My name is Alasdair Broun and I run Skye Website Services. Over the years, I have been employed in various aspects of IT, including search engine optimisation. Originally from the Lowlands of Scotland, I moved to the Highlands of Scotland in February 2003. In March 2005 I went self-employed. In February 2008 I moved my office from Broadford to Breakish.

 

Although I am a sole trader, I work with other contractors to bring you the best possible service at a very reasonable price. I have worked alongside Kevin Mackenzie (Fileanta Web Design & Development Agency), Kenny O'Brien (South Skye Computers), and Ronan Martin (Ronan Martin Design), three well-established IT businesses on Skye. Kevin specialises in websites, especially the provision of advanced features. Kenny builds, sells and repairs computers. Ronan specialises in design for print and multimedia such as film, video and audio. I also work with Steven Ballantyne of Redkite Internet Design Agency near Inverness, and I co-ordinate with Sitekit on a number of web projects. I have also worked with various other local contractors.

 

I discovered that (among other things) there was a particular demand for website promotion, but that traditional search engine optimisation was simply not a viable option for most sole traders and small businesses because of the sheer amount of time, and hence cost, involved. I therefore increasingly found myself in the position of offering pay per click advertising as an alternative.

 

I also found that the vast bulk of my own business came from within the locality of the Isle of Skye, via word of mouth. I realised that when it comes to IT services most people rightly prefer to deal with a local provider with whom they can have direct contact, and who has been recommended to them by people they know. Personal service is vital in the bewilderingly complex world of IT with an ever-increasing plethora of options.

 

Many people have discovered that the money seemingly saved in going to large national and international IT companies and "out-of-the-box" solutions is lost in other ways - such as having to deal with customer service staff who do not know the locality or understand their particular needs, inflexibility, time-consuming written support material and help files to wade through, and hidden extra costs.

 

A local provider can meet needs immediately and with a flexibility that a larger and more geographically distant company cannot. I work face to face with many of my clients, sitting down at a computer with them in their own homes or premises, or at my office, showing them exactly what I am doing and why, and working out the best way to benefit their business through personal interaction.

 

My wife is a photographer and is available to take photographs for client websites if required. I am also working on a native Scottish trees website in my spare time. It is a large project and I only have limited time to spend on it, but I am interested in collaborating with anyone who might have a similar interest.