Notting Hill Biz: What's New in 2026 Happy New Year – Welcoming a New Era at Notting Hill Biz Introduction: Supporting Small Businesses in Notting Hill and Beyond Welcome to Notting Hill Biz, your dedicated digital solutions provider for small...
Want to create a website that’s a real showstopper but not sure where to start? This guide will walk you through the essential steps of a web design project, from getting to know your users to launching your new website. Read on to learn the ins...
You're probably wondering what's around the corner for WordPress in 2026. This article gives you the lowdown on upcoming updates, features, and trends - including AI integration, beefed up security, and a much better user experience. Find out what...
It may feel late in the year to be publishing a deep-dive on SEO in 2025, but the timing is deliberate. The first half of the year has seen some of the most dramatic shifts in search in over a decade — from Google’s widespread rollout of AI...
Notting Hill Biz: What's New in 2026 Happy New Year – Welcoming a New Era at Notting Hill Biz Introduction: Supporting Small Businesses in Notting Hill and Beyond Welcome to Notting Hill Biz, your dedicated digital solutions provider for small businesses in Notting...
Want to create a website that’s a real showstopper but not sure where to start? This guide will walk you through the essential steps of a web design project, from getting to know your users to launching your new website. Read on to learn the ins and outs of building a...
You're probably wondering what's around the corner for WordPress in 2026. This article gives you the lowdown on upcoming updates, features, and trends - including AI integration, beefed up security, and a much better user experience. Find out what changes are on the...
It may feel late in the year to be publishing a deep-dive on SEO in 2025, but the timing is deliberate. The first half of the year has seen some of the most dramatic shifts in search in over a decade — from Google’s widespread rollout of AI Overviews to the explosive...
Have you heard of “buzz monitoring”? That’s what some social media specialist firms will sell you. Effectively, they promise to keep an eye on what customers say about your company in all social corners of the web, from Twitter to Facebook to customer forums....
Since 1999, we’ve been a trusted partner to businesses looking to build a solid online presence. After 25 years, we’re excited to announce a rebrand that marks a visual refresh and a more profound commitment to our clients and the future of digital innovation. Why...
You know how they say 'when it seems to good to be true, it probably is'? We know that many people will look at our low prices, and indeed our free websites promotion, and assume that there simply must be a catch. When one considers the following points, you can see...
We look forward to doing a new website and SEO to hangover prevention drink for Good Shot Drinks.
SES London Conference I am very surprised to hear so many SEO companies throwing in the towel after Google's Penguin update in April 2012. The general feeling amongst the experts is that Google has defeated SEO companies. I don't agree! It is certainly harder to...
We're making a habit of celebrating everything. It's good when you get a break from work and maybe some cake, however, I'm not entirely sure that Valentine's Day is the best celebration for the workplace. Here are some reasons why: 1. Someone will get offended....
To my absolute horror, there are still bloggers, uselessly blogging about how irrelevant social media is and specifically pinpointing Facebook. I'm certain that they are just blogging to attention seek. I can forgive a fool that thought this a few of years ago, but I...
Celebrating Our 14th Birthday Happy Birthday to us! We're very proud to say that we are in our 14th year in this business and are continuing to grow and evolve with the fast pace of the online industry. We'd like to thank Fari and Carolyn for putting together such a...
A combination of the January blues and the cold weather has everyone in the office in a bit of a funk. I hope this video inspires you all to play a prank on your Bosses and colleagues to lift your spirits and have you all laughing again! If this proves to be too...
Any serious business requires a website these days. At the very least it will promote your services, and at best it will increase your sales many times over. 1. Become a Part of the Global Internet Community, Open up to the International Markets. Websites reside on...
To some extent, we are all experts in web design. Your taste may run to minimalist, lavish, or brash, but one thing is for sure. You'll be able to say, within seconds of visiting it, whether or not you like a website. It's perhaps tempting to think of web design as...
Have you noticed that the YouTube logo has a little cartoon Psy next to it? Well, if you press it, it takes you to this hilarious video that summarises the top trending videos and events of 2012. Psy and various viral celebrities got together at the YouTube studios in...
It's that time of the year again where you stress about what to get your colleagues for the office Secret Santa. Here are some of my suggestions for gifts to buy on different budgets. £5 and Under Hand Warmers For just £4.99 you can get one of these very cute hand...
While I had stated a couple of weeks ago that looks aren't everything, it has to be said that this statement is only true to a certain extent and there are some very obvious exceptions. When looking at the following sites, be sure to be equipped with sunglasses and...
1. Purpose of your Site It's important to outline the purpose of your site and the type of information you would like it to contain. Before you begin working on your site, it is necessary to have a clear idea of the purpose of this site. On-line brochure An...
A professional team of web designers, web developers, and SEO experts will create search engine friendly websites through on-site optimization. Here are some steps that should be taken to ensure that your site is optimized: 1. Title Tags It's the title of the page and...
Many new website owners, graphic designers, and web surfers are placing far too much emphasis on the looks of a site and forgetting to consider how a site should function. There is no use having a beautiful site with attention seeking graphics and 'look at me' flash...
Heyyyyyyyyy! Sexyyy Haunted House! The Gangnam song and dance craze has now reached new levels of "viral". The Korean number 1 hit song has been synchronized with a Halloween light display that has currently got an audience of over 2 million viewers. The video...
Apple is hosting an event tonight in San Jose, California, where it's believed they will announce the "iPad Mini". It's speculated to be between 7-8 inches and to cost an affordable £200. While Steve Jobs had claimed that a smaller tablet would not be created, it...
