tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51854711636179613122012-02-03T12:33:45.560ZThoughts on web design, SEO, web marketing, social media and anything else that comes to mind . . .Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-71736667276554027982012-02-03T11:14:00.008Z2012-02-03T12:33:45.566Z

Those in regular communication with me will know that I have been emphasising the importance of video as a part of website promotion for some time.For many businesses video is an important part of their marketing and brand promotion. Yesterday I was chatting to a local sports celeb who is successfully combining Facebook and his video chanel on YouTube to promote himself, his sponsors and create

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-91716769655923989442011-11-02T15:30:00.010Z2012-01-31T12:29:42.818Z

WMKE3GU3CPVBLast month, Google held a “From Why to How” mobile webinar and announced that mobile optimisation will be factored into Adwords’ quality score for mobile ad campaigns.So the policy makers at Google clearly think that website optimisation for mobile devices is important - and probably not just for Adwords. With mobile phones being so widely used to access the web, it's reaching a point

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-85075775396925950022011-10-05T09:26:00.003+01:002011-10-05T09:50:03.461+01:00

It's official. Google's admits tinkering with it's search algorithm and as usual there are a some winners and losers.This time, it appears that video content could be a factor in why sites gained or lost rankings. Sites with video content seem to have improved their positions while those without have suffered.In Frank Watson's blog posting on October 3, he examines the details, which also

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-3600863091428047452011-08-04T10:14:00.006+01:002011-08-04T10:52:50.648+01:00

In June, amid much publicity and fanfare, Google launched Google+ as the new networking/social media tool. So how is it doing so far?Although opinions are mixed it seems that most agree that there was a very strong initial takeup but traffic has now leveled off a little.So in this brief posting I thought I'd include this chart created by VentureBeat which logs traffic to the various social sites

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-66226598108780598762011-06-20T16:00:00.004+01:002011-06-20T16:41:29.036+01:00

You may have read or seen on the news that some new domain suffixes are soon to become available.The international authority for top-level domain names - ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) - has approved the expansion of generic TLDs (Top Level Domains) to allow companies and organizations to create domains for their brands, eg .tesco, or create generic names such as

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-69881965991168929392011-04-25T10:42:00.010+01:002011-05-09T17:19:39.993+01:00

If you advertise on Google and regularly check your advert's status you could be doing yourself a disservice.Why?Because Google monitors page impressions against the number of clicks on your advert. Over a period of time this provides a score - the Click Through Rate, commonly known as CTR.Both keywords and adverts have a CTR score so whenever you use Google to search one of your own business

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-79332526661314347262011-03-07T10:00:00.007Z2011-03-07T10:33:04.170Z

Google has made another change to it's algorithm and the way it ranks wesites on Google searches.Officially known as the Google Panda update (who thinks up these names?*) it has seen nurmerous established sites disappearing from Google's rankings.Asssessing who has been effected is never straightforward but Google seems to be targeting sites using duplicate content, non-ethical SEO practices,

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-8995694086938102602011-02-06T19:19:00.007Z2011-02-06T19:39:27.206Z

The cost of adverting on Google has steadily increased over the past few years. So is it still worthwhile?The answer all depends on how you set up and manage your campaigns.An AdWords campaign has to be well organised and regularly maintained to be cost-effective. Your set-up checklist should include:well researched keywordscarefully targeted AdGroupskeyword focused advertssensible keyword

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-37714381045635373862010-12-14T10:44:00.012Z2010-12-28T09:27:13.150Z

Blogging can be a problem when you are busy. There simply isn't time to keep it going especially for a seasonal business - at the very time you need to talk about your product, service or event you are too busy making it all happen.One answer to this is to start a blog bank during the quieter times.If you have been in business a while you know the sort of things you might want to blog about in

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-55849281680653308612010-12-13T12:01:00.009Z2010-12-13T12:43:39.635Z

We all know how important your company domain name is to your business . . . . well perhaps not all of us:'Who Represents' is a website where you can find the names of agents who represent celebrities - www.whorepresents.com 'Experts Exchange' is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views - www.expertsexchange.com Want to buy a colleague a pen for Christmas? Try 'Pen

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-12178250050713295692010-12-01T19:22:00.015Z2010-12-02T19:55:57.072Z

Yesterday I had a phone call from a company regarding my wife's website. She's a Garden Designer (www.chrisbarnesgardens.co.uk) and they were offering a very specific service - adding her website to Google Places. I have been on the Google Places bandwaggon for some years, but this is the first time I have been aware of a company offering a dedicated Google Places service.Formally known as

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-45117930659028586992010-11-22T16:57:00.007Z2010-11-23T10:12:07.260Z

No one I know has accounting on their list of the ‘10 things to do before you die’ . . . nor is visiting the dentist, filling out an insurance form or changing a baby’s nappy after mistaking the leftover curry for the baby food. But for most people, at sometime or another, these things have to be faced. Accounting Software UK has been involved in selling Sage Accounting Software for over 20

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-64455493389653999252010-11-10T09:31:00.007Z2010-11-10T09:50:47.176Z

