Copyright © 2010 Tim Roberts 2010-07-30T07:27:07+0100 2010-07-30T07:27:07+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 Tim Roberts Tim Roberts en SEO, SEM, Web Design, Web Development 1440 http://www.i-com.net/blog/dont-listen-to-the-social-media-gurus-368/ I am scheduled to give a presentation next week entitled 'Social Media and Business', at the offices of Mathys & Squire LLP. During the talk, which is set to take place on Wednesday 7th July at 3pm, I'll be letting businesses in on the wonderful secret that is social media, outlining how they can use it to generate new business, advertise offers and incentives, create a buzz about their company and connect with customers.I'll also be debunking a lot of the rubbish peddled by these so-called Social Media Gurus, focusing instead on how you can use social media to generate real results for your business.Over the past few years social media has become an extremely powerful force in the world of online marketing - a force businesses hoping to succeed online cannot afford to ignore! If you would like to attend the event contact Tarik: tarik@businessskillsforum.co.uk I-COM News 2010-07-02 12:54:57 http://www.i-com.net/blog/dont-listen-to-the-social-media-gurus-368/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/yet-more-seo-spammers-dont-trust-them-theyre-not-doctors-365/ It's that time again - yet more SEO jokers approaching our clients and making ridiculous claims about not only what they can do for our client, but also about the work I-COM has been doing. This month it's the turn of SEO Doctors (with a name like that, they've got to be reputable, right?), which approached our client The Smile Centre via e-mail, and used false information in an attempt to win new SEO business. Before I even start on debunking the information they claimed to have gathered about www.thesmilecentreuk.co.uk, allow me to highlight the inconsistencies within the actual sales e-mail (great way to impress potential new clients by the way). Early in the e-mail, SEO Doctors' 'Malcolm Wright' claims that  www.thesmilecentreuk.co.uk "has 7 back-links, meaning it's not very popular." Then later in the same e-mail, he says this: "So, here's a recap of my findings on your site: You have 3 back-links." This inconsistency is no doubt due to the fact that this long, spammy e-mail was not actually researched and written by a human being; in actual fact these types of emails are often auto generated with basic SEO information scraped and inserted into the email. In this case, the SEO information wasn't even correct. For example: Right now, your site has only 53 pages indexed by Google, which is quite low. Not only is this incorrect (the site has 39), it's not low at all - there aren't even 53 pages in the site in total! The back links claim (7 or 3? Malcolm couldn't make up his mind) is also preposterous - see below (click the image to open in a new window):www.thesmilecentreuk.co.uk actually has 224 back links. Malcolm's e-mail also claims that he "struggled to find you (The Smile Centre) in the first couple of pages of Google, meaning that you could be losing out on a significant amount of business." Malcolm doesn't actually let us know what he was searching for, and to be fair he's right, if he was searching for 'car rental in Huddersfield' or 'pet shop in South Shields', he would have struggled to find The Smile Centre.However, had he searched for the keywords related to The Smile Centre, he would have found organic page one listings; for example, 'dentures', 'false teeth' and 'cosmetic dentures' are all on page one of Google (see below).It would seem therefore that SEO Doctors don't even know what keywords The Smile Centre should be ranking for, and what does that tell you about their marketing ability?These e-mails are designed to prey on unsuspecting businesses which perhaps don't know a great deal about online marketing, but are hoping to start taking advantage of the fantastic returns available. They are designed to scare and intimidate, and are only used by businesses which aren't good enough or can't be bothered to win clients using the normal channels. The only truths we can glean from SEO Doctors' e-mail are a) they're not doctors, b) they're not SEOs (Search Engine Optimisers), c) OK, the Page Rank is 3, they got one piece of information right (albeit on the second attempt). Please, if you receive one of these e-mails, just delete it and get in touch with a decent SEO company. For advice see our blog post on How to Choose a Good SEO Company. Search Engine Optimisation 2010-06-23 12:13:24 http://www.i-com.net/blog/yet-more-seo-spammers-dont-trust-them-theyre-not-doctors-365/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/crains-best-places-to-work-2010-the-results-363/ Congratulations to Crain's, which yesterday put on a fantastic event at the Ramada Hotel Piccadilly. It was really well organised, and everyone from the I-COM team had a great time. Unfortunately I-COM, nominated in the 'Big' category, didn't win, but the fact that we reached the final is a hugely encouraging sign that we're doing something right! The nominations were based on answers to a survey provided by I-COM employees, coupled with answers to a questionnaire posed to directors about methods of