Coast Radar was faced with a problem that many other websites are also struggling with. The whole idea that visitors are using different sized devices and expect a tailored experience. At first we worked on a main website, mobile website and iphone application but this just became too expensive and complicated to keep in sync.

After listening to what the users were saying we decided on a completely new version of the website.

The beta is a mechanism where we can share our new vision and still have time to take on-board people’s comments.

At a high level the changes of the new website are:

• Clearer navigation outside of maps.
      We have provided a new text link navigation system where you start at a continent, then look at countries, then states, then actual listings.
• People who enter at a beach listing from the search engine said it is long winded to see other elements close by.
      We have added a breadcrumb at the top of a page labelled “You are at :: ” where the green parts are links to allow you to easily move backwards and forwards. This means you can easily move up from an entry to the region, from a region to the country, etc.
• People only want to be told about the area they are looking at rather than maps of the world with 1000′s of markers.
      We have changed the whole site to show information based on the context. For example, if you are looking at The United Kingdom you will see the regions/states, where as if you are looking at a state you will see the listings within it.
• People want a mechanism whereas they can ask businesses and other people for advice on a coastal area.
      We have expanded the community to provide a full social environment where people can freely ask questions and share experiences.
• People wanted a mechanism to plan plan and record a trip.
  We have allowed FREE travel Blogs within the community to plan, record and share a trip.
• People want a single website to map to the device they are using, a laptop, tablet or mobile phone and don’t want to have to swap between mobile, desktop and mobile application versions.
      This was a complete re-design to provide a responsive website that adapts to the screen size being used. We will discontinue our iphone and mobile website versions.
• Businesses wanted a mechanism to communicate with other businesses and people interested in the coast.
  The new community website allows people to discuss topics within what we calls groups. Groups can be PUBLIC – open to everyone, PRIVATE – people have to request membership of the group Admin or HIDDEN where people have top be invited. Anyone can start a group.
  
• People wanted a faster site.
  Although the beta does not use it, when the new website goes live it will use an international Content Delivery Network (CDN) to provide faster access to content.

Why not go and have a play at beta.coastradar.com

Technology wise, the main website is a custom HTML 5 fluid design and the community makes use of WordPress and Buddypress.

Any questions then just drop us an email or give us a call at +44 (0)20 8123 8159

The Coast Radar mobile website version 1 has been launched today and can be seen at www.coastradar.mobi

The site works by discovering the current position and then displaying listings based on this location, listings currently cover the Beach Guide, Things to Do Guide, Shopping Guide and Places to Eat Guide from the main website. The site tries to adapt the various screen sizes from the 10 inch iPad to the much smaller mobile phones. With iPad/iPhones it supports the save to home page with icon and splash page.

If you want to search for locations rather than look from your current position you will have to use the main desktop website at www.coastradar.com, although we are looking to add this to version 2 later in the summer.

Give it a try, comments and improvement suggestions to the Coast Radar face book page (facebook/coastradar) or twitter (@coastradar).

Praeparo has some excellent domain name price deals at the moment:

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Visit Praeparo domain name registrations to see these and many other offers.

All Praeparo Internet customers get 10% off web projects and search engine optimisation services. Also Free with Domain Registration:

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We will sit down with you in front of your website and generally walk through it and answer any of your concerns.

So if your business is local in towns like Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Aylesbury, Chesham, Amersham, St. Albans, Watford, Wendover or even as far as Milton Keynes just send a message on our contact us form or give us a call.

If you are further afield or you represent a trading body or business group then by all means contact us and we will see what we can do.

Some of the questions already asked include:
- my website looks dated, any ideas?
- how can I get more control over my website content and not always have to pay for changes?
- what does SEO mean to me?
- website review please?
- keyword selection tips?
- am I spending enough or too much on pay per click advertising?
- should I concentrate on local search?

As you can see we have covered and helped a lot of businesses. Again, no obligation to purchase anything.

If you’d like to know more, call us today on 020 8123 8159.

Some of the changes:

• Use of jquery,
• Upgrade to maptimize version 2
• New photo map

Use of jquery

The Coast Radar home page has been radically updated to have a moving look. To achieve this the site makes use of jquery tabs.

Maptimize

The main 4 map pages have always made use of maptimize as this is the only way we could get the maps to perform with such large amounts of map markers. Maptimize have released version 2 which we have upgraded to. This results in improved performance for all users.

