4th April 2008 - Party Time?

Local party and wedding organiser Sarah's Creative Occasions has contracted ASM to help rebrand the company's online presence with a new website scheduled to go online during May. The re-branded website will display details on the full range of wedding and party organising services that Sarah can offer for any type of special occasion.

4th April 2008 - BNI - helping to build business!

After 2 years as a member of the local chapter of Business Network International (BNI) ASM Director Alex Meldrum is proud to have been appointed as Chapter Director of the group. The role is a 6 month position and Alex looks forward to helping build the chapter over this time period. BNI Ayr is a business networking group that meets every Friday at the Savoy Park Hotel in Ayr at 7am with the aim of generating and developing referrals for other like minded business people. Visitors are always welcome to attend meetings and for any Ayrshire business looking to grow their business is an opportunity not to be missed.

25th March 2008 - Not just red Instakilts!

With the success of the Instakilt in 2007 Thistle Products have developed a new and expanded range of Instakilts - including red, blue, green, pink as well as a junior sized model. In order to provide a better level of e-commerce facility the company have re-developed the existing online shopping facility and are now looking to offer a much wider range of scottish novelty gifts and souvenirs direct to the public as well as to trade. The new e-commerce facility will allow a much wider range of products to be displayed as well as providing other features including customer photo galleries and newsletters. The system now uses the Google Checkout API to handle all payments and customer registrations and this has proved itself as a very effective e-commerce 'back-end' for small and medium sized e-commerce websites.

14th March 2008 - A New 'Office'!

With the arrival of the latest stationery and office supplies catalogue from Mr-Office the site has not only been updated with the new products but also re-designed to ensure faster load times and a better shopping experience for customers. The industry standard for site design was always to make a site which displays correctly in a monitor at 800x600px resolution but as technology advances and monitors become bigger (and wider) 95% of people now use 1024x800px resolution. So inline with the recent modification of many of the major sites such as the BBC the Mr-Office site has been re-coded to this standard - giving more space on screen to display information and therefore requiring less scrolling for the user.

10th March 2008 - Reed beds

Work has just started on the redevelopment and marketing of the Moir Environmental website. The site will be re-coded to make it search engine friendly and compliant with W3C design and accessibility standards before a comprehensive marketing campaign will start. in addition to this the site will be expanded - partly as pre-requisite for achieving good search engine results but also to develop the intellectual credibility of the company as one of the UK's leading experts in the installation and management of reed bed systems for commercial and domestic properties of all sizes.

28th February 2008 - Moving into property!

ASM is pleased to announce that Ayrshire Real Estate have been selected to design and market a new property website as they expand the services that they offer. Specifically the new website will be geared towards offering sell and rent back or fast sale facility in both the commercial and residential property sectors. As soon as the new site launches a structured search engine optimisation program will begin in order to try and develop good rankings in what is a very competitive marketplace.

27th February 2008 - Outside catering!

Local business woman Alice Farquhar has selected ASM to develop a new website for her company 'By Alice'. The company specialises in outside catering but also produces a range of unique clothing accessories made from a combination of tweed and fleece. The By Alice garment range includes, scarves, gilets and wrist warmers with more products being added on a regular basis. By Alice Catering can organise catering for all types of events from small dinner parties in your own home right through to wedding parties of several hundred - but no matter what the occasion is the same attention to detail and quality of ingredients is always there.

14th February 2008 - Not just cars!

The Clyde Vehicle Management website has just been updated to coincide with the opening of their new premises in the heart of Ayr. As well as not showing the latest special offers available on cars the site now displays light commercial vehicles and vans. The Content Management System in the site allows the staff to keep the site up to date with the very latest and best deals for both business and private contract hire as well as being a showcase for secondhand cars.

12th February 2008 - Breath of fresh air for 'rubbish' site!

A comprehensive review of the Albion Environmental Ltd. website has just started. The waste management consultancy is restructuring its core services and products and like any forward thinking business is looking to keep it's online presence up to date and accurate. In addition the site navigation has been simplified and the ongoing search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising campaigns will be adjusted to take account of the altered site and content.

7th February 2008 - All at sea!

JDCL Coaching - a professional sailing and skiing coaching company - operating in the Solent, Scotland and France has contracted ASM to carry out a structure program of search engine optimisation on their new site. The program will include onsite optimisation, directory submissions, inbound link building, integration of Google Analytics and administration of a Google Adwords Pay Per Click campaign (PPC).

29th January 2008 - b e a c h goes live!

The new website for b e a c h, a gift shop inspired by the sea and the seaside, has just gone live ahead of the official opening of the shop in early February. The shop is located in the beautiful seaside town of Troon, famous for being at the heart for some of the world's most famous golf courses and bordered on 2 sides by long sandy beaches. The site is the first stage in a development plan which will ultimately see the site developed from a static brochure site into a full e-commerce site.

