Activate Media - Web Design and Development Discussion

Social networking: It’s for life!

2011-01-20T22:12:00.001Z

FaceBook now has 600 million users, less than 6 months since it passed the 500 million mark, and membership growth shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. It seems almost unbelievable that in less than seven years we have witnessed its transformation from a protected walled garden for the best universities to the fastest growing social medium the world has ever known. But, explosive growth usually comes at a cost. In this case we have relatively inexperienced and trusting users sharing their lives on social networking systems that are evolving quickly and with unknown consequences. This has implications both for the users and the businesses that reach users through social networks.

For me, the real issues for users are anonymity and trust. Most people feel protected and insulated using social networks because they think they are posting content in their own environment and using the internet makes them anonymous. They seem to think that the only way their information will be found or used is if they tell someone about it and give them access to use it.

Well, you don’t have to look very hard to realise the folly of this thinking. Take the case of George Bronk who cleverly used details that he found on dozens of people’s profile to gain access to their e-mail accounts and then distributed the juiciest information and photos to all of the their friends. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110115/ap_on_hi_te/us_facebook_stalker. You may well ask, how was this possible? Shouldn’t social networks have more protection? Well, you can’t protect people from their own foolishness, like posting enough personal information on social media sites to allow a complete stranger to take over your identity.

But, are people really being stupid, or is it more of a question of ignorance? Given the era of online social networks has happened in less than a blink of the eye in the spectrum of time, I side with ignorance. Let’s look at some of the contributing factors:

1. Young and inexperienced user base: Social networks’ growth has primarily been driven by young people, the first generation who have grown up with ubiquitous personal computers and internet. Many in this generation have not really had time to build a strong understanding of what is safe, and what is not, so they trust what seems like a good thing. Add in the fact that there is no guidance from their elders who typically have no clue about social networks or experience using them and you have the making of a perfect storm.

2. Friend finding software: This is the secret sauce for viral growth of social networks. They use both simple and complex algorithms to match you with potential friends. As friend requests usually come from recommendations from the site, users seldom question the authority, which in fact can be spurious at best. Many users are flattered by friend requests and the common view is the more friends the better.

3. Universal login: FaceBook’s extra special secret sauce. Wouldn’t be nice to just have one login for everything? Well, that’s what FaceBook thought, so it now provides this service third party sites. While sounding very convenient, the thing that most users do not know, is that Facebook provides user profile details to the third party sites as part of the deal, allowing these sites to also build personal profile on all people using this service.

With all of the above going on and not widely understood, it is only natural that smart people learn to game the system for their benefit. This may be as innocent as promoting products, but it can be taken much further as we have seen with the case of Mr. Bronk.

Social networks can bring entertainment, enjoyment and many other benefits, but as a user you need to have your eyes wide open when networking and be aware of the potential issues including:

1. Posts are for life: Once data goes up on a network, the genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in. It is virtually impossible to remove posts, photos, and videos one they have been posted – the bottom line, think BEFORE you post because it will follow you for the rest of your life.

2. Be selective in the details you post: Think about the information that identifies you, such as address, phone number, account details, clubs you belong to, even your full name. The more details you post, the more likely your personal security can be compromised.

3. Be even more selective in the people you “friend”: You wouldn’t just invite anyone into your house; you need to be just as careful in selecting the people that you allow into your inner circle of friends. Do the due diligence up front to make sure people are who they say they are.

For businesses, the power of these networks in sharing information about products, services, fashions, ideas, culture and more is staggering. Opinions can be beamed around the world in a twitter; positive and negative images can be viewed in seconds on youtube; social crowds can congregate on Facebook – there’s never been a scarier time for brand managers or a more exciting one as the ability to reach self-segmenting communities allows much deeper interactions and mass customization. As these networks become increasingly mobile, positive and negative feedback spreads like wildfire and businesses and institutions need to respond. Smart ones keep their fingers on the pulse and leverage the influence of these networks, but many organizations are still finding their way in this new landscape. The key challenges for businesses can also be captured in the phrase: It’s for life! There is no going back. Key topics businesses will need to think about include:

1. Building reputation and trust in the socially networked world: It’s not only users whose posts are for life – it’s equally true in terms of what you say about your business. As users become increasingly aware of the risks of networks, there may also be a backlash against people and organizations that do not respect privacy, so think not just about what those personal profiles can do for your marketing, but how you can keep those users secure – proactively.

2. Integrating most effectively with social networks: Separating a “digital” strategy from an organization’s overall strategy (ditto for marketing) won’t work in the new reality – it has to be an integrated approach because that’s now consumers are living their lives.

3. Managing employees’ use of social networks: There are plenty of should we-shouldn’t we debates going on as use of social networks in the office grows. There is no easy solution. The one key point is to ensure protection of sensitive data on the company, its customers, suppliers and broader partners – even without social networks this is hard as a Swiss private bank is just finding out courtesy of Wikileaks. With many employees potentially sharing on social networks it becomes a much bigger challenge, one which probably requires training.

The era of social networks is still in its infancy – users, businesses and the networks themselves are still exploring, figuring out what all this connectivity can do. The benefits are potentially massive, but so are the risks. So don’t forget, it’s for life! As you explore, use the same approaches you would in the jungle – don’t put out attractive morsels for predators, treat people you don’t know with caution and respect, protect your companions, try many paths but keep your compass (or GPS) on the destination.

The Internet; Simplify or die!

2010-11-11T14:16:00.001Z

It is truly amazing what you can do with the Internet these days. The ways we keep abreast of subjects of interest and the options to disseminate information has been completely revolutionised over the last 15 years. But a by-product of revolution is complexity, with a myriad of different specialised technologies, each with their own way of doing things and different user interfaces that need to be used. With all this technology and resulting fragmentation, complexity escalates at an unmanageable rate. So, how do you turn the tables and use the escalation of the Internet to your advantage?

If you break Internet activity down to its most basic activities, i.e. consuming and providing information, you can then employ technology to help harness the power of the net. Let’s examine these basic functions to see what can be done to make your Internet usage more efficient.

Information consumption- We all know the Internet is rich with information. All you have to do is locate what you are looking for, and then regularly monitor the sources you have selected to keep up with the data. While finding information is a well trodden path, monitoring multiple sources of regular information can be a real pain; this is one first places you can use technology to make your life bit easier. For example, you can use RSS feeds which are provided free of charge by most newsworthy sites and you can aggregate multiple information sources into a single page view. In essence, you can monitor the news from multiple websites wiht a single click.

Standard RSS aggregation is the tip of the iceberg. Just look at the new Rockmelt Browser, it takes browser based data aggregation to a new level, allowing you to integrate numerous social networks into a browser pane. This allows you to monitor even more diverse sources of information using the same viewer.

