The home page for IFTT simply reads: “Put the internet to work for you”

It’s so simple, you think somebody must have invented this before, but to be honest this is the first time we’ve come across IFTT or any of its ilk and we love it.

So what is IFTT?

Well IFTT stands for “If This Then That”. In programming terms its the very basic function that makes the internet, applications, operating systems and the like, all work. Now with the help of APIs and some clever tweaks it is being put to use on the internet and internet driven applications.

So if everytime you take a photo with your phone app you want it published to Twitter and stored in your online drive you can. The very steps that might take you an hour to manually complete, you can automate within seconds. You just use IFTT to set up the triggers and hey presto no more worrying about human error meaning a missed-out step.

It is all based around tasks, triggers and actions. Simply choose the channel – Facebook, Google Calendar, etc and follow the step-by-step instructions. You can turn actions on or off, edit them or delete them. Yet its value is in the fact that if you set it up once correctly, you may never need to worry again, you can automate the ‘knock-on’ actions.

You’ve probably been using similar tools without knowing. Plug-ins that automatically tweet your latest blog, automating Facebook comments to be tweeted etc. Yet IFTTT goes even further. You can even include the weather. We’ve just set-up an auto-tweet to send out a message to our followers when the weather is predicted to drop below 5 degrees C. So like other tools you can schedule your tweets but with IFTTT that needn’t be based on time, it can be based on various other conditions. What’s more you don’t need a smartphone to use it, just a plain, simple browser.

We are only just getting to grips with IFTTT ourselves but what we’ve seen so far we love.  We’re sure there will be many clones to follow. Life just got easier.

Have you used IFTTT? Can you recommend anything similar?

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It is that time of year when time is running out to get your nominations in for the five categories of the Nominet Internet Awards.

The awards recognise achievements of organisations and individuals who have created projects that help make the internet a more inclusive, enjoyable and safer space for everyone.

The five categories of the Nominet Internet Awards recognise achievements of organisations and individuals who lead the way to make the internet a more inclusive, enjoyable and safer space for everyone.

The winners will gain plenty of Kudos and media coverage so consider if any of your projects fall within one of the five categories:

1. Building a networked nation – In association with Race Online 2012

Projects such as those enabling people to access the internet who may otherwise not have the opportunity.

2. Making the internet Safer – In association with Symantec

Projects including tools to reduce criminal activity on the internet or those enabling people to protect themselves online.

3. Opening the world of knowledge – In association with the British Library

Suitable candidates include those offering increased access to online materials, knowledge or information and / or using the internet to educate/train.

4. Empowering young people & citizens – In association with Childnet International

Nominations are welcomed from those engaging with young people on internet issues, or offering public, or those simply ensuring that citizens’ voices are heard

5. Nurturing powerful local partnerships – In association with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations

The final category includes those projects that make a difference in a local community with an online project, or use the Internet to bring a Community together.

Full information on the categories and entry criteria can be found on the Nominet site and you can complete your entry here. But hurry nominations must be in by 28th April 2011.

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Turbo charge your AdWords campaign with ‘Sitelinks’

If you use Google AdWords to drive visitors to your website, you might already be aware of an exciting new feature they released last week. Google are calling it ‘Sitelinks’, and it allows you to add lots more links onto your AdWords creative

What does it look like?

This is what an original version of a 123-reg AdWords creative looked like:

And with ‘Sitelinks’ enabled, this is what you get:

As you can see, on the original creative the only place that users can click is the headline. With ‘Sitelinks’ enabled, users can also click on the blue links along the bottom of the creative.

The headline links to the homepage. These ‘Sitelinks’ take users directly to the most relevant page on our website.

Why have Google done that?

A shortcoming of normal AdWords creative is that the person setting up the advert has to make an educated guess about the best page on their website to send visitors to.

That’s quite easy if the user is searching for a specific product. For example, if someone was looking for ‘men’s puma trainers’ then it would make sense to link the creative to the webpage where you actually sold ‘men’s puma trainers’.

In some cases however, it’s not always clear what the best page should be.

