Are Wooden Mobile Homes The Latest Trend?

We have come a long way from the stereotypical mobile homes that we are used to seeing on TV. They are no longer considered something cheaper than a house but more permanent than an apartment. We don’t look at them like last resort swellings. These homes offer us the best in portability and style, and the more modern examples are proof of that.

Many trends have come and gone over the years in the mobile home business. But one has really been turning heads, and has completely changed the way they look and feel. Those are such homes made of wood and they are incredible.

Why Wood Is In Style

You may be wondering what it is about wood that is so impressive and in style. A lot of it has to do with the general look. Wooden structures have a classical element that is hard to achieve with metal frames. Rather than have a traditional trailer, you can have a miniature cabin that is a joy to look at.

There are also environmental factors at word. Many wooden mobile homes are made from repurposed or recycled lumber, using eco-friendly strains and sealants. This adds another dimension for those who want to lessen their carbon footprint, while being a little closer to nature. It isn’t as easy to feel that connection to the Earth when you are living in a metal box.

On the downside, a wooden home is often going to be more expensive due to the materials and the cost of maintenance. But those who have them agree that it is worth the investment.

Maintaining a Wooden Mobile Home

While it requires more upkeep than its metal cousin, such home does not cost nearly as much, or take as much effort, as you may fear. On the contrary, they only have to be maintained every three to five years, and the rest of the time tend to keep under all weather conditions.

When the three to five year does arrive you will have to restain and reseal the wood. This prevents it from shrinking due to moisture and heat, cracking due to cold, or blanching in the sun. It will also prevent breaks in the seal that can lead to drafts, rot, or even infestations of insects and rodents.

Because the square footage tends to be smaller on a wooden mobile home the price rarely goes over $1,500. That may seem like a lot, but spread over the years that is $300 – $500 per year, and worth every penny to keep your home looking beautiful.

What To Look For In a Wooden Mobile Home

Now that you know some of the reasons for getting a such wooden home, here are some things to consider when looking for the one that is perfect for you and your family:

Space – How much space are you going to need? This is among the most important questions to ask, because these homes are very customizable. More and more the tiny house option is becoming popular, but you can build something as large as you want. You can also find decent prefab homes of all sizes.

Cost – Cost is going to be a big factor in making a decision for most. Generally speaking you will be looking at the tens of thousands, depending on size and features. That is much less than you would pay for a metal mobile home, and hundreds of thousands less than if you chose a regular house.

Ease of Portability – Some of these wooden homes come on wheels, but others don’t have foundations so they can be placed on a trailer hitch and pulled. Larger options may need a portable platform to move it.

Land – Will you be buying the land that your home rests on? Or will you be traveling a lot, and so just hitching it to take where you need it (a common occurrence with tiny homes that are mobile)? You can often find cheap land that is worth purchasing to go back to, or to keep your house on permanently. This also increases the value of your property.

Outlying Features – Do you want a deck? Additional floors or extensions? A hot tub? Lofts? Your options are endless, so don’t hesitate to plan your dream home.

Examples Of Gorgeous Wooden Mobile Homes

The Log Cabin – Ever dreamed of owning a log cabin but just didn’t have the money for one? Now you can, with all the rustic charm you have craved. As you can see this version is larger, similar to a ranch house, and gorgeous on the inside.

The Chalet – The actual structure itself is very expensive, but it gives you an idea of what designs are possible with this model. You can create a similar wooden home for a fraction of the cost, and place it anywhere.

The Traveler – This adorable tiny home is reminiscent of the old school traveling vans the accompanied carnivals and caravan convoys early turn of the century America. Bright, cheerful and well made, it shows how imagination is as important in crafting your new home as anything else.

The Tiny Cabin – Another log cabin option, this is the tiny house version. It shows how much can be done in a compact space, using recycled timber and simple items that the couple who own this cabin were able to use themselves in the build.

The Eco-lodge – Budget less of an issue? This is proof of what amazing things can be done with wooden mobile homes. You would never even know these are considered “temporary” housing to so many.