Here are a few simple points to consider when building a new site or redesigning a current one. Brand When designing a site you have to make sure that the brand and image is reflected in all areas of the business. Your website should have the same themes, feel,...
Notting Hill Internet Services' guide to website and internet jargon: find simple definitions for words and acronyms from applet to WWW. Applet: A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. An applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer...
Staff training with Sarah, although it looks like Sophie Peyman is heading the session !
It shouldn't be a question, it should be a must! Ranking high on search engines is the next step to success after creating the perfect website for your business. While you can temporarily achieve this using PPC, organic SEO is a much better long-term investment....
Taking a leak will never have to be boring again!
Thank you to everyone who came to to the event a couple of weeks ago- Kids, adults, and dogs! It was good to see some old and new faces. Although we didn't manage to reach our target of £500, we managed to beat lasts years total and collected £380 which is much...
Join Notting Hill Web Design on Friday 30th September for the World's Biggest Coffee Morning, where we will be raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support. Last year we raised £300 and hope to beat that by raising £500 this year! We would like to invite everyone to...
On Wednesday, Microsoft fans were informed on the building windows 8 blog that "the tablet" will no longer be supporting Adobe's Flash, but will be using HTML5 instead. Microsoft 8 will make flash available on its traditional PCs but not for its touch specific type...
On Friday 24th September, we held a coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer, as part of their World's Biggest Coffee Morning fundraising campaign. We would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who helped us raise the wonderful total of £300 for the cause....
We are getting closer to our coffee morning in support of Macmillan Cancer’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning. Taking place on Friday 24th September, you can now see full details here: Notting Hill Web Design Coffee Morning. Please try to pop-in, even for a few...
Another week, another Twitter PR disaster. By now, no doubt you'll have heard about the whole Gillian McKeith debacle: if not, you can find a useful summary on the Guardian website. There is nothing the usually benign (though swift to become a baying horde) citizens...
The news that the new government has revised plans to roll out broadband by 2012 may affect small businesses and their online marketing. We've mentioned before on this blog our anticipation of the greater functionality that all businesses will be able to include on...
Here's proof, if it were needed, of Twitter's ever-increasing omnipotence: babies can now tweet from the womb. Yes, back in February, we reported that dogs can tweet: in our estimation, this is a step further into the realm of... well, the rather ridiculous. The...
It's common knowledge that a good Google ranking can make or break a business, so it's no surprise that companies regularly get into a lather when they don't get the results they believe they deserve. The European Commission Competition Chief, Joaquin Almunia, is...
Case: 5 Dillon is a brand new boutique selling fabulous, high quality, new, gently used, and reinvented items at incredibly accessible prices. As the boutique is located in a small town there are limitations on the number of customers that may visit the store. 5...
With the announcement that the beta version of Firefox 4 has been released, it's that time again. Time to check how your own website looks on it, that is. While the browser is only in beta (ie, a work in progress), it is currently available for download - its...
Getting sites to the top of Google rankings is a serious business - so serious that it's easy to forget that the company also has a fun side. This week, the BBC showed us a video and images of Google's new offices in Zurich. Fancy making an entrance to your staff...
We are in full swing to organizing our coffee morning in support of Macmillan Cancer's World's Biggest Coffee Morning. Taking place on Friday 24th September, you can now see full details here: Notting Hill Web Design Coffee Morning. We do hope to see you there, so...
Google, of course, pioneered the 'pay per click' method of advertising, where if the user doesn't click, you pay nothing. Now YouTube (also now owned by Google) is introducing a similar scheme with adverts at the beginning of videos. If users choose the skip them, the...
You may currently be preoccupied with thinking about how you're going to optimize your website for the oncoming mobile web explosion. Well, if you want a break from that, we've got news for you - it looks like we're also in line for a massive rise in Internet-via-TV....
If you sell internationally, it's definitely worth reading the technology section of the daily papers. For example, did you know that many websites, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, not to mention the all-important Google, are blocked in China? That's been...
Sell online? Your customer base just increased by almost two million. Well, all right, not "just", but, according to The Guardian, Internet users rose by 5%, or 1.9 million, to 38.8 million over the last year to May. This boost in numbers reflects new sectors of the...
Are Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr starting to look a bit old hat to you? Wishing you could do something a bit newer and groovier with your online presence? Then it could be time to look at Foursquare. If this geo-location craze had thus far passed you by, think...
It was over a year ago that we first heard about Facebook, the movie, and now, at last... a trailer. Not that it, nor the accompanying official website is letting much slip, yet. Those who sit through the trailer will be treated to some corkers of lines, including:...
Many thanks to the Wall for pointing us towards Eloqua's Social Media Playbook [PDF] - "playbook", we assume, because while a workbook entails effort, everything to do with web 2.0 is, of course, fun fun fun! Eloqua is a big-bucks customer engagement software company,...
We all know the benefits of having a presence on Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and so on, but the fact is that any interaction you have on there may not be seen by visitors to your main website. We've been looking at a neat piece of code that you can add to your own site...
Fancy fifteen minutes of power? Then you may want to send David Perez a tweet this week. This hapless Advertising Recruiter is promising to do everything - provided it's legal - that his Twitter followers suggest, for a week. What's more, he'll be wearing...
You may have heard of Macmillan Cancer Support's magnificent annual fundraising campaign called the World's Biggest Coffee Morning. People are encouraged to hold coffee mornings at work, school, in their own homes, etc., to raise money for the Charity. Last year...
From today, Google offers users the option to see properties for sale and rent as an overlay to UK maps. This free service is clearly of great benefit to the many small businesses who operate as estate agents or letting companies: Google says "We are completely open...
