I want to start by saying that the rise in focus on digital sustainability is a welcome movement and at Pixeled Eggs, we’ve been amongst the organisations championing the sustainable web over the last few years. Also, I have no doubt that the developers behind creating the various different website carbon calculators are well-intentioned and conscientious people who care deeply about the environmental impact of the products that they create.

We live in an increasingly connected world, and acknowledging and addressing the environmental impact of our online presence, from server farms to end-user devices, is a necessary step toward a greener future. However, calculating the carbon footprint of a website, given the messy reality of global digital emissions, is basically an impossible task.

Beyond efficient code:
The “AI Emissions Monster”

If the calculation of a simple website’s energy consumption is complex, the wider digital sustainability conversation demands a drastic shift in focus.

For years, the industry has focused on “tech-only” solutions, minifying code, optimising images, not auto-playing videos, reducing HTTP requests, etc. While these are necessary steps, they pale into insignificance when considering the emerging landscape of digital emissions.

The use of Artificial Intelligence for training large language and foundation models introduces a computational energy demand that dwarfs the power consumed by even the heaviest traditional websites. Electricity consumption of data centres has doubled in the last five years and research by organisations such as International Energy Agency (IEA), MIT, and various academic studies, has shown that the energy required to train major AI models can be staggering, potentially consuming as much energy annually as entire countries.

If our primary focus remains on shaving a few kilobytes off a web page while the largest corporations are building enormous, power-hungry AI infrastructure, we are missing the point entirely. This is why the conversation must move beyond code optimisation and incorporate systemic change.

We must demand accountability and transparency from the largest digital players and shift the burden of responsibility from individual developers to the systems that govern them. We need legislation in digital sustainability mandating the use of renewable energy sources for data centres, setting transparency standards for PUE, and regulating the immense energy use of AI training and deployment.

With so much of the infrastructure we depend on being based in the USA, which, along with companies like Amazon (AWS) is basically turning its backs on renewable energy, the pressure for this accountability needs a global movement.

Conclusion:
Campaign for change, not a score

The path to true digital sustainability requires honesty. We must acknowledge that website carbon calculators provide an illusion of accuracy that distracts from the root causes of digital emissions.

Instead of chasing a score, our focus should be two-fold:

1. Follow best practices: Build fast, lightweight, and efficient websites that prioritise the user experience, accessibility and inclusivity that inherently reduce energy consumption.
2. Campaign for systemic change: Direct our collective energy toward demanding mandatory legislation for digital sustainability. We must hold data centre operators, network providers, and large AI firms accountable for their energy sourcing and efficiency. 

Start with choosing the right hosting partner and a web partner that cares about people and planet (the B Corp Directory is a good place to start). But ultimately, while data consumption giants like Meta, TikTok and AI continue to accelerate global energy demand, the only path to genuinely decarbonising the entire digital ecosystem is through mandatory systemic change.

Search has changed. People don’t just type keywords anymore, but they ask questions. With tools like Google’s AI Overviews, Gemini and ChatGPT serving direct answers to people’s questions, discovery has become more conversational, predictive and human-like. For purpose-driven organisations, this shift doesn’t mark the end of SEO. It’s simply its next chapter.

According to Search Engine Land (2025), top-ranking pages have seen up to a 65% decline in organic clicks since Google introduced AI Overviews. Yet those same pages often feed the AI-generated answers that users now rely on. Visibility has moved from click-based to context-based.

For Pixeled Eggs, this shift represents opportunity. Because the same qualities that build trust with users, authenticity, structure and clarity are exactly what AI now rewards.

From Clicks to Citations

Being cited is the new being clicked. Generative search doesn’t just link to your content, it learns from it. When Google’s AI Overview explains a topic, it pulls data from trusted, well-structured sources. Those citations often come from the top 10 organic results, meaning strong SEO foundations still matter (BrightEdge, 2025). To appear in those answers, your content must read as reliable! So it’s essential to write in full sentences, back your claims with data and organise your ideas logically. Schema markup can help AI understand what your page means, not just what it says. Tagging FAQs, events or donation opportunities gives context, and context builds trust.

