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Published by SEO Prof Andy

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Nov/09

Google Services for Websites Update Announced

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Google, Internet News, Search Engine News

The Google Services for Websites package has recently received a bit of a revamp. Designed to help manage either your own or a range client sites easily, the latest updates will no doubt be welcomed with open arms by Webmasters everywhere.

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Fundamentally the original Google Services for Websites was designed to show you exactly how your site was perceived by Google; where it failed, where it succeeded and how it was performing generally. With the new updates, this process has been speeded up whilst also integrating a number of new useful tools.

The first of these new tools is Web Elements. This is basically a simplified way of integrating applications including YouTube videos, presentations and maps. Through straightforward drag and click coding you can have a site bulging with useful information for your visitors. You can also interact with site users and others around you with Conversation Element whilst also searching across your own or other site with Custom Search. All of which is designed to make websites more engaging without becoming overly complicated to manage or implement changes.

The speed at which your page loads and responds is also critical to how well your site as a whole performs. If visitors are left waiting too long to see what you have to offer, you can be sure that they’ll take their business elsewhere pretty sharpish. Page Speed not only shows you how your website is performing but also provides tools and tips to help counteract latency issues.

If you’re a website hoster then the Tips for Hosters tool might be right up your street. It’ll help you to optimise your hosting platform to make it more accessible and, hopefully, more profitable. By integrating other Google Tools including Translator and Analytics to ensure you’re finding the right audience and are able to communicate with them in their language.

Of course not everybody chooses to use – or is in fact able to use – the Google Services for Websites package; but from our experience and how these new changes are shaping up, it really is invaluable. The added efficiency and in-depth knowledge it provides on visitor activity and expectations can make the difference between online mediocrity and success.

To find out more about the new updates as well as all existing services, visit the Google Blog.

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Published by SEO Prof Andy

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Nov/09

Free SEO Tips and Tricks Blog

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Articles, Blogging, FAQ, FAQ - Analytics, FAQ - PPC, FAQ - SEO, Internet News, Keyword Research, Landing Page Optimisation, Link Building, Local Search, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Marketing Resources, Search Engine Resources

Although we at Slipstream here in the UK, we recognise that some webmasters just love doing search engine optimisation themselves and, for that reason, we make a lot of SEO information freely available in our blog.

However, if you’re looking for free SEO tips on a regular basis, i.e. daily, then I recommend you take a look at the Daily SEO Tip blog.

This blog is dedicated to giving free SEO tips and was founded by SEO specialists, Loren Baker and Ann Smarty.

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Published by SEO Prof Andy

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Nov/09

Is the New Express Beta Site a Design Fail?

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Internet News

The Express have unveiled their new website makeover and whilst it certainly represents a giant stride, it’s a little hard to tell whether it’s forward or back.

Teething problems are to be expected whenever you release a completely new concept, but the new site appears to miss the mark on a number of levels. Whilst some errors are forgivable others are a little more baffling and even laughable.

ExpressFront

Take for example the image below. It’s a snapshot of one of the news sections, in this case Rugby League. The snippet of information in the main story is cut short at an arbitrary point, just as they are throughout. One headline ‘Wild disappointed he’ doesn’t appear to be finished, unless of course Wild did in fact disappoint ‘he’.

ExpressNews

Unfortunately the errors continue with the following; a cardinal sin of website design, the spelling mistake. It’s particularly galling considering it’s for a newspaper site, but I’m guessing Richard Desmond won’t be finding too much ‘entertainmnent’ in this particular gaffe.

ExpressTypo

Overall the site is just too busy and the home page too big. I think it’s far from being a write-off, but the designers appear to have fallen into the same trap as Yahoo by cluttering up the homepage with too much information, and, ironically too little where it’s needed.

At the moment I think it is a design fail, no two ways about it. But it’s not irreversible and for now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt, could do better would be the underlying message though.

What’s your opinion on the new Express site? Is it a monumental masterstroke or a design disaster?

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Published by SEO Prof Andy

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Nov/09

Has Internet Retailing Beaten the Credit Crunch?

