Copyright © 2010 I-COM International 2010-03-22T12:09:16+0000 2010-03-22T12:09:16+0000 http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. http://www.i-com.net/blog/ http://i-com.net/images/icom-net.gif http://www.i-com.net/blog/ Leading Manchester SEO, SEM and web design agency blog. I-COM International blogmaster at i-com dot net I-COM International I-COM International en SEO, SEM, Web Design, Web Development 1440 http://www.i-com.net/blog/playing-games-278/ It's the time of year that online shopping goes through the roof, and companies like Amazon, Play, and Toys R Us are rushed off their feet with orders flying over the internet. When a friend of mine was shopping for her kids on PLAY.com she came across something that many consumers need to be made very aware of over the Christmas period, inaccurate pricings of goods. I have taken a screen grab of an example of a product which has been priced incorrectly.  PLAY are offering 'buy 2 for 25' on many of their Nintendo DS games, but would you buy 2 for 25 when 1 is only 9.99? This is clearly a mistake made by PLAY, but it is becoming a common problem. Content uploaded onto websites needs to be proof read and checked before being uploaded to a live site. When Christmas shopping online make sure that your basket has taken into account the offers, that you are getting the right deal and when you are at the checkout that the total is what you expected it to be. Inaccurate information on a webpage can lead to visitors becoming confused and subsequently turning their attention to competitors. This is especially true around the Christmas period when customers want to make sure their gifts arrive on time and for the right price. The Royal Mail has officially said that the last Christmas postal date for letters and packages sent 1st class will be 21st December 2009. Make sure you get your prezzies sent out in time! Internet Marketing 2009-11-30 14:41:00 http://www.i-com.net/blog/playing-games-278/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/5-reasons-why-a-good-domain-name-is-your-first-step-towards-online-success-273/ When choosing a name for your business in the past, the process would have been to create the business idea and check out any related trademarks, the information at Companies House and conduct local business searches to make sure the business name is unique. With the advent of the internet as an exceptionally powerful marketing tool, today the starting point is making sure you have the right domain name, a name that provides customers with an easy way to remember and find you. It's your location, brand and email on the web. Helps Build Credibility: Using your domain for your website and to personalise your email helps establish credibility and professionalism. For instance, an email address such as tim.roberts@i-com.net is a lot more professional than timroberts.icom@googlemail.com! This kind of consistency creates authority for your brand and builds trust in clients, as they can see the direct relationship between you and your website. Protects and Builds Your Brand: Purchase the domain name that best represents your business name. This is the starting point; you should then secure alternatives to protect your brand and increase your reach. This is achieved by directing the associated domains back to your website; you can direct as many as you like back to the one website. A Good Domain Raises Your Profile Online: By choosing domain names that are catchy, short, and easy to spell, say and remember, you could potentially increase the amount of traffic to your website and ultimately, the amount of revenue your business generates. Potential clients are much more likely to opt for the short and catchy URL; they are also much more likely to remember it. When choosing your domain name pronounce it three times aloud. Does it sound natural? Imagine yourself telling a potential customer about your website. Is it easy to convey and remember? Ask family and friends what they think of your potential domains give them a few options and see which one they remember in a few days time. Pay Attention to the Extension: .com/.co.uk are the most popular. Others that are well-known and can deliver value such as .net, .org, .biz, and .info. If you sell products to an international market, consider country-code domains. In this case, you might secure the .com, the .net, and the country-code, as appropriate (e.g., .fr, fi etc). Its important that you choose the right extension for your business, as the wrong one could give internet-savvy clients the wrong impression about your business. A Good Domain Should Indicate the Nature of Your Product or Service: This is a benefit from a client perspective as they have a good idea what theyre going to get out of your site; its also good from a search engine perspective. Search Engines such as Google like to see good descriptive domains that link up with page content if you have a domain name that hints at your product or service, your website will appear more authoritative to search engines and is therefore more likely to rank well in the results. A good domain name for your business website can