Web Design & SEO Blog

One thing people love about mobile internet is that you need never be lost again. Most smartphones have a built-in map application, and Google Maps was one of the first sites to be truly optimised for mobile internet. Now the mobile application has been updated to increase the social media element. Google recently announced on their blog that Maps for mobiles will now include a personal recommendations feature. The ‘local recommendation engine’ will take reviews from you and your friends to make recommendations for restaurants, bars and attractions near to your current location. [Read On]

There are hundreds of potential Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) by which you can judge your website’s performance across any given period. The ones you choose to focus on will largely depend on your marketing goals and long-term business strategy, but here are some key ones to consider: [Read On]

Following ongoing debates over privacy, search engine Google announced this week it will no longer share certain information with other websites and services. The ban applies to Gmail contact information, which until recently could be imported into other sites, including Facebook, to rapidly complete a profile and find out which of their friends were using the same application. In a statement released by Google, the company said that information would now be shared only with sites which have reciprocal feeds that share their data with others. Users can also download their contacts and share them manually with any web service. [Read On]

A new contender has thrown its hat into the ring of search and SEO. New engine Blekko launched at the beginning of November and promises to provide full transparency regarding its ranking data, with cutting-edge technology which will filter out all spam and low quality sites. But how is Blekko different? And what has made it decide to launch late on into an already crowded arena? Blekko chief executive Rick Skrenta outlined the company’s aim as ‘to build a search engine that not only lets you do your usual searches, but also lets you do searches that you just can’t do anywhere else.’ [Read On]

The ongoing rivalry between Bing and Google became focused on the mobile internet search market this week as Latitude released mobile search figures for the first three quarters of the year. The mobile search market has grown exponentially over this period and at this early stage in the sector’s development, Google is well in the lead. In the UK, Google’s mobile search traffic for pay per click has grown at an average of 76 per cent each quarter for the beginning of the year. In a secondary blow for Bing, this figure has just surpassed the number of Bing users who access PPC via their desktop. [Read On]

It’s barely November, but already the stores are full of advent calendars, Christmas puddings and mince pies. That means it’s time to start considering your Christmas marketing campaign, as shoppers habits shift to accommodate their present buying. Online shopping has become increasingly popular around Christmas time, as it removes the hassle of dragging yourself to the store and fighting with the gift-hungry hordes. This year it is expected 40% more people will shop online in December as compared to October. [Read On]

As the 7th International Cloud Expo gears up for its November run in America, cloud computing is once again brought to the forefront of the industry. Although not suitable for every business, cloud computing can provide excellent ROI and flexibility in a number of cases and is becoming increasingly popular, mainly with large corporations, but also among a number of fast-growing SME’s. If your company decides to switch to cloud computing, how will this affect your website design? [Read On]

Following last week’s blog on Google TV, another milestone in internet TV was hurdled this week as Ofcom announced it would not be launching an investigation into the UK’s equivalent YouView, following complaints by non-associated broadcasters. This could offer them enough breathing space to herald in a new era of web design. [Read On]

The big news on Google Adwords blog this week was the announcement of a new course in  remarketing. The initial course was a one hour interactive presentation, in the form of a 'webinar', delivered by an Online Media Specialist from Google. The course, hosted via the Adwords Online Classroom, was first delivered on Wednesday 20th October, with very little forewarning. It’s seen by industry insiders as a trial for rolling out further courses in the area of pay per click advertising across a variety of subjects. [Read On]

The first range of Google ready TV’s were launched by Sony last week and are expected to hit US stores this weekend, well ahead of Google TV’s own launch in a few weeks heralding new possibilities and opportunities in web design. In its own words, Google TV will combine ‘TV, apps, search and the web’, ultimately colonising the only household device with a monitor that no-one on the internet has yet penetrated with any great success. [Read On]