We love new technology here at Sizzle. When we're not busy being The Best Web Designers in Manchester, we're researching new and exciting ways we can improve our clients' marketing opportunites. After all, our success depends on theirs. That's why we're so chuffed to announce our latest in-house capability - SMS / Text Message Marketing!

This system provides our clients with a really easy way to keep in touch with their customers - through direct text message communications. We're not talking about the spammy, annoying 'UPGRADE UR FONE 4 FREE" texts everyone gets, we mean honest, non-pushy communication with existing customers, providing additional value and incredible sales opportunities.

Lets say you're running a restaurant and you've got one or two spare tables for the evening's dinner. Drop your regulars a message offering them a discount if they fill the spots, and voila - you've got bums on seats and happy customers!

Our targeted SMS system is the Cheapest in the UK. You can even register for a free account and we'll give you 10 free credits to play with.

Click here To register for your free SMS marketing account.

Sizzle is proud to announce the completion of its most recent project - the new website for Astra Signs! As one of the UK's premier signage agencies, Astra have created impressive displays for clients as influential as the University of Manchester, Manchester City Football Club, H&M, and Manchester Arndale.

The new website reflects the business's public image - sleek, refined, and contemporary. Fancy Javascript effects courtesy of the incredible MooTools library make navigating the site a visual treat, while slick XHTML and CSS (backed up by ASP.Net wonderfulness) ensure the site displays consistently across a wide range of end-user devices. The site features a host of dynamic features, including a Content Management System, gallery and portfolio functionality, and an on-site price calculator.

The site was completed as part of Astra Signs' total rebranding initiative, and was built around their specific corporate identity. Here at Sizzle we don't try and force our clients to change their style to suit our websites - your website should reflect your brand, not the other way round!

We've recently been pretty chuffed to discover that one of this blog's first posts, "xHTML and CSS Web Design" has been copied and shamelessly re-appropriated by a reasonable number of other web design firms. "But Sizzle, why would this make you happy?" we hear you cry. Well, people only nick stuff of value - like our content!

We admit it's a teensy bit annoying to know that should Google get the wrong end of the stick, we could theoretically be penalised for having our unique, well-written content duplicated on other sites (although it's pretty unlikely this would happen). But in the most part, we feel good. It's nice knowing we don't have to rely on content theft to get by, and it's nice knowing we've got the skills to succeed in this industry while behaving in a totally ethical, creative way.

Besides, every decent creative company encounters this kind of thing all the time. It would be ridiculous to keep getting upset. In any creative industry, it seems only a small proportion of participants actually create anything new, and normally it's the little guys like us. Big advertising agencies regularly 'borrow' ideas, without credit, from the Internet (see this pesto advert vs this Youtube classic, or this Pot Noodle advert vs the Flight of the Conchords, or this Sugar Puffs Advert vs The Mighty Boosh's 'crimping')

Is there anything that can be done about content theft and outright plagiarism? Not really, no. People who steal content don't feel any qualms about it, and getting them to change it will probably be met with a spam attack. In our case, we're legally in the right but it's obviously not worth getting upset over, and taking legal action would be... Ridiculous.

Within a month of going live, our revamped website for the already Multi-Award-Winning Indian Ocean Restaurant has scooped its first ICT innovation award, having already won the same award for the original Indian website and online ordering system we built back in 2006!

Adding to recent successes, the new website has been awarded the winner of the “eTameside awards 2008 - Most innovative use of ICT in a Local Business”

The Indian Ocean and Sizzle Media partnership stretches way beyond just web design. Over the last four years Sizzle’s branding and marketing teams have helped the restaurant win no less than 15 industry awards, including the much-coveted ‘Best in the North’ at the ‘Best in Britain’ awards 2008.

Owner Nahim Aslam comments “Sizzle Media have been an amazing organisation to work with. They have helped us focus our brand and marketing over the last 4 years, helping us deliver on our commitment to providing our existing and future customers with the best possible service. We’re proud to announce the launch of our brand new website, and proud of the recognition it has received so quickly. The new site was developed ‘from the ground up’, focusing on expandability and user friendliness. We don’t just want to be known as ‘that Indian restaurant with amazing food’, but also as ‘the Indian restaurant which created its own online community’.”

Sizzle’s creative director Aftab Ali said “the Indian Ocean team has been great to work with. They have taken on board our expertise, allowing us the freedom to apply our web design and branding skills in moving their organisation into an industry-leading position. We’re very proud of this particular project, and it makes a great addition to our growing portfolio of top-notch websites”.

Check out the new site at www.indianocean.co.uk

We're full-time nerds at Sizzle, so it's essential that we're able to keep up-to-date on the latest goings-on in the exciting world of geekdom (when we're not busy being Manchester's best web designers, of course). And what better way to do so than via the medium of blogs? This post is going to serve as a little introduction to some of our favourite blogs and news sites, and might help introduce you to a whole new and exciting web community!

One of the best blogs on the Internet, Engadget provides the brand-spanking newest updates on technology-related news and product launches, keeping everyone informed about the latest gadgets they're not going to be able to afford. They're in close competition with very-similar-but-not-totally-the-same Gizmodo, but we prefer Engadget's spaced-out, airier design. Although they're very similar in terms of content, really.

Next up are the SEO blogs. There are two resources we love here at Sizzle, SEOmoz and SEOBook, although both suffer somewhat as a result of their totally anti-Google opinions. We like Google - their existence has been great for the Internet! There's also a fair bit of competition between these two, with regular articles 'calling out' one another. But they're invaluable resources which do great jobs of discussing sleazy SEO tactics and providing impartial, sensible advice about site development and usability issues. SEOmoz also has the brilliant YOUmoz blog, providing user-created articles for even more search engine reading.

Speaking of google , every good nerd should keep up to date on the official Google Blog, as well as the blog of their public-facing 'Search Quality' guy Matt Cutts. These provide platforms for Google to announce their latest developments, while providing an insight into the inner workings of The Big G. Very interesting stuff.

.net magazine is a great (if a little simplistic) resource for budding web developers, hindered only by the fact that transcribing code from a paper-based magazine is awfully hard work. But this isn't an issue for their web-based version, which compiles the latest goings-on in the worlds of web design and technology news, with regular featurettes on popular sites. It's a little less jargon-driven than the other sites discussed so far, but is still a fab web design resource.

Design-wise, we're big fans of Smashing Magazine's blog. Lots of links to really cool-looking sites, handy CSS design tips and tricks, and some really stunning bits of graphical design. Phwoar.

For video game news, you can't beat VoodooExtreme, aka VE3D. There are many sites like it, but something about VE3D's design and writing style just grabs us. And you can't beat high-definition gaming trailers without having to link out to some external, advert-ridden site.

And finally, there's Fluid Creativity's blog. While they're technically our 'competition', they're also very cool dudes. Problem is, we can't find the 'Older' button anywhere on the page, so are limited to only reading the newest posts! But a grand blog regardless, with links to Fluid's recent media design goodies.