Following my own advice on this very blog, I was updating a company's presence on Google Places today (previously Google Business Centre; basically, the interface that you update if you want your business to appear on Google Maps). The company in question is a...
Google's homepage is the most-talked-about blank space on the internet. Renowned for its one-option interface and clean minimalism, the page is often cited as a great example of 'less is more'. It came as a great surprise, last week, then, to see that Google had...
If you're only just getting your head round PPC advertising, you may be dismayed to know that Google is several steps ahead - and that very soon, there will be whole new advertising platforms on which to promote your business. Yes, mobile advertising is the next big...
Microsoft's search engine product Bing was a year old on Sunday. Setting aside the question of whether we've got any more used to its rather silly name (no), has it become a proper contender in Search during that time? Well, according to Thinq, Bing has managed to...
Adidas is. Virgin is. Proctor and Gamble and Toys R Us are... are you? Using Facebook for advertising, that is. A recent Business Week article reveals that advertising on this social network has quadrupled since 2009. Clearly that oft-repeated mantra, 'go to where...
Google makes over 400 small changes to its search algorithm per year, on average, so why is the Search community all abuzz with the recent Mayday update? Simply, it seems, because many of them have seen their rankings suffer, especially when it comes to the...
The whole point of the Internet, some might say, is that you can reach the whole world - so small businesses, serving a small local area, might be excused for thinking they don't need a website at all. Well, you've only got to search this very blog for the word...
It's very tempting, sometimes, to have all the latest bells and whistles on your website. Everyone likes novelty, which is probably what led to the many sites that used to play music as soon as they started up, back in the last decade. Thankfully, that's a trend that...
Yesterday and on Monday we asked the question: Can small businesses compete with the big boys? As we have already seen in the previous two posts, the big corporations have certainly cottoned on to the importance of online sales, and have the resources to corner the...
Yesterday, we asked the question Can small businesses compete with the big boys?. All this week, we'll be looking at the subject in more depth. A few years ago, a concept that has become known as the long tail gained currency and was recognized as a viable way for...
It's often said that the Internet is a level playing field, where small businesses have every opportunity to compete with gargantuan multi-nationals. Is that still the case? These days, almost all large companies understand the vital importance of a good web presence...
According to recent news reports, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, will occasionally reply to emails from any old man in the street (or rather, at a keyboard). You have to admire that degree of accessibility from the top level of a company. It reminds me of when I've...
As the new government takes its place, the BBC reports, there is a frenetic dash to update the official Whitehall website. Any owner of a website will be well aware of how even the most innocuous-seeming content can date. Did it seem like such a good idea to announce...
We mostly work with small businesses, and we mostly help them to optimize their sites for the major search engines, so we thought we'd share a link that many of you should find extremely useful. Google keep a number of different blogs, each pertaining to a niche...
Strong words from Barack Obama this week: With iPods and iPads; Xboxes and PlayStations – none of which I know how to work – information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of...
'Keep a vibrant social media profile' is now common advice to small businesses, and we at Notting Hill Web Design repeat it as often as everyone else. But when you find that you're spending half the day posting on Facebook, updating Twitter, putting photos on Flickr...
When was the last time you looked at your site on a browser other than Microsoft's Internet Explorer? With the news that Chrome is expanding its user base and Firefox usage remains steady at approximately 21%, it's high time you took a look. Sites that were built to...
The well-regarded social media guide Mashable reports that Twitter has come up with an intriguing business idea - and one that could benefit businesses if they play it right. The promoted tweet is an interesting concept which goes where no advertising system has gone...
Here's a fact that never ceases to be amazing, published this week by the Guardian: All human language used since the dawn of time would take up about 5,000 petabytes if stored in digital form, which is less than 1% of the digital content created since someone first...
An alert popped up on my screen today that looked interesting. Wait, I understate: it looked, well, world-changing, at least within in the environs of the SEO community. Google was to enter the SEO business, charging the cool US $25,000 per month to optimize websites....
I've seen casual mentions of Groupon for a while now, in a number of the blogs I read - but only the American ones. Phrases such as "I took advantage of a Groupon for a spa day today" or "I can't believe this photographer can afford to charge such a low Groupon price"...
The best websites are those which appear simple - the most-often cited example being, of course, the Google website, with its plain search box. Of course, like the duck (serene on top; legs paddling frantically below the water), even the barest sites can have a lot of...
Thanks to Google, many of us are familiar with the concept of online document sharing - a savior for businesses with geographically diverse workforces. Documents are stored in 'the cloud' (is that term catching on, do we think? I see it a lot in posts like this one,...
The news is full of comment on Facebook's latest innovation. That familiar 'like' button has escaped the bounds of Facebook itself, and can now be found across the web on all sorts of other sites, from news providers to film directories too - of course - consumer...
We've proclaimed the benefits of social media many times: we've also warned small business owners to update their status with some degree of caution. With online services that you use in your own private life, it's all too easy to lapse into an unprofessional tone on...
We learned this week that the police inadvertently tried to launch a new service under a domain name that already exists. The news does not really surprise us. As the Internet constantly proliferates, the fact is that simple or obvious domain names will have been...
Following the news that Ordnance Survey has released their map data, we'll be watching with interest to see how they compare with the omnipresent Google Maps. Google Maps have been open-source from the beginning, meaning that they have been 'mashed up' and used in...
Is your customer base made up of more women than men? Many are: there are the obvious examples such as women's clothes shops, beauticians, and spas - and there are also those areas where, for some reason, women seem to do the final decision-making, like house-buying,...
Web design companies are not all the same. Unfortunately, what is an art for some is just a way of making money quickly for others. Do be wary of folk who have no portfolio to show you, and no qualifications to their name: web design is a serious practice that needs...