Providing information- From interacting with information sources to running your own website, the key to efficiency is simplicity! Just like consuming information, if you have to go to 10 different places and need to use a different interface to update information for each location, it will be extremely time consuming and often frustrating. The same applies to having consistent interfaces for the tools you use for different Internet functions, including updating your website or sending a newsletter to one of your mailing groups.

At Activate Media, we strive to provide our customers with the maximum leverage for their Internet activities. We have developed numerous plug-in components for our primary Content Management System, which brings different functions together under one roof, with a consistent user interface. A good example of one of the tools we have developed is BlogExtend™, which allows our users to instantly broadcast there blog and news entries to various social media and blog sites including Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and Linked in with just the click of one button.

So, while the Internet certainly grows more complex every day, the tools for overcoming this vast sprawling mass of data are also becoming increasingly powerful. But, if you do not embrace the tools, you fall further and further behind. The key is actively thinking about, and engaging with opportunity of how you use technology to your advantage; consolidating, simplifying and in the end making your Internet experience more efficient.

The Next E-Commerce Battleground

2010-10-08T10:32:00.001+01:00

Boundaries are blurring in many industries. For an example see our article "Who's Looking After You?" which focuses on how industry boundaries are blurring in the health and wellness value space. Value in this case being defined from the consumer perspective.

Put a lot of consumers together and you find communities of choice emerging, often enabled by social networks. And we are spending increasing amounts of time on these networks and in these communities. Nielsen estimates that nearly 70% of online users globally visit social network sites, and that social networks/blogs now account for one in every four and a half minutes online -- or 22% of total time spent online worldwide. The average visitor spends 66% more time on these sites than a year ago, almost 6 hours in the month of April 2010 versus 3 hours, 31 minutes last year.

Where there are lots of consumers, there are also significant marketing and sales opportunities. Reaching these communities is a key priority for big brands, although navigating the social media landscape has proved challenging as the communities are fluid, it requires interactive conversations rather than one way advertising, and a prerequisite for such dialogues is trust. Trust and peer to peer information sharing is at the heart of many of these communities -- and trust in businesses is low and declining in recent years. However, many brands have overcome these hurdles and started to build a strong presence in social media, for example building fan bases in the hundreds of thousands on Facebook, the leading social network with an estimated 540 million unique users worldwide (April 2010).

A fan base is one thing but turning this into revenues and profits is another. Many business models have been tried, but as one recent high profile example suggests, e-commerce in the social media environment is likely to turn into the next big battleground. Proctor & Gamble has partnered with Amazon to launch the Pampers web store on Facebook, an e-commerce tab on the fan page which offers consumers a way to shop for diapers and other baby and personal care products without leaving the comfort of the site. Amazon's webstore e-commerce platform powers the store, with consumers able to use their existing Amazon account details and able to rely on Amazon's tried and tested review, payment and delivery capabilities.

While this is certainly not the first e-commerce platform on a social network, with three such heavyweights involved, the odds are that this will be the first of many such webstores to come. This raises some interesting questions: Will consumers who have participated in creating a community around brands such as Pampers embrace or reject the idea of "commercializing" the community? What does this new channel mean for retailers, who are being cut out of the equation? Will they attempt to fight back via social networks or in other ways? Is there real value to the consumers in shopping in a "piecemeal" way among categories of products or do they just want to get all the shopping from food to diapers done in one go? Even if piecemeal shopping is not the big money-spinner, does being present, innovative and active enhance the brand?

This is an experiment to watch for all brands, retailers and internet services companies. We will follow with interest. And do feel free to let us know about other examples you come across.

P.S. P&G is not the only company look to generate sales from social networks. In checking out a conference I noticed that the organizers had created a linkedin group where possible and actual attendees could meet and exchange ideas. Bringing like-minded people together clearly has advantages as the discussions in this group are very active (though we shall see post-conference) -- and from the sales email with a VIP code that I received after joining the group, it certainly generates good leads.

This advance of social media accelerates globalization and impacts macro economic, social and geopolitical trends.

Joomla 1.6 is Almost Here!

2010-09-22T12:28:00.001+01:00

If you are a follower of Activate Media you are probably aware we have a long history in developing websites on the Joomla CMS system. Over the years it has had many revisions, and it only gets better! The next major release of Joomla, version 1.6, has almost completed it's beta testing phase meaning it will soon be ready for production deployment, and with this release come some very exciting new additions to the framework.

My personal view; this version should probably be called Joomla 3.0, because as with the previous major update 1.5 it requires a complete paradigm shift in the way extensions are built. It adds a number of significant improvements to the core system, which in the past required substantial bespoke programming to achieve anything close to similar functionality. Some of the noteworthy additions are:

Access Control Levels- this part of the CMS has been completely redesigned and rewritten. You now can have granular controls on an unlimited number of access levels, both for the back end and the front end. This is a huge change from previous versions of Joomla and will allow us to create infinite different access levels within a site- with each level being able to see and administer different parts of a site.
Styles- you will be able to apply multiple styles within a single template. This will allow changes between different pages in a site utilising the same template.
Consistent functionality and UI throughout the administration interface. While the Joomla admin interface is largely consistent in the current version, the new version ensures consistency through the entire system
Nested category support- while this sounds like overkill for most websites, it will allow for a much more logical organisation of information within larger sites.

We have now put some research time into the new version and we have been very impressed with what we have seen. The new framework will allow us the flexibility to develop some very innovative sites. We are especially keen on the new access control system, which would allow you to theoretically deliver a fully customised site to each user based on their preferences or your business rules.

We have also evaluated upgrading current Joomla based sites. For sites that have been developed using version 1.5, the upgrade looks very manageable with only custom modules requiring much if any reprogramming. On the other hand, older Joomla sites running on 1.0 versions of Joomla, will now need to be upgraded as there will not be any further support for this system.

But- we are not there yet- Joomla 1.6 has now had 10 Beta releases, with a release candidate due out any time. We would expect to see a stable version of 1.6 before the end of the year and that is the time we will shift our development to the new system. That being said, we are doing everything in our power in our current development to allow for seamless upgrades once the new version becomes available.

Get Agile - Collaboration is the Key

2010-08-23T18:12:00.001+01:00

Earlier in the year while knocking back a drink or two on a night out with an old university friend, who also works in the web design and development industry, I was inspired to think about the way we work and how we introduce our methods to our clients. It was the first sunny Friday evening of the year in London for a long time and the pubs down Kingly Street were packed with a throng of creative types, office workers and a few shoppers who had dared to venture off the main streets of the west end. The arrival of the spring weather had also seen some new shoots of inspiration work wise.

