Owner: Online Marketing for SMEs URL:http://online-marketing-for-smes.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:13:01 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: My advice to SMEs on Online Marketing - including Search Engine Optimisation, Email Marketing and AdWords Campaigns
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A Little Often Goes a Long way WIth Search Engine Optimisation 2007-11-22 07:36:00 When was the last time you updated or added new content to your website? Yesterday? Last week? Last Month? NEVER!I hope it is not the later, but don't worry if it is you can change that from now.SearchEngineOptimisation
Tip - Did you know that many search engines check to see when you last updated your site and use that as a gauge as to whether your site is up to date and relevant - the logic here is that a site that has been update in the last month is going to be more relevant that a site that has not been updated for over a year.So what to do about this. Well assuming you have access to edit and add content to your website (either via FTP or through a Content Management System) you should go in an make sure that the information on your website is up to date. It is? well start adding some content - Make it a once a week habit (once a day if you can really spare the time).There is another added bonus of doing this - over time you will be building your website so it could have poten Read more:Often
, Search Engine Optimisation
Free food on Offer 2007-11-07 09:32:00 We will very soon be launching a new site called Independent Restaurants Newcastle which as the name may suggest is all about the promotion of Restaurants in Newcastle. The site is live now, but the big launch event will be in the next couple of months.The site is part of a marketing strategy to promote the diverse range of restaurants in Newcastle that do not form part of a national or international chain.Anyway, enough of that preamble HOW ABOUT THAT FREE MEAL? The site is due to offically launch early in 2008 and as part of the launch many of the restaurants are going to be offering discounts, buy one get one free offers an the like (thats your free meal by the way, you didn't expect it to be totally free did you?). If you sign up to the enewsletter you will be sent this voucher booklet straight to your inbox as soon as it is ready!To get the booklet go to the Independent Restaurants Newcastle website and sign up for the offer at the bottom left of the page.This is a no strings att Read more:Offer
Crank up you Adwords Campaign NOW 2007-11-05 11:15:00 It's been a while since my last post but I thought I best get back online and tell you about what you should be doing now to get the most from your ecommerce store in the run up to Christmas.Like any shop Christmas can be one of the most important times of the year, often contributing to a large amount of the annual turnover of a company. If you were running a shop you would want to be dragging people through the door when they have the money in there pocket and the intent to spend it. Well it is exactly the same with your ecommerce store.It could be worth ploughing a lot more money into your Google Adwords
budget to get those buyers onto your website. As long as you are measuring the cost per sale correctly you are likely to see this figure go down - which means your Google Adwords campaigns are running much more effectively. Assuming you are making a profit with these sales (and lets face it if you are not then Google Adwords may not be for you) then spend more money, up your daily Read more:Crank
, Campaign
7 Top Tips To Choosing the Right Web Development Company For Your Business. 2007-10-05 08:09:00 Gone are the days when Internet Marketing was a tool that only those with a large budget or great technical expertise could actually make use of on a day to day basis. These days most businesses of all sizes and backgrounds recognise the important part that online marketing and web development can play in promoting and expanding their enterprise.Baring all of this in mind, I’ve put together ‘Mancala’s 7 top tips’ when choosing a Web Development
Company:1. The first thing to think about is what does your website need to achieve to expand your business. This is important as many businesses can end up spending money on unnecessary features which may not directly be beneficial to them. It is important that you have a clear idea of what you would like your website to accomplish early on, as the greater the functionality, the more research and work will be involved which will inevitably push up you costs.2. Even if this is your first foray in to online marketing check your developer Read more:Right
, Business
Hit’s Versus Visitors – What Are Your Webstats Really Telling You About Your Website? 2007-09-26 10:50:00 One of the most common queries I come up against time and time again from my clients is the confusion surrounding the difference between visitors and hits on sites. It’s a common misconception that is used to great effect in marketing and PR to dazzle target audiences with mid boggling statistics on the huge amount of hits a newly launched sites have received during its first month.Working in the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and New Media field as a whole for many years, this has long been a bug bare of mine and I hope to dismiss some of the myths surrounding it in the hope of educating consumers when deciphering their own webstats in the future.First of all, Website owners should be most concerned with Visitors
whom account for individual activity on a site. The difference between a Visitor and a hit is that a hit is created every time an action on a webpage is recorded or a page is loaded up.For example logo’s, images, files, and graphics loaded as HTML, CSS and Java Script a Read more:Telling