rewarding employees, the working environment and work-life balance. I've published the list of winners below, which you can also see on the Crain's site, and wish to extend I-COM's congratulations to each of them:NEARLY BIG categoryWINNER: Adele Carr Financial Recruitment LtdRUNNERS-UP: JLES North West, Peppermint PRBIG categoryWINNER: Imerja LimitedRUNNERS-UP: The ReThink Group Plc, Code ComputerloveBIGGER categoryWINNER: The fresh GroupRUNNERS-UP: Leap29 Limited, JMC ITBIGGEST categoryWINNER: Barclays CorporateRUNNERS-UP: Ralli, The Hut Group  Well done to all the above, just be warned, I-COM is coming for you next year! I-COM News 2010-06-18 10:02:36 http://www.i-com.net/blog/crains-best-places-to-work-2010-the-results-363/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/guaranteed-page-1-listing-google-affiliated-company-349/ Today I've been provided with yet more proof that the SEO industry desperately needs a governing body, capable of protecting clients from unscrupulous scammers who make ridiculous and misleading claims. One of I-COM's clients, The Smile Centre, has been contacted by a company whose salesperson firstly claimed to be a 'Google Affiliate' internet marketer with the ability to GUARANTEE a first page listing for the firm's website, and secondly claimed to be able to get The Smile Centre on page one of Google for the keyword 'dentures' for just 149 a month. To debunk the first claim, I'll simply quote Google's webmaster guidelines: 'Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, (or) allege a "special relationship" with Google'. Google does not associate itself with SEO or PPC firms, nor does it promote individual firms. The second claim, that a first page listing for the keyword 'dentures' can be achieved for 149 a month, is laughable. I-COM is currently managing a PPC campaign for The Smile Centre for this keyword, and even with a high quality score, the cost can be in excess of 4,000 a month! On its website, the online marketing company in question goes out of its way to mislead potential clients, including a logo that is closely modelled on Google's own and a website that talks about organic SEO when the only way you can guarantee a 1st page listing within 48 hours is through use of PPC techniques. Even then it would have to be a very uncompetitive keyword (meaning no-one is searching for it) to only cost 149 a month. Businesses are constantly being scammed out of their hard-earned cash by just this kind of 'online marketing' firm, which go out of their way to present the internet as a fast, easy and cheap way to increase profits. The fact is, internet marketing is hard work - but done properly it can present businesses with a fantastic ROI. If an offline marketing company rang you up and told you that they could guarantee you an advert on the front page of every newspaper in the country for 149 a month, would you believe them? Absolutely not, so don't believe idiots like this. Google is aware of the dubious claims being made by this company's sales team, and is looking in to the matter. In the meantime - beware unscrupulous marketing online marketing companies! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Search Engine Optimisation 2010-05-07 09:39:44 http://www.i-com.net/blog/guaranteed-page-1-listing-google-affiliated-company-349/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-should-i-blog-about-a-list-of-blog-post-ideas-346/ When it comes to utilising the powers of the blog I-COM has been leading the way, and in a number of blog posts we have explained how to use a blog in order to turn your site into a content driven, visitor and search engine magnet. Recently I gave a presentation at the Manchester Growth Show Ten Reasons Businesses should Blog. Since then I have received a number of emails from people who attended the show saying that they understand the value of the blog, they just dont know what to write about! So here are some ideas for you to start blogging about. Helpful how-to tips related to your product. Reviews of the products you sell. Reviews of products you dont sell but your audience would appreciate; you never know this might create another route to market. Offer product tutorials, either for your product or others your customers use. Answer FAQs you get from your customers. What inspired you to take the jump into starting your business? Explain why you are so passionate about your business. Describe your customer service philosophy. Share a photo or video "walking tour" of your business. Share testimonials you get from your customers. Admit mistakes! If you've done something wrong in the course of building your business, share that information and explain how you dealt with it. People love learning from others' mistakes. What do you like about the current state of your industry? What do you wish you could change about the current state of your industry? What will the future of your industry be like and how should people prepare for it? Reveal a generally unknown secret in your industry. Which famous people have been associated with your industry lately? Debunk the top myths that are currently floating around about your industry. Offer a case study of how someone has successfully used your product or solved a common problem. The ten best