Aim Internet

Only ecommerce shows signs of growth this January: survey

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:32:00 +0000

Online sales are rising strongly this month despite a slump in high street spending this month, according to CBI figures.
Ecommerce was the only part of the UK retail market to report growth in the first two weeks of January, the period covered by the body’s latest monthly CBI Distributive Trades Survey. It found 44% of retailers reported that sales volumes were down compared to the same time last year while 22% reported a rise, giving a balance of -22%.
At the same time retailers offering internet and mail-order sales – the non-store category – reported, on balance, large rises in sales, at +50%. This level of growth, said CBI chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty, was still weaker than the +91% growth seen in December.

Read More - http://www.internetretailing.net/2012/01/only-ecommerce-shows-signs-of-growth-this-january-survey/

Social media restricted for Olympic volunteers

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:19:00 +0000

The 70,000 volunteers for the London Games have been issued with guidelines that prevent them from sharing details of their experiences online, according to reports.

A document issued in the volunteer-only Games Maker section of the London 2012 website last week laid out rules for using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter during the Olympics.
According to volunteering network i-volunteer, the guidelines say volunteers cannot share any specific information about their role, beyond the fact that they are volunteering. According to the website, this includes not disclosing their location, any breaking news about athletes, posting any "backstage" pictures or video or discussing the Games online in any unofficial groups or forums.

Locog declined to comment on the reports and told Event it couldn’t confirm or deny what was in the document.

Read More - http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/news/bulletin/bulletintest2/article/1111208/?DCMP=EMC-CONEventnewsbulletin

The year in social media: Revolutions to riots, cyber-bullying to superinjunctions, social networking has dominated 2011

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 10:11:00 +0000

This was the year social networking got serious and started shaping the real world.

It’s been quite a year for social media: Sites such as Twitter and Facebook have been blamed for causing riots and praised for starting revolutions; criticised for breaching privacy and lauded as the last bastion of free speech; slammed for causing cyber-bullying and celebrated for giving a voice to the voiceless and to the completely mad alike (Charlie Sheen, we’re looking at you).
So here, we present to you a round-up of social media’s highs and lows in 2011, talking dogs and all.
It’s all about Facebook. Inevitably, the social media giant dominated headlines in 2011. Back in June, flagging usership in key markets led some commentators to suggest users may be suffering Facebook fatigue. But the social networking site went on to reach 1 trillion page views, making it the most viewed website in the world, and rumour has it Facebook will float next year with an estimated valuation of $100 billion. This makes challenges from new social media tools Badoo and Path look like a David and Goliath match-up; could Google+ be the one to take on Facebook’s dominance in 2012?

Read More - http://www.aim-internet.com/social-media-funding.html

Click and collect 'popular for ecommerce customers'

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:32:00 +0000

Ecommerce saw a significant increase in the number of customers choosing click and collect options during the third quarter of the year, latest reports have shown.

According to data from IMRG and Capgemini, online stores saw a rise of 7.4 per cent in the number of people opting for the click and collect options.

The results from the third quarter suggested that it was the strongest retail quarter of the year, including orders from smartphones and tablet devices.

David Smith, chief marketing and communications officer at IMRG, said: "Delivery is one of the most important elements that make up the online shopping journey and inconvenience at that stage can turn a positive experience into a bad one."

He added that retailers should make every effort to track and monitor consumer behaviour to understand which postage options are the most popular.

Patricia Davidson, author and founder of thesiteguide.com, recently suggested that online shopping is increasing in popularity each year and that businesses will experience a high level of custom in the run-up to the festive season.
Article source - http://www.hostway.co.uk/news/ecommerce/click-and-collect-popular-for-ecommerce-customers-801231626.html

Small businesses utilising social media to compete with bigger rivals

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:31:00 +0000

European small businesses are leading the first generation of digitally-native businesses, with mobile social networking and innovative technology tools becoming the backbone of how they do business day to day.

According to research commissioned by BlackBerry - maker Research In Motion (RIM), leaders who regularly use mobile social networking are much more likely to be growth-oriented and optimistic about small business’ role in the economy than their counterparts who do not use the technology.

Digital communications tools, mobile computing and social networks, are an important part of business operations for three quarters (74%) of all respondents, with a quarter (24%) positioning digital as an ‘integral part’ of business operations.