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Internet News

Over the past couple of years, the media buzzword has been ‘credit crunch’. We’ve been inundated with doom and gloom stories of struggling retailers, repossessed homes and banks collapsing. But as with all downturns, there are some businesses that buck the trend.

Whilst back in the 1920’s it was mostly bootleggers, today there is an altogether different trend. Although, that said, many might argue that today’s bootleggers have moved from ‘hooch’ to music and video, just look at Pirate Bay, but that’s a different story altogether.

No, instead, many of the recent successes have come online. Unlike the boom and bust years of the late 1990’s when so many start-ups took advantage of the newly found popularity of the Internet, today’s tech savvy entrepreneurs appear to be taking full advantage of the medium. Many retailers, think Woolworths or Littlewoods as good examples (both under Shop Direct leadership), have moved completely online to cut soaring high street costs.

Pay per Click advertising has fallen during the recession; however, this has been at a much slower rate than most offline forms and is mostly as a result of the top spenders cutting budgets. This is no doubt in part due to the added flexibility and ease of tracking with all sales data used. There are very few offline channels that can compare and, as such, the move online has been made far easier.

Then of course there is the newly found social aspect of the Internet. During the initial boom, customer service was restricted to call backs end emails; whilst still a vital part today, things have progressed. Social media allows businesses to communicate directly with their ‘followers’, be they clients, customers or just interested parties.

We reported on how Social Media could boost revenue by up to 18% last month, with companies such as Starbucks and Dell taking the initiative. There’s no doubt that the likes of Facebook and Twitter have transcended the idea of simply communicating amongst peers, to becoming a living, breathing marketing machine. This has once again pushed people back online to do business.

Whilst small companies are turning over tidy profits with far more limited budgets thanks to their ability to trade solely online, major strides have also been made at the top. Whilst offline you have disastrous stories about job losses and record losses from major international firms, take BA as a good example, the big players online have largely continued to churn a decent profit. Yes there are significant exceptions, MySpace is probably one that stands out, but the big four Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and now Facebook, are all delivering results that range from good to exceptional.

With the bottom falling out of property prices, money being tighter than ever for consumers and major competition on the high street, online is becoming an attractive proposal. Entrepreneurial spirit is hard to extinguish; people with ideas will always want to put them into practice. With a rising online population, the Internet arguably provides the most versatile, easily accessible and cost-efficient ways of putting business ideas into practice.

What do you think? Is the Internet really the place for businesses to beat the credit crunch? Will it become the dominant trading platform of the future or does the lure of physically purchasing items still outweigh the convenience of virtual goods?

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Published by SEO Prof Andy

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Nov/09

Internet to Gain Immunity from Viral Attacks

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Internet News

The Internet could soon be a safer place thanks to an American team of technologists. The idea is simple enough; provide areas of the web with immunity. Understanding the viral nature of worms, the team, headed by Scott Coull and Boleslaw Szymanski, want to strengthen defences of a core group of computers.

With recent Twitter Denial of Service attacks (although not immediately related) and other major online viruses, online security has rarely been out of the headlines. Locally of course, we can all set up firewalls and anti-virus systems, both at home and in the office. But with a wider protective shield covering the Internet, working online could become significantly safer.

However, with worms and viruses cut down, the next priority for many websites will be the spread of malware. The annually occurring 30 percent rise is certainly cause for concern, most notably for social networking. 19 percent of all hacker attacks are now channelled through social sites. With the freedom with which information is passed around and the community interaction involved, evidently this is a trend that could well continue.

Security online is and always has been a huge talking point. There’s no doubts that improvements have been made, but all too often the hackers are one step ahead. By immunising areas of the Internet and tackling the problem of malware head on, particularly for sites like Twitter and Facebook, there’s a far better chance for a safer future online.

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Nov/09

The Internet is Now Advertising Medium of Choice in the UK

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Internet News

It’s official, online advertising has overtaken television in terms of financial investment. It has been announced that Internet ads now account for 23.5% of the UK’s entire advertising spend, leapfrogging TV which slips to 21.9%.

