With the likes of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools hitting the headlines during the latter part of last year and this one, many of the questions...
Website localisation needs to be considered when a business is planning to expand into overseas markets or territories. Localisation can be defined...
As internet usage has continued to grow year-on-year, so too has the threat of cyber-attacks across the web. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, the...
Every major version of a content management system typically has a scheduled end-of-life date after which security fixes and support are no longer...
CTAs or calls-to-action are a marketing tool that can be used on a web page, within an email marketing campaign, in an advertisement, or in any other...
When people hear ‘bespoke software’ the normal reaction is concern over what that will cost. In this article, we consider where bespoke software may...
What is a Member Website? In the broadest sense, a member website is any in which sign-up with an email address to establish a registered account is...
There are many ways to use the internet to make money. This short guide outlines a few of the most common and effective ways to monetize your online...
What is a Multilingual website? A multilingual website is any website whose content is displayed in more than one language. While ideally this would...
Open-source software is software that anyone can use, access, change, and share. The ‘source’ refers to source code (lines of code are the...
Part 4: Non-food Products and Services 31. Economy 7 Electricity Slimline Storage Heaters (song) Launched in November 1978, the Economy 7 electric...
Part 3: Coffee, cough sweets, dairy products and stock 21. Nescafé coffee (‘Coffee At Its Best’ song) In the 1980s, faster-paced lifestyles boosted...
Part 2: Cereals and Confectionery:   11. Weetabix cereal (Weetabix people) The introduction of the Weetabix characters in the mid-1980s transformed...
Know the Law on Copyright There are no hard-and-fast rules about the use of Christmas imagery on your website other than the rule that applies to...
In this article, we give links to our Top 40 most-viewed articles on GWS Media and GWS Robotics from January 1st to December 5th, 2021. We also...
Part Three: System Requirements of Web Browsers Web browsers themselves often come with recommended system requirements for their installation and...
Part 2: Computer Operating System Requirements for Memory (RAM) and Hard Drive Storage Capacity The near-exponential rise in maximum Internet...
What are cookies? Cookies are a way for websites to track users’ activity and store information about them. That could be items in their basket on an...
Part 1: Internet Connection Speeds: Since the inception of the World Wide Web in April 1993, the maximum speed for data transfers has improved in...
What is Google My Business? Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool from Google to help you manage how your business appears in Google search...
How to Sell Goods and Services Online: a Guide for New Businesses If you are just starting out in business, then whether you have physical goods or a...
With the percentage of websites that are built with WordPress now at an all-time high, it’s worth remembering that there are still plenty of...
What is digital transformation? You may have heard the term digital transformation, often abbreviated to DT or DX, in lots of different contexts. It...
We have taken an up-to-date look at the most viewed articles on GWS Media and GWS Robotics in the past year (17th June 2020 - 16th June 2021). The...
Google Analytics 4 (previously known as App + Web) launched in October 2020 as an upgrade to the Universal Analytics application, better known simply...
We have previously given a more detailed overview of the four main ways that eCommerce functionality can be integrated into a website. In this...
With the increase in demand for businesses to sell online throughout the last 18 months, the concept and functions of the payment gateway have become...
We explore how implementing a member site can transform your business. A member website? So what exactly does that mean? In the broadest definition,...
With the number of global email users reaching 4 billion in 2020, email marketing can be a very successful, proven way of marketing to your customers...
What is SEO? SEO is an acronym meaning Search Engine Optimisation. This is about optimising your website for visibility and click-through...
Drupal: the original modular open-source CMS Drupal has recently been celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first release. It was designed at the...
We’re looking at all the ways in which you can make your website sing for both your customers and any potential customers. Win them over with the...
1. Use the right file type The best file format type to use will depend on the subject and purpose of the image. Product images (that you may take...
Since the 2010s, video has become an increasingly important staple of the online browsing experience. Long gone are the heady days of the late 1990s...
Reviews Build Brand Awareness The reputation of a business can make the difference between whether it can maintain longevity and success over its...
Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is Google's own online advertising platform. Have you heard of it but haven't yet delved into using it? Using...
1. Too much text Including too much copy throughout your site can result in it being unpalatably text-heavy. Users are unlikely to read long pieces...
The definition of branding is ‘the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design.’ Essentially it...
In 2019, 79% of UK adults owned a smartphone. With that in mind, creating an app to reach your current customers on their device and to expand your...
Within part one of this article, we explored the best ways to use LinkedIn as an individual. As well as there being plenty of opportunities for...
LinkedIn content creation is up 60% compared to last year. Engagement is also up, with many more users interacting, sharing and commenting on content...