Seven out of 10 (67%) agree that these tools have allowed them to build closer relationships with their customers and partners. Interestingly seven out of 10 (72%) of business that don’t use social networks stated that winning new customers and partners is a key business priority for the next 12 months, but six out of 10 (59%) of these businesses don’t see the value in mobile social networking.

Read More - http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/news.php?NID=11563&Title=Small+businesses+utilising+social+media+to+compete+with+bigger+rivals

Why has e-commerce been so slow to embrace charity?

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:47:00 +0000

Last week Cancer Research UK, Britain’s biggest fundraiser, announced that income had fallen for the first time. It would be simple to assume that street collections had been hindered not just by the “current economic climate” but perhaps by the dominance of cash being replaced by plastic. However, according to Confused.com the average Britain carries £200 cash at all times(?!)

We’ve seen some technological advances by charities, embracing a social element. The more cutting edge bodies have enjoyed success building fundraising with a greater experiential aspect. Events such as Race For Life and Movember allow partakers to set up online profiles to generate sponsorship where all funds go direct to the charity.

This is all well and good, but I’m confident we could be doing more via our online transactions. Ebay offers sellers the chance to donate 10% of their sale to charity, perhaps not practical for online stores with a low mark up but none the less it gives casual sellers opportunities to perhaps stand out to similar items.

Whilst there’s nothing wrong with the aforementioned incentives, what I can’t believe is that we’re still so behind in opt-in donations at points of purchase. Just over a year ago The Telegraph reported how The Pennies Foundation would implement chip and pin to act as an “electronic money box”, allowing buyers to round up their payment to the nearest pound. The excess of which would go to charity, of course.

I’ve not seen this in use anywhere. Large retailers could argue the confusion or “extra time spent at the till” is a greater negative that this philanthropic decision could induce. Or really, it could deter upselling on chewing gum and Tic Tacs, resulting in bad breath in the UK to rocket well above international averages!

http://www.aim-internet.com

Read More - http://thedrum.co.uk/opinion/2011/11/28/when-will-ecommerce-embrace-charity

Small business e-commerce scheme launched

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:21:00 +0000

Free one day seminars about e-commerce are part of the Government's attempts to 'nudge' more business to export.

The behavioural insight team at Downing Street has analysed what prevents small businesses from exporting more and its findings have led to the launch of a free e-commerce scheme for more than 3,500 firms.

Officials believe small businesses are discouraged from exporting because of “soft” barriers to trade such as a lack of confidence and social links. But firms that enhance their online presence can significantly boost overseas sales and officials believe more firms could be encouraged to follow suit.

The result is the Business department’s Web Fuelled Business initiative, which will see small business owners, freelancers and managers offered free places on one-day seminars in 11 cities from January to March next year.

Read More - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/8889967/Small-business-e-commerce-scheme-launched.html

600,000 hackers target Facebook every day

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:58:00 +0000

Social networking site Facebook has revealed that it has to fend off around 600,000 security attacks from hackers every day.

Out of more than a one billion daily logins, the site estimates that around six per cent are fraudulent, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Facebook revealed the shocking numbers in blog post announcing a series of new security measures they intend to implement in the next couple of weeks.

Company spokesman Barry Schnitt admitted: “600,000 times a day, we stop a bad guy from getting access to an account even though he has guessed, phished, or stolen the login and password of an account. This is something we're very proud of.”

Hackers use the popular site as a way in which to steal information, such as email addresses and telephone numbers, spread viruses and sell counterfeit goods.

However, some of the hacking is not done by organised bands of criminals, it’s conducted by teenagers eager to break into accounts to steal photos and other items as well as cause trouble by spreading malicious messages.

http://www.aim-internet.com
Read more - http://www.ihotdesk.com/article/800782255/600,000-hackers-target-Facebook-every-day

Google Analytics goes with the flow

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:13:00 +0000

New visualization tools for web site operators.

Web 2.0 Summit Google is adding a visualization tool to its analytics stream that gives website operators a more graphical representation of who is visiting their pages.

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco Susan Wojcicki, senior vice president of advertising for Google, showed off the first two tools based around the visualization design: visitor flow and goal flow. They will be rolled out in the next few weeks.

