John K Mitchell's Misc Blog

Revised Image Replacement

As part of a project I have been looking into the different methods of displaying a "header" image but having a proper H1 tag underneath it.

This is needed as a client wants pretty images as headers for their pages but from an SEO (and accessibility) perspective there should be H1 tags at the top of the page acting as a header.

After trawling through several forums and websites I came across a page giving examples of hiding headers under images along with the code and drawbacks of each method.


I was even more interested to see that there was an update in 2008 giving details of how Google treats hidden headers. This seems to suggest that what I want to do is not frowned upon - a very important consideration when dealing with clients sites.

Of course, more reading up is needed to confirm the Google comments (I never trust anything I find on a webpage until I have seen it elsewhere on another good quality site - especially after seeing V2 rockets described as Doodlebugs and that Queen Elizabeth the first of England married King Phillip of Spain) but it's a good start.

Where to find an accountant

It is essential to look for someone who has professional accounting qualifications, most accountants will belong to one of the professional organisations and many of these will let you check that the accountant is actually a member  The organisations to look for include:-

• Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
• Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland
• Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Having said that, the author feels that best way to find a good accountant is through personal recommendations, talk to other businesses about their accountants and you will soon get an idea of what they are like – reports will range from “excellent”, through “good” to “ok”.

Where else can I get recommendations?

There are several ways to get recommendations and, in the authors view, they include the following :-

• Friends, family, business associates and contacts
• Professional or trade associations – this can be particularly useful if you’re looking for an accountant that specialises in your business sector
• Looking on our blog ,websites listing local accountants  and directories listing accountants
• Bank or lawyer

Bear in mind that it’s always best to start looking for an accountant well before you need to use one.  You are, in all likelyhood, going to be relying on your accountant to produce reports, tax returns and save you money on tax etc.  It is important that you feel comfortable talking to the accountant and their staff either on the telephone, face to face or via emails – do they give you the sense that they have your interests at heart and will they spend time explaining things to you.

Because this is such an important decision you should not leave it to the last minute before deciding which accountant you are going to use.  In deed, you will probably need advice before you start your business to make sure that you are trading in the right way and have the accounting systems set up ready to track your expenses, sales and profits.

Once you have found some names and considered their reputations and qualifications, you should draw up a shortlist of 4 or 5 accountants you’d like to contact, then contact them and ask for a free initial meeting so that you can talk to them about how they could help you and what is expected.  At this initial meeting you might even be able to get a ball park figure for the cost of using them as your accountant – but remember that cheapest is not always best.

DSCO, formerly David Suckling and Co, are a firm of accountants in Hertford, Hertfordshire who advise over 200 clients of many sizes from different industries across Hertfordshire.

As well as the standard accountancy services that you would expect, DSCO are business advisers who are focused on the future.  They believe in three principles when giving advice to clients :-

• No jargon
• Put first things first
• Working towards the clients goals

Their  enhanced business advice package is a cost-effective package that is designed to significantly improve the profitability of your business and starts by targeting your life goals so that you are sure that you will enjoy the rewards of your hard work and not just work hard to run your business.

DSCOs’  fees include free unlimited telephone and email support and interestingly for a firm of accountants they have several testimonials from clients on their website that you can read.

A personal rant

I have a business bank account with a bank here in the UK. It seems that their systems had a problem in January and thay they have just realised that customers may have gone overdrawn in December and not been charged. It certainly came as a suprise to me to see a note on my statement issued for the month from 7th May to 6th June that the bank were going to charge me £32 for a transaction on the 6th December.

Banks wonder why they have such a bad reputation, well - having a system that doesn't recognise that you should have charged a customer and finding out 6 months later does tend to suggest that they are not fit or able to keep track of customers money, or their own for that matter.

It's not the fact that the charge is there that worries me, it's the 6 months it took them to find that I should have been charged.

Time to look for a new bank I think.

DM Accounting are a firm of accountants in Borehamwood, Herts,  providing a personal service to business owners and individuals in Hertfordshire, London, Essex and surrounding areas.

Their website says “We work much more closely with our clients than traditional accountants. We also have a much smaller number of clients than normal and are selective in the clients that we act for. We want to get to know our clients businesses inside out, enabling us to easily identify problems and spot opportunities. We want to help improve profits and encourage growth.”  If you do not want to be just a number on a spread sheet and are looking for accountants in Hertfordshire, Essex or anywhere near Borehamwood it would be worth talking to DM Accounting and seeing what they say.

Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP is a firm of Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers that has three offices spread across East Sussex and Kent offering accounts, taxation and business advisory and support services to a wide range of businesses and individuals. With offices in Bexhill, Rye, and Tenterden they are on hand to help.

Knowing and understanding the business community in the South East Region of Kent and Sussex helps Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP to help you solve problems quickly and efficiently. Every business benefits from outside advice in a relationship of mutual respect and trust. A very high level of technical competence is what you will get from Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP.  So, if you need tax advice in East Sussex, auditing in Kent or Bookkeeping in Rye (or any combination of those services in any of the areas that they cover), it may be worth talking to Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP.

Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP is a firm of Chartered Accountants and Tax Advisers that has three offices spread across East Sussex and Kent offering accounts, taxation and business advisory and support services to a wide range of businesses and individuals. With offices in Bexhill, Rye, and Tenterden they are on hand to help.

Knowing and understanding the business community in the South East Region of Kent and Sussex helps Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP to help you solve problems quickly and efficiently. Every business benefits from outside advice in a relationship of mutual respect and trust. A very high level of technical competence is what you will get from Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP.  So, if you need tax advice in East Sussex, auditing in Kent or Bookkeeping in Rye (or any combination of those services in any of the areas that they cover), it may be worth talking to Gibbons Mannington & Phipps LLP.

Williams Denton Cyf are a firm of Acccountants in North Wales that can trace their history back to 1926. In 2002 the practice incorporated and Williams Denton Cyf was established.

Today they continue to build on their enviable reputation for providing excellent advice and first class service to business and personal clients alike. They have many clients in the local community and service businesses, small and large, across many sectors in Bangor, Llandudno, Colwyn, Anglesey and Conwy.

They offer a range of services, from tax advice in North Wales to an clever method of providing accountancy software support in North Wales where they can connect to your system and sort out problems for you.