This may be a slightly eclectic collection of posts. We write about the business as well as usability, search and technical topics. We share things we've found in the wider digital world and sometimes things happenings in our lives. We post announcements, tutorials, we might even brag about something the company has achieved or some selfless charity work that one of us happens to be doing.
Are you running a Google Ads campaign and feeling a bit uneasy about it? It’s generating traffic. Maybe even some leads. But sales aren’t where they should be.Or maybe you just have that nagging suspicion you’re wasting a tonne of money. We manage Google Ads accounts across ecommerce, local services, B2B and B2C. As part… Read More
This was shared by one of our developers and made us chuckle (we’re a wild bunch). True though: Most people massively underestimate how much they much they need to simplify things for customers.
Think improving your website’s user experience requires a big budget? Think again. Optimizing usability can be affordable and highly impactful with the right strategies. This guide explores practical, low-cost solutions to enhance your website’s usability and deliver a seamless experience for your audience. Affordable UX Strategies for Better Usability 1. Conduct User Research Without Breaking… Read More
Delighted to be the winner of the Web Design & Content Marketing Service of the Year 2024 for South Wales. Well done all the winners, and to all of those that took part.
Curious has been using WordPress for (pretty much) all the websites that we’ve ever produced. There’s a bit of snobbery out in the Internet and everyone has a view as to the ‘best’ platform to use – some swear by Shopify, others thing that going headless is the answer, other tribes will scoff if you… Read More
Over 2,500 pages of information about Google’s Search Algorithm leaked onto the web this month. We try and work through what lessons we can steal from it for SEO
We’re delighted to be recognised by Carmarthenshire Business Awards in the category of Creative & Digital Business of the Year. Congratulations to the other businesses nominated. We’re looking forward to dusting off our eveningwear for a fancy night out to see how we do!
Donald Norman, director of The Design Lab, and author of “The Design of Everyday Things” of a door that displayed a ‘Push’ sign on a pull handle the quote above. Kind of really sums up usability in my opinion (both on the web and in the real world): at its best you don’t need instructions,… Read More
How easy is it for users to work out where they’ve gone wrong on your website? Here’s a quick example of why, despite your best efforts, it might be harder than you think
A long while ago, I put together a slightly light hearted presentation to warn about website pitfalls you watch out falling into (taking some slight liberties with the 7 deadly sins along the way). Came across it the other day, and thought I'd share it...
With the current outbreak of COVID-19 and the impact the virus is already having on our countries, customers, our team and their families, we wanted to share information about how Curious is preparing for any further disruption.
I’ve made passing reference in a couple of previous blog posts about the colour of call to action buttons on pages. These buttons are a topic that many in the world of websites seem to obsess over. What size should they be, what shape should they be and, most importantly, what colour should they be?… Read More
Forms make a critical part of most websites - getting customers to hand over their details as painlessly as possible is key to conversion rates and a positive customer experience.
Take a look at this in-depth guide to the avoiding pitfalls
Sometimes the websites we create don’t work in the way we hoped. Sure they might look great, but that’s only one job of a website. The other is to perform – to drive the people that visit your site to find out more about your company and buy from you. And if they don’t do… Read More
Is your website on the slow side? From July 2018, load speed will start affecting a page’s ranking on Google’s mobile search results. Only the slowest loading pages will be initially targeted, but Google says there is no way to determine whether a page is affected by this change. Their webmasters’ blog did say: ‘We… Read More
We had a great day at the Zokit SpringConf on Thursday, meeting businesses from across South Wales. The day was topped off by Curious winning Zokit’s Customer Focus Award, recognising businesses that have exceptional customer service throughout the whole customer journey. We’re massive advocates of focussing on your customers’ experience, and so couldn’t be more proud… Read More
So on a Google Webmaster hangout that took place yesterday, John Mueller (a Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google) talked about site quality and architecture, specifically whether the Panda algorithm took these into account when evaluating pages. When asked if Google takes site architecture into account and if improving the site categories would make a difference to search engine… Read More
Google has announced it’s switching to a mobile-first index. Find out exactly what that really means – and what the effect will be on you and your website.
Penguin is an Google algorithm update that targets companies using spammy techniques to optimise for search engines. Version 4 is on its way and likely to have a big impact on many businesses.
Targetting Local Search effectively can be a game changer – particularly for small businesses. The difference between and ‘also ran’ and a company at the top of local search results is lots of free, relevant traffic. This handy infographic navigates you through the key steps that’ll put you in the driving seat.
My favourite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities. Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/curious.html#IjT5gJLs7Xff8Dol.99
Find out about the new full-screen video website we’ve created for Cosy Under Canvas, that’s reduced drop off by over 25% – and driven an increase in reservations.
My favourite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities. Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/curious.html#IjT5gJLs7Xff8Dol.99
"My favourite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity. I think if you are curious, you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, you create possibilities."
For a few months now, Google has been testing different ad layouts on it’s search results pages . They’re now rolling out the change more widely and we’ve taken a look at the implications.
Have you noticed strange traffic patterns in your analytics reporting? Massive spikes in traffic that don’t relate to any of your marketing activity or are you sitting back wondering why what appear to be thousands of visitors aren’t translating to new business? It could well be that all isn’t as it seems and that you’re… Read More
If you’ve been on social media today there’s probably one thing that’s dominating your feed – The John Lewis Christmas Advert. In case you haven’t seen it, it goes a little something like this: A little girl is looking through a telescope where she spots a man on the moon. He seems a bit… Read More
4 ways clever business owners watch their websites’ visitors Google Analytics is the ever-present Personal Investigator for your website: Secretly watching who’s watching you! Peering through the looking glass of the web. Recording what people see, where they go and how often. Watching users’ behaviour, so you can manipulate their path to where YOU want… Read More
Copyblogger has put this nice infographic together that we thought was worth sharing. Creating a powerful landing page can transform your conversion rates from a fraction of a percentage into a completely different league (we’ve delivered improvements of thousands of percent in some cases). Take a look at some of the traps you could be falling into with… Read More
As you browse through the majority of websites on the Internet, they have quite a typical format: the name of the website at the top of the page; the navigation in a strip underneath; and then, below that, a full width block containing a series of images that take turns appearing on the screen: These ‘carousels’, ‘imagesliders’,… Read More
Back in February, Google announced that, from April 21st, it would increase the importance of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal in its mobile search algorithm. In short, they gave website owners an ultimatum: fix your mobile user experience. We’re now just one week away from the date their algorithm change takes effect and it’s clear that a significant number… Read More
We recently ran a Google Hangout where some of Google’s senior team shared the latest trends and insights on mobile search behaviour – and some of the headlines were truly startling – the speed of change surprising even us. To help share this data, we’ve put together an infographic which captures some of the key headlines. We think… Read More
We’ve seen two pretty clear signals in the last week that, if you’ve not already done it, now is the time to embrace mobile as a fundamental part of your online strategy. Firstly, Google provided us with some powerful data on mobile search behaviour (that we thought would be great to share) and secondly, on… Read More
Here’s a couple of quick questions for you: Do you have control of your web domain and DNS? We explain why it’s so important that you do – and how to check.
“My mother says she’s cold and then makes me put on a coat” Chris came across this quote above the other day and posted it on our blog as it made her chuckle. Reading it I thought that, despite it being attributed to ‘Colin, aged 7’, it could have equally been applied to myself around… Read More