Traditional web design has it that the most important information and action buttons should appear "above the fold" - ie on the area of the screen that the user sees without having to scroll down the page - although we have seen research that appears to contradict...
Clearly the big news this week has been the launch of Apple's iPad in the States - we in the UK will have to wait a little longer unless you are fortunate enough to be able to pop over there to buy one. Already, Google is announcing specific iPad functionality (for...
A couple of weeks ago, Google Streetview finally rolled out for most places across the UK. It was a cue for us all to virtually 'walk' down the same roads we actually traverse every day in real life - well, it's the novelty factor, isn't it? Since then, we've all been...
The great thing about the Internet... well, let me correct that: ONE of the many, many great things about the Internet, is that it allows you to be local as well as global. As a Web Services company, we have customers from many different countries around the world. At...
As a small business owner, it makes sense to outsource certain work. If you need a new shop frontage, you call a sign-maker; if your electrics are on the blink, you find an electrician. The chances are that you also paid out for a website. If your website provider was...
Has anyone ever told you-you to need a CMS? For many of us, the only answer to that would be a blank face as we tried to take in one more piece of jargon. Yet, CMS might just be the three most important initials you will come across if you are trying to start up or...
How we love seeing the incredulous looks on our customers' - and competitors' - faces when we tell them that we offer free website design! Not much is free in this day and age: bus travel for old age pensioners, the kind of newspapers you get handed at stations, and...
Large companies employ people full-time to design their brand. You, as a small business owner, are likely to have slightly fewer resources to hand. It's tempting to think it can't matter, and write off web design as an unnecessary expense - but put yourself in the...
BIA/Kelsey, a US advisory service, recently commissioned research into the usage of the Internet for local shopping - and the results were interesting. Here are some of their findings, and our thoughts: 90 percent of users use search engines ... and the other 10% are...
We've been pushing the benefits of social media marketing for small businesses for some time now - a flip through our recent blog posts will show that. Most mainstream media is pretty much in accord with us, but I guess that with every new fad there will be some...
This month, Google.com announced a new feature in the 'Shopping' section of its search: in stock nearby. Currently available only in the US (though sure to follow in other countries if it proves popular), the tweak will allow search results to display whether the...
The beginning of this month saw Yahoo's 15th birthday. While for many businesses 15 is not an advanced age, on the Internet it makes you one of the elders. Back when Yahoo started, search engines were not a common concept, and, indeed, only a small percentage of the...
Rumour has it that the upcoming Digital Economy Bill will seek to outlaw the provision of an open wireless Internet connection. It's probably a wise move for private households, but it could have unforeseen effects on small businesses. An open connection is one which...
Many small businesses have an intensely loyal customer base. The Internet is often seen as a great tool for global sales, and it's easy to forget that it can be used on a neighborhood scale too. Take, for example, the cinemas who engage with their customers on...
Did you hear the one about the technology blog that people started mistaking for Facebook? It's a funny story, really, but it teaches us a lot. In a nutshell, ReadWriteWeb wrote a workaday blog post one day, about a new log-in function on Facebook. Now, ReadWriteWeb...
Online advertising is big business, in case you didn't already know. Our top search engines would argue that it benefits us to have ads delivered that are specifically tailored to the user - and of course, we can all see that. Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin,...
Yahoo pitches in this week and signals the importance that it gives to social media, with the announcement that it will be integrating with Twitter as well as with Facebook. Effectively, this means that users' Twitter streams will be accessible from all Yahoo's...
In a recent article from the Independent, Google attempts to emphasize its non-partisan status by pointing out that it isn't the first result when you search for 'Search Engines'. Does that make you feel a little better about your own positioning for crucial keywords...
Do you ever wonder how much good your social media marketing activity is doing you? A recent study by Rice University in Texas attempted to quantify the exact ROI of a Facebook page for a small business - in this case, a bakery and cafe chain in Houston. Having no...
So, last week tweets from space - this week, tweets from dogs. Is the world going completely crazy? Mattel, the well-known toy company, has brought out Puppy Tweets. It's basically a collar which is triggered by certain doggy events - barking, say, or chowing down -...
We always think it's worth drawing attention to businesses who are using internet technologies and online platforms in remarkable ways. By checking them out, you can only learn - and perhaps even build on their ideas. Recently, I visited Your Move website on my iPod:...
As you may have heard, there's a new social media platform in town - and it comes from Google. As a business owner, you may be wondering whether it's yet another place where you have to keep up a presence - like Facebook, Twitter, and your blog aren't taking enough of...
How much do you love Google? Enough to display your affection across your chest? Google teamed up with some young fashion designers, asking them to create a piece that somehow reflected the Google ethos. This t-shirt, showing the iconic Google Maps marker, is the most...
Proof, if it were needed, that Twitter really has reached every part of the known universe, comes with the news that Japanese aeronautical engineer Soichi Noguchi is tweeting from the International Space Station as it orbits. Follow his Twitter stream here and you'll...
Back in September, we wrote about the surge in usage of the mobile web. This month, a startling survey from GSMA reveals that 25% of the UK population went online via mobile during last December. Astonishingly, almost half the time online was spent at one site:...
It's not exactly rocket science, but we've seen research quoted in multiple places this week revealing that small businesses can suffer from poorly-chosen web addresses or URLs. That's something which the man in the street could probably have told you himself, but it...
"In the 19th century, we built the railways. In the 20th century, we built the motorways. In the 21st century let's build the superfast broadband network that will create hundreds of thousands of jobs for Britain." Stirring words from the Shadow Chancellor George...