help you acquire more traffic, particularly if you choose to buy a domain that already receives a good amount of traffic rather than coming up with your own, and can vastly improve your brands strength online. Its also important to remember that, from an internet perspective, your domain name is often the first thing potential clients find out about your business make it a good one and watch the conversions come rolling in. Search Engine Marketing 2009-10-27 10:44:10 http://www.i-com.net/blog/5-reasons-why-a-good-domain-name-is-your-first-step-towards-online-success-273/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/go-on-give-your-consumers-a-quick-flash-198/ Although it will be hard to believe for anyone who saw the queues outside many Mark & Spencers yesterday morning all looking to buy merchandise for a penny, the retail landscape is feeling the effect of a decline in sales. This is not just exclusive to the high street either and despite record profits for ASOS last month the recession is hitting those in the cyber space with just as much force.So, what can you do to beat this trend I hear you cry. Well its the web! There are always new and exciting ways to promote your company and products. One of the new ways to attract lots of business and sales in a short period of time is through bringing the offline phonemenon usually likened to top and up-and-coming designers to your ecommerce site - the flash sale.Whats a Flash Sale? Flash sales are when you hold a sale over a very short period of time - hence the name. For an online company it would not be advisable to hold one for more than one hour. The discounts you offer would have to be enough to attract visitors for this once in a lifetime chance to purchase from you for the best price possible. The benefits are that you are putting a sense of urgency into the buying cycle through putting a time restriction on the sale. This will have an impact on those consumers who go away and think about a purchase before returning, or worse, forgetting. In simple terms, however, its like a normal sale but in a shorter time frame and it helps you drive sales in quiet times and/or sell off older stock. It is also good for brand loyalty as you're giving something back to your customers. This type of loyalty can even help attract new visitors to your site. Its as easy to do as, say, flashing. Through picking a time, date and promoting the sale you could be flashing in no time. This is also a good way to utilise social media marketing practices such as Twitter, Facebook, using related forums and even writing a blog on your own site to promote your impending flash sale. But dont do it too far in advance as a rule of thumb try and keep to the mantra of the flash by keeping it spontaneous - do not do it much more than 24 hours in advance. An email campaign going out to all existing customers will also help spread the word.Isnt flashing a risky business? Not every one has the CMS system in place to hold a sale within a very short time frame or a site that can handle a high volume of traffic / sales at the same time. So you do run the risk of crashing your site. Other concerns are selling stock at highly reduced prices and thus not making enough to maintain profit. But remember, you're in control of what you sell and how much you charge! Just make sure its at a significant reduction that is clear to all users - and remember at the end of the day its just a sale! So go on, expose yourself and get selling! Internet Marketing 2009-05-21 08:15:10 http://www.i-com.net/blog/go-on-give-your-consumers-a-quick-flash-198/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-internet-in-1994-187/ I've just come across this 1994 promotional video about the internet from The Digital Equipment Corporation.I was at University in 1994 and remember using the internet to download games like the Prince of Persia. Looking back I remember it (the internet) being very textual but to be honest because of the gradual evolution of things I'd forgotten quite how different it was.The video talks about transacting business online; but could you ever have thought you might be buying lightbulbs or getting involved in ebay type auctions?  It really is amazing how the web has developed and I'm personally looking forward to the next 15 years of progress - who knows where we'll be then: high def real time video communication? Internet 2009-04-23 16:09:00 http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-internet-in-1994-187/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/is-selling-online-the-way-to-beat-the-credit-crunch-151/ Whilst high street sales continue to fall and the recession takes a firmer grip on UK shoppers spending habits, online sales have hit new highs. Recent reports from the high street confirmed what forecasters had been predicting that there was a 1.4% reduction in pre-Christmas sales in December 2008 compared to the previous period in December 2009. These figures, according to the British Retail Consortium, signified the worst Christmas for the British high street in 14 years. Comparatively, online retailers experienced their best ever Christmas sales