been set up to meet the client demand for a professional, fully functional website that can be built for the client, and upon payment, the client owns it outright, so much so, that upon the final payment, Digital-8 will email all access codes, passwords and FTP Codes to the client for them to choose where they would like it hosted and maintained. We are confident, that as we have built the client a great website, and not abused their trust by tying them into a contract, that they will also ask us to host it and maintain it.

We are able to do this simply by providing a unique payment method for our clients, we take a set up fee, build the site, then take the remainder of the fee upon completion, and in circumstances where a client may have limited funds, we can create a unique payment structure for them, so that they can still have a great website. If you miss a payment, we will simply pull your website off the internet until you have paid the outstanding amount, simplicity at it’s best.

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Now you may think that that is a bit risky for your investment, but let’s just look at the risk for a moment… What are you buying? A website and a website that is not released to you until YOU have approved every stage of the design and functionality of that site. So now that you have approved all of the stages of your site, and you have seen it working fully, what is the risk? You have just paid for a fully working website; this is the product you have bought.

Now the hosting and Tech support of that site is a rolling agreement that you pay on a monthly basis to Digital-8, but again, if you decide to host elsewhere, we will happily pass on all FTP Access codes to you immediately. We would ask for your reasons why, so as to establish if it was a service issue on our part, or simply a better deal you found. Digital-8 firmly believes it would not be a service issue, but if it was, as you are a respected and appreciated client, we would want to know how we can rectify any issues you may have, so as to make sure that not only are you satisfied, but also so that no other future clients receive the same service.

We believe that all clients can benefit from a service that is constantly addressed and updated when needed. So your issues, no matter how small, can make huge differences to our service we provide, and therefore, we want to know immediately, no matter how small you may think they are. You can help us build the service you want by speaking with us

Digital-8 - Website Design

Digital-8 offers a unique approach to website design in that we don’t tell you how we think your website should look. What we do listen to what you what you want to achieve from your website, what you want it to look like, and what market audience you are targeting. Then we will set about discussing the aesthetics of your website, this is where you get to discuss your ideas in detail, and we will work with them as far as possible, whilst maintaining a professional image to reflect your business to your clients.

Digital-8 signs off every stage from conception of design to build and live host on the internet. This is where we get our clients to check every stage and sign off on the design, layout and functionality, so that when it comes to the site being put together, both the client and us know that the website is 100% accurate, so that once completed, their website will be exactly as they are expecting to see it.

Your website is a reflection of you and your business, so who are we to tell you what you have to have??? We are here to give you what you want; as far as is possible, and with your ideas and our creativity, Digital-8 is confident we can give you a website you will love. Contact us to discuss your current website and what you want from your new website, and see how we can create a new, fresh and dynamic image on line for you.

Digital-8 - Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

In order for you to decide whether or not you need SEO for your website, don’t let us tell you, take a minute to read through this brief explanation of SEO, and then you can decide for yourself,

"There is no longer a debate as to how vitally important Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is to your website. Simply put, SEO is crucial to the profitability of your website, and therefore to your business and will be the most important investment you make in your business, producing a substantial Return on Investment (ROI). Search Engine Optimisation encompasses both Paid Advertising and Organic Listings in Search Engines, and with more than 95% of all internet users not looking past the first page of search engine results, it is a highly competitive industry.

Therefore to compete with your competition, your company must invest in being on the first page for your related searches. SEO is the key to your success on the internet. If you aren’t still completely convinced, take a look at your competitors online. Your competitors are definitely practicing SEO, because anyone who wants to make money online is investing in SEO. SEO has one of the highest returns on investment of all online marketing or advertising campaign. We have witnessed it time and time again. There are many different options when advertising online and when you look at the return on investment, SEO has proven over the past 10 years to be one of the most efficient uses of your advertising budget."

So now that you have a better understanding of SEO, do you agree that it is a service that you can do with out? With over 5 years of research into what Google looks for when assessing a website, Digital-8 knows how to design your website so as to maximize the way Google crawls your content, and therefore producing a better positioning for your website in the natural listings. Digital-8 are not promising first position on page 1 of Google. We simply can't as it is impossible to guarantee such absurd claims, but we will guarantee a climb up the natural rankings, and there is a definite possibility that with some continued hard work first page positioning is not an unrealistic goal. Contact us today to discuss your business plans for 2009 and let us help you realise these plans…

Digital-8 – Pay Per Click (PPC)

At Digital-8, we are Google Accredited, Google Adwords Experts. We offer a fantastic package for our clients allowing them to know their campaigns are in safe hands and that they can be assured a quality return on investment. We will create and deliver a PPC campaign for you based upon your individual budget and requirements, and once again, this is an agreement, not a contract, so as you have previously read in our NO CONTRACT page, you will not be charged fees to discontinue your PPC, or will you be tied into your campaign for set terms.