Now I must admit that my friend had approached the topic of agile project management and web development during previous nights out. Maybe the glorious weather that had brought an upturn in mood helped, or perhaps it was the enthusiasm that he approached the subject with, but this time we eventually got into fundamentals of what makes the agile approach work. We discussed the ideas behind the agile methodology and how they were implemented within his company and I instantly saw many similarities to the way we work at Activate Media.

The agile method is the antithesis to the traditional method that involves very disciplined and deliberate planning and control methods. This is the method we now like to call the ‘BDUF’ method (big documentation up front) or as it is better known the waterfall method. The ‘bduf’ method follows a rigid sequence of events:

Business Requirements

System Requirements

Design

Construction

Test

Deliver

Operations and Maintenance

Web projects rarely follow this sequential flow as it is always difficult to completely state all requirements early on in a project. This means that changes made late on in the sequence lead to projects going over time and over budget. This is not a method we have ever embraced at Activate Media always preferring a lighter-weight approach to web strategy and planning. It can often be perceived as being lazy or unable to plan, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Agile methods can create a disciplined project management process that speeds up the deployment of a web site or service. The agile manifesto lays out some key values:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

(The qualification to these guiding principles states; “That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.”)

In practical terms this means it is possible to deliver:

Specifications, wireframes and designs that evolve with the development project

Late changes to projects that are worked into the development cycle without causing time and money overruns

Adaptation to changing circumstances

Web sites that are delivered rapidly (weeks rather than months)

The question now is ‘How can we become more agile?’ I believe the key to the agile method of working is the people involved and the collaboration between them. This means planners, designers and developers talking to each other and working together throughout a project. This is something that that works really well with the compact project teams we work with at Activate.

Where I can see we can make a fundamental change in the way the industry approaches client relationships is by increasing the client’s involvement in the process. I believe close, daily cooperation with clients can only improve the quality of a project and the speed of delivery. Ideally this would include clients being involved in frequent on site meetings, which assess working web modules and tackle the questions that only working software can throw up. This involves the client in decisions that could never be covered by negotiating a detailed specification up front.

So where do we go from here? Initially the implementation of this creates more questions. Is it practical to expect clients to be so involved? How do you convince clients to get involved? These are questions I hope to find the answers to as we push to make Activate more agile.

Working with your clients – The basic in-house rules

2010-08-18T12:07:00.001+01:00

As an agency, a good relationship with new and existing clients is the bedrock of our business. Our challenge with new clients is how we communicate with them taking into account the different levels of expertise and expectations we experience with them.

The best and worst-case scenarios have wide chasms of differences to the agency. In the best, a client will have a good understanding of the technologies you utilise (In our case as an Open Source house utilising My SQL and Joomla )as well as understanding how a project is put together.. They would also have clear ideas of the functionality, design and any additional requirements for the site they wish to have built and can clearly deliver and communicate these points to our team.

The opposite of the best case, is of a client who contacts us and states ‘I need a website, how much does it cost?’ They will not have an idea of the design and look they want as well as the functionality they need to best represent their requirements. And this client will not have a clear idea of the complexities to produce a custom made project and the range of costs associated with it.

One would think that an average between these two scenarios would be the norm but that is not necessarily the case. And with all these clients we have to adapt to their needs, work together and ensure the appropriate rules of communication are attributed to the different levels of expertise.

An example is that the ‘expert client’ can be communicated to with an element of industry talk, use of Buzzwords etc.

For the more technically challenged client we believe the ‘Grandmother Test’ is applicable (but never in a patronising way). The basic Grandmother rule is ‘If I explained what we are doing to my Grandmother, would it be understood?’ If yes great, if not more clarification will be required

That said, our approach and working practice to our clients is a whole discussion of its own and will be visited on future articles.

Why do I Need a Content Management System?

2010-08-16T13:18:00.001+01:00

As one of London’s oldest and most experienced web design and development agencies we often are asked why a client really needs Content Management System (CMS) for website management. Our response; in this day and age a website without content management is about as useful as a car without fuel. It is our view that a CMS absolutely critical to provide both time and cost effective website management, here is the background and our reasoning.

The best websites are the ones that are kept up to date with breaking news and current information. In most cases, the client, or website owner, is in the best position to provide updates, but generally does not have the have the time, or the skills, to programme the site. This is where an owner operated content management system (CMS) comes into play, the only truly efficient and cost effective way for most website owners to keep their sites up to date.

A CMS separates design, structure, and content into different layers. The division of these layers allows many advantages throughout the life cycle of the website. Each area of the site can be re-created and adjusted independent of the other areas. The design layer can be completely re-worked for a new user interface without the need for any adjustments to structure or content. The structure can be adjusted for additional functionality with no changes required to design and content. Content can be changed with no need to adjust the front-end design or functional structure. The separation of these three areas creates the flexible strength of a content management system.

The primary advantages of using a CMS are:

Programming knowledge is not required- A CMS site allows non-technical people to add content. All they need to do; is login with their username and password and use the web editor that’s built into the CMS to add their content.

Decentralized updating and maintenance- Using an administration control panel through a common web browser you can edit your site from anywhere that has internet access.

A CMS web site is database driven- This allows you to create manage and store a few, or a few hundred or thousands of pages in the database without the need to update its’ structure each time an update is done.

Integrated Web site management panel- The web based administration panel not only provides the ability to add and edit standard site content, but also provides control over additional functionality such as electronic communications, e-commerce, polls, banners, forums, news management and menus. With this simple online administration interface, you are able to manage all of your web applications in one place.

Create Search Engine friendly pages- The separation of content from design allows you to easily include keywords in the URL of each page. If the title of your article were “Content Management” your URL would be written as: "your-domain-name.com/content-management". This makes it easier for search engines to index your content and boosting your website’s ranking in the search engines - driving more customers to your pages.

Website maintenance has changed dramatically in the last few years which is primarily down to powerful CMS systems. Content Management Systems have effectively levelled the playing field for the operation of websites. You no longer need a highly trained expert to make changes, allowing anyone with common computer skills to keep your site bang up to date. Even small organisations can now maintain a professional website efficiently and cost effectively.

Activate Media Rolls Out New Sunglass Hut Website

2010-08-12T17:11:00.001+01:00

This week sees the launch of the new Sunglass hut UK website. The site, www.sunglasshut.co.uk, is primarily designed to show off their ever expanding product range of the finest Sunglasses in the world. The features of the site are as follows:

Interactive catalogue showing portfolios by brand
Interactive product display
Trend Watcher- keeping clients up to latest trends in the Sunglasses world
UK store locator

Sunglass Hut is recognised as a leader in speciality sun retailing with almost 2,000 Sunglass Hut locations around the world. Located in a wide variety of high-traffic shopping and tourist destinations, Sunglass Hut stores offer consumers the latest branded products along with outstanding customer service.

