https://bright-web.co.uk/articles Plain writing on websites, speed and small business, from the Bright Web studio. en-gb https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/google-workspace-or-microsoft-365 https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/google-workspace-or-microsoft-365 Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The two homes for a small business's email and files cost about the same and both work well. Here's how to choose between them without the brand loyalty, and why the setup matters more than the badge. Digital setup Email https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/setting-up-users-and-access https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/setting-up-users-and-access Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Who gets an account, who can reach what, and what happens when someone leaves. The user side of a business setup is easy to get wrong and painful to untangle later. Here's how to do it once. Digital setup Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/what-you-need-to-start-a-business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/what-you-need-to-start-a-business Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Two sets of decisions people put off when starting out: how you register the business, and how it shows up online. A plain walk through sole trader versus limited company, and the domain, email and website that come next. Small business Digital setup https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/how-to-set-up-a-domain-properly https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/how-to-set-up-a-domain-properly Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Your domain is the address your website and email both hang off. Here's how to register it, point it where it needs to go, and make sure it's yours rather than your web designer's. Digital setup Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/groundwork-behind-an-app-that-scales https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/groundwork-behind-an-app-that-scales Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT An app that brings in more customers is only good news if the rest of your business can take the weight. Growth tends to break the boring parts first. Here's what to sort before it does. Mobile AI agents https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/shopify-theme-vs-headless-shopify https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/shopify-theme-vs-headless-shopify Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT Headless Shopify gets pitched as an upgrade every store should want. For most it isn't. What it means in plain terms, what it costs, and which stores it suits. E-commerce Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/when-a-mobile-app-lets-you-scale https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/when-a-mobile-app-lets-you-scale Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT An app is the wrong tool for getting found, but there's a point in a growing business where it becomes the thing that lets you serve more customers without more effort. Here's how to spot it. Mobile Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/website-redesign-checklist https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/website-redesign-checklist Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT A redesign done carelessly can lose the search rankings and enquiries your old site spent years earning. Here's the full checklist: before, during, and after. Strategy Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-business-email-lands-in-spam https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-business-email-lands-in-spam Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT If mail from your own domain keeps disappearing into junk folders, the cause is usually three settings that were never configured. Here's what SPF, DKIM and DMARC do, in plain English. Digital setup Email https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/digital-setup-every-small-business-needs https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/digital-setup-every-small-business-needs Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT The domain, the email, the analytics: the accounts your business quietly runs on. Here's what a proper setup involves, and why it's worth doing on purpose instead of in a panic. Digital setup Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-is-my-website-slow https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-is-my-website-slow Wed, 01 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT How to find out what's slowing your site down, using free tools and no jargon, and how to tell a ten-minute fix from a rebuild. Performance Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/bespoke-website-vs-wordpress https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/bespoke-website-vs-wordpress Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT WordPress is the right call for some businesses. For others it's a maintenance bill wearing a friendly face. Here's how to tell which you are. Strategy How we work https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/small-business-website-cost-uk https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/small-business-website-cost-uk Sat, 27 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Real numbers for the UK market: what DIY builders, freelancers and studios charge, the running costs, and the five-year totals most quotes leave out. Pricing Small business https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/when-a-simple-website-needs-to-become-a-web-app https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/when-a-simple-website-needs-to-become-a-web-app Wed, 24 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most businesses start with a website and never need more. But some outgrow it. Here's how to tell when you've crossed the line from 'pages people read' to 'a tool people use'. Web apps Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agent-booking-and-leads https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agent-booking-and-leads Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT A contact form waits to be filled in. An AI agent has a conversation, answers the doubt that's holding someone back, qualifies them, and books the job, while they're still on the page. AI agents Conversion https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/own-your-website https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/own-your-website Thu, 18 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Plenty of cheap sites aren't really yours. You rent them, and the day you want to leave you find out you can't take anything with you. Here's what ownership actually means, and why it matters. Strategy How we work https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agent-customer-support https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agent-customer-support Tue, 16 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most enquiries arrive when you're busy or asleep. A well-built AI support agent answers the easy ninety percent instantly and hands you the rest, without sounding like a robot. AI agents Customer support https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/how-much-does-a-website-cost https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/how-much-does-a-website-cost Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Quotes for a website range from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands for what sounds like the same thing. Here's what you're actually paying for, and how to tell value from padding. Pricing Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agents-in-plain-english https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/ai-agents-in-plain-english Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT Everyone's selling AI now, and most of it is noise. Here's what an AI agent really is, what it can genuinely do for a small business, and where it's still the wrong tool. AI agents Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-you-need-a-website https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-you-need-a-website Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT When someone hears about your business, the first thing they do is look you up. If there's nothing to find, you've lost them before you knew they existed. Small business Strategy https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-we-build-by-hand https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/why-we-build-by-hand Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Templates look like a shortcut. For most businesses they're slower, heavier, and harder to change than the thing they replaced. Here's how we work instead, and why. How we work Craft https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/a-slow-site-costs-you-customers https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/a-slow-site-costs-you-customers Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Load time isn't a technical nicety. It's the gap between a visitor who stays and one who's already gone. Here's what slow really costs, and what makes sites slow in the first place. Performance Conversion https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/stop-looking-like-a-template https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/stop-looking-like-a-template Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Customers can tell when a site came out of a box, even if they can't say how. That flicker of familiarity quietly costs you trust, and trust is what you're really selling. Branding Design https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/website-or-app https://bright-web.co.uk/articles/website-or-app Thu, 05 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Most businesses that ask for an app actually need a good website first. Here's a plain way to tell which one your situation calls for, without spending on the wrong thing. Strategy Mobile