Whilst advertising revenue in general has seen a marked drop in the past year or so, up to 16.6% it has been suggested, the Internet has remained steadfast, even making small gains. This year in fact online advertising spend has grown to £1.75bn, which represents a 4.6% upward shift in the first six months. So what does this all mean? Is the Internet now the best place to advertise?

Well, to a certain degree yes; the Internet is a fantastic way for many businesses to advertise their services. The immediacy of following a paid link or sponsored advertisement is unparalleled. Rather than seeing an ad on TV and taking a secondary action, such as visiting a store or going to a website, you simply need to click through to a site and you get exactly what you’re looking for in an instant. This is something that clearly appeals to consumers and website’s alike.

Of course larger companies will always use television and other forms of media to advertise their products, or at least they will for as long as there are positive gains to be made. However, the wider world is slowly turning towards the Internet more and more. We now communicate through social media, email and online VoIP, we get our news from online newspapers and blogs and we also get the bulk of our information through search engines. All this Internet activity makes it a fantastic resource for advertisers.

Another major benefit of advertising online is the ability to target your preferred audience. No other medium affords this kind of focused flexibility. Likewise, results are shown in unequivocal statistical form. Analytics packages will report back on the successes and failing of all your online campaigns, so you know exactly what’s happening all of the time.

The Internet is also something of a level playing field too. Whilst a television advert may cost thousands of pounds for each primetime slot, online you pay either for the space or by the number of clicks you receive. This means that companies with a restricted advertising budget can still successfully promote themselves without going beyond their means.

Traditional media still has a significant role to play when it comes to marketing; however, this represents yet another milestone in the development of the Internet as an advertising platform. The report produced in conjunction between the IAB, PWC and WARC, shows the first steps towards Internet dominance in the UK; however it is far from confirming it as the top advertising choice for the future. Television will undoubtedly bounce back once the recession has slipped its grip of international finances, but will the Internet be caught when it does? Who knows, although on current trends you would certainly think it unlikely?

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Nov/09

England Football Match Online: The Future or a Flash in the Pan?

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Internet News

If further proof were needed that we are moving towards a media centralised on the Internet, today’s announcement that England’s World Cup qualifier football match with Ukraine will be televised exclusively online should certainly help.

For around £5, a million England supporters – numbers are limited so as not to overload the system – can enjoy the now inconsequential game on their PC (or Mac). Whilst this isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, it is the first time that an Internet company has been granted exclusive rights to host a live England match; quite a milestone.

This all came about, to cut a long story short, because of the now defunct Setanta having secured the rights to host away international games; rights that came back on to the market because of their grim demise. None of the terrestrial or digital channels were sufficiently interested to make a bid worthy of the name, primarily because interest is likely to be minimal, so it landed on the Internet.

Streaming matches isn’t in itself a new thing. You can find almost any English premier league match and a host of foreign offerings too using services like Justin.tv; but the main change is the move from free feeds from a questionable Middle East source to a fully ratified company, offering its own programming online.

The Internet is about free economics. Making money through avenues that don’t include charging users is quickly becoming the norm. Google’s issues with publishing books online and the tussle between YouTube and the music industry in the UK have all brought further attention to the idea of costly content being distributed for nothing.

To charge money today for services, you have to be offering something unique, something worthy of paying a premium. For many, today’s football-related announcement may be the first time many members of the public have encountered an exclusive online premium service; particularly one that was previously free offline.

Newspapers have toyed with the idea of charging for their journalistic content online (see ‘Is Rupert Murdoch Right to Charge for Online News), but that, as with football matches, may be doomed to failure. If the content is available elsewhere for free, i.e. you can watch a match through an alternative stream or visit another website, the ‘premium’ element of whatever it is you’re promoting is lost.

Internet businesses often need to be very canny in how they choose to monetise their site. Advertising is always the leading solution, it’s what sustains search engines, social media – with the exception of Twitter– as well as most blogs and news sites. It’s a solution that is largely unobtrusive, doesn’t deter visitors and ensures that you can financially benefit from your website’s success.