Activate Media were responsible for the web design and development of the new Sunglass Hut website including flexible content management system (CMS) and integrated newsletter manager.

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

2010-08-11T16:15:00.025+01:00

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

With Christmas just around the corner, national charity Living Streets has launched an im-mince-ly exciting project to get people walking, through their Walking Works campaign!

Try our mince pie calculator!

With Christmas just around the corner, national charity Living Streets has launched an im-mince-ly exciting project to get people walking, through their Walking Works campaign!

We can all get carried away with a spot of feasting over the festive period, but with research showing that people gain an average of 5lbs in the four week Christmas period, it is important that we know how to combat that pesky Christmas bulge. But never fear: Walking Works, a campaign funded nationwide by the Big Lottery Fund, is here to help. With many of us office-bound all day, and government statistics showing we now jump in the car for over a fifth of journeys shorter than one mile, the Walking Works campaign highlights the role that walking can play in bringing some much needed fresh air into our daily lives, as well as burning off those excess Christmas tree-ats.

The revolutionary online mince pie walking calculator, available now at www.walkingworks.org.uk/calculator, uses scientific formulas to work out the number of calories you burn off when you walk, and rewards you for your effort in delicious mince pie points. The more you walk, the more mince pies you can either consume, or (even better) use as a measure to help you bask in the glow of your slender Christmas silhouette.

Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:

“The mince pie walking calculator is a brilliant way of demonstrating how many calories you can burn by simply incorporating walking into your everyday commute, and what better way to be rewarded than by earning mince pie points!

The mince pie online calculator was developed by London based Web design agency Activate Media. Based on a brief developed with Living Streets, Activate specified, designed, programmed, and deployed this calculator on the Walking Works website in less than one month. This calculator utilises Flash for the interactive calculator, and PHP and MySQL for additional functionality within the application. Users are encouraged to register for “opt-in” to the mailing list when using the calculator and when they do; their names and emails are automatically added to the Living Streets News Letter system, which is integrated with the site Content management system, all ready for future communication.

Elliot Kahan, Director of Activate Media said:

“The mince pie walking calculator is a simple but highly effective way to drive interest in, and traffic to, the Walking Works site. It’s one of those simple things that makes people smile!”

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

2010-08-11T16:15:00.023+01:00

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

Activate Media is now providing specialised BrandBuz indexes to Publishers and Industry Associations- allowing their readers and members to follow the Buzz of what is happening in their specialised industry. View the Demo

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

BrandBuz gives real-time “street level” feedback of what the market is saying – and NOT saying – about brands, companies, and products in a specific industry. BrandBuz aggregates information from websites including You Tube, Flicker, Twitter, blogging sites and all the top News sites based on specified criteria.

For more information about the BrandBuz index contact us here: http://www.activatemedia.co.uk/contact/index.php

View the Demo

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Ray-Ban Employs BrandBuz to get “Street Level” Feedback on the Web

2010-08-11T16:15:00.021+01:00

Ray-Ban selects BrandBuz

London 16-09-2009- Ray-Ban has selected BrandBuz by Activate Media to help monitor its Brand and products on the web.

Ray-Ban selects BrandBuz

London 16-09-2009- Ray-Ban has selected BrandBuz by Activate Media to help monitor its Brand and products on the web.

Managing brand has never been more complicated. The Internet and
especially social networks makes the spread of information both instant
and borderless. This can be a boon for positive information, creating
the all powerful “word of mouth” marketing. Equally, negative
information can quickly spiral out of control if left to its own
devices.

BrandBuz is a web based tool that gives real-time “street level”
feedback of what the market is saying – and NOT saying – about a brand,
company, and products. BrandBuz aggregates and stores key word based
information from websites including: YouTube, Flicker, Twitter,
blogging sites and all the top news sites based on the specified
criteria.

Using a sophisticated web application, BrandBuz consolidates the
information into an attractive and easy to use “dashboard”, providing
real-time views of what people think. Additionally, BrandBuz gives a
statistical overview of activity and the ability to easily drill down
to specific areas and entries of interest.

Will Thompson UK Brand Manager - Ray-Ban said: “It’s increasingly
important to understand what is being said about your brand on the
Internet and in social networks. BrandBuz helps us quickly and easily
monitor, and potentially engage in, this dialogue. BrandBuz is
potentially the best value marketing tool we can use in a rapidly
changing environment”

Greg Rice of Activate Media said: “People take their sunglasses
seriously and Ray-Ban is the major brand in that space. BrandBuz gives
Ray-Ban a powerful tool to leverage Ray-Ban’s brand and products at the
“street-level”.

Company information:

Activate Media provides a full range of digital media services,
including operating a London based data centre. Established in 1992,
Activate’s extensive experience and a pre-developed software library
reward clients with robust new media solutions, which are both time and
cost effective.

Activate Media services include:
•    Web Marketing and marketing intelligence tools
•    Website design and development
•    Intranet/Extranet development
•    Search engine Management (SEO)
•    Managed high performance web hosting

Contact: Greg Rice Activate Media 42 the Grove London W5 5LH

Email: greg@activatemedia.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 8810 1003

About RAY-BAN: www.ray-ban.com

About Luxottica Group S.p.A.: Luxottica Group is a global leader in
eyewear, with over 6,200 optical and sun retail stores in North
America, Asia-Pacific, China, South Africa and Europe and a strong
brand portfolio that includes our key house brand, Ray-Ban, the best
selling sun and prescription eyewear brand in the world, as well as,
among others, license brands Bvlgari, Burberry, Chanel, Dolce &
Gabbana, Donna Karan, Polo Ralph Lauren, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo,
Tiffany and Versace, and other key house brands Oakley, Oliver Peoples,
Vogue, Persol, Arnette and REVO. In addition to a global wholesale
network that touches over 130 countries, the Group manages leading
retail brands such as LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Sunglass Icon in
North America, OPSM and Laubman & Pank in Asia-Pacific, and
Sunglass Hut globally. The Group’s products are designed and
manufactured in six Italy-based high-quality manufacturing plants, in
the only two China-based plants wholly-owned by a premium eyewear
manufacturer, and in manufacturing facilities in the United States
acquired as part of the Oakley acquisition. For fiscal year 2007,
Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX; MTA: LUX) posted consolidated net sales of
€ 5 billion. Additional information on the Group is available at www.luxottica.com

New Look For David Clulow

2010-08-11T16:15:00.019+01:00

New Look For David Clulow

David Clulow Opticians is the destination store for contemporary designer eyewear. This Spring Davis Clulow launched their new e-commerce site

New Look For David Clulow

David Clulow Opticians is the destination store for contemporary
designer eyewear

April 2008

This Spring David Clulow launched their new e-commerce site.

