Our latest email newsletter is packed with information on using the web to grow your business such as how the new law on Cookies will affect your website, a fantastic new offer for new web design orders (free domain and first year’s hosting plus £50 worth of Google vouchers), and our new venture ECO Arcade.

July 2011 email newsletter

UK website owner have a year to act to comply with the new cookie laws even though the legislation came into force in May 2011.

The EU’s Privacy and Communications Directive comes into force on 26 May  and requires user’s consent before using cookies – the text files that help organise and store browsing information.

The ICO guidance suggests a number of different methods that can be used for obtaining user consent but encourages businesses to find the solution that works best for them.

• pop ups or similar techniques asking for consent can be used.

• consent can be obtained by using terms of use or terms and conditions.  In using this option consent is given by the user when they first register or sign-up.
• preferences that users choose when visiting a website can also be used as a means of obtaining consent.

for use of analytic cookies to gather information about how people access and use a website it may be possible to add a footer or header to a webpage containing text.

See our earlier article for more information.

We’re delighted to launch our new offer of one free domain and first year’s hosting for all new web design orders. Get up and running the right way with our website design starter package which includes the following:

• FREE domain and hosting for year 1
• UNLIMITED pages
• Forums, galleries & blogs
• UNLIMITED updates
• E-commerce shops
• SEO setup and advice to boost your Google ranking
• Email accounts
• Advice on domain and best choice for hosting
• Advice on using social media effectively
• PLUS £50 of advertising on Google

Call us now on 01788 844014 or enquire.

We can also advise on branding and choosing the right domain name as this is an important early step in helping your business get noticed on search engines etc. See our blog post on choosing a domain name for more information.

The smell of virtual paint still lingers a little and there’s a bit more to add but we’re now happy for you to take a quick look round our new website. As well as the usual information about our services we’ll shortly be launching our full blown domain name and hosting service where you can search and buy directly from us at very competitive prices.

We all take time to read customer reviews of a product as they are often a good unbiased opinion on a product or service. New research now suggests that like all information on the Internet we should treat them with caution.

Findings to be published in the Economic Journal show that people writing reviews tend to express exaggerated opinions, veering between extreme praise and extreme criticism to compete for attention. Dr Kawamura from Edinburgh University says his findings indicate that we should discount one star and five star reviews as these do not necessarily represent the real opinions of the reviewers.

While product reviews are still useful perhaps we should be a little more cynical about gushing praise or withering criticism.