1. Take out a monthly eCommerce plan with an easy-to-use DIY CMS If you have no up-front budget for web development but are happy to pay a...
Whether you have had your website up-and-running for a number of years or it is a more recent endeavour, website design is constantly moving and...
We know how difficult it is to stay on top of the ever-changing algorithms that influence search engine positioning. As frustrating and confusing as...
It’s still early in 2020, but we decided to have a check on which of the articles on GWS Media and GWS Robotics are attracting the most views. So we...
Email is a staple of 21st century home and office life and was used by 86% of British adults in in 2019.[1]. In fact, without an email address,...
Twelve Signs you Should Upgrade or Replace Your Website   1. The design is not adaptively responsive to a full range of modern screen resolutions....
In this article, we’ll take a look at the ten most popular content management systems today, showcasing the market-leading platforms for building...
How to share large files When it comes to sharing large files with business contacts, it’s advisable to think twice before emailing them as...
In this second part of our article, we explore ten more common types of website, including many that are not strictly business-related.   11....
What are the Different Types of Website? There are many different types of website; and while any attempt to categorise them is bound to be imperfect...
There are many different sources of inspiration for brand and business names. Here is a selection of the most common and popular types:   1. Use your...
Selection of animated logos to inspire you From a shortlist of 45, our design team has picked out 20 animated logos around the web to inspire you....
16 stock photography websites reviewed In this review, we offer an outline presentation of sixteen stock photography sites available on the Internet...
Attract more clients with better SEO: Here's how Part 3: What is technical SEO, and how do I fault-find ranking drops? What is technical SEO?...
Attract more clients with better SEO: Here’s how Part 2: What is on-page SEO and what is off-page SEO? What is on-page SEO? In its more literal and...
Attract more clients with better SEO: Here’s how... Part 1: What is SEO and why do I need it? If you have a website used for business, there’s a good...
It’s been a busy year at GWS Media, and quite a few new articles have been written and posted on the site in that time, some of them attracting...
What you should know about GDPR In the past couple of months, we have been contacted frequently for advice related to GDPR. We’ve also noticed that...
Have you ever wondered what software today’s graphic designers and web designers keep in their toolkits, and what it actually can do? This month, we...
Principles of Landing Page Design for PPC Campaigns   1.    Efficient Conversion The first principle to keep in mind is that the main aim of a pay-...
In a recent article, we discussed the history of social media on the Internet and its precursors. In this follow-up article, we take a look at the...
Improve Your Website with FAQs: a Digital Strategy Guide   FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. FAQ pages have been a popular feature of...
Where does Social Media come from? Social media in one form or another have now been established for more than two decades, since the Internet was...
How to Work with Web Designers: a Guide for Business Clients We here present a brief checklist of guidelines worth bearing in mind when you liaise...
Google search algorithm updates codenamed ‘Fred’ Written by Philip Graves and David Graves, GWS Media, April 12th 2017 There has been a especially ...
Originally written by Philip Graves and edited by David Graves, 20th March, 2017; amended and expanded in consultation with Jonathan Downing and...
We enjoyed exhibiting our social robot Pepper at Business Showcase SW at the Ashton Court Stadium, Bristol on Wednesday, October 5th, 2016. Now in...
Expanding your business abroad? Need a multilingual website? Communicating with an online audience in many languages at once can be a challenge for...
First things first - is your website mobile friendly? Find out now with Google’s mobile and site speed test. (If it isn’t, read on for why you should...
So how does Google rank your website? Wouldn’t we all like to know? We got a bit closer to the truth with the publication of an interesting Google...
It’s been a busy start to the year in the Google Zoo. Google’s Penguin 4.0 is expected in March 2016, and in early 2016 Panda finally became part of...
Here at GWS Media, we deal with web hosting on a daily basis. We manage our own dedicated servers on behalf of our clients and have found that...
Today Google sent out a mass broadcast to website owners warning them of the consequences of repeatedly breaking the Google Webmaster Guidelines. The...
88% of consumers read reviews to determine the quality of a local business - (Bright Local Study) There is no doubt that online reviews have...
Today Google announced a new feature in Webmaster Tools. The "search queries" report has been replaced by "search analytics". This expands on the...
Following on from a blog post last month on Mobile Un-Friendly Site Warnings, Google is testing a new “slow website” warning feature. Why is Google ...
Google has kicked off the New Year with the mass send of warnings to website owners for mobile usability issues. In summary, they are saying “Make...
In 2014, Nominet announced the biggest news to UK domain names since the launch of the ‘.co.uk’ suffixes. Registration is now open for .uk domain...
Are you trying to recover access to your Google Analytics account? Find out how to regain control of your important website data below!   Here at GWS...