With a more up-to-date design and an improved structure, we wanted to make the site more user friendly – which meant completely overhauling the structure. Once built the site allows visitors multiple ways of purchasing products on line, including a unique Book a Look facility whereby visitors can browse a product selection, select their choice and arrange a viewing of what they selected in a David Clulow shop near them.

+ VISIT

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal

2010-08-11T16:15:00.017+01:00

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Activate Media have developed a web site that will act as a information portal for the industry.

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

To support this programme Activate Media have developed a web site that will act as a information portal for the industry. The site includes a CMS that allows control over press releases, pdf documents and video podcasts.

Press Release: Eventware

2010-08-11T16:15:00.015+01:00

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

Activate Media announces its unique multi-stream agenda module for its EventWare product line.

A New Agenda Module for Event
Registration Systems

Online event software that just works

For Immediate Release

London
Date: 17/7/2008
Contact: Greg Rice
Telephone: 020 8810 1003
Email: pr@eventware.co.uk
Web: www.eventware.co.uk

Activate Media announces its unique multi-stream agenda module for its EventWare product line. The new agenda system allows Event Organisers to easily create multi-stream agendas for their web sites in an easy to use “drag and drop” interface. Once created, the agenda is displayed in an easy to read matrix which can be expanded or minimized at the touch of a button.

The system features the following:

A simple to use and navigate multilingual site

Features that would differentiate the ICI website from other web based NGO charitable websites

Capture prospective donors and the ability to communicate with them

Ability to play videos

Multiple display tools

Powerful and easy to use Administration system including content management

Andrew Dec of Dec Marketing commented “As a conference producer one of my biggest headaches is having to schedule breakout sessions which run concurrently. EventWare lets me quickly publicise the topics, speakers and timings online with the minimum effort. The system is flexible enough to cope with inevitable last minute changes. It integrates with the booking form and online registration database which allows my delegates to choose and book their sessions online.”

The new Eventware agenda system gives event organisers the ability to easily create complex agendas for their events without any custom programming. Up to now, creating a complex agenda might take days and making changes could only be done by a programming team. The new EventWare agenda allows Event Organisers to do everything, including changing the agenda at the last minute. The result is a well designed web based agenda and a saving of both time and cost.

About Eventware and Activate Media

EventWare™ is the complete online solution for your events. It provides everything you need to effectively market and administer all major aspects of your events. EventWare consists of a robust, state-of-the-art content management, communications, registration, payment and administration system. The EventWare conference and event registration software allows your delegates to register online. EventWare is provided on a component basis, so it can easily be customised to create cost effective tailor made sites for your events.

Founded in 1992, Activate Media is one of the most experienced digital media service organisations in the business. Activate has worked with the Events Industry for over 10 years. This deep experience has allowed us to develop the EventWare system which has been specifically tailored, both in function and feel, for the Events Management industry.

For information: www.eventware.co.uk
Contact: pr@eventware.co.uk
Phone: 020 8810 1003

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

2010-08-11T16:15:00.013+01:00

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show.

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show.

Press Release: IDEX Exhibitions Ltd

2010-08-11T16:15:00.011+01:00

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show. The unique trade show offers retailers the best in instant fashion at the lowest prices.

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show.

London 17-07-2009 - IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website today – www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show. The new site features an updated and improved look and feel and promotes the new location for the next edition of the event in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2009.

Considering the location for the new show the new site is fully multilingual, supporting both English and Polish. The site also features the EventWare™ gallery for a photo presentation of past shows and video presentation which gives users a real feel for the show. The user friendly Content Management System allows Idex Exhibitions to quickly add site updates and news items as they happen. The flexible EventWare List Management and Communications tool allows the organiser to communicate effectively with registrants and past attendees. Bespoke newsletters are created and sent to custom generated attendee lists.

The new site is based on Activate Media’s EventWare platform, the complete Internet solution for event promoters. EventWare provides content management, online registration, payment, database management and a list management and communications system.

Buzz Carter of IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. said: ‘The new Off-Price Show website really demonstrates what the show is all about and provides far more functionality than we have ever had before. The website is probably the most important marketing tool we have for the show, and we are very pleased with the result.’

Greg Rice of Activate Media said: ‘The Off-Price Show website really shows what can be achieved on the EventWare platform, both time and cost effectively.’

Company information:

Activate Media provides a full range of digital media services, including operating a London based data centre. Established in 1992, Activate’s extensive experience and a pre-developed software library reward clients with robust new media solutions which are both time and cost effective. Activate services include:

Website design and development

Content Management Systems (CMS) - Joomla specialists

Open Source software customisation, maintenance and hosting

Database development and integration related applications

Web based surveys

Intranet/Extranet development

Search engine Management (SEO)

Managed high performance web hosting

Email services

Contact: Greg Rice: Email: greg@activatemedia.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 8810 1003

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. Is a UK-based organiser of business-to-business trade exhibitions, conferences and events. Operating in many international markets and territories, its team has over 20 years’ experience in providing marketing solutions and connecting business professionals across the globe.

Contact: Buzz Carter: Email: buzz@idexmedia.com Tel: +44 (0) 207 733 5102

Press Release: IDEX Exhibitions Ltd

2010-08-11T16:15:00.009+01:00

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

Activate Media announces its unique multi-stream agenda module for its EventWare product line.

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

Online event software that just works

For Immediate Release

London
Date: 17/7/2008
Contact: Greg Rice
Telephone: 020 8810 1003
Email: pr@eventware.co.uk
Web: www.eventware.co.uk

The system features the following:

A simple to use and navigate multilingual site

Features that would differentiate the ICI website from other web based NGO charitable websites

Capture prospective donors and the ability to communicate with them

Ability to play videos

Multiple display tools

Powerful and easy to use Administration system including content management

About Eventware and Activate Media

For information: www.eventware.co.uk
Contact: pr@eventware.co.uk
Phone: 020 8810 1003

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal

2010-08-11T16:15:00.007+01:00

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Activate Media have developed a web site that will act as a information portal for the industry.

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Boss Wheels launches its new website

2010-08-11T16:15:00.005+01:00

Boss Wheels launches their new website.

Boss Wheels recently unveiled its new website this week. This is the first
installment of a multi-stage web based system that is set to
revolutionise the aftermarket wheel business in the UK.

Boss Wheels launches their new website.