“Google analytics flow is going to offer a lot more ability to understand your site much better, and dive into specific sections,” she said. “You can add custom variables, can change and sort views and see customers moving across the site.”

http://www.aim-internet.com

read more - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/19/google_analytics_goes_with_flow/

Company website more effective in generating sales than social media

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:26:00 +0000

With the unprecedented growth of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, there has come an increased level of focus by business on reaching customers via social media marketing campaigns – spread across the platforms.
However, a recent report published by Demandbase, and cited in an article published by FINS.com, has revealed that a company’s website remains the main source for generating new sales leads – working seven times more effectively in doing so than social media.
Conducted in May 2011, the report, entitled the “Demandbase National Marketing and Sales report”, was compiled using data gained from marketing, sales and engineering executives from a range of different-sized companies across the US.
Whilst the results definitely don’t go as far as implying that social media strategies should be completely ignored, they do suggest that time should be primarily spent building up a good company website.
If anything, Demandbase’s survey instead goes to show how difficult it actually is to measure the success of social media marketing campaigns.

Article source - http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/company-websites-more-effective-in-generating-sales-than-social-media-800525049/

Growth in businesses investing in social media IT projects

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:21:00 +0000

A growing number of companies are looking to take advantage of the benefits that social media platforms can provide, an expert has claimed, which could see a hike in IT outsourcing.

Tim Gibbon, director at Elemental, has highlighted the fact that the business-to-consumer sector has led the way in harnessing these technologies but added that business-to-business communications are beginning to take advantage of these.

He said that people's early scepticism about these technologies has passed and widespread adoption has begun, making it even more improtant for companies to invest in this kind of IT project.

Mr Gibbon said that the penetration of news on social networks within mainstream news channels has guided more businesses to these channels.

He added: "This certainly demonstrates that businesses, particularly larger organisations are open to the opportunities that social media can offer, but with the fixation on social media environments they could be making errors that have plagued digital channels in the past."

Earlier this month, Work Wise UK chief executive Phil Flaxton suggested that the growth of internet businesses may also have contributed to a rise in IT outsourcing as companies maximise the efficiency of their resources.

Article source - http://www.ihotdesk.com/article/800733171/Growth-in-businesses-investing-in-social-media-IT-projects

E-Commerce Businesses: Beware of The Impending Web Sales Tax on You Read more: http://technorati.com/business/article/e-commerce-businesses-beware-of-the/#ixzz1XfBitAdt

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:25:00 +0000

For many years, online retailers have enjoyed the competitive advantage of avoiding state sales tax. However, as lawmakers in state capitals scrape the bottoms of their funding barrels, more and more are looking at taxing web transactions as a revenue stream whose time has come. Numerous states are reported to be losing $7 billion to as high as $23 billion in total revenue annually due to budgetary woes and ignoring a pile of money sitting right in front of them. It is just a matter of logistics and time before online sales are taxed as heavily as their brick and mortar brethren are.
A key issue is that of "physical presence". The Supreme Court had previously decided that an Internet retailer could be taxed if it had a physical presence in the purchaser's state. New York used that ruling to tax Amazon sales in a 2008 law, arguing that Amazon affiliate retailers in New York constituted such a presence. Rhode Island and North Carolina followed New York's lead prompting Amazon to sue New York and drop its affiliates in the smaller states.
Thirteen more states are moving forward with similar efforts to collect sales taxes, from Hawaii to Massachusetts, with Illinois as the most recent. Some pundits argue that the current sales tax war involving Amazon may affect all ecommerce websites. The battle lines are still forming, but the conflict promises ramifications that will reverberate in the ecommerce sector of the United States.

http://aim-internet.com/

Article sourced from:

http://technorati.com/business/article/e-commerce-businesses-beware-of-the/

‘Retailers should focus SEO strategies on images and video’

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:07:00 +0000

Retailers should maximise their use of video and image content on their websites to boost their Google search visibility, claims a study.