The Family Home – This was a house custom built by a building company for a family that wanted something really special. Just looking at the gorgeous wood on the outside and inside, as well as the fascinating overall design with its windows and decks, is breathtaking. You would be hard pressed to find anything that could match it.

As you can see, wooden mobile homes are a trend for a good reason.

LPG Gas Central Heating In Mobile Homes

More and more people are now buying mobile homes so they can spend quality time with their families at weekends and even for the annual summer holidays.

But as we all know the weather can sometimes be a little fresh in the evenings and sometimes during the days.

Having gas central heating in your mobile home is a must if you want to stay warm.

So what are the options available when you are looking to buy your first mobile home?

Most modern mobile homes are now built with LPG gas central heating already installed, this normally consists of a combination boiler installed in a cupboard somewhere with radiators fitted in every room.

The combination boiler supplies all the heat needed to the radiators and constant hot water at the taps and shower when needed.

Some of the earlier models had gas central heating installed but it was normally a warm air boiler that would supply warm heat all around the mobile home but was very inefficient, and if not checked every year could become dangerous.

For hot water they were normally fitted with a small boiler that heated just water, normally this was located in the kitchen area.

They would also have a gas fire fitted in the living area as a means of having a quick source of heat.

The only problem with these earlier models was that they were not insulated properly, so even when the warm air boiler and gas fire were working at full blast you still felt cold, and the only way to get warm was to stand under a hot shower for a while.

With new mobile homes, they are well insulated to help keep the heat loss to a minimum and keep you warm when you need it.

The mobile home LPG gas central heating system is basically the same as you would have in your normal home, the only difference being the type of gas the boiler uses.

In the mobile home, you would use LPG otherwise known as liquid petroleum gas, whereas in your main home you would use natural gas. Unless you live in an area where natural gas is not available then your options would be, oil, LPG, wood burner or even electric.

Most mobile home parks require that your LPG gas central heating system and any other appliances are tested every year for safety, so what does this involve?

This would involve testing the gas supply for any form of leakage, checking any gas hoses to make sure they are within the date stamp.

All LPG gas hoses have a date stamp printed on to them, and every 5 years they need to be replaced.

The next check would be to make sure all gas appliances are working correctly, all flues need to be checked to make sure there are no blockages and the products of combustion are being removed and dispersed.

As stated at the beginning mobile home are becoming very popular so choose wisely.

SEO Tips to Boost Rankings in the Era of Mobile-First Index

The rise in the number of smartphone users has made mobile the new normal. Realising this, Google rolled out its mobile-first index, giving mobile versions of websites an upper hand when it comes to ranking. So, marketers must focus on mobile more than ever. If you need help optimising your website for search engines in the mobile era, keep reading.

Create a Responsive Website Design

In order to rank well, responsive website design is the most critical change that you need to make. Responsive websites offer the value of two for one – they rank well on both desktop and mobile. Moreover, the design seamlessly fits the size of any screen across devices.

Optimise Content for Mobile

Mobile visitors look for the same content experience as desktop visitors. So, your content must be properly optimised for the mobile so that users can quickly find what they are looking for. You need to create content using short paragraphs, along with the addition of media, such as screenshots or infographics to make reading enjoyable.

Make Use of Infographics

The attention span of mobile users is lower than desktop users. In order to arrest and retain their attention, you can use interesting and engaging infographics. It has been proven that attractive-looking content gets shared more than three times across digital platforms compared to text-only content. The more your content is shared, the more chances your website gets to become visible on search engines and obtain a higher ranking position.

Improve Navigation

As aforementioned, mobile users lack patience; therefore, you need to remove any kind of hindrance or obstacles that visitors might have to face whilst navigating your website. You can avail affordable SEO services in order to get a professional audit report, as well as, solutions.

Link Building Strategy

For your SEO success, you must continue to build links to your desktop pages. Even though the world is moving into the mobile-first index, the importance of link building is not declining. Besides that, you must also consult with a professional SEO expert and come up with a link building a mobile strategy to make sure that your website ranks above your competitors.

Optimise On-site SEO

Once you have designed and built a responsive website, it is time to manage on-site SEO for your mobile website. From optimising title tags to H1 headers, you need to pay attention to every little detail and make sure that they are SEO-friendly. Tags in mobile, for instance, varies from tags in the desktop. Whilst desktop has about seventy-one characters, mobile gets seventy-eight characters.

