Relevant traffic is important for small businesses for a variety of reasons. If you own a business that deals primarily with local people, and are looking for your website to increase sales, there's absolutely no point in having a shed load of visitors who have a quick read of your content, then dis...

On the web, being unique and offering something different-  is difficult. The barriers that allow convenience shopping to thrive on the high street are removed online, and competitors are only a click away. Add to that the fact that comparison shopping sites are popping up around the web, at a r...

I eventually took the plunge and decided to talk at Bizcamp Belfast. The turnout was lower than Barcamp, but that may have been down to both the weather being typically Belfastish, and a bit on the damp side.  The NW200 road race was also on which probably prevented a few people from attending. How...

Out of all business skills, in my opinion focus has got to be one of the most important. I've seen people who run amok, generating idea after idea for new websites, new businesses, new concepts. I guess its in the creative type makeup. Personally I keep a notepad beside my bed, and frequently write ...

[caption id="attachment_1853" align="alignright" width="300" caption="reputation management for free!"][/caption] Reputation management is everywhere, you can't turn a corner on the web without seeing another service crop up out of the woodwork to monitor your company reputation online. Infact, t...

The internet has provided a great mechanism for market research. Where previous traditional methods  include focus groups, panels or face to face interviews, via a wide range of mediums - the internet provides a cost effective route to getting the research you need when you need it at speed, and at...

Part one of my newbie guide to running a design business dealt with the essentials of getting a project off the ground, and winning a potential project / tender. Part two aims to deal with keeping a client happy. Including issues such as testing your developed site, after sale customer service - an...

E-commerce sites, unlike some other web properties have been slow to change. I hate to use the cliche Web2.0 but if its the blanket term that we are all forced to use to describe the social change and shift in the web then so be it. Marketing has changed too, the old fashioned advertise with a la...

At the weekend, quietly,  I launched a forum for discussing all things web design / development / small business related. This should become an extension of the blog, giving users an opportunity to participate a bit deeper and engage with the site. We hope for it to become a resource for creative i...

Armed with the right resources, can anyone run a webdesign business? Lets face it there are lots of great resources out there from the inception of a project, right up to completion. If you are newbie in the field, and are wondering about how to get your processes and resources in shape, this is the...