figures the British Retail Consortium report also states that online sales grew by 30% compared to the previous year. These figures are supported by official data produced by the Office for National Statistics which showed all retail sales decreased by 0.8% in December compared with the previous year whilst Internet Sales increased by 19.6% over the same comparative period. Stats released this week from online analysts comScore revealed that e-cards, jewellery, luxury goods and accessories saw the greatest percentage increases in traffic in December 2008 compared to the previous month. These figures just go to confirm what those in the industry have been telling us for years that if youre not already, its time to get your business online. And if you are online, there has never been a more vital time to start pushing and promoting your site using online marketing methods such as PPC (Pay per Click) or SEO (search engine optimisation). With news this week confirming that the UK is officially in recession, these figures from the British Retail Consortium and comScore are even more significant. The buying habits of British consumers are certainly changing as they become more price and web savvy. Its important to remember that its not all about selling online. Statistics show that only 8% of customers complete their purchases online, while 92% of shoppers conduct research online but prefer to complete their purchases and transactions offline. So whether your website is ecommerce and you are selling directly online, or your website is simply a tool for generating enquiries, search engine visibility really is important for businesses, whatever the industry or whoever the target market. Search Engine Marketing 2009-01-29 08:45:45 http://www.i-com.net/blog/is-selling-online-the-way-to-beat-the-credit-crunch-151/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/christmas-day-online-sales-grow-by-21-145/ As mentioned in one of my previous posts, the Christmas period has a major effect on Search Marketing campaigns, and Christmas 2008 was no exception. I was reading in the Independent this morning that online sales hit a new high this Christmas. The article compares the fact that as high street stores have just experienced their worst Christmas in 14 years, their online counterparts have had their best ever Christmas following this years shopping habits. The article says that "almost four million people went shopping online on Christmas Day, rather than waiting for the sales to begin in town centres on Boxing Day 21 per cent more than 2007." This reaffirms the fact that any e-tailers who are running a Search Marketing campaign, should without doubt ensure their campaigns are active on Christmas Day in order to make the most of the bargain hunting shoppers. The competition in the market may be high and therefore the additional advertisers may cause the average CPCs of the market to increase, but the traffic coming through to your site on that day is highly likely to result in a purchase - providing the price is competitive. Something to consider though is whether the increased demand during this time can be met by delivery times and product availability. I have experienced in the past some e-tailers who could not meet the demand for orders, which resulted in cancellations and refunds, and this also damaged their brand in the market. Search Engine Marketing 2009-01-16 13:49:27 http://www.i-com.net/blog/christmas-day-online-sales-grow-by-21-145/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/online-pin-is-bursting-the-offline-bubble-139/ Exchange and Mart has always been a stalwart of the UK secondhand car buy and sell classifieds. Today it has been announced that Exchange and Mart is ditching the newspaper to go purely online. Some people may look at this with a fond sadness - thinking that it is yet another victim of the credit crunch. However, the realistic way of looking at this is that more and more consumers are becoming web savvy and use the internet for more and more purposes - a vast amount of them being for retail. Occado, Waitrose's internet delivery people, has reported an increase of 25% over the holiday period. Think about that - 25% growth of a relatively expensive food chain during a recession! In 2001 we had the dot com bubble - now we have lost Woolworths, and Zavvi and Marks & Spencers are each cutting over 1000 jobs. Online businesses are weathering the recession better than most and in some cases growing in a world where offline businesses are going to the wall. Are we going to see a reversal of 2001, were everyone will ditch offline business and the rocks that they will be clinging to will be online business? Internet 2009-01-07 16:20:19 http://www.i-com.net/blog/online-pin-is-bursting-the-offline-bubble-139/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/uk-online-sales-soar-by-25-130/ I've just been reading  that the internet trade body IMRG says the UK's Christmas online retail sales could reach 13.6bn ($19.9bn) and that sales of 320m are expected in Monday 8th December - with over 28m being spent online every hour. One in ten shoppers plan to shop online for