Video results appear in about 70% of the top 100 listings, the type of content displayed most often in universal search results, according to search analytics software company Searchmetrics.
Images appear in about 30% of the top 100 universal search listings, ahead of Google’s “shopping” and “news” categories.
The study suggests that retailers should focus their SEO strategies around video and image content, rather than optimising around text such as blogs or news, which both feature significantly lower in search listings.
Dr Horst Joepen, CEO of Searchmetrics: “Given that many retail sites already produce a large volume of video and image content, we think this could be an obvious step for them.”
The study found that eBay.co.uk has the greatest visibility in shopping results within Google’s UK search listings.
The Searchmetrics study was based on an analysis of the universal search results that appear in the top 100 listings on Google UK. It reviewed searches carried out using a database of about 28 million global keywords between February and May 2011.
Top ten sites with greatest visibility in shopping results within Google UK universal search listings

1. ebay.co.uk
2. google.co.uk
3. amazon.co.uk
4. play.com
5. johnlewis.com
6. tesco.com
7. argos.com
8. overstock.com
9. asos.com
10. debenhams.com

Article sourced from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/disciplines/digital/%E2%80%98retailers-should-focus-seo-strategies-on-images-and-video%E2%80%99/3028972.article

Evolution of the e-commerce market

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:19:00 +0000

More businesses are moving online to capitalise on the region's growing e-commerce market.
Ikea and Lulu plan to launch online payment portals and delivery services this year, while Panasonic recently created its own.
But how have some of the more established online firms that helped to create the local e-commerce space fared in recent times? The top executives behind Souq.com, Nahel.com and ALshop.com explain how the market has evolved and what hurdles are still preventing it from growing into a much more robust industry within the region.

q What was the biggest hurdle to growing your business at its onset?

Ronaldo Mouchawar, the chief executive of Souq.com: When we started we had many hurdles. Buyers didn't have a habit of shopping on the internet. The delivery and shipping was an issue. Getting people to list items was an issue. In 2005, the [industry] was very young and immature.
Saeid Hejazi, the managing director and founder of Nahel.com: For us, the biggest hurdle at the beginning was getting suppliers. E-commerce had barely gotten started, so [the challenge] was getting products to sell on the internet. Everyone was very accustomed to the offline model, and they believed that was the way the UAE consumer would be.
Sheriff Rizwan, the chief executive and founder of ALshop.com: We had a reality check about six months [in]. We did come across a hurdle of [not having enough] volume sales. The initial thing was to increase our volumes, which we eventually did, and focus more on new markets and categories of products.

Should you invest in Facebook, Twitter and Groupon?

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:31:00 +0000

Yes, Facebook has 600m users – but could it really be worth $100bn?

Is there serious money to be made from popular social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Groupon?

Many certainly think so, judging by the price tags that have been attached to these businesses.

LinkedIn, the business-based social network was floated on the US stock market in April this year. Its share price doubled in the first day, as the volume of shares traded meant investors effectively bought and sold the company three times.

But eyes are now on even bigger prizes. Groupon, the online voucher company, has said it is aiming for a $750m flotation on the US stock market this year.

Zynga – the game-maker that persuaded millions to become virtual farmers – is seeking an IPO in the US, and has been valued at $9bn, while it has been suggested that Twitter could be worth $10bn. You don't need 140 characters to say that's a lot of money for a company that's yet to make a profit.
But these are small beer compared to the frenzied valuations circling Facebook, which is widely expected to seek a stock market listing next year. Some are suggesting its could be valued at $100bn - more than Ford and Visa are worth. At this price it is still worth less than that other internet behemoth, Google, which, coincidentally enough, has recently launched its own social media site, Google+.
Rob Morgan at Hargreaves Lansdown said: "The rise in social media has been meteoric, largely due to the internet's greatest strength – rapid and inexpensive sharing of information. Sites like Facebook, have a reached a critical user mass. If it were a country, its 600 million users would make it the third largest in the world in terms of population."

Going local? Tweak your SEO!