We will advise you on how long it will take for you to see results based upon your specific campaign, and we will always be able to demonstrate to you at any time, where your budget has been allocated within the campaign, this way, you only pay for what is needed from your campaign. What does not get used will be carried over to the next month.

The prices set below will give you an indication as to what you receive for your investment with Digital-8.

Budget	Management Fee	Contract Length
Prices may be due to change at any time but are correct to April '09
£100 Adwords Budget	£40 per month	6 months
£200 Adwords Budget	£80 per month	6 Months
£300 Adwords Budget	£100 per month	9 Months
£400-£1000 Adwords Budget	£150 per month	9 Months
£1000+	Contact Us	12 Months

Digital-8 – Hosting

Digital-8 offers various hosting packages starting from single site packages to large enterprise dedicated server packages. On top of these standard packages, we also offer packages that are designed and set out on an individual basis, so each one will be tailored to suit every client’s respective needs and requirements.

Digital-8 is proud to be different, we make it our responsibility to service all of our clients exceptionally and to offer each individual client an individual service, tailored to your requirements, we are different, and proud to be so, so take a few minutes out of your day to call us to discuss your needs, you may very well be pleasantly surprised. If you have a more competitive quote from a company let us know, and if we can match or better it, we will….

Why Google Love Us

We have one major secret here at Site Kings, Single Page Sites! Click a link on our menu and all you will do is visit another area of the page we choose to show you!!

Clever Eh?

Google love us for it because we allow them to crawl our sites quickly allowing them to see all our information in a flash instead of having to crawl a huge great site with multiple pages. We bring to Google what Google really wants to see.

We Are Special no one and we mean no one is doing sites like this! If you choose to come with us you will be using a technology so new the chances are your site would be one of the first sites (after ours!!) to be using this technology.

So... Go on you have seen why we are better than the rest, so put us to the test!

Digital-8 - Contact Us

You can contact Digital-8 by emailing the details of your enquiries to info@digital-8.com

For technical support enquiries, contact support@digital-8.com

Digital-8 - Why CSS

Don’t take our word for it, take Trenton’s… Digital-8 is completely honest in all of the things we do, and we believe that Trenton Moss, founder and owner of Webcedible, is probably the highest authority on CSS Technology, so much so, we have used his words to explain CSS and so give you a totally unbiased report of the Technology…

This article was written by Trenton Moss. Trenton's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he founded Webcredible, an industry-leading user experience consultancy17, helping to make the Internet a better place for everyone. He's very good at running CSS training and spends much of his time working on the world's most accessible CMS.

Why a CSS website layout will make you money

Although CSS layouts have been around for years, they haven't become so commonplace until recently. This was basically due to limited browser support (especially from Netscape 4) - nowadays though, CSS 2.0 (which introduced positioning) is compatible with over 99% of browsers out there. So, why should you convert your website from its current table-based layout to a CSS layout? Simply, It'll make you money. And here are four reasons to explain why:

Reduced bandwidth costs

Web pages using CSS for layout tend to have much smaller file sizes than those using tabular layouts. It's not unusual to see reductions of 50% or more in file size when switching from tables to CSS. Smaller file sizes obviously mean reduced bandwidth costs, which for high traffic sites can mean enormous savings. The main reason for this dramatic decrease in file size is that presentation information is placed in the external CSS document, called up once when the homepage loads up and then cached (stored) on to the user's computer. Table layouts on the other hand, place all presentation information inside each HTML, which is then called up and downloaded for every page on the site.
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Additionally, CSS can be used to replace JavaScript image rollovers, again allowing a large reduction in overall page size.

Higher Search Engine Ranking

A CSS-based website will appear higher in the search engine rankings for three reasons:

• The code is cleaner and therefore more accessible to search engines
• Important content can be placed at the top of the HTML document
• There is a greater density of content compared to coding

A higher search engine ranking means more site visitors, which, provided your website is usable, should lead to an increase in enquiries or sales.