online resources for people in your industry. Make a list of "must-have" free resources your audience will appreciate. Run a contest, offering a free product sample or service for the winner. Then ask them to comment about what they thought of it and make that its own blog post as well. Post weekly or monthly wrap-ups about what you accomplished with your business. Review other blogs related to your industry. Review an online magazine related to your industry. Review print publications related to your industry. Go to a trade fair or conference and then write reports about it. Take a stand on a controversial issue related to your industry. Identify the most prominent experts in your industry, explain why they're famous or important. Disagree with a well-known authority in your industry and list reasons why they're wrong. Post about the best things you've read online in the past week (related to your industry). Its important to remember, when you write for a business blog you have to provide VALUE to your readers. If you offer them useful, interesting information they will thank you for it -- and when the time comes for them to make a purchase, your site will be the first one they think of. If you would like to know more about how to utilise Social Media to profit your business call 0844 704 4954 and book a free one hour consultation or look out for the I-COM Client and Guest Internet Marketing Summit. Notification of date, venue and time will be posted shortly. In the meantime, happy blogging! Social Media Marketing 2010-05-04 09:03:22 http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-should-i-blog-about-a-list-of-blog-post-ideas-346/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/seo-results-you-cant-afford-to-ignore-339/ Here at I-COM were never happier than when clients are happy with the level of success they are receiving from our online marketing and SEO services. So we were really excited when we received this fantastic testimonial from the MD of one of our long standing clients: "I can honestly say that engaging with I-COM is one of the best business decisions I have ever made. At the outset of the SEO campaign, I never foresaw that we would have the sort of positions, visibility and prominence in the search engines that we do today. Even now, three years into our relationship, I-COM continue to surprise and impress me with the results they deliver." Our client specialises in recruiting top quality candidates for sales and marketing positions in leading UK healthcare, ethical pharmaceutical, dental and veterinary companies. This is a highly competitive industry online and I-COM has helped to make them one of the major online players. Theyve been with us for three years, and in that time we've used our not inconsiderable SEO, web development and design nous to drastically improve their visibility in the major search engines. According to Google Analytics weve seen a massive increase in their visibility in the search engines. When comparing the period 01/01/10 - 31/03/10 to 01/01/08-31/03/08, we found that: The site had achieved many top ten listings in Google for medical sales related keywords. The site received traffic for 3,108 keywords, as opposed to 1,474 in 2008. Based on just organic traffic, the total number of number of conversions had increased, from 185 in 2008 to 471 in 2010, an increase of 154.59%. The goal conversion rate increased from 4.21% to 7.96%. Page views had increased from 23,434 in 2008 to 37,453 in 2010, suggesting visitors are now exploring more of the site, finding the jobs more easily and finding more useful information in general. Overall, organic traffic to the site also increased from 4,396 in 2008 to 5,916 in 2010, a percentage increase of 34.58%. When considered in conjunction with a 19.88% drop in the bounce rate over this period, we concluded that these visitors were more targeted, and were therefore able to find the information they required much faster than previously. We've achieved these results by, amongst other things, making some fundamental changes to the structure of the site which allows all jobs to be indexed by the search engines and adding search engine optimised content to the site. In addition our in house social media specialists have begun establishing a social media presence for the company. We've got big plans for the future SEO of our client, which should see their website continuing to enjoy a high level of visibility in the search engines, but more importantly providing them with a fantastic return on investment. Here's to the next three years! Search Engine Optimisation 2010-04-20 10:16:11 http://www.i-com.net/blog/seo-results-you-cant-afford-to-ignore-339/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/10-reasons-businesses-should-blog-335/ Thanks to everyone who attended my seminar on blogging at the Manchester Growth Show this morning, I think we can all agree the whole event was a great success. Below, as promised, are the main points I made in the seminar. If you have any further questions about business blogging or internet marketing, don't hesitate to contact me at tim.roberts@i-com.net. Why bother to Blog? WIIFM (Whats in it for me?) Well lets start with results. After much consultation, common sense and persuasion on