The pros and cons of DIY websites

Recent glossy marketing on TV claims you can create your own website within a few minutes, for less than the price of a couple of cups of coffee. To the business owner this must look great. “Wow – I can create my own website in a few minutes, and really cheaply”. The adverts certainly give […] Read More...

Don’t shoot the messenger!

In our business we sometimes come across situations where projects and relationships can become strained. These generally come down to simple misunderstandings which balloon out of control and can ruin many a good business relationship. We have all heard of the ‘geek speak’ phrases, or woes of my designer this, or my designer that. Here […] Read More...

Are emails responsible for climate change?

In a recent article from the Financial Times – subsequently shared on that esteemed fountain of knowledge better known as LinkedIn – it was proposed that our ‘unnecessary’ thank you emails are increasing carbon emissions. Well this is true to a degree but unless we all pitch in, we simply will not make a dent […] Read More...

Beware Facebook Phishing

Last week I watched a mass Facebook-phishing attempt unfold around me. It started with a Facebook friend sending me a video on FB Messenger which apparently had me in it. Being a typically vain and curious person, but suspicious, I clicked on the play button. The ‘video’ link didn’t do what I expected. Instead of […] Read More...

I Caught A Whopper

With data breaches abound and computer abilities going stratospheric you would think hackers must be busy trying to get into your accounts. The truth is, they are… but why go to all that effort and cost when they can simply ask YOU for your details and passwords? You may laugh and use the good old […] Read More...

The Password is dead. Long live the Password.

As the season of good cheer and cybercrime approaches let us again look at the password with some simple home truths to better protection and give you some insight into your weaknesses. By Q3 2019 alone they were 7.9 billion records exposed through data breaches. By the same time in 2020 there had been a […] Read More...

Don’t let Amazon ruin your Christmas!

Have you ever ordered something from Amazon, then waited weeks for it to arrive? This was probably because it came directly from a supplier in the Far East, i.e. China, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Given that Christmas is coming, and we’re currently in lockdown (again), it’s likely that many of you will buy your Christmas […] Read More...

When the cat’s away…

With Corvid-19 and the subsequent global lockdown, cyber attacks have increased dramatically. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Apple and Nintendo have been a few recent high profile cases. In addition there has been a large increase in phishing email scams trying to convince you to part with your access details. (https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/coronavirus-themed-phishing-campaign-smuggles-agent-tesla-malware) As a development company, RedKiteIT design, […] Read More...

Digital Advantage Grant scheme – get 40% of the cost of your website back!

We’ve just picked this up online: The Digital Advantage Grant scheme, funded through the European Regional Development Fund and Coventry University, has now been extended for a further 3 years to help SMEs in North Yorkshire (excluding York) grow through the adoption of digital technology. The grant can be used for a variety of consultancy […] Read More...

The Coronavirus crisis: an opportunity?

The world seems to be going utterly mad at the moment. It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that countries are locking down due to Covid19, and our own UK government is now advising us all to work from home if we possibly can. There are threats of being forced into total lockdown if we don’t […] Read More...

The origins of Yorkshire Day

As many of you will have read, we’re a Yorkshire business. Our offices are based in the heart of the North Yorkshire countryside, and both directors were born and bred in “God’s own county”. We celebrate Yorkshire Day on August the 1st, but the day itself has a relatively short history. The idea for a […] Read More...

How to identify spam emails

We’ve written articles about this before, but it’s an ongoing problem. The nature of spam emails is also changing; they’re becoming much more sophisticated. Often they’re targeted to look very similar to ‘official’ emails, but more worryingly, they often contain ‘personal’ information. This ‘personal information’ is often used to try to convince you that the […] Read More...

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to ‘phishing’ emails

Phishing emails have become a daily scourge of our inboxes. I personally often get 20 or more a day. Phishing emails have been used as a means of enabling hackers to gain access to computers since the mid-1990s, and they’re becoming ever more sophisticated. The word ‘Phishing’ literally means ‘fishing for information’ – in many […] Read More...

Converting from Magento to WooCommerce: how and why?

Like many web development companies, we’ve been creating Magento eCommerce websites for clients for many years. Magento has been the market-leading eCommerce solution for a long time, but its dominance has been challenged in recent years by the rise of several newcomers to the eCommerce market. One of these is WooCommerce, which is based on […] Read More...

Is your website legal?

Did you know that your website could be illegal? There are several important pieces of information that all businesses in the UK and EU must display if they are to comply with the law. These are as follows: Company information: A UK-registered business must display company information such as business name, registration number, registered address, […] Read More...

Why a free website may be more costly than you think

We’ve had several new clients coming to us recently with so-called ‘free’ websites. These are frequently offered by large companies such as 1 and 1 Internet, GoDaddy, HostGator, Wix.com etc. You know the ones – advertised during prime-time TV with big glossy adverts claiming you can create a website quickly and easily, by dragging and […] Read More...

Keeping customers happy

Over the last couple of years, we’ve noticed an increasing amount of new customers coming to us with first- or second-generation websites, complaining about their existing web developer. More often than not, they complain that their designer is unresponsive to their requests, uninterested in further development, or charges what the customer feels to be an […] Read More...

7 of the latest and greatest web design trends (2010)

This is an historical article from 2010 Over the past year there has been so much that has changed in the web design world. With the emergence of the iPad, and the ever increasing Smart Phone market the web is changing, and taking the way we access it with it. We have also seen web […] Read More...

Reasons why you need a website (2010)

This is an historical article from 2010 One of the questions I’m often asked goes along the lines of “I run a small business and I can’t sell my product or services online. So do I need a website?” My answer is always, unequivocably “yes”. Even if you believe that your product or service can’t […] Read More...

Just launched: a Business Directory for ThirskBusiness.com (2010)

We launched a new business website for Thirsk in April this year, developed in conjunction with Thirsk Regeneration Initiative (TRI) and Hambleton District Council. It’s designed to promote businesses in the area, and also to encourage businesses to start-up, or to re-locate to Thirsk. Phase 1 of the development went very smoothly, and we moved […] Read More...

Greno Woods website goes live for the Sheffield Wildlife trust (2010)

This is an historical article from 2010 We’re pleased to announce the completion of our latest project, a website for the Sheffield Wildlife Trust which promotes their fundraising campaign to buy Greno Woods, in the north of Sheffield. The site went live today, and co-incides nicely with the start of the fundraising campaign. An article […] Read More...

A website is more than just good design (2010)

This is an historical article from 2010 It’s the raison d’être for any designer to make things look pretty—and web designers are no different. I started my design career as a web designer almost ten years ago—a long time in Internet years. Before I went freelance I had a number of jobs that exposed me […] Read More...