Nate Covington

Nate, Thank you - so much - for everything.  From quarterbacking, organizing, hooking up your laptop and showing the discussed sites, to being a calming influence during the prepatory discussions.

I appreciate it all. You really helped the Chamber to produce a truly successful workshop!

Amanda M. Soler
Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce

I just picked up a 15" MacBook Pro, and I'm never going back. I made the jump from Windows Vista Ultimate Edition, using Outlook 2003 Professional; now using Mac OSX with Apple's included software - Mail, iCal, and Address Book. It even syncs with my Blackberry!

"It was time for the Lambertville House to update its web site. After listening to a presentation by Nate Covington at the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, I decided to break with tradition and work with a new web builder. My objectives were quite clear, I wanted to streamline the site and increase search engine optimization. After meeting with Nate I was confident that he was going to work hard to understand what was needed to communicate our message to our customers. Nate was a patient listener and it was obvious from the start of the project that he wanted to make sure the finished product would exceed my expectations. The professionalism, attention to detail and overall quality of work has been a pleasure. Nate has provided guidance and useful tools to enhance and promote our site in an easy to understand format. I highly recommend Covington Creations and Nate who is reliable and creative. We look forward to a long standing working relationship."
- Mary Ellen Mason, Proprietor, Lambertville House

We felt the first thing that had to go was the daunting navigation menu because was too long and wordy to let people make easy choices.

Before:

After:

We wanted to keep the existing look & feel, but made a few changes:

a.  Breadcrumbs
We added "breadcrumbs" to the top of every page; that way, visitors have a quick and simple way to navigate the site.  Plus, it gives plenty of extra text links for the search engines to enjoy.  Best of all, the breadcrumb menu is automatically generated by the custom-tailored content management system that powers the site.

b.  Lightbox (Thumbnails)
Throughout the site, there are small thumbnails that enlarge to show a full-size picture.  The best part?  They're also automatically generated by our fancy control panel.  Want to swap out the pictures?  Just upload new ones to a folder on the web server and, bang.  Done.

c.  Blog.  RSS Feeds.  Social Bookmarking.
We added an Announcements section to the Lambertville House site and equipped it with all of the latest goodies.  First, adding content regularly to the site will feed Google wonderful content to chew up and help gain exposure for the site.  Second, social bookmarking links on all of the new articles allow viewers to share the articles through services like Facebook, Digg, Technorati, and Del.icio.us.  The best part?  You guessed it.  Automatically generated by the CMS software.

d.  Search, Site Map
Let's make it as easy as possible for people to navigate the site.  For those who can't manage the newly simplified navigation menu, let's add a quick and easy site search function.  Studies show that half of all web surfers use Search instead of menus.  Also, the site map gives visitors a hierarchal view of the content while feeding Google some more links.

View Site:
www.lambertvillehouse.com

Let's face it. Facebook caught on because next to Myspace, it was tolerable.  Myspace is notorious for having glittery, flashy, overdone, obnoxious pages that can give you a headache in a matter of seconds.  Plus, music.  Without my consent!

I'm done.  Let's take a look at what facebook changed and why it's better:

Old Home Page

Q: How long does it take to make a web site?
A: Our projects typically range from 4-6 weeks.

Q: When can you get started?
A: Typically, we run at a "2 weeks until we can start on new work" pace.  Contact us for a status update.

Q: What about updates?
A: We are available to update our client's Web sites on an as-needed basis, billed hourly.  We can also implement Content Management Systems which would allow you to make updates to your site's content, photos, etc.

Q: Can my current site remain as-is while we build the new one?
A: Yes!  We build new sites on our development server, which we will provide a link to your site during the project so that you can see the actual site as it is built.

Q:  My site is already hosted with ________.  Can you work on my site?
A: Yes!  All we need is the login and password to your hosting account.

Q: I already have a Graphic Designer / Copy Writer / Photographer lined up...  Can you work with him/her?
A: Yes!  We frequently work hand-in-hand with Advertising Agencies, Marketing Consultants, PR Firms, Publishers, and the like.