Charities and small businesses might be interested to hear about the little-known (by us, anyway!) Google Moderator. This simple tool allows you to canvass your users on any issue: the Conservative Party, for example, are currently using it on their draft manifesto...
One of the skills a good online marketer needs is the ability to intuit what folks are searching for when they want your product. The trouble is, while you can easily see which search terms people used to get to your site, you'll never find out those which they typed...
Regular users of Twitter will already be familiar with the "trending topics" function, which shows which words and phrases are being most tweeted about at any given time. From today, Twitter has rolled out the option to view more 'local' trending topics, with the...
Now, some of us have only just got used to the whole concept of internet via mobile phones - now we also have to get to grips with the increasing access through internet-enabled TVs and games consoles, such as the Wii, which can turn your TV screen into a monitor....
Google really is constantly refining its search results, on a never-ending quest to make them perfect. That's great news for end-users, and slightly more perturbing for small-business owners who may feel that they just don't have the time to make the refinements to...
Remember our post about Knols back in May '09? You may be interested to hear that Google has introduced a suite of new tools to be used within the Knol publishing environment. Now you can expand your Knol with calendars, maps, spreadsheets, high-quality images -...
For someone at the forefront of technology, it might seem like a bit of a late move, but Bill Gates has joined Twitter (you can see his Twitter stream here). Mind you, one can understand his reluctance: the social media platform creates a notoriously direct channel...
I've been chuckling to myself ever since seeing this billboard outside Barclays Bank in Ladbroke Grove. Now, I know that with a bit of patience, you can understand it, but my, what a mishmash at first sight. "Were", it begins, putting your mind on totally the wrong...
We've written before about the benefits of making sure your small business is represented on Google maps - especially if a local trade is important to your income. Now, Google takes one step further with it's Near Me Now function. Initially launched in the US, it's...
The Times newspaper nominated Iranian student protester Neda Soltan as their Person of the Year on Boxing Day. Soltan died at a protest against a rigged election in Iran, shot by a government militiaman. In a previous age, her death might have gone unnoticed by the...
An American friend recently told me she wished she could find bright, vibrant housepaint colors like we have over here in the UK. That didn't sound right to me: I've always thought you could find pretty much anything you like in the Land of the Free. A quick Google...
Now, we're not going to name names here, but we recently came across a Help page on a website that began "Is funding available?". The answer was no. "Are there any grants?" Again, no. We couldn't help feeling that we'd stumbled across a curmudgeonly corner of the web....
One of the things I love best about the Internet and its many innovations is how it makes you feel as if the future has arrived now - and that's a feeling that seems to occur every week or so. Just when we've become complacent about all the little things that make our...
As snow falls on much of the UK today - and with more predicted overnight - there are some fascinating uses of social media emerging. Those who say that Twitter is a waste of time should check out Ben Marsh's snow map. Marsh has aggregated all tweets containing the...
The past ten years have confounded expectations and sprung many surprises - both online and in the small business worlds. In December 1999, very few people. Read full article »
The time was when a copywriter had to be good at just one thing - writing. As with many professions, however, the job description changed radically with the arrival of the.
While everyone seems to be intent on looking back over the past decade, the near future is looking very exciting, too. Rumors abound that Apple will be unveiling their next big technological product - will it set the world on fire like the iPhone did? Newspapers are...
Case: Shiraz Software delivers state of the art printing solutions on all major platforms for all related large format printing markets with very strong after sales support. As they did not previously have an independent website, instead they shared web space...
Don't forget to track Santa's journey on Google Earth tomorrow! While you're waiting, and if you have small ones to entertain, you might like the games in Santa's village. Read all about Google's history tracking Santa as she circumnavigates the globe here. Finally,...
We're so used to thinking of Google as the number one search engine, that it can be hard to remember that this isn't the case everywhere. In the USA, for example, Google's market share stands at about 71.5%. In the UK, it's more like 90%, which explains the way we...
The big news this week is 'real-time search' from Google, which, in a nutshell, means the inclusion of the very latest news stories, blog posts, tweets and other social media activity in their main search results. Now, more than ever, every business needs to consider...
Case: Denbigh Under Fives is a small pre-school near Ladbroke Grove in London located in a mews off a quiet side street. The pre-school wanted a web presence to promote themselves as they felt that many people were not aware of their existence and due to their...
Case: Kensington Physio is an established physiotherapy practice located off Kensington High Street in London which has been in business for nearly 20 years. They had a website but it had become outdated both in its style and the information it contained. Kensington...
A bit of local news. For many, the cost of building a website from scratch can seem astronomical and with the economy as it is one that is sometimes neglected. Read full article »
National newspapers are reporting today that Amazon may be moving to open up a number of "bricks and mortar" high-street shops across the country. It's an interesting development from a company that we've always believed has blazed the trail for online business. We...
I'm sure we all have experience of projects which go over budget and run past their deadlines - but can you imagine a website that costs you over two and a quarter million pounds more than you'd bargained for, and launches almost four years later than projected? When...
As Google announces several upgrades to its Product Search, is your website primed to take advantage of them? Websites that will do best from these enhancements are those which have ensured their product information is registered with Google's 'merchant center'....
Matt Kelly from the Daily Mirror has made a fascinating speech on the importance of content and character over SEO, as reported in The Guardian today. His basic point is that newspapers have been too keen to optimize their sites, putting more importance on visitor...
Not exactly unexpected, I suppose, but Google reports that searches for "gift ideas" are up by 40% since last month. Does your site sell anything that could possibly be someone's ideal Christmas gift? Well, now could be the time to put together your "gift ideas" page,...