What is Parallax Scrolling? Wikipedia defines Parallax scrolling as a special scrolling technique in computer graphics, wherein background images...
This Tech Talk was given by GWS Media director David Graves on February 12th, 2014 Image under Tom Woodward under Creative Commons licence 2.0  ...
In Part One of this series we looked at the design of business-to-business websites, focusing on the importance of recognising your target audience...
Having previously looked at the design of green websites and websites utilised to sell clothes online, we thought it was time to look at the design...
Asos' blog portal offers plenty of opportunity for interaction   This is the third and final post in our 3-part series concentrating on the...
This is the second blog post in our three part series looking at the design of clothing websites. Previously, we looked at the design of clothing...
Previously on the blog, we've looked at the design of green websites and University websites, focusing on those important elements of their design...
A Polyvore board - a specialised social site to share style inspiration   There has been lots of coverage about Pinterest this year, and...
Last year we looked at the design of the main social media sites: Twitter, Facebook & Google Plus. We considered the relationship between design...
For the final installment in our blog design & advice series, we want to look at some blogs we think are doing a great job in terms of design...
Over the last couple of weeks, we've featured posts on blog layout and on blog customisation, with various tips and advice on each. This week, we...
Last week we looked at the layout of Blogger, offering some tips on things you can add to your blog and how to arrange them. This week we will offer...
Over the past several weeks we've been looking at the design of social media sites, focusing on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus and thinking about...
So far we've featured discussions on the design of social media networks Facebook and Twitter, thinking about what elements of their design are...
Last week we looked at the design of Facebook, and in particular what elements businesses could potentially draw on to encourage the degree of...
This week, we shall start our series on the design of social media sites with a look at Facebook. We have several previous posts about using...
Social media websites tend to be the internet sites we spend most time on, so perhaps we take the way they look and the features of their design,...
Good e-commerce sites should be as smooth-running, aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate as their bricks and mortar counterparts. Here we look...
Effective web design and good marketing are integral to e-commerce success. After a recent article highlighted the challenge of selling online, we...
Website redesign can range from a total overhaul to a couple of small tweaks. Here we look at four key tips for website design:   1. Slow page load...
Around this time last year, we posted a series of articles considering the role of websites in selling green and ethical products. The various blog...
Following on from last week's post emphasising that the key to keeping visitors was to make their online experience easy and enjoyable for them, we'...
Frustrated web user   Although there are a lot of sophisticated means of testing usability issues on websites, the first resource we can...
Recently we've seen an explosion of interest in website 'usability' and 'the user experience'. And rightly so, as it's a topic that online...
Last week we wrote a post with 3 Tips for Redesigning a Website, which focused on the kinds of things to bare in mind from a design perspective. As a...
If you feel that your business' website has reached a point where it's not achieving as much attention as you want it to and you're receiving less...
A fairly common Bristol sight: Casualty filming near our offices this week   This week we've been hard at work finishing the latest version...
Over the past weeks, we've written about the design strategies of university websites, both the home page design and that of the inner pages. While...
Time for the next instalment of our series on University Website Design! Previously we considered the particular challenges facing a university...
As we noted in our opening post of this series, university websites have to deal with a large range of visitors and a large amount of content....
Cardiff University's home page is visually striking, and presents a clear message   In our last blog post on website design , we conducted a...
Here at GWS, we are passionate about designing websites that work as effective marketing tools for each business we work with. Although we always...
Web Design Case Study: Mensa International As our recent posts looking at green websites and charity websites from a design perspective have received...
Welcome back to GWS Media’s blog series about great web design for charities.  This is the final post: we’ve already talked about how to communicate...
Welcome back to GWS Media’s multi-part blog series about great web design for charities.  We’ve already talked about how to communicate your goals to...
Welcome back to GWS's series on charity website design. In our first post, we introduced the four basic functions of a charity website:...
Welcome back to GWS's series on charity website design. In our first post, we introduced the four basic functions of a charity website:...
Welcome to the first instalment in our five-part series of articles on Charity Website Design! Our site design and promotion work with Bristol...
Committed green consumers: Convey simplicity, directness, and credibility In our last posts, we discussed general green website design tips, and...
Who’s your audience? The 'Secondary Greens' market Welcome to our second post on designing ethical / green websites, a follow-up from last week's ...
Following up from our previous post about how to orient your ethical website at the right market, here's the first a short series of posts showcasing...
Although creating videos and putting them on a YouTube channel might not be possible for every company, it can be a fantastic way of creating...
Though it's been hot all week in Bristol, GWS has been hard at work: our new website for the lovely Bed & Breakfast Downlands House went live....