We're really chuffed to announce our newest (and very awesome) product - 'Lava', a highly functional yet easily implemented eCommerce platform created and refined over the course of the last four years, blending our extensive web design and web development experience, with a few funky bonuses too.

We polled local businesses and found that while everyone recognises the importance of getting a website up and running, many are put off by the costs associated with a fully bespoke web development project. And if your business sells physical products, it's hard to ignore the potential worldwide market you could reach with an eCommerce site. For many businesses in this situation, they find themselves forced to accept a low quality, "cheap and nasty" amateur-looking platform, or worse, no web presence at all.

Naturally, we thought "..Hang on a minute - we've got years of experience in creating eCommerce sites, and our design skills are top-notch. Why not create an easily branded, great looking, simple to use, affordable yet high specification platform for eCommerce sites, that any small business can afford?"

...And that's exactly what we did. Lava is built to be easily themed, creating swish and smart-looking eCommerce sites in a fraction of the normal development time. We will have your LAVA website up and running within seven working days of proposal acceptance. If you require that bespoke touch then extra design time is available to make your website really Sizzle.

Lava comes with everything you need to sell products online, backed up by the unbeatable support of Sizzle's friendly in-house gang. You can add and remove products, upload images, determine product variations and price points, set special offers, manage order histories, track popular items, edit page content, manage a newsletter, and much more (as if that isn't enough!). And, of course, you can accept payments directly to your business bank account, meaning all you have to do is ship the order!

We're really looking forward to getting our lovely Lava Ecommerce system working for your businesses. We've got first-hand experience of how eCommerce sites can boost business profits despite today's grim economy, and we're looking forward to helping more small businesses become online successes!

Contact us for more information - we'd love to hear from you!

We currently have web agents in Manchester, Leeds, Preston, Bolton, Bury and Salford and are looking for quality people to join our expanding team. Email lava@sizzlemedia.co.uk for more information.

There are companies that are out there struggling along in these difficult times; and then there are Sizzle Media clients!

We conducted a 30 day survey based on the traffic, enquiries and sales generated through the websites of our client base of Greater Manchester businesses, and were pleasantly suprised to find that there was around £250,000 worth of business being conducted every single day. The vast majority of these web sites have seen a distinct rise in internet traffic and business since partnering with Sizzle Media which have lead to some glowing testimonials.

"Sizzle Media have been awesome. They have built me a website which now brings in orders in from all over the world. Many of my customers say how fantastic the website is and how easy it is to use.

I am over the moon with the customer care from Sizzle Media, it’s faultless - they are there to help at every need. They are a great company - The staff are wonderful, friendly, and very clever and I would highly recommend to anybody looking for a reliable company to build them a good website with fantastic customer care.

Thanks to Sizzle, my whole business has been turned around. Thank you so much, I think you’re great. And thank you for all your help." Dawn Kirk - Cloggis.com

Great customer service has been a cornerstone of Sizzle Media - coupled with our business knowledge and understanding; we are able to understand your business and deliver effective solutions, be that web design, online marketing, text message marketing or developing a web strategy, our aim is to make sure your business website fulfils its primary objective and that is to attract enquiries and generate sales.

Call Sizzle Media today on 0808 14 333 00 to discuss your web design and online marketing requirements.

Not actually Google Chrome OS, but it may look something like this :)

"Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS,"

That is how Google broke the news that they are developing a brand new OS. Surprised? Well yes actually I am. It's a bold move for starters, diversifying into a market where Microsoft has had such a monopoly for many years. But then again Google have never shied away from bold moves, maybe at long last we can have a truly competitive OS market.

"Re-think what operating systems should be."

So what is it going to be/do? Well initial reports and speculation seem to point towards some sort of browser that sits above a cut down Linux kernel. So I wouldn't expect tons of propriety PC apps to work on it, Microsoft Office for example, but it's designed for a netbook/notebook not a desktop PC. That's not to say it wouldn't work well for some people on a Desktop and I'm sure Google will produce their own apps, they've shown in the past there pretty good at that (Google Docs/Gmail anybody?). Google Chrome OS is definitely aimed at targeting users who just want to boot up and logon to the net and interestingly Google are talking of boot up times in seconds not minutes.

Being web designers and developers what does this mean for us? Well in the grand scheme of web design and development, sat in Rochdale on a rainy day, not much, certainly not until we can get hold of it, but I would say it's safe bet that the chrome browser framework will be used extensively in the OS as well, so as long as we keep catering for Google Chrome all will be well.