Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a phrase that has been gaining popularity as of late. We all know what it is all about – optimising a website to ensure high rankings on search engine results. This paves way for increased exposure in the overtly cluttered internet platform. Increased exposure translates into increased bottom-line via higher conversion rates (number of visitors to site vs. number of visitors who sign up for a service/newsletter or download a file). Although many doubt the actual capabilities of SEO, saying that they are simply black hat techniques used to increase rankings, which search engines will identify and take corrective action, resulting in the website being blacklisted.

However, SEO, when done right, can be a business’s best friend. Why? Return on Investment (ROI). Let’s get into more detail.

At present the ROI on ethical SEO from an online marketing agency is 1:15, i.e. every dollar invested by the organisation gives a return of $15 (on average). Also, unlike traditional marketing initiatives, SEO, along with other online marketing activities such as e-mail, social media, paid search/PPC, allows one to measure results. This too is a boon to professional number crunchers as they are able to measure ROI. Current surveys show that an overwhelming number of successful companies are spending time and money on social media, which is a component of SEO. Staggering 78% of Inc.500 companies use Facebook and 73% use Twitter. Companies need to regularly monitor their ROI from SEO and identify the low ROI projects and do away with them whilst focusing on high ROI projects.

A simple question to ask yourself to evaluate the success of your online marketing campaign – “Is the online marketing translating into online sales or sales leads?”

This question will form the cornerstone of all your online marketing activities, from basic e-mail campaigns to complex SEO strategies.

A poll of 973 adults, carried out by online security firm, Unisys has concluded that 70% supported pulling the plug of Twitter, Facebook and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), while only about 27% disagreed during times of riots and uncertainty.

This majority also agree that the Government should have access to data on social network users to prevent the occurrences of coordinated crime. It must be noted however that it was mostly the over-65s who opted for action against social media whilst the heaviest users, 18 to 24-year-olds were generally against it.

The fact that a majority support pulling the plug on Social Media during times of crises as there is evidence that most people were using Social Media to ensure that their friends and peers were safe and also to keep track of what was going on during the unrest. It is also evident from the speed at which Police were able to pinpoint riot locations based on Social Media and minimise damages.

You check your e-mail in the morning before commencing work.

How many of these are unsolicited mails? How much of it is spam?

How many mails do you actually bother to open and read, let alone act on it?

Chances are a good 75% of your mails are unsolicited/spam, resulting in them ending up in the recycle bin, unread.

Email marketing is one of the cost effective and time saving methods to market your products and services. These pointers will help you target your audience correctly as well as get a bang for your buck.

1. Give the option for your consumers to subscribe to marketing emails on your website. Do not forget to mention that their contact details would not be shared with anyone.
2. You should also use a transparent email ID when sending out emails. Rather than using admin@yourcompany.com, you can use nameofproduct@yourcompany.com.
3. The Subject Line will have to include text that will grab the attention of your customers, like special discounts or newest products. It’s best to refrain from using abbreviations, slang and hyperbole.
4. Images should be used moderately to ensure that the content is captivating but should not include high resolution images, which would take a long time to download.
5. Your marketing email should prompt the user to act. i.e. reply to the email, visit your website etc.
6. Personalise the email by including the customer’s name and ending the mail with a signature
7. Include all your contact details
8. Include a note requesting the client to add you to their contact list
9. Do not include attachments as most of the time your email would not have the expected open rate due to fear of malicious attacks
10. Include an option to unsubscribe as well so that the user is aware that you are not imposing upon his/ her privacy and that he/she can opt out anytime

When you outsource your e-mail marketing campaign to a professional online marketing agency, you can rest assured that all these aspects will be handled and you will get the best possible response rate from your target audience.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – the term is everywhere.

Gone are the days when a great website was sufficient to for online dominance. Today with millions of websites, the playing field is level and newer tactics are needed to stay ahead of the pack. How do we achieve this?

This is where SEO comes in. Step forward. Search Engine Optimisation 101 is in progress.

How does SEO work?