Speed Up Page Load Time

Building a website for mobile with a focus on fast page speed might seem like a daunting task. However, it is important to remember that the page speed on mobile can directly impact your SEO rankings. As per reports, slow load times result in approximately ten percent increase in bounce rate and four percent decrease in conversions.

Optimise for Local Search

Unlike desktop users, mobile users are generally searching for products, services or information that are available locally. Reports also suggest that the intent of mobile users is usually to take an action. This clearly shows that you need to optimise your mobile website for the local search so that you are present at the right time and in the right place where your potential customers are looking for products or services relevant to you.

So, do you think you are prepared for mobile-first index? Follow the aforementioned tips to get started and do not let the mobile-first experience stop you from ranking well on search engines. However, to create a more in-depth SEO strategy, you must engage the services of experienced SEO professionals. Since these professionals are dedicated to continuously update themselves as per the changes in the digital world, they will be able to help you find the perfect solution.

3 ‘MUST’ Methods To Ensure a Successful Mobile Application Development

Taking into consideration the growing technological development, businesses are rushing to tackle the need for mobile applications. Consumers and employees use their tablets and smart phones always, therefore the companies are regularly trying to discharge mobile apps to serve their customers and employees in a better way.

Selected companies are in a hurry to complete mobile application development which in the long run needs to be updated every now and then. This would not have happened if the client had given himself enough time.

Below are a few things which as a client, you can implement to avoid a hurried mobile application development process that will give you problems in the long run.

Formulate a plan for your mobile app

The worst fear most companies come across is that they are not aware of what they want exactly, and before liberating a mobile application, the first thing to do is to avail yourself a defined objective and a plan for your mobile app. You must weigh its achievements and the method which will be useful to the users.

Amateurs provide a recommendation to companies to organize a comprehensive plan of steps to be followed, their suitable time of completion and the overall expenditure. Be definite on your requirements for the application, and also get reviews from clients so that you are able to come to the right conclusion on what your objectives are with the mobile app development.

Selecting between staying-in-house or outsourcing

Companies are requested to intensely calculate if the applications can be handled by freelance developers or a mobile app development company or in-house. It is simpler for big companies to accomplish resources for full time in-house developers due to the considerable size of their IT section, quite often accompanied with a big number of mobile applications and quite a sturdy online presence.

Employing an internal IT staff for mobile app developments varies a lot on software development expertise, and most regularly, it is very difficult to select the sole personnel with development and design skills who is capable to achieve the entire project.

When contracting a company, look for that which is adequate for the dimension of your company because naturally, large companies work with their counterpart agencies. Do a thorough online search for reputable agencies around your area and you can as well ask for reviews from past clients and records of previous accomplished company’s project from the agency.

Lastly, be definite to see the way the agency has incorporated your mobile app with latest software systems for previous customers and their objective to build it for you.

Test it and wait for users’ feedback

Testing and getting a feedback are crucial points for mobile app development as the designers and developers are not the precise product users. After completion, the programmers are required to engage themselves personally so that they can recognize if the application will be worthwhile to users. An appropriate response can be achieved if the developers can either form trivial pilot groups or force the application out to the end user base.

Mobile App Development Mistakes to Avoid

Mobile application development is a vast market that enjoys patronage from different industries. It has spiked in recent years and this is due to the huge demand by consumers. However, there has been mixed responses to some of the recently developed apps with people saying that there is no use for them or they don’t serve a purpose. There are certain pitfalls to the process of application development and some of the things to look out for include:

Being ambiguous on device support and OS

Ambiguity is to be avoided. If you turn in a proposal that is not detailed, your prospective client might be disinterested in the whole app development process as a result. If you neglect to mention a certain thing in your initial app development brief, then it will be up to you to fix it should anything come up. It is important that your app development contract states the version of the device and its OS support. Set the clear estimate of the app development cost and make sure you break everything down appropriately by considering the version, device, and operating system.

Starting Development without a Formal Change Request Process

It is to be expected that during the process, the client would make a few changes. Ensure that you do not stray too far from the envisaged timeline for the app development schedule.