14th January 2008 - Top class coaching!

ASM has been working with professional ski and yachting coach Jaz Lamb to develop his website from a static brochure site into an interactive tool which will not only provide information but will become a key component in the coaching programs. Based in the Solent for yachting and Morzine, France for skiing, JDCL Coaching offer high quality coaching aimed at bringing the best performance from all. the site features a scrolling news ticker, newsletter and article sections as well as a bespoke file upload system. The secure file upload system will allow clients to access files, documents, programs and other information forming part of their training program in a convenient and accessible way.

7th January 2008 - A trip to the beach!

No we haven't decided that global warming has heated the Irish sea up enough for us to go swimming in mid-winter! Instead we are working with David and Alice Michelson to establish a new brochure site for their gift shop, b e a c h, in the lovely seaside town of Troon. The brochure site will provide a window into the range of beautiful products which will be on offer ranging from Emma Bridgewater pottery to Moulin Roty toys.

2nd January 2008 - Happy New Year!

A Happy New Year from all the team at ASM Development. We look forward to working with new and existing clients throughout 2008 and will continue to commit to taking website beyond design so that they bring a real business reward.

20th December 2007 - Christmas Holidays!

Merry Christmas to all our customers. The ASM office will be closed from 5pm on 21st December through to 9am on Thursday 3rd January. If you have urgent matters which require attention please email or call 07712672598 for emergency support.

28th November 2007 - Full speed ahead!

Work on the new website for Ayrshire Country Events - ACE is nearing completion and the site has just gone live ahead of a quarter page editorial due to be published in The Herald later in the week.
The site includes information about the range of activities on offer at the centre - including quadbikes, off-road driving, archery, shooting, fishing and much more - as well as details of how the centre can produce an event for all types of occasion - whether it's a stag or hen weekend or a corporate tem building event. The site is a standard brochure site but has an integrated blog and also has been designed to be expanded as the business develops. ASM will be working with ACE over the coming months to ensure that the search engines find and index the site.

12th November 2007 - Snow joke!

The recently integrated blog for The Snow Institute Snowsport School in Morzine has come into its own with the first heavy snowfalls of the season falling across the Alps. The team at ASM wish all the staff at TSI a great, and snowy, winter!
The blog will form an important part of the search engine optimisation program for the company but will also be a valuable tool for communicating with their customers and with a bit of hard work should develop into a very useful viral marketing tool as well.

9th November 2007 - Welcome aboard!

The Specialist Media Company based in Ayrshire have recruited ASM to develop a new online marketing and sales platform for their business. More info coming soon! The company work with a very unique business model which will require a completely bespoke e-commerce/database driven website to cater for their exact requirements.

5th November 2007 - Blind Alley?

Hopefully not as the new Charisma Blinds website has just gone live and a search engine optimisation program has just started! We are sure that the investment in a well designed and regularly updated website will pay dividends for the company and ASM will be working with Charisma over the next few months to refine and complete the website. The search engine optimisation program will include directory submissions, inbound link generation, article writing and pay-per-click adverts as well as help and guidance in how to use the blog to best benefit the site.

28th October 2007 - Instakilt Festive Spirit

ASM is delighted to have been given the opportunity to give the Instakilt website a winter makeover ready for the Christmas period. The overall layout of the site will remain unchanged but the actual design will be given a seasonal twist. Early in the new Year the site will be returned to its usual format. As well as the makeover a number of new products has been added including the Rory and Lexy Scottish Soft Toys!

20th October 2007 - BNI Ayr Open Evening

BNI Ayr is hosting an open visitor evening on 25th October 2007. Any local or national business which would like to see how the networking group and system works is welcome to attend the evening between 5.45pm and 7.30pm on Thursday 25th October at the Savoy Park Hotel, Racecourse Road, Ayr.

15th October 2007 - Doon Driving School

The Doon Driving School website went live earlier today! ASM look forward to working with them as they develop their driving school over the coming years. Although a relatively small brochure site it has been designed to be easy to expand so that as the business develops the site can expand to meet the changing requirements. The site is cross browser compliant, search engine optimised and W3C compliant.

11th October 2007 - Vagabond 'Bags' a New Website!

Vagabond Bags commissioned ASM to develop a bespoke e-commerce website in order to access the growing e-commerce market both her in the Uk and overseas. The site has just been launched and incorporates Google Checkout as it's secure payment processor. Google Checkout offers a great route to market for may small - medium sized businesses as it provides a quality service as low cost. Commission charges are zero until 2008 and from then they will be around 50% of those charged by Paypal and Worldpay. In addition for every £10 that you spend on google Adwords they will process £100 of orders through Google Checkout for free. If you are looking to break into the e-commerce world then this option provides a reliable, cost effective method of doing so.

28st September 2007 - ASM takes to the road!