Web veteran Fari Peyman of Notting Hill Web Design predicts top small business trends for 'The Teens'. Read full article »
Heard of Black Friday? Despite its grim-sounding name, this is the day retailers traditionally see their tills ringing, as customers start their Christmas shopping in earnest. It's a more common term over in the States, where the effect is bolstered by the double...
A recent interesting article in Management Today mentioned the research we conducted on how many small businesses in the UK have websites (answer: fewer than ought). This was as part of a wider response to a recent report about how much time is wasted on social...
The best things in life are FREE. We have found out that Notting Hill Web Design (https://www.nottinghill.biz) offers FREE websites to small businesses. Read full article »
London web agency Notting Hill Web Design is producing websites for small businesses free of charge in a bid to stimulate the local economy. Read full article »
Big news in the office this week: we are embarking on a training scheme to improve our customer service. Why? Because much as we'd like to believe we meet our own high standards all of the time, a couple of recent customer complaints alerted us to the fact that this...
To the cynic, Twitter can seem like little more than an arena for self-promotion. In the space of those 140 characters, we're all trying to find new ways to 'big ourselves up'. One way to gain Twitter brownie points is by being among the first to 'retweet' emerging or...
Case: The Reel Poster Gallery is situated in west London and renowned for its collection of vintage original movie posters as well as related books. Trading for over 17 years, the company was certainly well established and successful but its online presence was poor....
Case: The Back Shop is a well established retail outlet selling orthopaedic furniture, trading for over 20 years, with a showroom in central London. It had an online presence but the website was not generating enough interest nor had it been updated and therefore did...
It is a lot of a small business person, unfortunately, that one never has time to concentrate on absolutely everything. Something always has to give while you deal with, well, the realities of life: customers, tax returns, stock control... Which is why it might be...
Got your website looking just the way you like it? Great news - but has it ever occurred to you that not every visitor might be seeing it the same way you do? I'm not talking about human visitors (although that's a whole issue in itself when you consider they may be...
We were approached by Blanka - who impressed us so much, we employed her! - and asked how she could showcase her photography and art. Our solution was a simple, yet professional website that displayed her images in an attractive and uncomplicated way. The result was...
While we are on the subject of surveys (see our post on how few small businesses in the UK have websites), how about this one? A recent Citibank/GfK Roper survey in the USA found that 76% of small businesses are not using social media to promote themselves. As before,...
Case: Vincent House is a residential house based in west London, providing medium and long term accommodation. Their website was functional, yet very basic and they required a site that would allow them to expand and enhance the marketing and communication...
A bid to stimulate the local west London economy has prompted web agency Notting Hill Web Design to offer free website design to small businesses. Read full article »
Here at Notting Hill Web Design, we recently commissioned a piece of research the results of which amazed us. Having heard that 44% of small businesses in the USA have no website, we thought we'd check the situation here in the UK. Sadly, our hunch was proved right:...
Last week we read the news (online, probably) that for the first time, the national spend on online advertising had exceeded that on TV advertising. Now, a new piece of research from telecommunications provider ntl suggests that you get a lot more bang for your buck...
Social media is a really fun area to work in because it's such a new field that one is constantly being surprised by innovations. Take the Facebook status bar - that field where you type in a short message to let all your friends know what you've been up to, how...
As I've said before, it seems like Google announces something new almost every day or so. With all the excitement of Google Wave's initial invitations going out, it could be easy to miss a few of their less prominent launches. One interesting new innovation that could...
Suppose you went shopping for a designer bag on the High Street one day. You head towards the Louis Vuitton shop, but before you go in, you see another bag shop next door. Something catches your eye, and you go home not with the Vuitton bag you had planned to, but...
Well, we had a great time on Friday, hosting a coffee morning as part of Macmillan Cancer Support's World's Biggest Coffee Morning. It was great to see so many people! We caught up with old friends as well as meeting quite a few new ones. But of course, there was a...
Word spreads fast on Twitter, and how does it spread best? Through the power of the 'retweet'. To retweet (or 'RT' as it is called on Twitter, due to its defining character-limit) is simply the act of repeating someone else's post. It implies a desire to spread news,...
When a website does everything right, you find yourself wanting to tell others about it. That's just what I've been doing recently with the online garden store Crocus.co.uk. Great websites are the ones where you hardly notice the user experience because everything's...
These are wise words indeed from Mahatma Gandhi: A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is...
We are joining in with the World's Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support and would like to invite you, your work colleagues, your friends, and family to come and join in too! The event is open to the public and will be taking place at our offices...
It's a known fact that people read quickly online - if you can call it reading, that is. They scan pages at a much faster rate than they would read a book or a newspaper. It's an odd phenomenon, and one which we can only assume has something to do with the infinite...
Have you ever needed to convince stakeholders of the value of your website? Possibly you're not even 100% convinced yourself. In either case, Google's Internet Stats page is the place to visit for nifty soundbites. Next time you have to present to your investors, get...
It's a small change - but Google's making a big thing out of it. You may have noticed, last time you visited Google, that the size of the search box has increased. There again, you may not have noticed: it's quite a subliminal tweak, and, as search is, by its very...
If you're in the selling business, Google's Domestic Trends reports should interest you. They are based on the idea that search data can inform us about the purchasing intentions of the populace. If people are searching for terms like 'jewelry', 'perfume' or...
On 1st January 1999, the Euro was introduced. In August of the same year, Blogger, the online blogging platform subsequently bought by Google, was launched. It heralded the arrival of mainstream, accessible web publishing for all. We're pretty much at peace with the...