Faster download speed

A faster download speed will make you money? Well, yes. Slow download speed is often cited as one of the biggest usability complaints for websites. A faster download speed therefore leads to increased usability, and a web usability redesign can increase the sales/conversion rate by 100%

CSS downloads faster than tables because:

• Browsers read through tables twice before displaying their contents, once to work out their structure and once to determine their content
• Tables appear on the screen all in one go - no part of the table will appear until the entire table is downloaded and rendered
• Tables encourage the use of spacer images to aid with positioning
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• CSS generally requires less code than cumbersome tables
• All code to do with the layout can be placed in an external CSS document, which will be called up just once and then cached (stored) on the user's computer; table layout, stored in each HTML document, must be loaded up each time a new page downloads
• With CSS you can control the order items download on to the screen - make the content appear before slow-loading images and your site users will definitely appreciate it

Increase in reach

The more people you can reach, the more visitors you'll get to your site and the more enquiries or sales you should get. A CSS-based website is compatible with PDAs, mobile phones, in-car browsers and WebTV. Don't underestimate the importance of this: In 2008 alone an estimated 58 million PDAs will be sold and one third of the world's population will own a wireless device. You can make an additional CSS document specifically for handheld devices, which will be called up in place of the regular CSS document, thereby ensuring your website is accessible to this lucrative market. This isn't possible with a tabular layout.

Conclusion: Switch to CSS!

Switching your website from a table layout to a CSS layout can be a long, arduous process, especially for large websites. Given the money making possibilities though, it could very well prove to be well worth it.

Digital-8 - Why Ajax?

Don’t take our word for it, take Jennifer Kyrnin’s… Jennifer Kyrnin About.com has been a professional Web developer and has been assisting others to learn Web Design, HTML, CSS, and XML since 1995. Digital-8 is completely honest in all of the things we do, and we believe that Jennifer Kyrnin gives such a clear explanation of AJAX, in terms that we can all understand, so please have a read through her great explanation of AJAX Technology…

Jennifer Kyrnin’s (About.com) Experience:

Jennifer has maintained sites of over 5000 pages on a large corporate websites, smaller small business websites, and tiny personal Web pages and blogs, as well as several intranet and extranet sites. She has also worked as a contract Web designer on numerous sites. She has worked with nearly every Web technology including XML, CMS, HTML, PHP, Perl, C, JavaScript, Ruby, and Java.

Web applications are fun to build. They are like the fancy sportscar of Web sites. Web applications allow the designer and developer to get together and solve a problem for their customers that the customers might not have even know they had. That's how the blogging tools like MovableType and Blogger came about after all. I mean, before Blogger, did you know you needed an online tool to build your Web site blog?
Canning Town

But most Web applications are slow and tedious. Even the fastest of them has lots of free time for your customers to go get a coffee, work on their dog training, or (worst of all) head off to a faster Web site. It's that dreaded hourglass! You click a link and the hourglass appears as the Web application consults the server and the server thinks about what it's going to send back to you.
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Ajax is Here to Change That

Ajax (sometimes called Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a way of programming for the Web that gets rid of the hourglass. Data, content, and design are merged together into a seamless whole. When your customer clicks on something on an Ajax driven application, there is very little lag time. The page simply displays what they're asking for. If you don't believe me, try out Google Maps for a few seconds. Scroll around and watch as the map updates almost before your eyes. There is very little lag and you don't have to wait for pages to refresh or reload.

What is Ajax?

Ajax is a way of developing Web applications that combines:
• XHTML and CSS standards based presentation
• Interaction with the page through the DOM
• Data interchange with XML and XSLT
• Asynchronous data retrieval with XMLHttpRequest
• JavaScript to tie it all together

In the traditional Web application, the interaction between the customer and the server goes like this:

1. Customer accesses Web application
2. Server processes request and sends data to the browser while the customer waits
3. Customer clicks on a link or interacts with the application
4. Server processes request and sends data back to the browser while the customer waits
5. etc....

There is a lot of customer waiting.

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Ajax Acts as an Intermediary

The Ajax engine works within the Web browser (through JavaScript and the DOM) to render the Web application and handle any requests that the customer might have of the Web server. The beauty of it is that because the Ajax engine is handling the requests, it can hold most information in the engine itself, while allowing the interaction with the application and the customer to happen asynchronously and independently of any interaction with the server.

Asynchronous

This is the key. In standard Web applications, the interaction between the customer and the server is synchronous. This means that one has to happen after the other. If a customer clicks a link, the request is sent to the server, which then sends the results back.

With Ajax, the JavaScript that is loaded when the page loads handles most of the basic tasks such as data validation and manipulation, as well as display rendering the Ajax engine handles without a trip to the server. At the same time that it is making display changes for the customer, it is sending data back and forth to the server. But the data transfer is not dependent upon actions of the customer.

Ajax is Not New Technology

Ajax is instead a new way of looking at technology that is already mature and stable. If you're designing Web applications right now, why aren't you using Ajax? Your customers will thank you, and frankly, it's just fun!

Featured Client www.elegantilluminations.co.uk

Elegant Illuminations approached us with the task of creating a online presence to sell their range of Lamps, Lampshades and Chndeliers,

See Elegant Lampshades here