Make sure that you incorporate a change request process that gives you the flexibility to effect changes on the app development schedule. However, be sure to tell them that making changes will automatically increase the development time and cost.

Falling into the “reusing old code” trap

iPhone application development involves a lot of coding. If your company is an old hand in the android or iPhone development market, then it is only safe to assume that you must have some old codes lying around. It is quite tempting to reuse these codes for your new app development efforts but don’t. It might save you money and time but if it has not been specifically designed to be reused, don’t use it else you will only undermine the entire process.

The final thing you should consider is hiring the right developer. Why? the reason is quite simple. The success and failure of your idea depends on it. In the past I have seen the great ideas turned into crap app and vice versa. Quick tip before you hire an app developer ask them about the past experience in your niche.

Everything You Need to Know About Mobile SEO

Smartphone addiction is real and it is a global phenomenon. For a majority of people, checking their phone first thing in the morning is a ritual. Needless to say, mobile devices have changed lives dramatically and also the way people use the web, leading to changing SEO. If you have not optimised your website for mobile SEO, there is a high chance that you are not reaching out to your target audience or satisfying the needs of your customers. Keep reading to know how you can deliver the ideal mobile experience to your audience.

What is the Importance of Mobile SEO?

Mobile SEO is critical because it enables you to reach your target audience at the right time and in the right place. Every day, people are discovering more and more advantages of smartphones, which is leading to mobile traffic surpassing desktop traffic. In order to connect with millions of mobile phone users, you need an effective mobile SEO strategy. As per reports, smartphone users have a much higher intent of buying than desktop users. So, you need to be there when potential buyers are looking for your products or services.

Google’s Mobile-first Index Raised the Importance of Mobile SEO

Making websites mobile-friendly was a concern amongst most online businesses thanks to the rising number of smartphone users all over the world. But, Google’s mobile-first index made it mandatory for online businesses to have a mobile version of their website. As per the mobile-first index, the search giant announced that it would be giving more preference to website’s that has a mobile version when it comes to ranking. The mobile websites will be crawled by Googlebot to determine their content, performance and user experience. This announcement means that online businesses must take action if they do not want to lose their customers to their competitors.

Websites with Responsive Design Fares Well on Search Engines

When developing your mobile website, you are going to have 3 options – responsive design, a separate site on a subdomain or dynamic serving. Amongst the three options, Google prefers responsive design because that way, you will only have one website adapting to the devices that it is being used on. You would not have to build different websites for different mobile devices and screen sizes.

Having a responsive website is less of a hassle, as well. Such websites have only one code base, making maintenance extremely easy. Also, responsive design is going to make your website readily eligible for Google’s mobile-first index.

Important Considerations for Mobile SEO

  • Page speed: You cannot afford to have a mobile website that loads extremely slow. Mobile users are even more impatient than desktop users, and they might not wait for 5 to 7 seconds for your website to load. You need to periodically analyse the performance of your mobile website and make the necessary changes. Some suggestions for improving page speed would be optimising the images, upgrading to HTTPS, use a CDN and so on. Professionals offering SEO optimization services can give you more inputs.
  • User experience: Besides being found easily, your mobile website should offer an outstanding user experience. You need to be vigilant about the common tasks performed by your customers and their search intent. Make sure to do away with any kind of obstacle that might hinder your users from reaching their goals fast.
  • Optimise for local: Smartphones become particularly useful when users are out and about. About 76% of mobile users search for things are nearby to where they are. This means that to truly achieve SEO success, you need to optimise your mobile website for local search.

The digital and mobile landscape undergoes rapid changes. So, even once you have a foolproof mobile SEO strategy, significantly invest in upgrading it.

Pros and Cons of Mobile Messaging

We all are well versed with mobile messaging and their working. They keep us connected with each other, let us exchange thoughts, they are instant and the best way to communicate. Ain’t we somewhere relied on them? Yes, we all are. The world of mobile messaging is growing continuously and according to a report more than a quarter of world’s population will be acquainted with mobile messaging by 2019. Fascinating, isn’t it? It has become a trend these days. These trendy messages come with their pros and cons even, here are some of them:

Pros:

Let us discuss about the good first. So what are they?