my part the Clinical Negligence Department of Pannone LLP agreed to be the first department to trial our commercial blog platform in 2007. The aim: to increase relevant new content on a weekly basis. Today Pannone LLP has 7 blogs, why? Last month the blogs delivered over 3,000 unique visitors; this led to over 50 people going on to investigate how to get in touch with Pannone! If this is not compelling enough to take action, learn more about creating a commercial blog and take the activity seriously, here are ten more reasons and whats in it for you: It is a great way to convey your business and brand personality It gives you the opportunity to convey your thoughts and expertise over and above your website. You can be more informal, offer opinions, interact with your visitors, and get across your personality and the personality of your brand. You can demonstrate your knowledge, experience or expertise - blogging is a great way to demonstrate the fact that you know what you are talking about. Going into greater depth on a subject allows you to engage with your visitors and demonstrate your knowledge. When we began working with Pannone LLP on their blog strategy, our main aim was to help bring the website alive and keep it up to date Consistently posting new, interesting content gives visitors a reason to come back. It also satisfies the search engine robots, which like to see sites being regularly updated. When was the last time you updated your website? Having a blog gives you the opportunity to create regular and dynamic content that you and your staff can change on a regular basis. Give your customers and visitors added value by blogging regularly, you can give your customers and visitors yet another reason to come back and visit your site, especially if you are using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to send out updates about your recent posts. Help with search engine optimisation and social media population a blog is a great way to build extra visibility with the search engines. It also provides the platform to inform your followers on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc. This saves time and helps build your social network. It gives visitors a reason to buy whilst your website will give visitors lots of information about your products or services, your blog will offer a way for you to demonstrate why they are important or valuable. This could be through tips, guidance or possibly even case studies. Become the expert - By blogging on a regular basis, you will build up a following in your industry, improving your brand recognition and publicity far and beyond your traditional customer base. Excellent content for social media channels with so many social media networks out there how many can you manage? Not many! Do you want to run your business or become a social media guru? You want to run your business dont you? The challenge is to ensure you're not sucked in to all the rubbish often spoken by so called Social Media Gurus (by the way they dont exist). With a well developed blog and the RSS feeds set up you can share your expertise, opinions and personality by regularly posting on your blog, providing a vast array of new, fresh content that you can tweet or share to your hearts content! You can show that you care the time and effort that you dedicate to blogging will show to your website visitors that you really care about this business and are happy to go that extra mile. It shows that you embrace the new age of communication however blogging isnt the end of the matter. If you are really going to make it work you need to take advice and develop a cohesive blogging strategy. If you do this, your blog will be better known and your traffic will really start to grow. These ten key points are obviously, a general overview, but I hope that they demonstrate to you the huge potential of blogging as an avenue by which you can grow your business. Once again, if you have any further questions you can contact me direct at tim.roberts@i-com.net. In the meantime, happy blogging! Social Media Marketing 2010-04-14 09:09:20 http://www.i-com.net/blog/10-reasons-businesses-should-blog-335/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/manchester-growth-show-wednesday-april-14th-334/ The good people over at Business Growth Show have asked me to lead a seminar tomorrow on 'Why SMEs Should Blog' at their free event at Ramada Manchester. The day starts at 9am and ends at 3pm, and I'll be leading the first seminar, presenting what I feel are the ten key benefits of blogging from a business perspective. The Manchester Growth Show is a great opportunity for local business leaders to learn more about other industries and potentially grow their businesses as a result. Run by the team at Corkscrew Events, the Business Growth Show has been facilitating networking and new business connections in cities across the UK since 2003. Tomorrow's Manchester event will also feature speed networking, talks on networking and an eclectic collection of exhibitors from a range of industries. Hope to see you all there! I-COM News 2010-04-13 09:20:09 http://www.i-com.net/blog/manchester-growth-show-wednesday-april-14th-334/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-solicitors-need-to-crack-the-online-market-327/ A report published in the Law Society Gazette revealed that the internet has become indispensable when choosing a solicitor. The YouGov poll of 2,266 people found that after recommendations by friends, internet search engines and online review sites were the second most popular way to select a lawyer. The research showed that 21% of the people polled would use search engines to select a law firm.This sentiment was echoed by Simon McCrumb of Darbys Solicitors in Oxford, who explains: "This reflects the fact that even the lawyers world is changing. Companies that do not invest in raising their on-line profile will receive less calls and enquiries than a firm that does - its as simple as that. This brings two challenges though. First - will the callers be as profitable and as productive as callers in 'the old days' were, or will this generate lots of calls that take a lot of time to deal with but which go nowhere? Our view is that you have to kiss a lot of frogs in order to find a prince. The second challenge is whether these people, who are coming to law firms in a very modern way, will still want personal and face-to-face service and whether they will want to pay for it." As Simon rightly points out, these findings show that solicitors firms can no longer afford to ignore the internet. A good position in the search engine listings for a variety of highly relevant keywords is essential to gaining clients.Establishing an online presence for your law firmHowever creating a successful website that turns site visitors into paying clients, not to mention one that conveys the personality of your law firm, your expertise and also speaks to your visitors using language they understand, isn't as easy as it sounds.The poll also revealed that almost 10% of respondents would use specialist web directories of solicitors to find a lawyer and a further 4% stated that they would ask for recommendations for contacts on Facebook and other social networking sites.Sites such as Twitter and Facebook that allow social interaction are gradually going to take the place of personal recommendations so getting a head start in these emerging fields is essential for any business, especially a law firm.Understanding how people search for solicitors onlineThe key to online success is to find an internet marketing agency that you trust, one that understands enough about what you do to know what to say on your website and also knows how people search for solicitors on the web. You need to find a company that can engage with that audience both on your website, through use of compelling content that answers all the right questions, and elsewhere on the internet through social media, online PR and other forms of online advertising.Through years of work with law firms of all sizes, I-COM has established a solid base of knowledge and understand about how people search for legal services online.  Integrating search engine optimisation into site development we can build a firm base for the web presence of any law firm which brings in the right visitors who convert into leads and eventually clients. Our experience of sponsored PPC advertising can ensure high quality traffic and prove return on investment. I-COM also has great experience working with directory owners and developing social media campaigns which can provide law firms with a route into social media. We provide social media training to help customers understand the requirements of working in a social media environment and avoid the many potential pitfalls of bad social media practise that have unsettled many reputable brands in the past. If your law firm is looking to take its first steps into establishing an online presence or if you're simply not happy with how your website is performing online, read more about our expertise in the legal industry or get in touch with us on 0870 164 2389. Search Engine Optimisation 2010-03-23 09:59:27 http://www.i-com.net/blog/why-solicitors-need-to-crack-the-online-market-327/ http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-is-success-325/ Whilst catching up on my reading on the weekend I came across a Poem that sums up perfectly my thoughts on what success is all about so I thought I'd share it with you!What Is Success?Its doing your work the best you can,And being just to your fellow man;Its making money, but holding friends,And staying true to your aims and ends;Its figuring how and learning why,And looking forward and thinking high,And dreaming a little and doing much;Its keeping always in closest touchWith what is finest in word and deed;Its being thorough, yet making speed;Its daring blithely the field of chanceWhile making labor a brave romance.Its going onward despite defeat,And fighting staunchly, but keeping sweet;Its being clean and its fighting fair;Its laughing lightly at Dame Despair;Its looking up to the stars above.And drinking deeply of life and love;Its struggling on with the will to win,But taking loss with a cheerful grin;Its sharing sorrow, and work, and mirth,And making better this good old earth;Its serving, striving, through strain and stress;Its doing your noblestthats success!-Author UnknownHere is to your continued success... I-COM News 2010-03-22 08:27:55 http://www.i-com.net/blog/what-is-success-325/