Let’s consider people who are searching using the term ‘123-reg’. We sell quite a few different products: Domain Names; Web Hosting; Email; SSL Certificates; Ecommerce packages, to name a few. Whilst all these products are related, someone who is looking for a domain name is clearly going to want to see different information to someone who is looking for an SSL certificate.

By adding ‘Sitelinks’ into our adverts we can let users choose the page that best suits them.

It’s the Google way

Google say that what they’re trying to do is create a better experience for the user. They’re giving the user the choice of where to go on a website. This is a typical piece of Google thinking. They let often let users decide what’s best for them, rather than trying to 2^nd guess their intentions.

Why this is good for your AdWords Campaign

Users will appreciate it
If you make it easy for users to navigate directly to the correct page on your website, those people are going to be more likely to buy from you. As any usability expert will tell you, positive user experience is about minimising the length of time it takes users to find the information they’re looking for. And positive user experiences will result in happy customers, and more sales on your bottom line.

You can take up more of the Search Engine Results Page
Do you have a problem with other adverts appearing when people search for your website? If you enable Sitelinks, your advert becomes twice as big – and uses up twice as much space on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This means that your advert will dominate the eye-line of the user, and are far more likely to be clicked on. More traffic for you. Less for your competitors.

You can showcase more products

Adding Sitelinks let you show users that you sell lots of different products, before they’ve even arrived on your website. It’s possible that a user is searching for you because they want to buy some new socks. When they see a Sitelink to ‘tights’ or even ‘sandals’ they might take the opportunity to check out the other stuff you sell.

They sound awesome! How do I get going?

You can add Sitelinks from the Settings page of your Adwords Campaign, under ‘Ad extensions’.

Whether or not you’ve tried Sitelinks, let us know what you think about this development.

Author: Nick Leech of Euston Digital

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Given the news that Chinese web publisher Shilehui.com paid € 56,000 for the domain name 90.com at Great Domains, a domain auction venue, we wanted to review numeric domain trends. A quick look at the top ranked sites in China reveals three numeric domains which rank among the country’s sites: 56.com, 126.com and 163.com are all popular entertainment portals with impressive global traffic numbers.

A closer look at the site 56.com reveals an intuitive basis to the trend: in a region with variations in the Mandarin language, selecting a two-digit numeric domain creates universal branding that transcends regional and local variants, creating a universal brand in a diverse country. 56.com has been called the “You Tube” of China, and consistently ranks as one of the most popular entertainment sites in the country.

Given the growing demand for localized branding, ICANN is at the early stages of opening up complete support for native international domain name (IDN) extensions in a variety of languages. For now, however, many Chinese sites face the dilemma of having a URL partially in native characters but with an English extension (such as .com).

The ability to create an instant brand through a short numeric domain, such as 90.com, makes economic sense as Internet traffic continues to rise rapidly in China. A survey from the China Internet Network Information Center showed that the country had 300 million Internet users at the beginning of the year, representing an adoption rate of only 22%.

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Opening Ceremony began on August 8, 2008 at 8 p.m. This schedule ensured that the Games would start at the most opportune time, as the number eight is a symbol of wealth and well-being. Native Chinese pronunciations of the numbers reveal their meanings, leading to expensive auctions for lucky phone numbers, addresses and, of course, domain names with special significance. According to tradition, the number “9” signifies everlasting well-being – add a “0″, € 56,000 for good measure and you have a new universal home on the web.

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The Nominet .uk registrar conference is being held today at Wembley Stadium. I’ve just arrived, after a hike round to find the right conference room.

The first presentation is just kicking off, with the Today Program’s Sarah Montague introducing, so I’ll be back with an update shortly.

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Yes you read that correctly, £1 shared hosting on 123-reg!

Thats the sales spiel out of the way. Our top tier shared hosting package ‘Starter Pro Hosting‘  is now only £1 per month for the first six months of your annual contract, which makes it cheaper than the middle tier package ‘Starter Plus’. I’m trying to avoid using too many exclamation marks here, buts thats a pretty good offer if I do say so my self!

Click on this link to read the full terms & conditions and on this link to find out more about our shared hosting products

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