Boss Wheels recently unveiled its new website this week. This is the first
installment of a multi-stage web based system that is set to
revolutionise the aftermarket wheel business in the UK.

The new
site features an updated and improved look and feel, with better search
and product filtering facilities, including a wheel search based on car
make and model. The site presents a wheel gallery to allow potential
customers see what different wheels look like when they are mounted on
actual cars. The new site also provides a very useful wheel and tyre
fitment and maintenance guide, providing valuable information for all
car owners.

The next phase of the Boss e-commerce drive will
be a full intranet management system, that will provide stock control
management, online ordering, online quoting and e-invoicing. The system
will fully integrate with the offline Boss financial accounts package
to provide a streamlined operation. Later this year, Boss Wheels will
provide hosted sites to their customers, allowing them to promote their
Wheel and Tyre offerings independently.

The web design and development was done by Activate Media . Site and product management is provided by a full featured Content Management System (CMS). Boss can easily add, edit, and delete products and product data,
including photos. They can also edit all text and photos on the
website. For the technically minded, it is based on Open Source
software; mainly Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL. This base provides a
robust, secure, fast, full featured and cost effective site.

David
Gross of Boss Wheels said: This is an industry that is very early on
the e-commerce curve, and we are focused on changing that. Our
integrated web based system will provide us a real competitive
advantage and provide our customers real benefits.

Elliot Kahan
of Activate Media said: A market changing project is always exciting
and the Boss project is certainly one of those. People will be amazed
how much more efficiently things can be done and the additional
opportunities that Electronic trading can bring.

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

2010-08-11T16:15:00.001+01:00

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

Calling all single ladies! If you are without a date this Valentines Day fear not! Seven Dials, Covent Garden’s Hidden Village, has bagged a yummy bachelor in time for Valentines, and you could be in with the chance of going on a date with him.

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

Our love hungry recruit Ted will be undertaking the Seven Dials Valentine’s Challenge whereby he will go on six consecutive dates in the run up to Valentine’s. Ted will then decide which girl he likes the best and will take her out for a fabulous afternoon of shopping followed by a wining and dining experience in Seven Dials on Saturday 14th February.

A bit about Ted:

Name:	Ted Thornhill
Age:	34
Occupation:	media
Height:	5ft 9
3 things I love:	wine, snowboarding, roaring log fires
3 things I hate:	wasps, thin pillows, horse radish
A summary of my personality in 100 words:	I could say I'm a warm, generous, amusing, chatty, outgoing sort of guy - so I will - because I most definitely am. I love a good dose of banter but I'm equally at home nattering about politics and the arts and whatnot. I love animals, too. Seriously, I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's true. I'm an all-round decent fellow!

If you would like to put yourself forward for a date with Ted please register your details at www.sevendials.co.uk/valentines or alternatively keep up with Ted’s progress via his daily blog post www.sevendials.co.uk/valentines

Come on girls – what do you have to lose?!

The web design and development for the valentines form and the seven dials blog was done by Activate Media.

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

2010-08-11T16:14:00.013+01:00

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

A bit about Ted:

Name:	Ted Thornhill
Age:	34
Occupation:	media
Height:	5ft 9
3 things I love:	wine, snowboarding, roaring log fires
3 things I hate:	wasps, thin pillows, horse radish
A summary of my personality in 100 words:	I could say I'm a warm, generous, amusing, chatty, outgoing sort of guy - so I will - because I most definitely am. I love a good dose of banter but I'm equally at home nattering about politics and the arts and whatnot. I love animals, too. Seriously, I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but it's true. I'm an all-round decent fellow!

Come on girls – what do you have to lose?!

The web design and development for the valentines form and the seven dials blog was done by Activate Media.

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

2009-12-16T15:26:00.007Z

With Christmas just around the corner, national charity Living Streets has launched an im-mince-ly exciting project to get people walking, through their Walking Works campaign!

We can all get carried away with a spot of feasting over the festive period, but with research showing that people gain an average of 5lbs in the four week Christmas period, it is important that we know how to combat that pesky Christmas bulge. But never fear: Walking Works, a campaign funded nationwide by the Big Lottery Fund, is here to help. With many of us office-bound all day, and government statistics showing we now jump in the car for over a fifth of journeys shorter than one mile, the Walking Works campaign highlights the role that walking can play in bringing some much needed fresh air into our daily lives, as well as burning off those excess Christmas tree-ats.

The revolutionary online mince pie walking calculator, available now at www.walkingworks.org.uk/calculator, uses scientific formulas to work out the number of calories you burn off when you walk, and rewards you for your effort in delicious mince pie points. The more you walk, the more mince pies you can either consume, or (even better) use as a measure to help you bask in the glow of your slender Christmas silhouette.

Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:

The mince pie online calculator was developed by London based Web design agency Activate Media. Based on a brief developed with Living Streets, Activate specified, designed, programmed, and deployed this calculator on the Walking Works website in less than one month. This calculator utilises Flash for the interactive calculator, and PHP and MySQL for additional functionality within the application. Users are encouraged to register for “opt-in” to the mailing list when using the calculator and when they do; their names and emails are automatically added to the Living Streets News Letter system, which is integrated with the site Content management system, all ready for future communication.

Elliot Kahan, Director of Activate Media said:

“The mince pie walking calculator is a simple but highly effective way to drive interest in, and traffic to, the Walking Works site. It’s one of those simple things that makes people smile!”

Ray-Ban Employs BrandBuz to get “Street Level” Feedback on the Web

2009-11-11T09:17:00.003Z

Ray-Ban has selected BrandBuz by Activate Media to help monitor its Brand and products on the web.
Managing brand has never been more complicated. The Internet and especially social networks makes the spread of information both instant and borderless. This can be a boon for positive information, creating the all powerful “word of mouth” marketing. Equally, negative information can quickly spiral out of control if left to its own devices.

BrandBuz is a web based tool that gives real-time “street level” feedback of what the market is saying – and NOT saying – about a brand, company, and products. BrandBuz aggregates and stores key word based information from websites including: YouTube, Flicker, Twitter, blogging sites and all the top news sites based on the specified criteria.

Using a sophisticated web application, BrandBuz consolidates the information into an attractive and easy to use “dashboard”, providing real-time views of what people think. Additionally, BrandBuz gives a statistical overview of activity and the ability to easily drill down to specific areas and entries of interest.

Will Thompson UK Brand Manager - Ray-Ban said: “It’s increasingly important to understand what is being said about your brand on the Internet and in social networks. BrandBuz helps us quickly and easily monitor, and potentially engage in, this dialogue. BrandBuz is potentially the best value marketing tool we can use in a rapidly changing environment”

Greg Rice of Activate Media said: “People take their sunglasses seriously and Ray-Ban is the major brand in that space. BrandBuz gives Ray-Ban a powerful tool to leverage Ray-Ban’s brand and products at the “street-level”.

