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Specificity

Many companies create generic adverts that drive click-throughs to the [generic] home page of their website. The problem is that because a lot of companies do this, there is more competition for the keywords you assign to your adverts and there tends to be a lack of context to some of the search terms. This has the double effect of creating higher ‘keyword’ prices for less-effective adverts.

For instance, I have researched some keywords for a company recently that sell plasma walls (or is it a video wall, projector cube… etc.). The problem is, if you do a search for ‘plasma walls’, you come up with more results for “plasma wall brackets” and will have to compete against these irrelevant results. (more…)

Keith sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal about mobile phone internet browsing and how it is coming of age. One of the main reasons being that providers, who previously redirected you to their own web offerings only, are having to allow generic browsing. The article compares the situation to how AOL tried (in the late nineties) to restrict peoples movement around the web with its own community.

I for instance, use Vodafone, but when I go through their web access, I am sent to all the Vodafone stuff I have no interest in, and it they thing that stands out is that they are trying to sell me more… ringtones, wallpapers, etc. Their browser also restricts me from certain websites that I want to see.

Of course, there is so much info out there that we want what we want, when we want it… especially when we know it is ther and that, surely, is the ONLY way the mobile web can go. (more…)

I got involved with a bit of management on a couple of print jobs this week, picking up some half-finished projects nearing completion, getting them ready for approval to go off to the printers. Anyway, I got to playing with the right printer for the right job and the right sizes for the right printing presses and it reminded me of a couple of often overlooked thoughts when setting up print jobs leaving with me with three ways to reduce print costs. And, you can save yourself quite a lot of money if you make a few minor amendments to your job and shop around. (more…)

Via Digg, came this cool business card for a security firm.

Also, this gallery of business cards with loads and loads of nice ones - if only all clients would take the plunge with the budgets required to deliver them.

Nominet has registered its six millionth .uk domain name, with the national country code attracting a growing number of domestic companies. (e-consultancy)

I am often asked about the best domain suffix to go for ie. .com, .co.uk, etc. and my answer usually requires the buyer to know their longer term strategy. I am a great believer that if you are servicing the UK, you should stick to a .co.uk and a .com should be used for internationally based businesses as it makes simpler sense to the end-user. (more…)

One one hand, this weekend, the sun was a welcome sight. A bit of gardening, a bit of cycling, but, I couldn’t help ponder the fact that my online shop would be just that little bit quiet in terms of sales. Welcome to retail, I guess.

The times and conditions that make [online] retail peak is an interesting (and very worthwhile) route to follow in terms of research and development. (more…)

In a high profile case late last week Vodafone and First Direct pulled their advertising from Facebook after they were randomly placed on a page giving information about the British National party (ref. Guardian). This has resulted in a number of companies reviewing their online advertising, with four more companies following the lead.

It used to be that you would know a publication, the demographics of the audience and place an appropriate advert in the right slot, even on the web. Then along came social media and user-generated content and the lines got that little bit more fuzzy. (more…)

Online retailers are realising that they need to streamline their user-experiences and start utilising user-generated content - as highlighted in a recent report and survey by E-Consultancy.

The survey found that more than half of all online sellers (51%) consider user generated content as either extremely important or very important to company strategy over the next year and also highlights the increasing desire of online shop owners to improve their offering, citing key areas of priority for future developments:

• Site Content Improvement / Optimisation: (76%)
• Natural Search (SEO): (71%)
• Email Marketing: (54%)
• Paid Search: (45%)
• Cart / Checkout Improvements: (39%)