Copyright © 2010 Chris Martin 2010-07-30T07:42:07+0100 2010-07-30T07:42:07+0100 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 Chris Martin Chris Martin en SEO, SEM, Web Design, Web Development 1440 http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-twelve-days-of-optimising-christmas-137/ 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all was still and serene; snow flakes drifted down from the heavens through the cold night air.Boys and girls whod been on best behaviour at least for a few days were now fast asleep dreaming of Santas arrival and the only thing to stir was the tap, tap, tapping of techies hacking into secure systems in the wee small hours. In this season of goodwill, I thought it only right to share my thoughts on what Ive learnt over the past 6 months of living in the world of SEO. On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a keyword in my URL On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me FTP access On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me 3 directory listings On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 4 unique meta titles On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a PageRank of 5 On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me HTML text navigation On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me 7 inbound links (without tracking or a rel="nofollow" attribute) On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 100% page saturation On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me an optimal keyword density On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me  a bespoke CMS On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to 11 new online sales On the twelfth day of Christmas my SEO team gave to me 12 different answers to a simple question Oh well, cant winem all, Merry Christmas. Search Engine Optimisation 2008-12-23 14:38:54 http://www.i-com.net/blog/the-twelve-days-of-optimising-christmas-137/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-the-ftp-is-going-on-118/ Following recent conversations with web developers, whilst trying to obtain FTP access for prospective clients sites, I have begun to notice a certain trend developing in the response from said developers and it has led me to wonder what the big secret is.When advising clients on search visibility and whether their current web site will support SEO, FTP access is needed to get the complete picture of what you are going to be working with.So you call the web developer or hosting company and ask them for FTP access, so you can actually help one of their customers to build their online business, and the response is one of shock, denial and secrecy. This I do not understandIs it because the idea of customer service is completely alien to these people, or is it because of the highly sensitive information that  can be accessed here, perhaps secret files on the truth about who shot Kennedy? Apparently not, all most web sites have is source code, files and folders, data and images Etc. Nothing desperate intellectual property wise and no reason for a veil of secrecy.So whats the big to do?Im no techie, but even I get what read-only access means and access can be limited to a single public folder, so surely there is no big problem, but these people react like you have asked to for their cash card and pin number I now believe it is this: that customer service within this industry has a got a long way to go, and that these people are protecting themselves.In an age where people are hysterical about data theft, many developers are reluctant to release any information on the development of  a client web site - they want to be seen as the only knowlegable person (after all "knowledge is power" the guys at microsoft are keen to tell us) on a particular web site, the only person who can work effectively on a web site - persuading many companies not to change their web sites or hosting companies for years - for fear of losing everything.Im sure there must be many companies and individuals out there with older websites with no idea of what a modern web solution could be doing for their business,  because they are wary of crossing those who people who hold the keys to their online real estate and somehow loosing the lot.So FTP Gate keepers, open up and chill out!! Web Development 2008-10-29 10:06:51 http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-the-ftp-is-going-on-118/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/boom-then-doom-and-gloom-for-offline-property-sales-36/ Recently I went along to the Property investor Show at Manchester Central, to find that the usual melee of hard nosed, Armani be-suited, sales-men, shouting about the thousands of reasons why Manchesters good people should part with their hard earned cash, so they could secure their very own two-hundred-year-old shed in outer Mongolia, had some new companions in the form of some of Britains biggest household names in new home building. Having decided to investigate the motivation behind the appearance of these big, new kids on the block, I discovered that waves of negativity and general depression, surrounding the housing market and the wider economy (you know, the ones we read about everyday in the papers, or listen to Trevor MacDonald harping on about on the News at Ten) had engulfed the very mind-set of these once proud housing giants. The Doom and Gloom circulating the exhibition hall was incredible; the downcast atmosphere and mere presence of some of these companies perfectly illustrating the slowdown in new home sales.  The lack of preparedness and general game plans of some of these housing giants to survive the bad times was there for all to see. Sales have been so bad, we thought wed try this and Were not sure what to do from a marketing point of view were just some of the things I heard whilst chatting to the various exhibitors, Well Ive got 2 pieces of news for you, 1) experience tells me that the majority of these property shows serve one purpose only, to put cash in the pockets of the organisers. Such shows can prove extremely costly for companies, with stand space usually costing between 5,000- 25,000, and if you dont convert any leads, you have just spent a lot of company money on a complete waste of time. 2)  In the early nineties something called the Internet came in to our lives. It has grown, evolved and revolutionised the way we find information, products, companies and services. With over 40 million of the UK population now on-line, progressive companies at the forefront of the commercial internet are ploughing around 3 billion/year into internet marketing. The internet is fast becoming the number 1 arena for selling your services and finding potential customers. 5,000 - 25,000 invested in web development, targeted PPC and an ongoing search engine optimisation (SEO) programme, would provide returns that company directors could only dream of generating through such property shows The majority of new home building programmes seem to have ground to a halt and some property developers are looking to rent out brand new homes rather than having empty homes on the market. For cash-rich companies, this may well stave off decreasing revenues and possibly the need to re-structure. Some developers will be mortgaged up to the hilt to pay for land on which they expected to build and then sell quite comfortably. Nevertheless, we are entering a phase for the housing market from which some big name developers may not emerge on the other side. Its time for these house builders to wake up and embrace technology. Even in an economic downturn people will still be buying houses and some people will opt for a new house. UK builders need to embrace the internet and invest in their on-line presence to stand any chance of finding potential customers and outlasting the gloom until the good times return and the boom comes back Internet Marketing 2008-06-24 08:58:04 http://www.i-com.net/blog/boom-then-doom-and-gloom-for-offline-property-sales-36/