Within hours of the recent mass shooting at a New Zealand mosque by a far-right terrorist, the country’s authorities were scrambling to ensure a sickening video the murderer streamed on Facebook was barred from the nation’s screens. Due to the nature of the Internet, the task of removal proved very difficult. But eventually, the government succeeded — using controversial tactics usually associated with Internet censorship by authoritarian...

When we look at the very best content, it’s almost always about telling a story: From memorable TV adverts that run like a romantic mini series to sophisticated modern content campaigns that draw on the user community for experiences, the straight narrative provides the kind of emotional connection that builds a great brand. Websites in particular can benefit by placing storytelling and narrative techniques at their heart: this allows...

The autumn air is fresh and clear, the light is soft and uplifting and the autumnal forests are at their most beautiful. Combined with some smooth Swiss tarmac under my wheels, cycling conditions are perfect and I’m often out enjoying the hills in the middle of the day. But I’m not skiving, this is an important part of my work routine. Cycling doesn’t require a lot of engagement of the brain, so it’s a great time for thinking. The rhythmic...

Tech folklore has it that the landing page was born in late 2003, when Microsoft created the concept in response to poor online sales of Office. Realising that the buying process had to be smoother and more direct, the IT giant created a separate mini-site designed specifically for buying its flagship product. Whilst the campaign undoubtedly worked for Microsoft—we’re still stuck with Office, after all—it’s hard to believe nobody...

Including high quality blogs and other forms of useful, interesting content is a great way to boost SEO and encourage repeat visits to a website. However, with everyone playing the same game, getting visitors flowing to a new site can still be touch and go — even if you do everything right. Increasingly, targeted advertising on Google and social media helps bring new eyes to every lovingly crafted website, and companies relying purely...

They say that an image is worth a thousand words, and web designers certainly seem to have taken it to heart: the trend for image-rich, stylised page design means that there is now often little room for writing on a web page. Looking at recent trends in web design, we see full-screen photos, minimalist split-screens and enticing overlays. It’s all very visual, and not one of the examples contains many words on the featured pages. These trends...

“Why isn’t my site ranking in searches? Why has traffic not improved since we hired you? Calls from customers are actually down... do you even know what you’re doing?!” Ah…the music of irate customers, whose site you have lovingly designed and crafted only to see it filled with insipid writing so bad and error strewn, that it is actually putting customers off the company. The Internet is still littered with examples of slick-looking...

There’s an old saying about dresses and speeches which rightly points out that both should be long enough to cover the subject. In the modern era, men in particular would be well advised to drop all reference to female attire and talk about blogs instead. How long should a blog be? The infinite Internet has done away with strict word counts and in theory, every online article can be as long as the author feels necessary to get their point across....