The process of designing and building a website in our experience requires thorough planning, and a number of structured steps, in order to deliver the best chances of a successful outcome.

The key stages that are involved in the website design process include:

The rise of Large Language Models (LLMs), Artificial Intelligence (AI) answer engines and AI overviews has had a dramatic impact on organic search results for many websites. The general consensus is that around 60-70% of organic traffic has been lost to 'zero-click' searches, where searches are being served an immediate answer within an AI overview or by an AI answer engine, so there is no need for the user to click through to another website.

UX (User eXperience) design can have a significant impact on the conversion rate of a website - the rate at which visitors take actions on it that you want them to take, such as submitting an enquiry about the products or services provided. It influences the feelings a visitor has, and the behaviours they display as they move through your website - which in turn impacts on conversion actions.

A professionally-designed website is an important asset to the running of a successful business. A website acts as the online presence for a business and can often be the first touch point for a prospective customer coming from a search engine or an AI answer engine. Developing a professional, high-quality website will help make the right first impression upon any potential client or buyer, increasing the likelihood of their placing an enquiry or making a purchase.

The short answer to the question about whether or not SEO is dead is that SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is far from dead, but has been changing, and will continue to evolve, as it always has done. It is a question we often see being asked in many places, and every time so far it has adapted to the prevailing changes with Google, and with other sources of traffic. With hindsight we can see that the core principles of SEO and what that means have remained the same, but the strategies and models used have had to develop.

It was recently announced that Reddit had overtaken TikTok as the fourth-most-used social media service in the UK.

As 2025 draws to a close, we are waiting to see what new advances in AI the new year will bring, and how these will impact our industry (and web design as a whole). If this year is anything to go by, the speed and rate at which AI is advancing makes us feel that its ability to revolutionise how we work is almost limitless.

It’s increasingly becoming something that we are using, being affected by, or seeing it being used by clients every day; and we’re in no doubt that this will increase in the year ahead.

At the start of September, we were pleased to take part in the South Bristol Youth Guarantee programme, coordinated by Bristol City Council and the West of England Combined Authority. The programme focuses on supporting young people aged 17-21 from South Bristol into employment and apprenticeships.

What is GEO? (or AEO and GSO)

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GSO (Generative Search Optimisation) all describe the process of optimising your content for AI search engines with the hope of being cited in the answers provided by systems like ChatGPT to users’ prompts and queries. 

As one of a series of articles to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of GWS Media (back on September 25th, 2000) I have put together a short article about the main things I've learnt over 25 years running a business. I hope that some of them will be useful to aspiring entrepreneurs, or people who have already taken the plunge and started their own business. Good luck whatever you are doing - and don't forget that small businesses (SMEs) employ the majority of people in the UK economy - you are making a real difference.

David Graves - Creative Director