Regular readers of this blog will know how we feel about social media for business: we're in favor! We were interested, therefore, to follow two news stories this week, one reporting that Portsmouth City Council is banning their workers from spending time on Facebook,...
The popularity and simplicity of the iPod Touch and iPhone have done what many have tried and failed to do: turned the UK on to the possibilities of the mobile web. But what might it mean for you, your business, and for the Search industry, as more people turn to...
Anchor text: not everyone knows what it is, and yet it's vitally important to the business of SEO. It's quite possible you've written some yourself, without ever realizing you were doing so, for it is one of the fundamentals of the web. Like most things that fall into...
Firefox recently announced that their internet browser has been downloaded a mind-boggling billion times. Now, we shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking that this means Firefox has a billion users: typically, a single user would have downloaded the browser each time...
If you are one of those who habitually use Facebook in your day-to-day social life, then you probably know instinctively how best to use it in the marketing of your business. Keeping abreast a lively social circle does not require wildly different skills from making...
I heard on the World Service recently that Kenya has finally joined the world of broadband. It always astonishes me to realize that the benefits of high-tech living are achieved by something as fundamental, though mind-boggling, as feeding a cable more than 10,000...
As a copywriter and online editor, I've always considered it my duty to ensure that the text I publish online is absolutely correct. I double check for grammar errors and misspellings, and I'd be mortified if one slipped through. After all, I am representing my brand,...
Are you one of those people who uses twenty words when two will do? Verbosity can be a great asset on the shop floor. However, if you are the one responsible for writing the copy for your business' website, you may find that you're not getting as many leads as you'd...
Habitat, the UK furniture store, has never been at the forefront of online technologies. Take their website, for example, it may look impressive on the first view, but you can't order from it, nor it doesn't showcase every product they have for sale. Primary amongst...
We booked a break at the woodland holiday camp Centerparcs recently. Now, as someone who works in online marketing, I tend to notice when it's done well, and I must say that Centerparcs has one of the best online booking experiences I have ever encountered. It's not...
White Stuff, the high-street clothing store, has a very good website and online strategy. I visited for the first time because I liked their clothes, and I stuck around - subscribing to their newsletter; paying several repeat visits, and crucially, making purchases -...
There's been a lot of talk about the 'free economy' recently, with Google as the most-cited example. Aren't we lucky to have as powerful a set of tools as Google Search, Google Earth, Google Maps, and all the other innovative Google offerings, for completely free? Of...
Remember our post on Nofollow links? That was prompted by a presentation made by Matt Cutts, the Google software engineer who has gained some notoriety in the SEO world by keeping a blog. For optimization professionals, his word is practically law - or at least, it's...
With many a company closing down, or simply hanging on by the skin of their teeth in the current global recession, Google has bucked the trend, apparently filing an 18% rise in profits for the last quarter. Adding to the image of the search engine behemoth as...
Plagiarism is, of course, frowned upon on the web, just as it is in any other circle, but there are times when imitation is your best friend. When a new client comes to us with a completely blank sheet, requesting a website, I will often ask "what are your favorite...
"You ask, they answer" was the header for the Guardian's series, in which users can post questions in a real-time online forum. Recently lined up to answer the public's questions was herbal health and beauty store, Neal's Yard Remedies. So far, so good - until it, all...
Talk to anyone in SEO and after a while you'll catch them talking about 'optimizing your site for Google...er.. all the major search engines'. The truth is that Google has become so dominant in the UK, that it has pretty much set the rules for optimization. Indeed,...
This week I heard anecdotally of a manager who asked his team to create a Wikipedia page about their business. His plan was to use the page to announce special offers, while, he hoped, also benefiting from the strong inbound links that such a high-ranking site would...
Over the past few weeks, we've been mentioning the best uses we've seen of Twitter for small businesses, from bakers who announce their latest batch of fresh goods, to newspaper journalists who put out tweets to find out more about breaking stories. Now, Twitter has...
Have you ever watched a mechanic tune up a bicycle? The changes he makes are generally small: some oil, an adjustment to the brakes, perhaps, and a good pump to the tyres - and yet, when you get back on, everything runs so much more smoothly than before. In a way, we...
One of our favorite websites will be featuring in a BBC1 TV debate this Sunday 5th July on The Big Questions. There will be a debate on the science, religion, and the physical aspects of what happens when we die. Horizon Research Foundation's Dr. Sam Parnia will be...
One of the most pleasurable things about working with the internet is the constant innovation. Every day brings new surprises, some of a distinctly novel kind - and most of them seem to be happening around social media, as more and more people look at the basic tools...
Page sculpting: it sounds like an artistic pursuit, doesn't it? This is the term used to describe the act of modifying your HTML links to dictate whether or not you will 'reward' the sites you link to. This is done not with a chisel and mallet, but with the use of the...
Notting Hill Web Design and The Pollen Shop last year announced the launch of spiritualcapital-cardiff.org.uk. The website, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Governments Community Development Foundation, explores the issue of how faith groups...
The BBC published a story revealing that many areas of Britain - and not just the rural backwaters - suffer from low levels of internet connectivity. While fewer than 1% of British homes are unable to get any internet connection whatsoever, the story focuses on the...
Wolfram|Alpha was all over the newspapers recently, with many of them describing it as a 'search engine', while others more carefully replicated its own description of itself as a 'computational knowledge engine'. I guess 'search engine' is a little easier for the...
No doubt, by now all you techno buffs out there have heard of Bing, the new search engine by Microsoft, which went live on June 1, 2009. While Bing’s core index is the same as Microsoft Live Search, Bing comes with some notable additions including: § the...