SEO works by maximising the visibility of your website to search engines and users by employing a few techniques. Optimising your website opens up a wide array of online marketing opportunities. Search engines do not charge to index your web pages. Therefore when you invest in a good Search Engine Optimisation package you save on the cost incurred per customer. When your website climbs to a higher position in the search engine, it will automatically begin to drive traffic to your website, increasing sales.

Most customers are directed to a website via search engines as a result of the keywords entered by them. The user types in a keyword(s) to find related websites and the search engine opens up a list of relevant content and if your website has been optimised using the correct keywords, the possibility of your website appearing amongst the top few results is much higher.

It is imperative that the content of your site is original and of high quality as this will attract quality links. This will also enhance user experience and readability of the website resulting in improvement of your website’s ranking.

Benefits of SEO

1. SEO results in a clear and structured website allowing you to manage your content easily.
2. Higher visibility
3. Increased credibility – i.e. if it is at the top of Google’s search results, it must be good
4. Increase in online business
5. Wide reach

The internet is the #1 source for consumers to find businesses. Therefore it does make a lot of sense to ensure that you are positioned on the front page when they look.  Turn to a professional online marketing agency to optimise your website and reap the benefits today.

For any business to succeed online, a strong presence on the internet has become imperative. Consumers have begun to search for any and everything on the Net. Looking at the constantly changing demands and needs of this sophisticated online consumer, as well as the numerous technical changes that occur on an alarmingly regular basis, areas such as Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) and Social Media have become areas which very few companies are “on top of”, on their own. This goes on to say that having a simple website itself is not sufficient to take advantage of what the Internet can truly offer. Also, rising above the competition requires a lot more than an attractive website. This has given rise to the demand for professional web design agencies that specialise in all aspects of online marketing. Hop in to take a cruise through the “Online marketing/ Web design intersection”, which is located down the “Internet Highway”, and prepare for a joyride that is guaranteed to leave you enlightened when int he end. Each bullet point is an important “stop” in your ride.

1. Professional looking website:  By hiring a professional online marketing agency that is proficient in web designing, you can be assured that your web site will not look like an amateur effort. A badly designed website is a sure turn off for any visitor. Proper layouts, colour combinations, navigation etc. Will make the web site look attractive to users. Secondly, a badly designed website makes a very bad first impression. Most web users judge the quality of the company within the first few seconds of reaching the website.
2. Keep up technology: With rapid changes taking place over the Internet, it is important to ensure your website also keeps up. A good online marketing agency that the latest cutting edge tools and facilities are all part of your website, giving users/ visitors the confidence that your company is not complacent and is all about giving consumers are great experience let it be just browsing for information or doing business. Good web design agencies possess the necessary expertise to ensure that technological advancements are implemented in a timely manner instead of having to waste time on doing things based on trial and error.
3. Customised solution: Whilst lot of companies take the easy way out with standard templates for their websites, a professional web design agency can ensure that the website reflects exactly what your company needs to achieve.
4. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): What’s the point of having a top notch website, which your customers can’t find? This is where a professional online marketing agency comes into play. SEO is area undergoing constant change especially with the dominance of the ever so dynamic Google. Majority of websites are dependent on Google to deliver visitors and consumers. A good online marketing agency will ensure that SEO and PPC are used in conjunction to ensure your website gets the traffic it is supposed to get along with profits.
5. Future: A professional online marketing cum web design agency will not just give you a solution for today and step away. They will stay with you throughout and help your business grow with consistent support and updates, keeping you on par with all Internet related advancements as well the competition.

Destination reached. We are back at your neighbourhood, in Manchester. Hop off with the cure for your online marketing woes. Seek out a professional online marketing/ web design agency right here in Manchester, and start making profits today.

Enter the fascinating world of blogging! 155 million blogs and counting!

At present there are many blogging platforms in use. Although the type of platform used by a blogger boils down to personal choice, it helps to know which the best platforms are. Features like prominence, clear visual presentation, wide range of tools and themes, high average readership and the ability to adapt to changing trends are all essential for a successful blogging platform.

Let’s dip our feet in this vast ocean by looking at the most popular blogging platforms around.