some items. Even with the credit crunch it seems that there's never been a better time to invest in online for your business. Search Engine Optimisation 2008-12-08 13:41:00 http://www.i-com.net/blog/uk-online-sales-soar-by-25-130/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/uk-e-commerce-sites-affected-by-vat-reduction-124/ Yesterday's 2.5% decrease in VAT may have far reaching effects on e-commerce sites across the UK. With the reduction to 15% VAT effective on Monday, 1st December 2008, e-commerce websites will be scrambling to change their prices.For many e-commerce retailers this means editing every product across their sites individually in order to reflect the reduction in price so they can avoid customer complaints that they are taking advantage of the VAT reduction to boost profits without passing savings on to consumers. Internet 2008-11-25 16:01:11 http://www.i-com.net/blog/uk-e-commerce-sites-affected-by-vat-reduction-124/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-six-building-blocks-of-a-good-e-commerce-website-102/ You've heard the expression "you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink"? Well, that is sometimes how I feel when discussing e-commerce trading! You cannot establish a solid e-commerce business without a website that achieves six critical elements, in my opinion! These are critical elements that so many e-commerce websites don't achieve! Why? Lack of understanding, knowledge or focus on the potential customer, and with probably only one thought-- making a quick buck! Navigation - You want your visitors and potential customers to be able to easily get around your website and find what they want. Your online store needs to show numerous items at once, while giving your visitors the options to view more information. Allow your customers to enjoy browsing your products. Prior to any new website being designed, you need a plan. Learn by visiting your competition and analyising their good points and how they are selling/trading online. Sit down and layout your website and then consult with an e-commerce specialist web designer and developer (yes, two or more different individuals). It will be worth it and it will save you hundreds of pounds in the long run! Display of the product -  Visitors and potential clients want to be able to see what they are buying! Depending on what you are selling, offer different angles, dimensions, videos etc. Set up your product displays so that other related products are included, for example if the product is suits, show shirts, ties, shoes etc. Website readability - Similar to how you display the product, readability is a function of design. Readability is concerned with how easy is it to see your descriptions, instructions and crisp clear images. If a visitor cannot read about your product because the typeface or photos are too small or faint, what happens? If you visit a website that you cannot read, what do you do? Yes, you leave without taking any action! Website copywriting - Product descriptions should be well written and interesting. Yes, you need to provide basic information with the features, however the main aim of the content is to focus on the benefits. Why should your visitor purchase your product? The aim is to connect your visitors with your products. To give visitors confidence, clearly explain the ordering process, how products are returned and give detailed customer service information. Website build - It is so important that the software you purchase to build your website is search engine friendly, secure and adaptable. There are so many poor software packages on the market that do not provide any search engine or online marketing potential! Well, unless you are a specialist in the programming that has been utilised. Please avoid these, you will only get frustrated! I have a lot of examples of individuals and companies discussing their pride and joy ecommerce website with my specialisits to be told that there is nothing that can be done and it will have to be re-built! The best option is to have your e-commerce website built built by a team of specialists in design, programming and online marketing. This will again save you money, stress and time! Ease of purchasing - It is also critical that you make the ordering and the process of buying from your online store as easy as possible. One of the major reasons why individuals buy online is to save time and it makes life a lot easier. If a visitor and potential customer has to go through five or more steps to complete a transaction, they might give up! It should take no more than three clicks from one page to another to make a purchase. Carefully research the software that you want to use. Prioritising on these six elements when building your online store will produce excellent results as long as it can be found. Take the time to research websites that are consumer friendly and successful in their own markets. Is a great way to begin your planning. Make your online store fun and easy to use! Internet Marketing 2008-10-06 09:09:40 http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-six-building-blocks-of-a-good-e-commerce-website-102/