Photo Map

The Coast Radar website previously had its own gallery but it was decided that this had limited usage and so a simple coast photo map was created making use of Google Maps API version 3 and images provided by Panoramio. This provided the Coast Radar users with the ability to scan round photos of beaches, activities and areas being investigated.

Any questions or if you want some of this functionality on your website please don’t hesitate to contact us.

.INFO is the official domain created to bring new space and new life to the Internet. Already, many of the world’s most valuable brands have registered their .INFO domains-companies such as Coca-Cola, Mercedes, Nivea, and Sony.

Now it’s your turn to join the hundreds of thousands of businesses, organizations, and individuals who have registered their .INFO names. There are great .INFO names available, and they can help users find you fast.

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.Me is a new domain space that offers users the ability to personalize a web address and really express themselves online, in their own way. It is a remarkably catchy business marketing tool that can be used by individual users and businesses. A .Me is easy way for people to remember a web address and find it again online.

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- To get this price please give us a call or use our contact form

Approximately 1.3+ billion users world-wide have Internet access on their mobile devices. Advancements in cost-effective technology (such as the new 3G iPhone) and standardization of mobile-friendly websites are making it easier for users to get online via their mobile device.

This creates a unique opportunity for your business since companies will need to offer websites catered to the needs of a mobile Internet user.

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You see an expensive website with all the current trends that shows a wonderful image. You like what you see so click on a contact-us form and you get a nice page that says thank-you for your enquiry and that a representative will get back to you in a few hours. You then see an email from business@hotmail.com, or you may not see it as it is in your spam. Would you then go and spend your good earned money with this company when all your communication is to a FREE email account.

I don’t think you would as it does not instill confidence that the organisation is here for the long term.

The biggest industry I see this in is the travel trade and hotels, self catering, B&B, holiday cottage establishments.

It only takes a few pounds a year to close this gap and I am sure will drive a lot more business and reduce the bounce rate of visitors to your website.

Praeparo are offering a 50% reduction on our strategy workshop was £995 now £495.

For this you get an expert on site for a day to discuss your website and internet marketing strategy and help you validate the current plan and discuss improvements and way forwards.

This is not a formal report generation meeting but a real person sitting down with yourselves and talking through ideas. We admit that we may not have all the answers but will either point you at a relevant resource to get an answer or we will take away the question and get back to you.

The agenda can be anything you want but we typically think a discussion around:

• Where you currently think you are?
• Where you think you are going?
• Gap analysis between you current and future state.
• Start to discuss how the gaps can be addresses.

Use our contact form or give us a call on 020 8123 8159 to start the ball rolling.

Remember, visitors hitting your website and thus purchasing don’t come by accident, as the internet gets more competitive you need to be on top of what your competitors are doing.

Note: onsite visit for UK customer within 150 miles of postcode HP22. Other will be considered but travel may incur a small charge.

Why not start today by becoming a fan of our page and getting a FREE website marketing analysis for any two keyword phrases.

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Click here to read full press release!

The new website allows travelers to quickly and easily “Discover the Shoreline” with a very focused and relevant search based on visitor reviews. Coast Radar provides a full Beach Guide, a complete Weather Station, an Activity Guide, Kit Bag and full list of Services and Accommodations.

The Beach Guide features an online search locating beaches by region or by map. It also offers the top 10 beaches and allows users to suggest a beach. The Weather Station offers current weather conditions, the previous day’s highs and lows and the precipitation forecast. The Activity Guide helps travelers find things to do on the coast ranging from leisurely walks and hikes to surfing and sailing. The Kit Bag helps visitors locate shops for all their travel accessory needs. The Services Guide provides a list of schools, instructors and guides and the Accommodation Guide provides a list of friendly places to stay near the beach of choice.

There are several ways to search using the website. The “Quick Jump” takes users straight to a Google Map of a specific location. Users can also browse through maps based on categories of Beach, Activities, Kit Bag, Services and Accommodations; or users can browse through a region and narrow the search by selecting text links.

Coast Radar gathers its information based on visitor submissions. The site also offers business listings for local area businesses to advertise a service, shop or accommodation. While the site is currently focused on the UK, other coastal regions will soon be added to the site.

For further information, or to “Discover the Shoreline,” please visit www.coastradar.com