WordPress

This is by far the best and hottest blogging platform around. WordPress was launched by Matt Mullenweg on 27^th May, 2003 and soon went to become the most popular platform in the world. The current version of Wordpress 3.0 and has been downloaded by 12.5 million people.

WordPress comes packed with a huge variety of themes and plug-ins that will enhance your blog in terms of look and feel. Therefore it is no surprise that many users opt for WordPress as their blogging platform. In addition to WordPress being “open source”, there is an active development community which assists users through various forums dedicated to this platform.

Whilst offerings a massive 3GB space for a free account, it features an integrated stats system and therefore you do not need 3^rd party clients to analyze the traffic on your blog. Savvy bloggers can quickly build links with other websites that allow their blog to bring in greater viewership and a higher number of monthly hits. This flexibility makes WordPress an excellent investment for serious bloggers/entrepreneurs.

TypePad

This is another well-known name in the world of blogging with a more user-friendly interface than that of WordPress. It employs a drag and drop system to build the site. Also one TypePad account can accommodate many blogs. The best part about TypePad is the absence of ads even on the free accounts. It also offers mobile blogging capabilities which mean that you can blog even when you are on the move. Although this is open source, availability of help resources is restricted by its “limited number” of community members.

Blogger

Unlike WordPress and TypePad, Blogger is not open source. Due to this, there is no community actively working on making the blogging experience bigger and better. However, Google ownership makes it easier to monetize your blog using AdSense, and integrate with many other Google products such as Picasa. Blogger is very easy to use and even beginners can find their way around easily. Since Blogger is a free service, there are no upgrades and very limited themes and tools. Although not the flashiest platform around, Blogger’s “what you see is what you get” element makes it a primary choice for many bloggers who are simply focused on getting their message across than be held down by unnecessary overhead costs such as upgrades etc. As a platform, Blogger allows seamless interaction with social networks and other high traffic websites.

Other popular blogging platforms worth checking out are Posterous (which allows for private sharing via its “groups” feature), Movable Type (a choice for companies that generate text for a living), Tumblr (designed specifically to foster talent and encourage like-minded bloggers to read each others’ posts) and LiveJournal (comes in 32 languages).

Now that you’ve dipped your feet, go ahead. Jump in. The water’s perfect.

The dust is yet to settle following the birth of Internet Explorer 9 as Microsoft announced the launch of the former’s successor, Internet Explorer 10 (IE10).

The announcement was made at Microsoft’s annual Web and phone developer conference, MIX11, on the 12^th of April this year. The unveiling of IE10 platform preview was followed by IE10 platform preview 2 on the 29^th of June this year.

“We built IE9 from the ground up for HTML5 and for Windows to deliver the most native HTML5 experience and the best Web experience on Windows,” Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president for IE, wrote in a blog post. He further added, “IE10 builds on full hardware acceleration and continues our focus on site-ready Web-standards. This combination enables developers to deliver the best performance for their customers on Windows while using the same, Web-standard markup across browsers.”

It must be noted that Microsoft has dropped support for Windows Vista and therefore IE10 can only be run on Windows 7 in a fashion similar to that of IE9 (when it dropped Windows XP).

What can we expect from IE10?

At this point the end user does not have much to look forward to. The IE10 preview doesn’t sport the browser’s “chrome,” or interface elements, but only an underlying Web rendering engine. As a result there are no bookmarks, history, nor a “back” button.

Presently, very few sites take advantage of the new HTML5 capabilities supported in IE10 Platform Preview: CSS3 Multi-column Layout, CSS3 Grid Layout and CSS3 Flexible Box Layout, CSS3 Gradients, and ES5 Strict Mode. This would mean that although IE10 claims to pack a punch with many benefits and technological advancements, the actual potential of IE10 may not be realized.

IE10 Platform Preview 1 is available for download now on Microsoft’s Web site. Also be sure to check out a demo version of IE10 platform preview 2 on Microsoft’s Test Drive page, which features speed demos, HTML5 demos, graphics demos and browser demos.