From Results to Recommendations

AI search behaves more like a guide than a directory. Instead of listing ten blue links, it recommends actions. For purpose-led brands, this means visibility now sits inside influence. If your website consistently shares knowledge, measurable impact and trustworthy resources, AI is more likely to recommend you when users ask for advice or solutions.

Think of it as digital word of mouth. You’re not just being found, you’re being endorsed! For example, a homelessness charity with structured, clearly written content around “How your donation helps” could appear directly in Google’s summary explaining community support. The page might not get the click but it earns credibility.

From Rankings to Relationships

Visibility is now built through consistency across channels: your website, your social media presence, your storytelling videos. AI looks for signals of coherence, a connected network of content that reflects authority and care. That’s why topic clusters of related articles connected by internal links are crucial. They tell both people and machines that you understand a subject deeply. At Pixeled Eggs, this is how we build every website: smart, modern and human-first. Because when design, UX and strategy work together, trust grows naturally online and off.

Because the future of search isn’t about beating the algorithm. It’s about earning trust – one question, one story, one meaningful answer at a time. Let’s talk strategy!

WordPress powers almost half the internet. More than 43% of all websites and 61% of those built on a CMS run on it (Kinsta, 2025). Still, it gets side eyed by some organisations. You’ll hear that it’s insecure or that “serious” sites don’t use it. The truth? Those worries usually come from how WordPress is built and used, not from what it is.

A lot of the scepticism comes from early experiences. Given its market share over the past 22 years, it’s likely that people have come across a badly built WordPress website, bogged down with too many plugins and with little or no care for its security. Others assume open-source equals unsafe. But WordPress is now an enterprise solution, with industry leading security that makes it the best option for organisations of all sizes.

Security Done Right

WordPress core is incredibly secure. The platform releases updates every few weeks and with a huge community behind it,  security fixes are released within hours of being discovered. Combine that with the right setup and it’s as strong as any closed source alternative.

Managed hosts like Kinsta handle firewalls, DDoS protection and automated backups. Add a trusted security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri, obfuscate the admin URL and enable two-factor login, and you’re already ahead of most platforms.

For context, 94% of WordPress hacks come from outdated plugins or weak credentials (Sucuri, 2023). Both are entirely avoidable with proper care.

At Pixeled Eggs, every site we build is secure by design. Our code is clean and standards-led. We design and build the frontend to each brand’s bespoke requirements,  reduce plugin dependency and apply hardening techniques to ensure security. Because a great CMS doesn’t just manage content, it helps you manage change.

Performance, Accessibility and Sustainability

Speed and accessibility aren’t optional anymore. A one-second delay can reduce conversions by 7%, and 40% of users leave a site that takes more than three seconds to load (Baymard Institute).

That’s why every Pixeled Eggs WordPress build is made to perform. We use mobile-first frameworks, optimise for search, speed and Core Web Vitals, and write efficient code that performs. Every site we create is modular, tracked and sustainable because smart design should never cost the planet.

The Takeaway

Distrust in WordPress usually comes from old stories, not current reality. Today it’s the most robust, flexible and future-ready CMS available.

At Pixeled Eggs, we design and build WordPress websites that are secure, accessible and made to last. Because for every purpose-driven organisation, your website shouldn’t just tell your story, it should power it.

If you want your organisation to build something to last, let’s talk!

People often describe A/B testing as a purely analytical exercise comparing two designs, measuring performance and declaring a winner, but it’s so much more. Each test helps us understand how people respond to different choices, what captures their attention and what gives them the confidence to act. The data reflects real moments of hesitation, curiosity, or clarity and by studying these patterns, we refine our designs and our understanding of how people navigate the digital world.

While A/B testing is a powerful tool for quickly identifying what works, it doesn’t always explain why as it genuinely is super subjective and predictable to some extent. It provides the outcome of human behavior but to truly understand the psychological drivers, we need to look deeper. This is precisely why A/B testing is most effective when paired with other research methods that help us uncover the “why.”