Ecommerce Tips for Christmas 2007!... Already 2007-09-18 18:35:00 Although most of us have only just unpacked from our Summer Holidays the retail year marches relentlessly on, as I discovered to my horror in my local supermarket over the weekend. Keen to stay ahead of their competitors, giant retailers are unabashed at panicking their customers in to preparing for Christmas
with the ever expanding array of seasonal foods and gifts available from September onwards.Despite the palpitations it evokes in most of us it does bring home the importance of preparation for this period and it couldn't be more important to retailers this year as research shows that in the UK alone consumers will spend over £10 billion pounds in the run up to the festive season.As a web design and development company Mancala Technology have begun to contact our Ecommerce clients with the following 7 top tips to ensure that we all receive a little Christmas cheer this year:1) Planning is everything.Take a tip from the high street and get organised early. Give your business or we
Don't forget to Email your Client List 2007-09-11 08:13:00 It is easy to forget that you have a list of clients who have bought your services/ products before. Don't forget to get in touch with them. Assuming you have done a good job they are more than likely to buy from you again - and it is a lot easier than trying to find new clients.Make sure you make the effort to send an email out to them. See what happensEmail
Marketing Newcastle Read more:Client
Christmas is coming! Well not quite but it is time to start thinking about it 2007-09-11 07:41:00 A reminder popped up in my calender today telling me to start my campaigns for Christmas
. 'Its only September', I thought, 'Fenwicks haven't even started to clean there windows for there Christmas Display'. However I new my reminder was correct as Christmas does have a habit of creeping up.This year I will be telling all my ecommerce clients to check their AdWords campaigns to ensure they are allocating the correct budget and are testing the campaigns so they are getting a maximum return on investment (ROI).It is amazing how well AdWords campaigns perform at any time of year, but during the Christmas season it is the only sure way to get traffic to your website. There is another reason why you should be spending time now on getting this right - AdWords and the keywords you choose are ranked based on how much you want to pay per click (PPC) and also the 'quality' of you advert - if your advert has a high click through rate then it is likely that it will appear higher in the list Read more:thinking
Welcome to Online Marketing for SMEs 2007-09-07 07:47:00 Hi my name is Deryck, and welcome to my first post on Online Marketing
for SMEs. I have been working in IT for 18 years, the last 8 of those years I have been involved with business large and small promoting them online. Currently I run Newcastle Based Web Design and Online Marketing
Agency Mancala Technology Limited.I decided to start this blog because I often come across ideas and suggestions that will help businesses like yours get a competitive advantage in the world of online marketing.What is online marketing?Online marketing covers a whole range of functions - I will list a few, but this is not an exhaustive list.Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the ability to get your site listed high is search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN (to name but a few). As someone once told me, getting to the top of Google does not happen by accident. By implementing a good SEO strategy over time you will see your site climb the rankings.Google AdWords Campaigns, or Pay Per Click (PPC). PPC campai Read more:Welcome
Tell Your Clients About Christmas Ordering 2007-12-03 07:38:00 We are now in the final straight of what is for many the busiest time of the year online (in particular for those of you with ecommerce shops).Now would be a good time to implement an email campaign to educate your clients on your final order dates if they want delivery before Christmas
. This email campaign can also be used as a call to action - obviously if the clock is ticking then your email will prompt them into action. Read more:Clients
, Ordering
Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey 2007-12-10 18:15:00 From the BBC News Website-"Internet retailers are flourishing UK shoppers will spend a collective £370m on purchases through the Internet on Monday, the highest ever daily amount spent online, a study estimates." There will be an estimated £17.2 Billion, yes £17.2Billion spent online during the last 3 months.If you didn't take advantage of this years record breaking spend on the Internet start planning now for next year. Slowly
slowly catchy monkey, as a wise man once said.Think about things like email marketing, start creating your database now - by the time next September comes (which is when you should be primed and ready for the Christmas rush) you will have a decent sized database to market your Christmas offers to.Get your search engine optimisation plan in place, you don't get to the top of search engines over night but you now have almost a year to get there, use the time wisely by getting links to your site and updating your content.Promote your website in whatever way y
Only one Week Till Christmas 2007-12-18 13:36:00 Its just one week to go until we get out our paper party hats and fall asleep on the sofa... and of course enjoy the festivities that surround Christmas
. Here at Mancala and Webbeads we are winding down and looking forward to Friday when we close shop until the new year.Of course Christmas would not be Christmas without a little magic show to get you in the spirit.... so I would like to present to you David Chesterfield, the worlds greatest Magician.Happy Christmas, and we look forward to seeing you in the New year.