1. The very concept of mobile messaging that is to connect the world is fulfilled. We can be in touch with anyone of the same or different city or country.

2. We can create groups and contact our work members in a minute. It saves our time and suggestions can discussed with everyone.

3. We can talk to multiple people at the same time.

4. We can discuss our ideas with people or even share photographs and videos with them.

5. Time zones are no longer an issue. There’s no need to adjust times to talk when we can leave messages for the other to read according to their schedule.

6. It makes us technology savvy.

7. One can even teach via mobile messaging and stay in contact with students.

So, basically mobile messaging are all about being there for one another regardless of differences. It creates a small world where one can interact, share, learn and even have fun. These can be a good method of relaxing after a stressful day by simply talking with your long lost friend or relative. Mobile messaging has made us close to each other. Right?

Cons:

Oh no, do they really have cons too? Let us see:

1. Although they provide a great way to stay in contact but lack the one to one personal talk experience. The comfort of sitting and talking with someone is not at all fulfilled by them.

2. We cannot gauge the mental or emotional well being of a person through messaging. One can be doleful yet be entirely normal on messages. We do not have any say in the emotional state of a person.

3. There is always a tinge of quandary. It is possible that the person you are messaging to is not right there and the messages are being replied by someone else using their mobile phone.

So yes, there are both pros and cons of mobile messaging though pros dominate yet cons still exist.

Understanding Mobile Application Development

In today’s time and age, smartphones and applications have gained a lot of popularity. As of now, a mobile phone is not just restricted to make calls. With the help of mobile phone development, individuals and businesses have started creating unique and innovative applications, which facilitate internet browsing, email, faxing, games, graphics and wireless information services. Considering the revolution with handheld devices, mobile application developers are in rage.

Mobile application developers combine different elements to formulate software apps and solutions. Various organizations have started showing interest in business applications and loads of them have started outsourcing their requirements to developers across the globe. A few preferred mobile software solutions include web applications, games and interactive business solutions across different technology platforms. There are a few things you need to consider, before you decide on a specific mobile application.

Platform

Mobile phone applications are different from one platform to another and one cannot devise an application that runs on all platforms. With different companies, the mobile phone platforms are dissimilar and certain applications work with specified technologies only. For an example, an iPhone application cannot work on a Windows Mobile or a Blackberry platform. Therefore, it is imperative to select the ideal mobile platform, before you get started with mobile apps development.

Client Base

Before you get started with a mobile application developer, you must determine the kind of audience you wish to target at. Based on your target audience, you must then decide whether you want applications that could be used by individual consumers or business mobile applications. It would be easier for the mobile application developer to form a work plan, plan on the design and the technology for your mobile software.

Budget & Timing

Before you get started with mobile application development, you must consider the cost of your development as well as the exact time frame to launch a specific product. To begin with, you must do some basic research on the products being used by your competitors along with the price strategy adopted by them. In order to make the most out of your investment, you need to launch your product at the right time. Regardless of where you outsource your application development services, you need to ensure that the application is developed within a predefined timeline.

Features

Wireless applications have revolutionized the way cell phones are being used today. Businesses are now getting interesting apps, which are innovative and unique. The whole purpose of mobile application development is to strike a chord amongst the customers. Businesses require powerful mobile phone applications, which serve a variety of purposes including browsing, gaming, entertainment, search and many more. Mobile application developers can design, create and customize the application in accordance to the client needs. These are professionals who possess the technical as well as the functional expertise to perform simple and complicated tasks. To conclude with, one can access the world with any handheld device today.

Fixed Vs Mobile MRI Scanners

Mobile trailers containing MRI scanners are technologically identical to fixed MRI scanners. Mobile trailers usually have smaller spaces than rooms at fixed locations. Considering the number of patients that have claustrophobia, this could become an issue. Quality control is extremely important in the mobile MRI environment. Mobile units require strict control measures. An experienced team is needed to ensure the image quality of the scans in mobile units. Equal measures must be taken with a fixed MRI machine. Installation of a fixed scanner is more extensive than for mobile units. The requirements for these fixed scanners are more detailed than what is required of a mobile unit. Technological advancements have permitted the trailer to be closer to the main structure where patients are located.

