Practical guides on web, software & AI
Straight answers to the questions our clients ask most: choosing a platform, planning an MVP, fixing Core Web Vitals and getting found in AI search.
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Moving off Firebase: when an app needs its own back end
When a Firebase app should move to its own back end: Firestore billing, query limits, reports, exporting Auth users with password hashes and staged moves.
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A custom Shopify app or one from the App Store?
When a Shopify App Store app is enough and when a store needs a custom app: distribution rules, access scopes, API rate limits, webhooks and upkeep.
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Forcing app updates: how to move users to a supported version
How to make mobile app users update: a minimum version check on your API, soft prompts vs blocking screens, Android in-app updates and old API versions.
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Transactional email from your app: Amazon SES, Postmark or SendGrid?
How to pick a provider for password resets, receipts and alerts: Amazon SES, Postmark or SendGrid, with sandbox rules, bounces, webhooks and pricing.
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Real-time features in a web app: WebSockets, Laravel Reverb or a hosted service?
How to add live updates, chat and notifications to a web app: when polling is enough, self-hosted Laravel Reverb or Pusher and Ably, security and reconnects.
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Crash reporting for a mobile app: Crashlytics, Sentry or both?
How to choose crash reporting for an iOS, Android, Flutter or React Native app: Crashlytics vs Sentry, symbol files, release health, privacy and alerts.
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Calendar sync in a booking app: Google Calendar and Outlook
How to sync a booking app with Google Calendar and Outlook: permissions, free/busy checks, incremental sync, change notifications, double bookings, disconnects.
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Card readers for a custom POS: Stripe Terminal, Square or a bank terminal?
How to choose card readers for a custom POS: integrated vs standalone, Stripe Terminal and Square SDKs, Tap to Pay, country support and what to ask your bank.
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Microsoft Advertising after Google Ads: is it worth adding, and how to test it?
When Microsoft Advertising is worth adding to Google Ads: importing campaigns, what to fix after import, UET conversion tracking and how to run a fair test.
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Deep links in a mobile app: universal links, App Links and what breaks them
How deep links should work in an iOS and Android app: universal links, App Links, the files your website must host, common failures and how to test.
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In-app purchases or web payments: what Apple and Google allow
Which app purchases must use Apple and Google billing, which must not, and when an app may link to web payments. Plan pricing before the build.
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Laravel admin panels: Filament, Nova or a custom admin?
How to choose the back office for a Laravel app: Filament, Laravel Nova or a custom admin, compared on licensing, stack, access control and upgrades.
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Stopping bots on login and signup: protecting accounts, not just forms
How to protect login, signup and password reset from bots: rate limits, Turnstile or reCAPTCHA checked on the server, email verification and safe lockouts.
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Google Ads Customer Match: using your customer list in campaigns
How Customer Match works in Google Ads: who can use it, which customer data you may upload, hashing and file format, list size and keeping lists current.
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Translating a mobile app: strings, right-to-left and store listings
How to translate a mobile app properly: string catalogs and resources, plurals, right-to-left layouts, per-app language, store listings and testing.
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Feature flags in a web app: releasing to some users before everyone
How feature flags let a web app release to some users first: rollout by user or team, kill switches, build or buy, and how to keep old flags from piling up.
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Asking for app ratings and reviews at the right moment
When and how a mobile app should ask for ratings: the App Store and Google Play prompt limits, the rules against gating and rewards, and replying to reviews.
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AWS costs for a small SaaS: where the bill comes from and how to cap it
Where a small SaaS AWS bill really comes from, what the Free Tier covers now, and how budgets, anomaly alerts, tags and Savings Plans keep costs predictable.
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Search inside your app: database or search engine?
When database full-text search is enough for your app, when to add Meilisearch, Typesense or Algolia, and how to keep the index in sync and private.
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Background jobs and queues in a web app: when do you need them?
When a web app needs background jobs and a queue, what to move off the page, and how to set up retries, failed jobs, workers and scheduled tasks safely.
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Asking for push notification permission without getting muted
When to ask for push notification permission on iOS and Android, how in-context and provisional requests work, and how to send fewer, more useful notifications.