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

2009-11-11T09:13:00.002Z

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. has launched a new website – www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show. The new site features an updated and improved look and feel and promotes the new location for the next edition of the event in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2009.

Considering the location for the new show the new site is fully multilingual, supporting both English and Polish. The site also features the EventWare™ gallery for a photo presentation of past shows and video presentation which gives users a real feel for the show. The user friendly Content Management System allows Idex Exhibitions to quickly add site updates and news items as they happen. The flexible EventWare List Management and Communications tool allows the organiser to communicate effectively with registrants and past attendees. Bespoke newsletters are created and sent to custom generated attendee lists.

The new site is based on Activate Media’s EventWare platform, the complete Internet solution for event promoters. EventWare provides content management, online registration, payment, database management and a list management and communications system.

Buzz Carter of IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. said: ‘The new Off-Price Show website really demonstrates what the show is all about and provides far more functionality than we have ever had before. The website is probably the most important marketing tool we have for the show, and we are very pleased with the result.’
Greg Rice of Activate Media said: ‘The Off-Price Show website really shows what can be achieved on the EventWare platform, both time and cost effectively.’

NIA launch a new web portal

2009-05-29T10:55:00.003+01:00

The NIA will lead a programme of national activities and events under the banner SC@nuclear. Their aim is to raise awareness of the supply chain opportunities that exist and are being created in the nuclear sector, and to help strengthen and promote the capability of the UK supply chain so that UK companies are able to play a full role in future nuclear development at home and overseas.

To support this programme Activate Media have developed a web site that will act as a information portal for the industry. The site includes a CMS that allows control over press releases, pdf documents and video podcasts.

Boss Wheeels releases new website

2009-05-29T10:17:00.003+01:00

Boss Wheels recently unveiled its new website this week. This is the first installment of a multi-stage web based system that is set to revolutionise the aftermarket wheel business in the UK.

The new site features an updated and improved look and feel, with better search and product filtering facilities, including a wheel search based on car make and model. The site presents a wheel gallery to allow potential customers see what different wheels look like when they are mounted on actual cars. The new site also provides a very useful wheel and tyre fitment and maintenance guide, providing valuable information for all car owners.

The next phase of the Boss e-commerce drive will be a full intranet management system, that will provide stock control management, online ordering, online quoting and e-invoicing. The system will fully integrate with the offline Boss financial accounts package to provide a streamlined operation. Later this year, Boss Wheels will provide hosted sites to their customers, allowing them to promote their Wheel and Tyre offerings independently.

The web design and development was done by Activate Media . Site and product management is provided by a full featured Content Management System (CMS). Boss can easily add, edit, and delete products and product data, including photos. They can also edit all text and photos on the website. For the technically minded, it is based on Open Source software; mainly Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL. This base provides a robust, secure, fast, full featured and cost effective site.

David Gross of Boss Wheels said: This is an industry that is very early on the e-commerce curve, and we are focused on changing that. Our integrated web based system will provide us a real competitive advantage and provide our customers real benefits.

Elliot Kahan of Activate Media said: A market changing project is always exciting and the Boss project is certainly one of those. People will be amazed how much more efficiently things can be done and the additional opportunities that Electronic trading can bring.

Mills Limited, specialist supplier to the communications industry, launches its new e-commerce website.

2009-01-28T09:34:00.007Z

Mills Limited, specialist supplier to the communications industry, launches its new e-commerce website.
London 26-01-2009- Mills Limited rolls out its new e-commerce website this week. The new system supersedes their pioneering site that has served them well for over 10 years.

The new site features an updated and improved look and feel, with better search and product filtering facilities and account handling features. Users can also generate instant datasheets by clicking the PDF symbol on each product page.

The system features a modern account facility with the ability to manage multiple delivery addresses for a single account. Additionally, payment can be made either by credit card or on account.

Site and product management is provided by a full featured Content Management System (CMS). The E-commerce system is fully integrated with Mills Sage accounts system as well as their current Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System, saving both time and money and preventing mistakes that are typical with running multiple systems.

Phil Presland of Mills Ltd said: “E-commerce is a critically important sales channel for us. The new system really enhances the customer experience while the Sage and CRM integration stream-lines our internal operation, saving both time and money”

The web design and development was done by Activate Media. For the technically minded, it is based on Open Source software; mainly Linux, Apache, PHP, and MySQL. This base provides a robust, secure, fast, full featured and cost effective site.

Elliot Kahan of Activate Media said: “The new Mills e-commerce system illustrates where modern Business to Business trading is going. The site is easy to use and enhances efficiency throughout the procurement process”

Company information

Mills Ltd is a distributor of high quality cable management products and specialist tooling for the communication industry. Originally established as an engineering distributor in 1918, Mills is still a family business, supplying a range of over 2000 products nationally for next day delivery from its headquarters in Greenford, West London.

Products offered by Mills Limited include:

• Fusion structured cabling products
• Cable Management products
• Data centre supplies
• Fibre optic cable and tooling
• Cable installation products
• Audio-visual products
• Specialist tools and test equipment

Contact: Phil Presland Email: phil.presland@millsltd.com Tel: 020 8833 2623

Activate Media provides a full range of digital media services, including operating a London based data centre. Established in 1992, Activate’s extensive experience and a pre-developed software library reward clients with robust new media solutions which are both time and cost effective.

Activate services include:
• Website design and development
• Content Management Systems (CMS) Joomla specialists
• Open Source software customisation, maintenance and hosting
• Database development and integration related applications
• Web based surveys
• Intranet/Extranet development
• Search engine Management (SEO)
• Managed high performance web hosting
• Email services

Contact: Greg Rice: Email: greg@activatemedia.co.uk Tel: 020 8810 1003

New website for Living Streets’ Walking Works Campaign

2008-09-17T14:57:00.001+01:00

This week sees the launch of a new website for Living Streets’ Walking Works Campaign. The site, www.walkingworks.org.uk, is dedicated to getting more UK employees walking to and from work, and to walk more during the working day.

The new website is targeted both at commuters wanting to increase their walking levels and to employers wanting to promote walking in the workplace. Visitors to the site can find out more information about the benefits of walking, can sign up to a bi-weekly e-Bulletin with tips on promoting walking in the workplace and can pledge to increase their walking and receive regular handy hints and tips to stay encouraged. The Walking Works campaign is run by Living Streets, the national charity working to bring our streets to life, with more walking in people-friendly public spaces.