Cognitive psychology tells us that humans form opinions incredibly fast. One study found that people make a first impression of a website in as little as fifty milliseconds (Lindgaard et al., 2006). That’s faster than the blink of an eye! When designs demand too much attention, the brain experiences something called cognitive overload, a state where its capacity to process information is exceeded. Cluttered layouts, overuse of media, and dense blocks of text often contribute to this friction. Preventing cognitive overload is a core principle of human-centered and ethical design and a key focus at Pixeled Eggs. A/B testing helps us identify where this friction occurs and how design changes can ease it. It shows us which choices support focus and flow, and which ones get in the way.

Building Trust Through Social Proof

People naturally look to others for reassurance, a principle known in psychology as social proof (Cialdini, 2001). When users see genuine testimonials or recognisable logos, they feel more confident taking action. A/B testing helps us understand which kind of proof builds that confidence most effectively.

Sometimes, a written quote from a real person is more persuasive than a polished video. In other cases, showing the number of people who have already supported a cause can be more powerful than a single story. We can also test the impact of expert endorsement, such as displaying logos of respected publications that have featured the organisation. Each of these formats appeals to different aspects of trust: emotional connection, social validation, and credibility.

When we approach testing through a psychological lens, we stop seeing users as data points and start seeing them as people, each with their own motivations and emotions. It’s that understanding that turns a simple test into something far more powerful: empathy in action. Behind every click is cognition. Behind every choice is emotion. And behind every meaningful digital experience is a deep understanding of people.

Ready to go beyond the data and understand the psychology behind your users?
Let’s talk about your next project.

Image credits:

Photo by Raquel Martínez on Unsplash

Future-proofing your website isn’t just good design. It’s good value.

And in a world where charities must balance impact with efficiency, every investment needs to prove its worth not just on day one, but year after year.

Future-proofing is financial foresight

Future-proofing isn’t a technical buzzword. It’s a strategic mindset that allows you to protect your investment long term. When a website is built using modular design principles, strong content foundations and scalable technology, you don’t need to rebuild it every time something changes.

You can:

• Add new campaigns without further development.
• Test new messaging without code.
• Expand content without chaos.
• Evolve your brand without starting over.
• Support new service areas, audiences or partnerships organically over time.

Instead of reinventing, you build on top of what already works. And that saves money year after year.

Good value isn’t about cutting cost, it’s about increasing return

Future-proofing isn’t about spending less. It’s about maximising the return on your investment. There are two paths: a short-term solution that forces a costly redevelopment cycle in just 24 months, or a strategic investment in strong digital foundations that guarantees platform stability and adaptability for 5 to 7 years. 

The second scenario isn’t just better digital hygiene, it’s responsible financial strategy.

With good technology choices, modular systems and scalable design:

• Maintenance costs are reduced.
• Dependency on developers decreases.
• Teams work faster and more independently.
• Content stays relevant without expensive redesigns.
• Your website remains usable and impactful for longer.

That’s long-term ROI, built in.

But doesn’t future-proofing cost more?

It can cost slightly more upfront not because of bells and whistles, but because of better thinking at the foundation stage. It requires strategic design rather than short-term design. But here’s the truth: rebuilds are far more expensive than planning intelligently once.

And future-proofing isn’t a premium add-on. It’s simply better practice.

The question isn’t: Can we afford to future-proof our website?
The real question is: Can we afford not to?

For charities and purpose-led organisations, your website is the digital heartbeat of your mission. It’s where people come to understand what you stand for, connect with your cause, and see your impact begin to grow.

But with technology changing so fast, how do you make a smart investment today that will still serve you five years (or more) from now? With all organisations struggling with the rising cost of services, every penny counts. You need a site that can evolve with your charity’s strategy, so you can keep building on it instead of having to start over.

At Pixeled Eggs, we’ve had the privilege of working with amazing organisations, from the World Cancer Research Fund and The Earthshot Prize to Make-A-Wish International. What we’ve learnt is that future-proofing a website isn’t about chasing the latest fads. It’s about making smart, balanced choices today like picking technology platforms that last, designing with people in mind, and committing to ongoing care and honesty.