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Disaster recovery for a small web app: targets, strategy and drills
How to plan disaster recovery for a small web app: set RTO and RPO, pick a recovery strategy, keep backups out of reach of attackers and run real drills.
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YouTube ads for a small brand: which campaign type to start with
Demand Gen, Video views or Video reach: which YouTube campaign type suits a small brand, which ad formats each uses, and what to test and measure first.
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Design systems for small product teams: when are they worth it?
When a small product team needs a design system, when a UI kit is enough, and how to set up tokens, components and code parity without slowing the roadmap.
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Inventory software for a small warehouse: buy, extend or build?
When your store or accounting tool can run a small warehouse, when a warehouse app makes sense, and when custom inventory software is worth building.
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Field service software: what a team on the road actually needs
What field service software must do for technicians and the office: scheduling, dispatch, mobile job sheets, location rules, weak signal and same-day invoicing.
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Tracking phone calls as conversions in Google Ads
How to count phone calls as Google Ads conversions: call conversion types, forwarding numbers, which calls to count and how to import calls that became sales.
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Multi-step lead forms: when they work better and how to build them
When a multi-step lead form beats a single form, how to split the questions, show progress, route answers into your CRM and measure the result honestly.
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Dashboards people actually use: how to plan a reporting tool
Plan a business dashboard from the decisions it supports: the measures to define, data sources, how fresh data can be, who sees what, and BI tool or custom.
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Brand identity for a new software company: what you need at launch
The brand kit a new software company needs at launch: a checked name, logo files, accessible colours and type, app store icons, templates and a one-page guide.
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Two-factor login and single sign-on in a business app: what to offer users
Which sign-in options a business app should offer: authenticator apps, passkeys, SMS as a fallback, SSO for company customers, safe recovery and rollout.
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LearnDash or a hosted course platform: which suits your course business?
LearnDash on WordPress or a hosted platform like Teachable, Thinkific or Kajabi? Compare ownership, fees, design control, upkeep and how to move later.
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A/B testing with low traffic: what to do instead
Not enough traffic for A/B tests? Why small sites rarely get reliable results, and the research-led ways to improve conversions without waiting months.
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Custom WordPress plugin or an off-the-shelf plugin?
When a custom WordPress plugin is worth building, when an existing plugin is the better buy, and how to judge plugin quality, licences and long-term upkeep.
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Barcode and QR scanning in a business app: phone camera or dedicated scanner?
Should your app scan barcodes with the phone camera or with dedicated scanners? Compare speed, cost, platforms and app design for stock, POS and field teams.
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Local Services Ads or Google Search ads for home-service businesses?
Local Services Ads or Search ads? How pay per lead compares with pay per click for home-service businesses, what verification takes and what changes in 2026.
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Subscriptions on WooCommerce: what to plan before you launch
Before launching subscriptions on WooCommerce, plan the payment gateway, failed payment retries, customer self-service, renewal dates and safe testing.
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Building a multi-vendor marketplace: build or extend?
Should you extend WooCommerce or build a custom marketplace? How payments, commissions, payouts, refunds and vendor onboarding shape the decision.
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Choosing an SEO agency: what to ask and the red flags to avoid
How to choose an SEO agency: the questions to ask, the red flags Google warns about, what access to share, and what a fair contract and report include.
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Product configurators: when an online store needs one
When an online store needs a product configurator instead of variants: option limits, rules and live pricing, previews, saved builds, and quote or checkout.
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SEO for SaaS companies: building pages around use cases and integrations
How SaaS companies build use-case, integration and comparison pages that match how buyers search, without the thin, templated content Google's policies target.
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Shopify B2B and wholesale: which plan and features do you need?
How to sell wholesale on Shopify: native B2B features by plan, catalogs and price lists, net terms, blended or separate stores, and when custom work helps.
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Getting more Google reviews without breaking the rules
How to ask customers for Google reviews within Google's policies and the FTC's review rule: what to do, what is banned, and how to build a steady habit.