When I heard that Aaron Sorkin - writer of several hit films, Broadway plays and television including some episodes of the West Wing - had been commissioned to write a movie about Facebook, my first thought was that it'd be a romantic comedy, much in the vein of...
Those who fear that they are too old to understand the new technologies that are sweeping the marketing world may perhaps be sobered to hear of María Amelia López, the "world's oldest blogger" who died at the age of 97. She took up blogging on her 95th birthday. She...
Those concerned with Search Engine Optimisation need to keep abreast of the latest innovations in the Search world, and that means keeping a particularly close eye on what Google is up to. Google's always up to something, it has to be said. But when important...
We're always talking about how Twitter can help small businesses, so I thought I'd give a couple of concrete examples. Sometimes it's easier to understand when you see social media in action like this, although I still stand by my usual advice that the quickest and...
"Business and pleasure should not be mixed on services like Twitter". This was the last in a list of rules issued to employees of the Wall Street Journal last week, as reported by The Guardian's Emily Bell. Her interpretation? "Journalists [...must keep] private and...
My English teacher wouldn't have liked it, but Google has a new word for a 'unit of knowledge' - the Knol. Come to think of it, 'Google' wasn't exactly an everyday term back when I was at school, but they certainly seem to have turned that one around. It's eminently...
Website design: it's a fine art these days. You can study it at degree level. There are awards for it. The man on the street has opinions about it - and we all pretty much agree what makes a good website design, and what doesn't. Don't we? Hmmm. Looking at the...
No, I am not talking about British politicians... I am talking about Google. Yesterday, Google managed to direct a small proportion of its web traffic through Asia, as you do, resulting in 14% of Google users finding the service slow or interrupted. Apparently, even...
This question was posed to us in respect of our free website offer to local start-ups and charities/projects. We were proposing a new website for a small business in the W11 area and had been trying to stress that our offer had no strings attached and, that once the...
To answer that we need to clarify what we mean by social marketing in this instance. Social marketing is a concept whereby organizations promote an idea for the benefit and social good of society as its primary aim and not to make a financial return - like a health...
The word Joomla is being bandied about the Internet at a rate these days but what is it? Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables users to build websites and online applications. As Joomla is an open source solution it is a free...
Getting an online presence is essential for all businesses but it is not always affordable if you are just starting out. The perfect solution is a ready-made website, where the design has already been produced and is simply waiting for content and images. Recently we...
We were recently asked what our SEO strategy is. This is a very straightforward question and one we were happy to answer. We certainly do not take umbrage in being questioned nor do we mind telling people the facts – unlike others who like to bamboozle clients with...
It has taken me 2 weeks to control my embarrassment to admit that The Guardian' April's fools day joke, well and truly fooled me - red cheeked as I'm writing this. I'm referring to my post...
This is an old, and wise, Arabic saying. But do we like change? Facebook recently underwent an overhaul, bringing about a torrent of dismay from many of its users. An online group was started - Petition Against the "New Facebook" - which to date has 1,748,123...
It is 10 years since a small business was formed, run from a bedroom in W11, and Notting Hill Web Design was born. Our founder named the company after the location where he lived and worked. The area has been good to us and now we are in a position to give...
Their headline reads "Twitter switch for Guardian, after 188 years of ink" I was very surprised to find out that The Guardian newspaper is switching to Twitter. As an SEO consultant and a professional Internet user, we suggest to our clients to use Twitter to...
Today marks the passing of the first quarter of the year - a year that is proving difficult for all businesses. No one can afford to sit back, expecting their online business to simply perform for them. So when was the last time you looked hard at your website,...
So what can managed Internet marketing do for your business? The White paper will explain the complete Managed SEO concept, something that is much needed in the industry. This Whitepaper will benefit you if: you run a business website but suspect it is not working to...
One of the new tools we have implemented, as part of our complete managed internet service, is a free SEO report, which is available to everyone. No such thing as a free lunch? Or is it simply a case of if it is free, it can't be of much use? In this case neither is...
Well, we have been busy with a complete Spring clean and spruce up. Out with the old and in with the new! So what have we been doing? New website - new design New staff - new training New documentation - new information New tools and features Now that we have had...
Our long awaited and much anticipated "Managed SEO White Paper" will arrive next week! The White Paper will explain the complete Managed SEO concept, something that is much needed in the industry. Watch this space!
RIP Meta Tags 2005 A fond farewell To a dear friend (of Black Hat SEO)[I had better quickly said that Title Tags are incredibly important to search engines and therefore absolutely vital to SEO. But technically Title Tags are not Meta Tags so I will continue....] In...
I am a great believer of Emotional Intelligence as a concept. I feel, after some exposure and basic training based on Daniel Goleman's book, "Emotional Intelligence" published in 1995, that this is a revolutionary way of thinking and communicating. Very briefly, the...
You are online, you are surfing the world wide web looking for a good SEO company to boost your online business presence - and there are hundreds of SEO companies all shouting to get your attention. Company ABC SEO Ltd is offering: Guaranteed Low Costs!Guaranteed...
It wasn’t such a long time ago that the practice of medicine was a secretive art. The doctor was referred to as the holder of all knowledge, and the patient certainly wouldn’t question his diagnosis. That all changed with the emergence of the Internet: it’s now quite...
Next time your boss arches an inquisitive eyebrow towards your screen and asks what you're doing on Facebook, you have a legitimate excuse. Just whisper the hallowed words "Social Marketing". Companies big and small are opening their eyes to the marketing...
Are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I shall begin. Once upon a time.... many, many years ago.... (Well, 14 years in Internet terms is, after all, an absolute lifetime)... blogging was the domain of students, keeping friends and family up-to-date on their personal...