With so much talk about Twitter and Facebook as the Social Media Marketing vehicles of choice it's easy to forget about YouTube - the video sharing site.Acquired in 2006 by Google, YouTube receives 2 billion views a day, 70% from outside the USA - it's a massive searchable resource. So much so that according to recent research* in the USA, YouTube is the second largest search engine out there -

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-57305150028471614722010-10-08T15:14:00.013+01:002010-10-08T15:44:55.567+01:00

Solent Events are a Lymington based company specialising in Corporate Sailing Events and Team Building Activities on the waters of the Solent and the River Thames.Their enthusiasm and experience have made them a formidable force in delivering water-based Corporate Events in the UK. Events range from the indulgent - cruising the Solent on luxury powerboats, visiting famous venues and landmarks -

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-67431709955834403972010-09-23T17:43:00.005+01:002010-09-23T17:50:09.288+01:00

Last week Google launched Instant Search in the UK.Basically this allows you to type your search query into the Google search box as before, but for each keystroke you get a prediction of what you are looking for and a list of results below. The idea is that Google predicts the list of keyword phrases that you are probably searching for, complete with organic and paid results.Benefits to Google

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-30087618388721709962010-09-19T18:02:00.007+01:002010-09-19T18:41:47.608+01:00

OpeMed (Europe) Ltd is a global organisation that provides ceiling hoists and patient handling equipment for the hospital, nursing home and domestic environment.They make an award winning range of products in a state-of-the-art factory within the European Union. Equipment is sold through a network of established dealers that are experienced and professionally trained in patient handling.Their

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-14974069202265172822010-08-06T09:52:00.006+01:002010-08-06T15:10:00.823+01:00

A new doamain has become available and is causing a bit of a stir. What used to be the suffix for Colombia in South America is now being presented as a new domain for busines - .co - that's it, not .co.uk but the simple .coThe reasoning behind this new domain seems to be that it represents smaller companies and businesses. A number of companies have registered their names in the new domain -

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-35948490265375301922010-04-11T10:45:00.008+01:002010-05-08T10:15:37.492+01:00

I had an email from a client this week. He was concerned that his Google advertising spend for the first quarter this year had almost halved compared to 2009. Was everything OK?Yes, everything was OK . . . and still is. The number of clicks from the adverts was about the same as 2009, the Click Through Rate was better and the average Cost Per Click had dropped significantly.The difference was all

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-17772193786596405102010-03-31T08:48:00.005+01:002010-03-31T09:36:44.356+01:00

The current obsession with Twitter, Facebook and other social media of the moment means that good basic Newsletters and Press Releases are often overlooked in the marketing mix. Yet I regularly monitor sites where a simple newsletter will create a boost to search engine rankings and a big spike in web traffic - sometimes by 200% or 300%.Of course to do this the Newsletter has to have something

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-13373427757350268752010-03-26T08:45:00.006Z2010-03-26T09:53:16.005Z

Google is in the process of changing it's search algorithm. This will potentially effect every website listed on the search engine.This latest update, called Caffine, was announced in August last year, but when the switch will come is not certain, although the general precdiction is that sometime around now is probable.So what changes will Google make in the way it sorts it's results?Google

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-59614019546643289612010-03-08T10:07:00.007Z2010-03-08T11:10:26.847Z

Spending time and money on social media marketing is a waste of resources for many companies. This may go against the current trend of Social Medial as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but for many small businesses this is the reality.So what is Social Media Marketing? Wikipedia describes it as:“the use of social networks, online communities, blogs, wikis or any other online

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-88823365863197707902009-11-17T16:42:00.006Z2009-11-19T09:39:18.081Z

I often find myself talking to clients about ‘Bounce Rate’ and pages with a high or low BR. So what exactly is Bounce Rate and why is it important?Bounce Rate is a term used in website traffic analysis to represent the percentage of visitors to a website who "bounce" away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the site. It's expressed as a percentage so a BR of 40%

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-1607038918501209852009-08-11T15:45:00.009+01:002009-11-04T11:01:21.926Z

The best results of any SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) campaign are usually achieved where the SEO consultant and business director/manager/department head work together. This sounds obvious but doesn’t always happen. The pressures of running a business often impact on communication and the SEO can be treated as a ‘bolt-on’ rather than a part of the marketing process. But there are 5 basic

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-35030021984871900002009-04-30T11:39:00.009+01:002009-08-11T15:43:12.073+01:00

When you check your listing on a browser which search engine do you use? A simple question but important because not all search engines are equal. According to the latest figures the top 10 UK Search Engines are: 1. Google UK 2. Yahoo UK 3. Ask Jeeves UK 4. Freeserve UK 5. Yell UK 6. Alta Vista UK 7. MSN UK 8. NTL World 9. Tiscali 10. Mirago According to 2009 April 04 figures

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-56927029735051623862009-04-27T11:30:00.004+01:002009-04-27T11:58:06.942+01:00

Having an optimised website in this day and age is essential. But what does this really mean? When I talk about an 'optimised' site I consider:Keywords researched and definedPages designed to target defined keywordsIncoming links established from other relevent websitesI could go into more detail but that, in essence, is it.So once that's all in place we can sit back and relax? Yes?Well possibly,

Barneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02733600630382204533noreply@blogger.com1