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:11:00 +0000

Local search engine optimisation can be a real boon for a small business. The internet is a big place, and it’s easy to get lost, particularly if you’re a simple retailer from Merseyside. With local SEO, smallness doesn’t have to mean a lack of success in the SERPs. To achieve that success, though, you need an optimisation plan that is a little bit different from the norm.
Local SEO is not mainstream SEO. Its aims are slightly different, as are its target audiences. The usual SEO strategies must be changed accordingly. Here are some tweaks:
*Attention to detail. The success of a local site rests on a hundred tiny details, such as the quality of a single consumer review or presence in the right local listings. Start thinking micro if you want your local site to win out.
*Landing page optimisation. Real-world addresses are important in local search engine optimisation. They’re almost at the level of keywords. In regular SEO you would optimise a landing page for the keyword and your conversion funnel. In local SEO, adding your contact details to a landing page reassures site users and Google they’re on the right page.
*Competitor scrutiny. Local search is a small world, which means your competitors are much closer. If a competitor closes down, make sure their place page and directory listings are cleared to make way for you.
While it’s possible to include some local SEO in a regular search engine optimisation plan, it’s important to recognise when a site requires specific local SEO tactics.

United Kingdom SEO is still Google-centric

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Every month as Bing picks up another hundredth of a percent of search engine market share in the UK, articles bombard the Internet extolling the need to optimise websites for more than Google. It is true that the results from these two search engines manage to differ greatly. And it would be nice if there were a way to build and promote websites so as to be favoured by both. But with Google still maintaining a better than 90% share of UK searches, there is honestly no need to waste resources on Bing optimisation. One simply works hard to please the Googlebot and lets the Bing result happen of its own accord.
There is however another traffic generating website that has conquered the British Internet Isles. That site is Facebook. With the average UK household visiting Facebook two and one half hours per day, the social network needs to be given its due. This is not so much a matter of keeping up with SEO, for SEO stands for search engine optimisation and not social network optimisation.
What we need to address is development of techniques so as to ride on the coattails of Facebook and any ensuing social networks so as to drive traffic to our websites. At the present time Facebook et al allows us to open accounts and get our friends and associates to chime in about the wonders of our wares. In light of the cost of major sponsored ads on Facebook and the manual effort required for self promotion, our dreams for viral promotion seem stuck in “sleep mode.” But if the public continues to leave questions answered by engines in favour of general happy consensus, we are going to need a clever means of offering traffic from social network sites to the public.

Empire Avenue

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 11:48:00 +0000

We're just getting to grips with empire avenue
This is the verification link for our blog
{EAV_BLOG_VER:1942a8136cca351f}

Take a look at it......Is it farmville for business or something much much more ???

{EAV_BLOG_VER:1942a8136cca351f}

The Importance of Research in Web Design

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:17:00 +0000

There are some web designers who, after taking an outline brief from a client, will steam ahead and knock up what they think looks appealing, to them.

However, the objective of your website is to appeal to your audience; to target your customers and to speak to them in the language they are familiar with. Whether you like how it looks, or your website designer thinks it's a work of art, are not the important things here.

Those web designers who take time to research your audience, industry and competition so they come up with something that actually sells for you and exceeds your competitors are the ones who'll get you a site that works.

There is a well trodden path towards website design success, and it goes like this:

1. In-Depth Research Getting to know your audience and finding out what appeals to them is the first step. There is ample research to review based on surveys conducted across various groups: age, gender, occupation, background, location to name a few. Depending on who you are selling to, your website needs to be created in such a way that it meets the needs and expectations of that group.

If your audience is an older age group for example, flashy graphics and podcasts will be ditched in favour of a clear, uncluttered screen with easy to click buttons and nothing taken for granted where technical ability and accessibility is concerned.

2. Setting and Understanding Objectives What is it you want your website to do? Do you want it to act as a brochure site for offline referrals, or does it need to deliver search engine results? Are you looking to build a profile as an industry expert and drive visitors to subscribe to your blog or download your guides? Or do you want people to buy direct from your site? Perhaps you are looking for investors rather than customers? You might have a two or three stage plan that will evolve over a few years.

Whatever the aim, it will affect the design of your website. By understanding what you want to achieve, your web designer will create a site that ensures your goals are met and can be scaled to grow with your business if necessary.

The success of a website design project really does rest on the initial behind-the-scenes work. Taking time to conduct intelligent research and to set and understand objectives is a vital part of the design process. A website designer who dives straight in and produces something in super fast time is not conducive to a success story!