Finding the correct and best keywords for your website is one of the most important factors in Search Engine
Optimisation (SEO). Most of the website owners do not spend much time researching keywords, having a website
optimised for the right keywords can bring you numerous visitors to your website without having to invest any money.
These visitors are your potential clients and most importantly they come to your site through search engines natural listings.

How do you start your keyword research

There are many keyword research tools on the web, since Google is the major share holder of web search traffic it is best

to use Google Keyword tool.

The below steps will help you find the best keywords to your website.

Step 1. Write down the desired keywords related to your business, product or services.

Step 2. Go to https://adwords.google.com

Step 3. Enter your keywords (One keyword per line).

Step 4. Select your country or targeted country.

Step 5. Select your language, type in the security code displayed in green on the box and hit the Search button.

Step 6. This displays the entered keyword, competition, global & local monthly searches and estimated CPC (Cost per click)

This should give you enough information about the most competitive keywords you need to optimise your web site.

Elite Web Studio offers a range of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Services in Manchester & Northwich.

Web design Manchester

Web design Northwich

Search Engine Optimisation Manchester

Online Marketing Manchester

Print design Manchester

Also visit the web design portfolio page.

HTML 2.0

HTML 2.0 was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force HTML Working Group in 1996.

HTML 3.2

HTML 3.2 became a W3C Recommendation 14. January 1997. HTML 3.2 contained new features such as fonts, tables, applets, superscripts, subscripts and more, to the existing HTML 2.0 standard.

One of the elements added to the HTML 3.2 standard, was the <font> tag. This tag introduced unnecessary complexity to the important task of separating HTML content (text) from its presentation (style). The <font> tag became deprecated in HTML 4.0.

HTML 4.0

HTML 4.0 became a W3C Recommendation 18. December 1997. A second release was issued on 24. April 1998 with only some editorial corrections.

The most important feature of HTML 4.0 was the introduction of style sheets (CSS).

HTML 4.01

HTML 4.01 became a W3C Recommendation 24. December 1999.

HTML 4.01 was a minor update of corrections and bug-fixes from HTML 4.0.

XHTML 1.0

XHTML 1.0 reformulates HTML 4.01 in XML.

XHTML 1.0 became a W3C Recommendation 20. January 2000.

HTML 5

On January 22nd, 2008, W3C published a working draft for HTML 5.

HTML 5 improves interoperability, and reduces development costs, by making precise rules on how to handle all HTML elements, and how to recover from errors.

Some of the new features in HTML 5 are functions for embedding audio, video, graphics, client-side data storage, and interactive documents.

HTML 5 also contains new elements like <nav>, <header>, <footer>, and <figure>.

The HTML 5 working group includes AOL, Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, and many hundred other vendors.

Web Design Manchester, Elite Web Studio Ltd offers website designs which are more about strategy than it is about having flashy graphics or catchy phrases. Most importantly, a website design should convey the exact message of what the business represents.

Bing has improved and adds personalised and local search results in their search engine. Their blog recently reported about these new developments. These developments in the search engine are focusing in making your search more personal and at the same time keep it area specific.

For example if you look up the word “pizza” and you live in Seattle the results would display Pizza parlours in that area. This is recognised as a local search. How this works is that the search engine recognises your IP location and provides results relevant to your area. At present the local search works only for cities in the USA.

The search engine results are also based on logical assumptions. If you want to inquire about the road conditions and key in ‘traffic’ at 6pm on Friday the results should display the traffic situation and not about the movie or band.

Making the results more personal, Bing will analyse your previous search types depending on whether you are exploring? Looking for a particular Website in Northwich? Trying to find something you had seen before and then would list those results on top of the search results.

At least 76% of people are reported to have used search engines when planning trips, events or social gatherings. Bing’s new improvements are set to assist in indexing search results depending on your location and according to your personal preference. They are currently testing a series of experiments to check as to which techniques could deliver the best results based on a person’s search preferences.

Bing says “The beauty of thinking differently about personalized searching is that it enables us to construct elegant solutions that require a minimal amount of personal information and, frankly, often exhibit better results than a more computationally complex predictive model alone.”

By Web Design Manchester