I was playing around with the Wayback Machine over the weekend and stumbled across my first ever attempt at web design – a site for a band I used to manage called Mogwai.

Now I’m not all that proud of the homepage layout or design, but it shows just how design has come!  Although this version is from October 1999, I’m pretty sure this version had been in existence since 1996!  Also pretty sure I knocked the site up in Dreamweaver (without consulting the manual!).

It should be noted that back then I was more concerned with making sure band members, tourbuses and guitars were in the right place at the right time rather than something as trivial as a menu bar!

Actually, the more I look at it, the more I like it.  There’s something pretty innocent about it really.  I wonder if we will ever return to a time when there is more emphasis on heavily text-based web design?

I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to 2009.  The challenges every forward-thinking business is the same.  I don’t think it’s a case of people spending less money, they’re just spending it a bit wiser.

We’ve been in recession before, but never when so much business is done online, with a staggering 17 pence in every pound spent online in the UK, James Roper from IMRG summed it up perfectly when he said:

“Online shopping growth continues to outperform the high street, as tight budgets and poor weather keep people at home where they can shop online for bargains”

Whilst there isn’t a day that goes by without more news on another business or bank going to the wall, I genuinely believe that it is during the period of slowdown that winners get ahead.  59% of UK households now have broadband, enabling 41 Million consumers to regularly go online, spending on average 7 hours online a week.  What a potential market that is! Are YOU exploiting it fully?

A website that attracts new business and encourages interactivity will let you keep up with the digital consumer and help you get ahead.  Ubisan Management’s unique offering combines quality, affordable web design, and from our Glasgow base,  an innate understanding of online marketing principles that we can tailor and apply to your business.

Now is not the time to slip down a gear with an average web presence.  Now is the time for you to speed up.

Are you doing all you should?