Activate Media were responsible for the entire build, including the design, flexible content management system and integrated newsletter manager. Stacy Woodward, Walking Works Coordinator at Living Streets said: “We have been very pleased with the work Activate have done on our site. They have been responsive to our changing needs and helpful in their suggestions. Their flexible content management system allows us to keep our site current and fresh.”

Is the customer always right?

2008-09-16T13:48:00.005+01:00

We have been in the web design and development business for more than 13 years and employ staff trained in computer science, user interface design, human computer interaction, visual design, marketing, web standards and accessibility. We are good at what we do.

When a client comes to us it is our aim to use our expertise to come up with solutions that surpass the clients expectations. Input from our clients helps in creating a healthy working relationship; in fact without the clients’ knowledge of their own business we can never achieve the required result. Often the input from the client can be quite valid, but on occasions it is quite clear that the clients request is a bad idea and could be harmful to their business. So sometimes we need to go against the convention that 'the customer is always right' and may have to argue for certain design or functionality decisions to be made correctly. Of course this is handled in good humour and we support our argument by giving examples and explain in detail the reasoning behind our thought process and to date, there has never been an instance where this has not worked.

Put simply, we care passionately about the welfare of our clients and feel obliged to be truthful with them. The end result is a website or application that not only delivers on the original brief but uses innovative and forward thinking solutions that only experts can provide. Could the same be said if we had towed the line not questioned any client request no matter how little it made sense? We don't think so.

List of Best and Worst SEO practices for your website

2008-09-15T14:55:00.004+01:00

webconfs.com has a great checklist of factors that can affect your web sites search engine rankings. The list contains positive, negative and neutral factors because all of them exist. Most of the factors in the checklist apply mainly to Google and partially to MSN, Yahoo! and all the other search engines.

Check it out here.

Simplifying SEO - The Ethical Solution

2008-09-15T10:37:00.017+01:00

One of the major challenges we face is getting clients to understand the work that we undertake to improve their search engine ranking. In an attempt to meet this challenge we recently revised our seo copy to try and give clients an insight into what many seem to think is a form of 'Black Magic' within the web world.

In writing this revised text it became apparent that we were only prepared to offer what we consider ethical SEO or 'White Hat' solutions and not willing to resort to 'Black Hat' techniques such as using hidden or invisible text or cloaking. We think that the ethical approach is easier for clients to understand. This is because we employ a human approach to the search engine conundrum by creating well built web pages and using relevent keywords based around the clients product or service area. We then focus on creating relevent links to and from the site with a variety of understandable marketing techniques. In our view this will get the best long term results for the client and avoids the possible pit falls that could be detrimental to their business. The most infamous example of this being when BMW were removed from Google in February 2006 for the use of keyword heavy "doorway pages".

With the SEO techniques that we employ we aim to bring targeted search engine visitors to our clients sites. We are looking at not only improving the quantity of visitors to our clients sites but the quality too. Find out more about our SEO services.

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

2008-09-15T08:14:00.000+01:00

Activate Media announces its unique multi-stream agenda module for its EventWare product line. The new agenda system allows Event Organisers to easily create multi-stream agendas for their web sites in an easy to use “drag and drop” interface. Once created, the agenda is displayed in an easy to read table which can be expanded or minimized at the touch of a button.

The system features the following:

A simple to use and navigate multilingual site
Features that would differentiate the ICI website from other web based NGO charitable websites
Capture prospective donors and the ability to communicate with them
Ability to play videos
Multiple display tools
Powerful and easy to use Administration system including content management

London Golf Show Breaks Records

2008-06-15T08:12:00.000+01:00

More than 20,000 golfers flocked to ExCeL London for the fourth annual London Golf Show this month.

The golfing extravaganza enjoyed excellent visitor numbers throughout its three days, with an official attendance of 20,201.

Ryder Cup star Lee Westwood officially opened the London Golf Show today and hailed it a “great success”.

Activate Media has been responsible for all aspect of the website along with all outbound marketing since the shows inception. As their web partner for four years the site has evolved and preparation and discussion for next years’ show is already underway.

New Look For David Clulow

2008-05-15T08:09:00.000+01:00

This Spring David Clulow launched their new e-commerce site.

Walking Works Chooses Activate

2008-04-15T07:57:00.000+01:00

The Walking Works campaign was set up by Living Streets with funding from Transport for London in 2007. It was originally set up to be a London-wide promotional campaign encouraging employees to walk for all or part of their journeys to and from work.

The current Walking Works website did not meet the needs of the current campaign of promoting higher activity of employees in the work space to increase the level of transportation through walking and was therefore in need of a complete redesign.

Activate were successful in the tender of this project because of their full understanding of the brief, the concept design they created and the ease of use for updates to the site in the future through use of activate's Content Management System.

Activate Media - Web Design and Development Discussion

Social networking: It’s for life!

The Internet; Simplify or die!

The Next E-Commerce Battleground

Joomla 1.6 is Almost Here!

Get Agile - Collaboration is the Key

Working with your clients – The basic in-house rules

Why do I Need a Content Management System?

Activate Media Rolls Out New Sunglass Hut Website

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

Try our mince pie calculator!

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

BrandBuz Demo for Publishers

Ray-Ban Employs BrandBuz to get “Street Level” Feedback on the Web

Ray-Ban selects BrandBuz

Ray-Ban selects BrandBuz

New Look For David Clulow

New Look For David Clulow

New Look For David Clulow

David Clulow Opticians is the destination store for contemporarydesigner eyewear

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Press Release: Eventware

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

Online event software that just works

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show.

Press Release: IDEX Exhibitions Ltd

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

www.offpriceshow.co.uk - for its fashion trade event the Off-Price Show.

Press Release: IDEX Exhibitions Ltd

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

Online event software that just works

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Nuclear Industry Association launches a new web portal.

Boss Wheels launches its new website

Boss Wheels launches their new website.

Boss Wheels launches their new website.

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

The Seven Dials Valentines Challenge: Seven Days, Seven Dates – Will Love Blossom?

‘Walking Calculator’ revamped and relaunched for 2009

Ray-Ban Employs BrandBuz to get “Street Level” Feedback on the Web

IDEX Exhibitions Ltd. launches a new website

NIA launch a new web portal

Boss Wheeels releases new website

Mills Limited, specialist supplier to the communications industry, launches its new e-commerce website.

New website for Living Streets’ Walking Works Campaign

Is the customer always right?

List of Best and Worst SEO practices for your website

Simplifying SEO - The Ethical Solution

A New Agenda Module for Event Registration Systems

London Golf Show Breaks Records

New Look For David Clulow

Walking Works Chooses Activate

David Clulow Opticians is the destination store for contemporary
designer eyewear

A New Agenda Module for Event
Registration Systems