Author Archive for Steve Heuser

Whistler’s Knoll Testimonial

By Steve Heuser on 10/29/2015 No Comments

Whistler's Knoll home pageWhen we started our business, we knew a well designed website would be one of the most important ways to successfully launch and establish our brand.  A friend referred us to Steve, and we had no clue what a strategic and valued business partner he would become.  He took the time to listen so he could understand both our business as well as our dreams.  From there he created a unique and highly dynamic website unlike any of the pastel versions we had seen in our industry.  We attribute our speedy ramp up and success to Steve!

 

Holly & Tom Boettcher

Whistler’s Knoll

A Vineyard With Character

 

Categories : Testimonial

“The cobbler’s children have no shoes.”

By Steve Heuser on 01/26/2015 No Comments

Brook Web Works home pageThe origin of this phrase is unknown, however, the essence of this phrase can be used to describe the phenomenon where certain ‘professionals’ in any given area are so busy with work for their clients that they neglect using their professional skills to help themselves.

In 2007 when I started Brook Web Works, I built a website using Fusion. At the time, it was considered state of the art software for building websites.  It did what I needed and generated leads for my new business.  Since then I have not updated the website regularly, hence the phrase about the cobbler.

Website technology has changed a lot since 2007, HTML5, CSS3,  PHP5.5, MySQL5 just to name a few.  New and improved content management systems like WordPress have evolved from a blogging platform to a website builder.  WordPress has thousands of  plugins that can be added to make websites perform different tasks.  Here is a short list of just some of the things that plugins can do for this website and yours.

  • Contact forms.
  • Spam blockers.
  • Email Encoders, to protect your email address from spiders.
  • Telephone number linker, click to call from mobile devices.
  • Image sliders, with flash no longer being supported, sliders have taken their place.
  • Triple redundant backups, daily local, weekly cloud, monthly network storage.
  • Security plugin to protect the website from hackers.
  • Google Analytics, I can track how many visitors I have to the website.
  • SEO tools, to help with search engine optimization.
  • Social media integration, auto post news / blog to any of our media channels with one mouse click.

These are just some of the things that I have added to my new WordPress website.

My great-grandfather Hugo Heuser was a shoe cobbler in Milwaukee Wisconsin.  I can remember visiting his shop when I was very young and seeing all the funny looking tools used to make shoes.  Today’s  website tools may look funny to some but with a little training we can teach just about anyone to make changes to their website.

 

Categories : News
Tags :

Faces Eyewear

By Steve Heuser on 01/10/2015

Faces-Eyewear-550-wFaces Eyewear wanted to update their old website that was out of date and was not responsive to mobile devices.  They also wanted a website that they could edit, which would enable them to upload the latest fashion eyewear onto their pages.

After the initial meeting with Faces Eyewear I presented them with a number of WordPress themes that went well with the style and color of their logo.  They picked Builder Expansion Blue theme from iThemes.  This theme is mobile responsive, featuring an image slider on the home page and 3 product featured areas below the fold.

Faces Eyewear wanted a way to connect their social media to their News / Blog page.  We connected their WordPress with the popular Jetpack plugin and its Publicize feature.  When they make a post on their blog it will automatically copy that post to Facebook,  Twitter and Google Plus.  Also links to their social media channels are on the top right side of every page, so their clients can connect with them.

parking Map by Brook Web WorksBelow that are the store’s hours and their phone number that will “click to call” on smart phones.  Saving the mobile visitor from having to remember the number.

Besides, having the Google interactive maps on their contact page.  Faces Eyewear  wanted a page  to show what parking is available in down town Appleton.

Visit the Live Site at: https://faceseyewear.com/

 

Categories : Portfoilo
Tags :

The Loose Wheel Supper Club

By Steve Heuser on 12/05/2014 1 Comments

Loose-Wheel-550-wThis website can be edited by the owner and staff of the Loose Wheel.  They can update any part of the website, including their daily specials, dinner and drink menus.  So their customers can visit the site and see what the special is.

The website also has click to dial phone numbers, so when their customers visit the site on their phone they can just click on the phone number and it will enter the number.  All they have to do is press connect, no need to remember the number.

The map page is connected to Google inactive maps.  Customer can get direction from their computer or phone.

The Loose Wheel MenuThe Loose Wheel picked this WordPress theme from i3dThemes.com, it has a lot of style and color.  Some of the theme features are…

  • Mobile responsive
  • Primary Image Slider
  • Multi-Level Menus
  • Social Media Icons
  • Global News Boxes
Categories : Portfoilo
Tags :