People will pay of course, particularly if they see it as a preferred choice or aren’t aware of any competitors. But the mass boycott mooted by sections of the England faithful may well be muted when Saturday comes around; and by purchasing the pay-per-view subscription, they may well be helping to change the way we all view television in the future.

Hulu, the hugely successful American online TV service, is coming to the UK early next year, which may grease the wheels of change. The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all currently offer online services to watch television over here, with the BBC’s iPlayer format proving to be particularly successful. So, despite the BBC being a publicly fund non-profit organisation, maybe there is a market for Internet television here that can successfully monetise; we’re just not too happy paying for it directly.

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Nov/09

Online Retailers to Feel the Pinch of Postal Strikes

0 Comments | Posted by andy in Google Analytics, Internet News

The impending postal strikes, which are due to take place across the UK on Thursday and Friday, have forced many major companies to seek alternative delivery methods. However, without the budget to cover the additional cost of using a specialist courier service, or the product quantities to justify such a move, many online businesses may be set to suffer more than most.

After years of massive gains for the online ecommerce industry, these postal strikes have offered something of a wakeup call to businesses of all sizes. With Christmas rapidly approaching, consumers are looking to secure the last of the bargains and get their shopping done for the festive season nice and early. This makes the current strike plans all the more galling for Internet-based companies.

Amazon and John Lewis were amongst the first businesses to implement changes in their delivery policy. With Royal Mail seemingly going into meltdown and strikes affecting their ability to meet demand for the foreseeable future, both have found alternative couriers to ensure uninterrupted service.

Whilst this is all well and good for huge businesses, sending millions of pounds worth of stock each week, what about smaller retailers who have a far smaller demand? The cost, in most instances, of finding an alternative postal service is markedly higher. This means one of three things for companies who have already been stretched by the recession:

1)   Charge customers for extra postage, but risk turning some away;
2)   Incur the extra cost, make a short term loss and revert once Royal Mail’s normal service resumes;
3)   Continue using Royal Mail but make customers aware that there could be delays as a result of strike action.

It’s not an easy decision, and whichever way you look at it, your business will be effected. With wildcat strikes likely to continue, this may not be the last time this year that the national postal service is in turmoil either. Therefore the importance of having a solid contingency plan can’t be overstated.

The concern of the speed of deliveries has already made some consumers think twice about going online to buy goods. Despite these concerns, the BBC has reported that spending is actually up 8% since last year, with online retailers making £3.9bn last month. It also suggests that annual growth would pick up to around 15% once business picked up once again.

So whilst the postal strike is far from helping the UK’s ecommerce sector, the forecast isn’t at all gloomy. In fact this may serve as a long overdue wake up call for any businesses that have perhaps become complacent too. Customers don’t just want good value online, they expect high standards of service too – which includes the time taken to receive orders. It is therefore hugely important that companies start reviewing delivery options and ensuring that they are able to provide a continuous level of service, regardless of ongoing postal disputes.

As more retailers move online and high street shopping continues to suffer as a consequence, the marketplace is likely to become far more crowded. This makes the need to be providing effective services all the more important, whilst you still need to consider how to attract those all important customers in the first place.

Postal strikes are a nuisance for business, regardless of any political or union perspectives. But the shortfall in delivery people needn’t ruin your company or the services you provide. Alternatives are available and the online industry itself is thriving. Don’t lose sight of your website itself in these tumultuous times. These issues should serve to spur you on and cast your net wider; after all, getting more customers in the future will help to limit any financial shortfalls now.

With the Internet now the most popular medium for UK advertisers, it’s certainly not a time to be throwing in the towel.

So while online businesses prepare for a buffering, this should only be seen as a blip. Don’t take your delivery responsibilities to customers lightly, but also ensure that you aren’t overlooking the bread and butter of any ecommerce company, the website. The busiest time for both Royal Mail and retailers alike is now upon us, so don’t allow your website to fall behind the competition.

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