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HubSpot, Klaviyo or Mailchimp: choosing an email platform
How to choose between HubSpot, Klaviyo and Mailchimp: ecommerce data, CRM pipelines or simple newsletters, plus how each prices contacts and what moving costs.
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Technical SEO for Shopify stores: what to fix first
Which technical SEO issues to fix first on a Shopify store: duplicate product paths, filters and robots.txt, app scripts, images, structured data and redirects.
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Moving a WordPress site from shared hosting to AWS: is it worth it?
When moving WordPress from shared hosting to AWS pays off, how Lightsail compares with EC2, what the migration involves, and when managed hosting is better.
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Google Business Profile for service-area businesses: setup and suspension risks
How service-area businesses set up a Google Business Profile: hiding the address, service areas, categories, the business name and the mistakes to avoid.
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Klaviyo for Shopify: the first five flows to build
The Klaviyo flows a Shopify store should build first: welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase and winback, and how to stop overlap.
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How to write a software requirements brief a developer can quote
What to put in a software brief so developers can quote it accurately: goals, user roles, core flows, data, integrations, constraints and out-of-scope items.
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What a mobile app back end needs besides the app itself
The parts of a mobile app project people forget to budget: accounts, APIs, push notifications, file storage, an admin panel, account deletion and analytics.
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CI/CD for small teams: how to stop deploying by FTP
A simple CI/CD setup for small teams: Git as the source of truth, automated tests, a staging copy, secrets kept out of code, approvals and fast rollbacks.
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Booking and scheduling systems: when do you need a custom one?
When a booking tool is enough and when custom scheduling pays off: resources, buffers, multiple locations, deposits, reminders, time zones and integrations.
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Taking over a codebase from another developer: the first-week audit
What to check in the first week when a new developer or agency takes over your software: accounts and access, environments, dependencies, tests and deployment.
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SaaS billing with Stripe: plans, seats and trials for multi-tenant apps
How to design SaaS billing on Stripe for a multi-tenant app: plans and prices, per-seat quantities, free trials, prorations, failed payments and webhooks.
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PCI DSS for a custom POS or checkout: what your developer must handle
How PCI DSS applies to a custom POS or online checkout: keeping card data out of scope with tokenisation, P2PE terminals and hosted fields, plus what to ask.
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What to monitor on a production web app (and how to get alerted)
The minimum monitoring set for a production web app: uptime, errors, latency, traffic, saturation, backups and jobs, plus how to set alerts that people act on.
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How to choose a POS software development company: questions to ask before you sign
What to ask a POS software development company before you sign: workflow discovery, offline mode, payments and PCI scope, hardware, integrations and ownership.
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Upgrading an old Laravel app: a safe step-by-step plan
A safe plan to upgrade an old Laravel application: check support dates, add tests, upgrade PHP and Laravel one version at a time, update packages and deploy.
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How to connect a POS to Shopify or WooCommerce without stock errors
How to sync products, stock and orders between a POS and Shopify or WooCommerce: one source of truth, clean SKUs, webhooks plus reconciliation and rate limits.
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Self-hosting n8n: what you need to run it safely
What you need to self-host n8n safely: hosting, a proper database, the encryption key, backups, updates, queue mode for scale and the licence terms.
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POS for restaurants: features to plan before you build or buy
The restaurant POS features that matter most, from tables, modifiers and kitchen tickets to split bills, tips, shifts and cash-up, before you build or buy.
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How to plan offline mode for a mobile or POS app
How to design a mobile or POS app that keeps working with no signal: local storage, sync queues, conflict rules, idempotent APIs and offline card payments.
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Performance Max or Search campaigns: which should you run?
When to use Google Ads Performance Max, when Search campaigns are the better choice, and how to run both without wasting budget or losing control of queries.
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Meta Conversions API: do you need it, and how do you set it up?
What the Meta Conversions API does, why it runs with the Pixel, how event_id deduplication works, and setup options for Shopify, WordPress and custom sites.
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LinkedIn Ads for B2B: when are they worth the cost?
When LinkedIn Ads pay off for B2B companies: targeting by job and company, budgets and minimums, Lead Gen Forms, offers that work and how to measure leads.