The internal temperature of mobile scanners is critical to the quality of the images and the performance of the scanner. Humidity must also be maintained at a constant level. The extreme weather conditions in different parts of the country require constant attention to the details. The trailers are manufactured to withstand temperatures of -20 to 110 Fahrenheit. Heaters and air conditioners may be needed for states with extreme weather.

The cost of both mobile and fixed scanners includes operating costs. The costs vary according to the requirements of having the unit sited, including renovations and construction. Operating costs for mobile units tend to be higher than for fixed sites. However, this should be weighed against the cost of siting a fixed scanner. Mobile MRI scanners are able to provide MRIs to multiple facilities in a particular region. It can provide a way to disperse the costs of the MRI scanner and also make it possible to help more patients. Considering all these things should help purchasers to make an informed decision as to whether a fixed or mobile MRI scanner is right for them.

8 Game-Changing Mobile App Trending Categories in 2017

The mobile-first world has brought a series of game-changing market opportunities for enterprises. Apps have become a prime information source for people ranging from buying movie tickets, online shopping, making payments, scheduling routine tasks and much more. From education to entertainment, business to banking, travel to health care, a range of categories has come into existence. Adhering the same, here are the top and most evolving 8 trending categories of 2017 to consider for your next project.

Online Shopping

Nowadays, popular online shopping apps are greatly stimulating the trend of mobile shopping. It helps the users to shop the desired items just by downloading it. With advanced search options on the basis of different categories, age group, prize, special discounts and other festive offers you can help users for making their online shopping trouble-free and faster.

On-demand Service

From shipping your package during holidays to booking an instant car ride, on-demand services apps perform functions that make the human lives simpler. These are a subset of traditional sharing and delivery services. Popular on-demand services are emerging as a reliable, highly accessible source of technology-enabled transportation for people, thereby easing their daily lives.

GPS Navigation

Numerous highly accessible, highly informative navigation maps have come into the picture by now which, offer real-time traffic updates, turn-by-turn directions, bicycle routes and view offline maps as well. Moreover, there is a series of apps that help in planning your most convenient road trip, finding the quickest route to reach your destination and avoid on-route traffic jams.

Business Enhancement

Mobile apps come with such a range of long-term lucrative benefits. Owing to this fact, many organisations are trying to develop powerful mobile applications which, try to simplify their intricate work processes. Enterprise, hybrid, cloud-based, small business, security oriented and many more advanced features promote businesses to a whole new horizon for exploring their growth.

Social Media Networking

Social networking apps hold a great place in both the Play Stores these days. Most of the smartphone users like to access their social media profiles via them instead of using the desktop versions. Moreover, social media networking apps help users to stay connected with the social contacts from anywhere at anytime.

Messaging

Messaging is also one of the top trending categories in 2017. The reason for their increasing popularity is its free availability along with other powerful features such as video, voice call, chatting and much more for communicating and connecting efficiently, easily and quickly. Furthermore, most of the messaging applications these days facilitate regular updates along with high-end features which, enhance the usability experience.

Gaming

Gaming is one of the most profitable and popular categories of recent times and entrepreneurs are seeing it as a great money-making opportunity. Based on the various effective revenue models, gaming applications are generating huge revenues in the recent times by using various ways like paid or free usage, in-game item purchases as well.

Music

While listing the top trending categories of 2017, music apps are gaining wide acceptance. Many music apps are available at both the App Stores which, allow users to listen to their favourite tracks and watch videos both online and offline. With the help of online streaming, users can get access to a range of unmatched features like sharing music with friends, creating playlists and much more.

Final word

These popular trending categories have gain wide momentum by so far in this digital world. Needless to say, entrepreneurs are having a great scope of making money by developing highly intuitive and need-specific mobile apps. However, professional assistance is a necessity when it comes to the development process. Thus, it is highly significant to discuss your specific requirements with an acclaimed app development company for proper development and sustained success.

Freelance Web Designer | Web Design | WordPress | Hong Kong