Build on a strong foundation

Longevity starts with a solid foundation. We champion WordPress because it’s the world’s most trusted CMS for a reason. It’s open, flexible, and supported by a massive global community. For charities, this means the freedom to grow, whether you’re adding new fundraising tools or integrating CRMs. Our team builds secure, scalable, and easy-to-use enterprise WordPress sites. To top it off, our fully managed WordPress hosting on Kinsta is powered by 100% renewable energy, giving you peace of mind that your site is safe, reliable, and adaptable for years to come.

Some agencies are led only by design and how the site looks, while others get lost in the technical weeds. The truth is, you need both! Your site should be user-centred, inspiring to look at, simple to use, and technically robust behind the scenes.

At Pixeled Eggs:

• We design for your users and your brand. Your site needs to inspire trust while reflecting your unique identity, so every design decision we make balances usability with your organisation’s voice.
• We don’t use off-the-shelf themes. They might look convenient in the short term, but they bloat your site, are harder to manage, and aren’t built for the long haul.
• We build using a modular design system. This ensures your website can grow as your content and campaign needs evolve, so you’re never stuck with a rigid structure.

These decisions mean our websites outlast the industry average. According to Forbes, the lifespan of an average website is just 2 years and 7 months. The average lifespan of our websites? Well over 6 years (and we’re being modest!).

Our websites are also built for usability, findability, and measurability, so you can track results, demonstrate your impact, and be confident your investment is working as hard as you are.

Ready to future-proof your website? 

Investing in a new website is a big decision, but it doesn’t have to feel risky. With the right foundation and an honest partner, that investment can serve you for years to come, inspiring supporters and strengthening your mission.

We love partnering with purpose-driven organisations. It’s incredibly rewarding to help them unlock their digital potential and amplify the amazing change they’re creating in the world.

If you’re ready to future-proof your website, let’s talk.

Google Analytics 4, top tips for measuring user experience

With the phase-out of third-party cookies and the move to Google Analytics 4 around the corner, there is a lot of change in the air for Marketeers, which will bring both opportunities and challenges in the world of user experience. This blog explores our Google Analytics 4 top tips, how to put a plan into place as marketers and continue to improve website user experiences.

While we can’t do anything about the fact we’re now capturing less data, we can explore other ways to measure the user journey and enrich your website’s offering, whilst still respecting your users’ privacy.

With perspectives from our UX, Technical and Client Service teams we have put together our top tips on how to measure user experience and prepare for the next generation of Google Analytics:

Say goodbye to Universal Analytics and embrace GA4

Many organisations are still on Universal Analytics and this is due to be retired from 1 July 2023, when it will stop processing new hits.

This means that if you set up your analytics before October 2020 you’re likely to be using Universal Analytics and will have to export your data and make the switch in order to continue to capture data from your cookie-consenting users.

It may all seem a bit daunting now so, to make this transition as painless as possible and to give you time to understand your data and make decisions, we recommend setting up Google Analytics 4 now (yes, now!) and running it alongside your Universal Analytics account.

Setting up Google Analytics 4 Tips

Tip one – set up a GA4 dashboard

Setting up a dashboard in a tool like Data Studio to create a report to track GA4 data alongside your Universal Analytics account as a comparison exercise while you get to grips with the new data model.

Look at the patterns in your data, not the numbers

As mentioned above, It’s important to use this transition period to understand the new measurement model in GA4. Metrics we’ve come to rely on such as Sessions and page views are being replaced by events and parameters and Bounce Rate is being dropped entirely! You may be wondering how you’re going to produce insightful reporting without these metrics, but the truth is these numbers have been less significant since the phase-out of third-party cookies two years ago. It’s no longer the numbers that are meaningful, but the patterns and insights we gather from users we can collect data from.

This deeper view into the user journey gives a clearer picture of what traffic sources and campaigns create the most engagement and will help you measure the quality of the content you’re directing them to.

Tip two – keep it simple

Start with the basic insights that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provides and refine them over time to fit your needs. If you’re a charity, you should track your donation journey to identify how you can increase conversions. If your site’s role is to generate leads, you should track which traffic sources and entry points convert best and amplify them.

Measure user behaviour

It’s not just data we need to measure to understand and improve the user experience. To make more impactful decisions we need to understand the context behind the data and any conversion barriers and that’s where behavioural insights come in.