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Laravel or Node.js for your web application back end?
Laravel or Node.js for a web app back end: how they compare on speed of building, real-time features, hiring, hosting and long-term support, and how to choose.
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HubSpot workflows every service business should set up first
The first HubSpot workflows a service business should build: lead routing, follow-up tasks, lifecycle updates, meeting follow-ups and stalled-deal alerts.
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Google Shopping for small online stores: Merchant Center feed basics
What a small store needs in its Merchant Center feed: required attributes, GTIN rules, common disapprovals, free listings and Shopify or WooCommerce feeds.
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Extracting data from invoices and PDFs with AI: how it works
How AI document extraction pulls fields from invoices, receipts and PDFs into your systems: OCR, AI models, validation rules, review queues and accuracy checks.
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Enhanced conversions for leads: telling Google which leads became customers
How enhanced conversions for leads and offline conversion imports tell Google Ads which leads became customers: GCLIDs, hashed data, CRM stages and consent.
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Email deliverability: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and the Gmail and Yahoo sender rules
What SPF, DKIM and DMARC do, what Gmail and Yahoo require from senders and bulk senders, plus one-click unsubscribe and the 0.3% spam rate limit explained.
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How to keep customer data safe when using AI APIs
Practical steps to protect customer data when you use OpenAI, Anthropic or other AI APIs: provider policies, data minimisation, redaction, access and logging.
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Custom ERP or an ERP suite: how to decide for a growing business
When a growing business should adopt an ERP suite and when custom ERP makes sense: process fit, licences, customization, integrations and phased builds.
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CRM migration checklist: moving to HubSpot without losing data
A step-by-step checklist for moving your CRM to HubSpot: clean data, map objects and properties, unique identifiers, import order, associations and cut-over.
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What a client portal should include (and what to leave out)
What a client portal should include, from roles, documents and invoices to requests, notifications and audit logs, and which features to leave for later.
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Website AI chatbots: making them answer from your own content
How to add a website AI chatbot that answers from your own content: sources, chunking and retrieval, guardrails, hand-off to people, logging and cost control.
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AI agents for small businesses: tasks worth automating first
Which tasks small businesses should hand to AI agents first: inbox triage, lead qualification, document extraction and report drafting, with human review.
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React Native vs Flutter: which should you choose for your app?
React Native or Flutter for your iOS and Android app? A practical comparison of language, UI, performance, team fit and long-term upkeep.
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PWA or native app: when is a progressive web app enough?
When a progressive web app is enough and when you need a native or cross-platform app: iPhone install and push limits, offline, device access and cost.
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What does it take to publish an app on the App Store and Google Play?
A practical checklist for publishing on the App Store and Google Play: developer accounts, testing, privacy forms, review, store listings and staged rollouts.
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Google Ads budget for a service business: how much do you need to start?
How to work out a starting Google Ads budget for a service business from your own cost per click and conversion rate, and how Google spends it.
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What is GEO? How to get your business cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
Generative engine optimization (GEO) explained: how AI assistants choose sources, and practical steps to make your business easier to find, understand and cite.
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Website redesign SEO checklist: how to relaunch without losing rankings
A step-by-step SEO checklist for website redesigns and migrations: URL inventory, 301 redirect map, metadata, staging rules, launch-day checks and monitoring.
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Webflow vs WordPress vs Framer vs Shopify: how to choose your website platform
A practical comparison of Webflow, WordPress, Framer and Shopify: who each platform suits, editing, hosting, SEO and when to go custom with Next.js.
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How to plan an MVP: scope, tech stack and launch checklist
A step-by-step guide to planning a minimum viable product: defining the core problem, cutting scope, choosing a tech stack, budgeting and launching.
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Custom POS system vs off-the-shelf: when building your own makes sense
Should you buy a POS system or build a custom one? Compare costs, flexibility and integrations, and see the signs that a custom point of sale is worth it.
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Core Web Vitals explained: how to fix LCP, INP and CLS
What Core Web Vitals are, the thresholds Google uses for LCP, INP and CLS, the most common causes of poor scores and the fixes that work on real websites.
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