Opera Dragonfly web design and developer toolkit now buzzing

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 16 May 2011 10:25:00 +0000

Norwegian browser developer Opera is this week unveiling its Dragonfly web developer toolkit. The new product is emerging from its exoskeleton as a collection of tools for web design and development, with a special emphasis on debugging.
Opera Dragonfly a hybrid web application -- which means users never need to update it, since the latest version is always pulled from the web. Plus, it will always be compatible with the version of Opera being used at the time.
Opera clearly realises that the world has gone mobile -- and has provided a remote debugging tool for mobile devices this time.
A web designer/developer turns on the 'remote debugging' function and Opera Dragonfly will connect to Opera Mobile and allow for debugging directly on the device.

"You can even hack your site on tablets, TVs or your colleagues' computers with the remote debugging feature. And, Opera Dragonfly can mask as other browsers to help ensure cross-platform mobile compatibility," says the company.
There are also advanced colour-picking tools, options to debug Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and a JavaScript debugger.
"Just one wrong line and your masterful script is in ruins. So, we make it easy to go through your code with conditional breakpoints, deep property inspection and watches to turn even the most jumbled JavaScript into a thing of beauty," says Opera's press statement.

West Midlands secures £500m business from London 2012 Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Thu, 05 May 2011 09:46:00 +0000

More than £500 million in Olympic Games contracts have been won by firms in the West Midlands, it has emerged.
The region’s spin-offs from the London Games were revealed as the countdown to next year’s event passed the 500 day mark.
Birmingham’s sport scrutiny committee heard that the contracts have been evenly spread throughout the city and region.
The contracts include design and building work on areas of the Olympic Village, legal services, consultancy, architectural services, lighting, signage, safety clothing and equipment, building materials supply, catering, AV equipment and website design.

There remains further opportunities to bid for both Games contracts and legacy contracts.
The committee is reviewing the city’s exploitation of Olympic opportunities as the July 2012 Games approaches.
Council sports official Mike Osborne said: “The West Midlands has been the most successful region in attracting Olympic contracts after London and the South-east.
“Contracts have been awarded to firms in nine out of 10 Birmingham constituencies, only Hodge Hill so far has not received any, so we are looking at that.”
He said that efforts were continuing to secure even more Olympic business for the region. But added that firms are told not to publicise their success as major multi-national firms, such as McDonald’s pays substantial sums to have its brand linked to the Games.
It has also emerged that 10,000 people from the region have volunteered to work at the games in the capital next summer, with a range of duties including tourist information officers, event marshalls, medical support and IT technicians.

Looking back on the History of Web Design

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Experts who have analyzed websites such as Google, Amazon, eBay or YouTube ever since they were created, some going back to 1994, conclude that the quality of the web design makes the difference between successful sites and sites which attract few visitors. It seems that the sites which are popular worldwide focus their designs on the needs of the users.

Website design experts estimate that over two thirds of the basic elements of design we found in sites over a decade ago are still used in the design schemes of modern sites. The rest of the design elements were removed by the website designers either because users did not like them and those who did disappeared from this market or due to the fact that technology has suffered some changes that were not compatible with the old designs. The perfect example of this kind of outdated technology is the splash screen which used to get between the user and the site he or she was interested in viewing. Nowadays, a splash screen is considered a web design crime, as it is time-consuming and annoying for the visitors of the website.

Website design professionals appreciate that the most successful and efficient websites are based on a combination of simplicity in design and powerful tools. Moreover, the specialists have added that a glamorous, fancy or crowded design is not compatible with a popular and efficient website, as none of the members of the aforementioned foursome of success, Google, Amazon, Yahoo and eBay presents these features in their design scheme. Furthermore, every authority in this domain is wondering why the web designs of the highly successful search engines are not copied by more entry-level sites.

The predictions for the future of web design promise an even deeper involvement in helping people understand the information found online through the simplicity of the means through which it is provided. It is believed that often enough, people just look at a website and decide whether or not it is useful for them. This is why the design of the sites must put the user at the top of the priority list. Although things are looking pretty good in the present, it does not mean that they could not use an improvement.