ASM has started developing a website for the newest driving school in Ayrshire - Doon Driving School based in Alloway. We are pleased to be working with this company and are working on a website which will be simple and easy for the company to expand and develop as their business grows.

20th September 2007 - ASM goes oriental!

ASM is pleased to announce that it is working with The Orientan, Kilmarnock and Orchid, prestwick to develop a new joint website for the 2 restaurants. the challenge here is to bring two restaurants together into one complimentary site which allowing each restaurant to maintain it's own unique identity.

15th September 2007 - Mr-Office goes Beta!

After extensive development the Mr-Office website has gone live and is currently undergoing a final series of checks and tests. The next phase in he project will be to integrate the furniture sales side of the business into the site as well as integrating the system directly into the in house order processing system. Over the next few weeks the final testing will be undertaken and providing all goes well we will start to market the site via comprehensive program of search engine optimisation (SEO) in order to bring the real return on investment for the company.

31st August 2007 - Mr-Office in Final testing!

After 3 months of development and testing the Mr-Office website is in the final testing phase and all being well the site will go live early September. With a catalogue of over 40 000 products it not only meets all your stationery needs but also provided us with some major challenges to overcome!

26th August 2007 - Instakilt e-commerce site goes live!

After the huge amount of exposure generated by the BBC news article about the Thistle Products Instakilt ASM were asked to try and deliver the Instakilt e-commerce website as early as possible in order to capitalise on the publicity. We're pleased to say that barely 3 days after the article hit the BBC site we had the site up and running and taking orders. The site uses Google Checkout to provide quick and easy management of a small e-shop and although only a limited number of products are on sale the hope is to be able to increase this in the future. The next step is to further consolidate the brand by carrying through a structured program of search engine optimisation.

22nd August 2007 - The Thistle Products Instakilt hits the BBC website!

ASM Development has developed two sites for Dalbeattie based company Thistle Products over the last 12 months and has just started on a third. The Thistle Products and Cairnsmhor websites were brochure sites targeted at retailers who may wish to sell their novelty gifts and souvenirs but the Instakilt site will be an e-commerce site allowing the public to purchase a selection of the products directly.
The Instakilt has proved a huge success since its launch in July 2007 and was featured in a BBC news story on the 22/23rd August 2007 which resulted in a huge surge in traffic to the Thistle Products website - 2000 visitors in 8hrs. The challenge was to maintain the access to the site even with the huge volume of traffic trying to access it.

18th August 2007 - Multilingual ASM get to the HEART of the matter!

ASM is delighted to continue working with HEART to develop solutions to improve living conditions throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo and across Africa as a whole. Both the Heart International and NCL Ltd websites have been translated into French and a mirror version of the site prepared. Special procedures have also been developed to ensure that both the English and French versions of the site will be updated in the same way and at the same time - inconsistency of content can be a major issue with multi language website design.

17th August 2007 - Grangers Consultancy Services takes on Google!

After updating and amending the content on their website Grangers Consultancy Services have decided that the site is ready to take on the challenge of acquiring and maintaining a strong position in the major search engines. After reviewing the success stories achieved by ASM over the last year Grangers have embarked on a 3 month intensive search engine optimisation program aimed at giving them the competitive edge.

25th July 2007 - Charisma Blinds Welcome ASM on Board

ASM Development is delighted to announce that local Ayrshire business, Charisma Blinds have asked us to undertake the design and marketing of a new website. The brochure website will provide information about the extensive range of blinds which the company manufacture and sell from their Stevenston factory.

20th July 2007 - SEO Workshops Launched

In October 2007 we will be launching our free search engine optimisation workshops. The workshops are targeted at providing business owners and managers with the knowledge of what makes a good online marketing strategy as well as the tools and skills to undertake much of the work themselves.

The workshops are being run in conjunction with AME Marketing and form part of a series of workshops which aim to provide information and advice on a wide spectrum of marketing strategies.

18th July 2007 - Mission to Kinshasa, DRC

Over the last month ASM has been working closely with Ayr based company AEI Ltd in their bid to develop a waste management strategy for the city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The city and country is facing a vast humanitarian crisis and AEI are hoping that fast action on all fronts with save many needless deaths.

The company operates in partnership with Heart International and if through this charitable organisations there are many ways in which individuals and companies can support the project.

The work undertaken has included design and development of the followings sites:-

• www.aei-ltd.com
• www.heartinternational.org
• www.ncl-uk.com
• www.ibcacademy.co.uk

as well as the translation of over 10 000 words from English to French.

ASM look forward to supporting this project over the forthcoming months and years.

5th July 2007 - Tartan Triumph!

The Thistle Products website has gone live and our initial search engine marketing campaign is proving to have been very successful. The site is ranking within the top 20 for a number of key phrases including "scottish souvenir gifts" and "scottish tartan gifts".

As always at ASM we are committed to forming long term relationships with clients and focused on delivering websites which will bring a real business reward to our clients.