The Joy of Autoresponders 2008-02-24 15:11:00 This week I have been spending an unhealthy amount of time setting up a new marketing campaign on the Mancala email autoresponder.I love autoresponders but I always find starting a new campaign as a bit of a struggle. i guess the comparison would be a writer starting a new book - the first few paragraphs are the hardest, but once you get started it flows.Generally when I set up an email campaign on an autoresponder I like to get the first three emails done and dusted, that way I can sit back and think about how I want the campaign to end. Obviously the main aim is that the reader eventually becomes a client of mine, but it is what service or product I am targeting that dictates the direction of the email campaign.Of course I don't always use just an email autoresponder in my marketing, qui Read more:Autoresponders
Microsoft Offers £22.4 billion for Yahoo 2008-02-01 06:00:00 A significant move in the world of online advertising. Microsoft
has today offer a huge amount to buy Yahoo
. Why? Well Microsoft and Yahoo and playing second fiddle to the all dominating Google. Is this a serious attempt for Microsoft (and Yahoo) to take a more significant slice of the online marketing pie?We will wait to see what happens and what the detail of the any deal is. Read more:Offers
, billion
UK firms Waste £3bn 2008-01-28 08:49:00 The following Article was recently published by Ian Williams, vnunet.comThe UK's small and medium sized businesses are wasting an estimated £3bn of investment on websites that are virtually invisible to search engines, according to a recent report.Research by Microsoft's adCenter unit revealed that, although 2.79 million small businesses have an online presence, a hefty 62 per cent are not investing in search marketing campaigns to help potential customers find them online.The survey found that 44 per cent of SMEs believe that search marketing is too time consuming, while 56 per cent consider it too expensive and 33 per cent too complicated.This is despite the finding that 76 per cent of SMEs promoting their website on search engines see an immediate increase in sales.To help combat this Read more:firms
Christmas online sales 'rise 50%' 2008-01-18 06:01:00 The proof is in that Internet sales boomed last Christmas
.From the BBC"UK online
sales rose by more than 50% in the three months to Christmas, according to an industry survey.Internet sales between 1 October and 31 December hit £15.2bn, up from £9.61bn a year earlier, with electronics and clothing doing well, Capgemini said.Firms with both a High Street and online presence, such as John Lewis, did best, the survey said.For every pound spent on goods in 2007, 15 pence was spent online, pushing annual electronic sales to £30.2bn.In 2006, for every pound spent on retail goods, the Internet spend had been 10 pence. "Read the full article at BBC.co.ukOf course not every web site will be a winner. The successful ones will be using all forms of online marketing to ensure that they get customer
Happy New Year 2008-01-08 11:35:00 Better late than never, HAPPY NEW YEAR from all at Mancala.Of course last year was an extremely busy year, especially at the end and this year has started in the same way. Christmas was a record breaking year for those of you with ecommerce - in particularly our clients had a bumper one - on line sales are bucking the general retail trend so it might be worth thinking about how you will make great sales this year.I look forward to uploading more posts this new year. Read more:Happy
, Happy New Year
Internet Marketing Newcastle 2008-04-07 06:15:00 We are just about to announce our first InternetMarketing
Seminar in Newcastle
that will be open to business owners.The seminars will cover what a typical business needs to know to develop a great internet marketing strategy.The first Internet Marketing
Newcastle Seminar will be on Thursday 8th May at 1.30pm. The location will be on the Newcastle Gateshead Quayside at the fantastic La Riviera Restuarant. More details to follow.
Internet Marketing Seminars In the North East 2008-04-14 14:49:00 Internet Marketing
for Business Owners8th May 2008 - 1.30pm, La Riviera, NewcastleGateshead QuaysHow can your website be the hub to all your leads generation and new business?This seminar will show you in practical and easy to understand steps what you should be doing to generate great quality business from your website. We are so confident that you will benefit from this course that we are offering a Money Back Guarantee if you are not satisfied.Book your place for only £97 + VATPlaces are limited - book online now at “Extremely interesting and able to put technical content into easily understandable chunks”Les Hodgson, Next Level Financial Management LtdAbout the SeminarHow much are you taking advantage of the internet? Does your internet marketing strategy get you business, or (as Read more:Internet
, Seminars
, North
, Internet Marketing
Search Engine Optimisation Goes Glamorous 2008-05-07 10:18:00 Why celebrities are getting into search engine optimisation and why you should be too.The word in the Internet Marketing Business is that even celebrities are getting their noses into it. It was reported that stars are paying to have their online images cleaned up. It has been discovered that celebrities with not so squeaky clean pasts have paid specialist web placement companies lots of money to get positive results at the top when you type in their name.Most often it is Google who get targeted more as it accounts for 80 per cent of all internet sources. This works in the same way as most search engine optimisation and web placement companies work to get your key phrases at the top, so by performing search engine optimisation on names there is more good references at the top and bad refe Read more:Search
, Engine
, Optimisation
, Glamorous
, Search Engine
, Search Engine Optimisation
Internet Marketing Seminar Newcastle 2008-06-04 11:37:00 Our next InternetMarketingNewcastle
seminar has been announced.Internet Marketing
for BusinessThursday 10th July 2008La Riviera Restaurant - Gateshead QuaysideTo find our more visit www.marketingontheinternet.co.ukThe seminar is delivered by Internet Marketing experts Mancala Technology.The last seminar was sold out so book your place early.Visit www.marketingontheinternet.co.uk to reserve your Read more:Seminar
What are the implications of using Brand names in your Google Adwords? 2008-06-13 04:44:00 Published with the kind Permission of Matthew Rippon, Property Lawyer with BHP Law Newcastle.As Published in the NEBusiness Blog - 12th June2008"EIGHT years or so ago a refreshingly clean search interface developed by Larry Page and Sergey Bryn overtook the likes of Yahoo! and MSN to become the web’s most popular search engine.At the time, many asked how the site was ever going to make any money Read more:Brand
, Google
, Adwords
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