Tools such as Hotjar provide a GDPR compliant way to gain real-time insight into how users are behaving on your website through heatmaps and recordings. Alongside tools to measure and observe behaviour, the feedback functions also allow you to run questionnaires with your audience from external to onsite surveys.

​​For quick user-driven results, A/B testing is a more expensive but highly effective way to compare two versions of a web page and to see what will have the biggest impact on users. With A/B testing there is a lot to consider and it helps to think back to your secondary school science days! Before you get stuck in it’s vital that your experiment is ‘testable’ which leads us on to our final tip…

Tip three – how to create a hypothesis for A/B testing

• Objective: What is that we are trying to achieve? This could be ‘to increase the number of donations on our website’.
• Desired user action: What do we want users to do more of? For example, ‘users to click on the donate button’ or to ‘see users donate more per single donation’.
• Metric/KPI: How will you measure success? A useful metric could be ‘the ratio of users reaching the thank you page’, or ‘the increased total amount of weekly donations’.

Contact us if you’d like to talk more about how to measure and optimise the user experience of your website.

A while ago, my wife and I were complaining that our kitchen was falling apart. We had a tiny fridge and the door hinge had broken (I had masterfully fixed it with sellotape and it held together for 4 years like that). The backs of the units had all come off (I had masterfully fixed it by stuffing VHS tapes behind it that held for 5 years). The handles on the drawers were broken (I had masterfully… never mind… you get the idea). So we decided that the next thing that breaks is a sign that we need to change the kitchen. The next day our oven blew up. Our decision was made, we needed a new kitchen.

We started looking at all the usual places. We went to the big DIY shops and big chain kitchen shops. The people we spoke to were all perfectly polite and helpful and spent a good hour helping us draw up a plan for the new kitchen. They were drawing up what we were asking for and trying to stay in our budget, but we were doing the designing and as much as I know a lot about sellotape and VHS tapes, I don’t know all that much about kitchens so we found it difficult to get to something we were happy with.

We decided to check out a small local kitchen shop that has some nice fancy kitchens on show. We thought it would be outside our budget but went for a look anyway. The owner had been running it for 20 years and within 5 minutes, had given us more ideas and suggestions than all the previous sales people put together. We sat down with him for half the afternoon and he designed our perfect kitchen. He made good use of all the little spaces that we were just going to put filler panels on, made us choose all the right appliances (who knew an induction hob can change your life so much) and he worked it all out so it was the best we could get for our budget.

Like many things, this got me thinking about creating websites!

Overloading the user causes cognitive strain which Increases critical thinking. Good usability considers how users consume information and ensures that the design accommodates memory limits to aid comprehension. This makes the user feel good and motivates them to act.

2. Know your audience and target them as personas

Beyond best practice, your approach should depend on your user, so it’s essential to understand your audience to get this right. The users’ demographics, personality types, values, status, life experiences, and needs will inform you on optimising your design.

For example, an audience persona with a more conservative personality type might be more likely to respond to authoritative design patterns than someone who is less so and, therefore, might be more susceptible to less traditional design patterns.

3. Know your audiences’ context and when to deliver

A user-centric approach is also understanding the environment and situation a person is in and what they are trying to achieve. If we listen to what people need at specific interaction points with us, we can understand how to deliver a user-centric experience to our audience. Getting this right will trigger Oxytocin in your user and maximise a positive outcome for your business.

The benefits to users and organisations of getting it right

It’s important to remember that generating the right amount of oxytocin (and cortisol) depends on the user. Finding the right balance is achieved by understanding the core values and context of your audience and being there for them at the right time in a relevant way.

Having a stronger insight will allow you to get under the skin of the user and help your business to achieve the following goals more easily and more often:

• Increased engagement – People will spend more time on your site, and will be more likely to engage with you on other channels
• Higher conversion rates – Your users will be motivated to act on your proposition
• Increased loyalty – People will like you more, and are more likely to return to your website
• Efficiency – Audiences will be better able to ‘self serve’ which means a reduced burden on company support

A user centric approach will inform lucrative and efficient decisions that will drive your ROI forward and reduce costs for your business.