Increase Traffic To Your Website With An Effective Design

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Keeping clients beats acquiring new ones, that’s what many companies believe in. There’s nothing wrong with enlarging your market and extending to new clients, but because companies depend on the patronage of their customers, they make it a point not to lose any of them. In online business, this is also correct. Getting new visitors to your website is good; it means they have acknowledged that you exist. However, you will also keep on dropping them if you don’t have anything absorbing to offer them. Make your website design fascinating enough to get them to come back.
Although visual design has a huge role in the web industry, an effective website design is much more than stunning pictures and appealing hues. There must be substance as well. Give your site with fitting content and update it on a regular basis. So if there’s a web surfer who stumbled upon your site when he’s looking for particular data, he will keep on repaying to you if there’s something different you can provide on your website.
Keep your website design current and absorbing to make one-time surfers frequent clients. Even if you are selling the same old service, keep the pictures up to date, give more details, and present new information on how they can aid readers.
Maintaining your website regularly can also help remove obsolete texts and dead links, which frustrate visitors and discourage them from even trying to browse the rest of your web pages anymore. Clean those out by altering the content and design of your website frequently.
Still, website design does little effect to the traffic of your website if it isn’t supported with a good SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Simply adding fresh content and layout won’t rank high on search engines, like Google and Yahoo. So before you can have visitors come back again and again to your site, you have to stay visible on the first pages of search engines to let them know that they can surf your website.
In today’s really aggressive online market, merely setting up a site doesn’t help you get customers. The keys to staying on top are continuous website design upkeep and great SEO.

Consider equalities law when designing that new website

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:43:00 +0000

AS well as considering the look and feel of a website, businesses must also comply with the all-encompassing Equality Act.

The law came into force in October last year and its implications are likely to be wide and profound across society, including in the way companies use their online presence.

According to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) anyone in the EU can bring a claim in the UK courts if they believe they have been discriminated against by an Information Society Service Provider (ISSP).

That classification includes anyone – including one person working at home – who provides services through a website, including online shopping, direct marketing or advertising.

The EHRC says ISSPs must not allow discriminatory advertisements and information to appear. It also makes unlawful the acceptance of requests for the placing of information that unlawfully discriminates against people because of a protected characteristic.

Protected characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation.

ISSPs are also obliged to make reasonable adjustments to make sure that websites are accessible to disabled people.

The help organisation Business Link suggests that although it is possible for businesses to design a website themselves, they may benefit from the help of a web designer or digital agency. But it will also be helpful to them for businesses to be clear about what it is they actually want.

As well as the importance of the overall look of the site, which can help with usability, it is important that visitors to the site can quickly and easily access the required information.

The design, says Business Link, should present the content in an intuitive manner, making effective use of colour, layout and site organisation.

The key is to make it as an enjoyable an experience as possible for customers and Business Link gives an example of how a professionally-designed website helped double sales for a company providing career guidance through CD-Roms, DVDs, books and training courses.

The firm’s MD had designed the businesses’ first website but decided to replace it with a new model. Now it is on track for revenue of about £600,000 a year, up from £300,000.

According to Business Link the key is simplicity, with everything accessible from the home page, without much text. Things like server size are also important to stop websites crashing and disrupting the customer experience.

It’s also important to catch the customer’s attention quickly or they will go somewhere else.

Arguably the most used website in the world, Google, is just one picture and a search box.

Employers urged to monitor employees' social media activity to prevent ASA code breaches

noreply@blogger.com (AIM Internet) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Employers need to be aware of new ASA rules, which have been amended to cover online communications - including comments made by employees on social media platforms.

A recent survey carried out by Liz Lean PR and SocialTech found out that half of all employees have admitted to writing about the company they work for on a social media website, such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, an incredible three quarters of those who have written about their company online either did not know of, or had no guidance from their employers regarding what they could or couldn’t write.

As we reported last week, from March 1st, the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have extended their remit to cover online communications. This new remit covers marketing communications on advertisers' own websites and on other free online platforms, such as social networking sites, to guarantee the same high standards as in other media.

It would appear that the major concern for small businesses is that without social media guidelines, they are potentially leaving themselves vulnerable to being penalised by the ASA for their employees’ online activity.

Luke Williams, MD of SocialTech, a company which specialises in the more social areas of the internet made the following recommendation to employers:

“As this research reveals, businesses need to be educated about the risks involved when undertaking PR and marketing on social platforms. 84% of people use social networking sites for personal reasons, which can lead to mixed messages and a blurring of the boundaries between work and play. We recommend developing a sound business driven strategy to help deliver clear, successful online communication campaigns.”