Working in the online industry, it’s easy to forget how new this internet thing is. Five years ago, the amount of online shopping was a fraction of what it is today.

Ten years ago, Amazon was far from being a household name – and Google was being run out of a garage by two guys in San Francisco.

Go back even further – say 15 years – and people would probably have chuckled if you’d explained that they’d soon be able to substitute their weekly visit to the supermarket by going online with a credit card.

This massive online economy – the one that so many of us now rely on for our income – just didn’t exist.

Advertising is changing

We’re not particularly prone to these outbursts of nostalgia, but what’s set us off today is news that the amount spent on online advertising has overtaken the amount spent on TV advertising. Read the rest of this entry »

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This week we’re taking a look at Twitter. Yesterday we gave six reasons it’s a complete waste of time. Today, it’s the other side of the coin: six reasons you really should be using it.

Confused? Please forgive our contradictory stance. We just wanted to show the whole argument. In case you’re wondering, we already use Twitter. And we like it. Here’s why:

• You get to hear news first. Twitter is ideal for getting up-to-the minute news – about whatever it is you’re interested in. Most major news outlets use it, including the BBC and The Guardian, but sometimes ordinary people provide even faster coverage – like with the fire in central London earlier this year.  It’s great for more specific stuff too. Like going to see bands? Follow the ones you like to get the heads up on gigs first.
• It lets you stay in touch with companies you like. Aside from us (who you should go and follow right this second, if you don’t already), you’ll find plenty of big brands on Twitter. They use it to run competitions, communicate with customers, give a sneak preview of new products and update on service problems. Many even listen to what their customers have to say, making it a good way to ask questions. Read the rest of this entry »

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As it goes, we’re pretty big fans of Twitter. But this week, we’ve decided to put the case for and against the popular social network.

Today: why it’s a waste of time. Tomorrow: why it’s not. Completely disagree with one of these views? Don’t forget to leave a comment at the bottom.

It’s been the darling of the media for months. It’s garnered loads of coverage in every imaginable place, from The Sun to The Spectator. It, of course, is Twitter. But hype aside, what does it boil down to?

Is it anything more than millions of people, contributing their 140-character thoughts to an online sea of inanity? We like to believe our Tweets achieve Oscar Wilde levels of wit and intelligence. But actually, are they more George Bush?

Here are our six reasons why time spent on Twitter is time wasted:

• It’s really distracting. These days, to get any work done, I have to turn off my mobile, close Facebook, shut down my email and tell my coworkers to shove off. Twitter is just one more pointless distraction that stops me doing stuff. It’s not just any stuff either. It’s important stuff.
• Spammers and con-artists use it too. In gentler times, the worst thing likely to happen to you online was a gentle trading of insults on a bulletin board. On Twitter, you get spammers trying to flog dubious medication and suck you into pyramid schemes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Every website needs to woo search engines like Google and Yahoo. But forget boxes of chocolates, flowers and expensive dinner dates, search engines are only interested in one thing…optimisation.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the art of courting search engines. Yes, they can be the most elusive of prospects. But don’t get yourself into a hot flush; there are plenty of ways to win search engine love. So here’s our quick and easy guide to becoming a true search engine aficionado.

Speak the language of love

How do you charm a search engine? Well, you can’t just whisper sweet little nothings in its ear – that won’t work. Instead, search engines coo to the tones of something called metadata, and thankfully this sliver-tongued art is relatively easy to master.

Metadata appears at the top of a HTML page (in between the <head> and </head> tags), and its here that the keywords, which can melt search engine hearts, reside. Simplicity dictates that keywords should be relevant to your site’s name (as seen in the URL), theme and purpose. But, as so often in affairs of the heart, things can get complicated. So here are some handy SEO tips for keywords:

1)    Firstly, establish which words people use when searching for your type of site.
2)    Try to use keywords your competitors haven’t used.
3)    Think about whether your site has a unique niche which it can exploit, such as a service or location.
4)    Remember, people aren’t machines – they type all sorts of phrases when searching online, so it pays to think creatively.
5)    Also, use keywords for your link text – never use ‘click here’.

Create the right impression on dates

Search engines rank sites by periodically assessing their content. This is kind of like an infinitely recurring first date, so your site needs to spruce up for every fresh encounter. Search engines hate dates when the conversation dries up, or becomes repetitive. That’s why you should never duplicate your site content from another site. Always create original material and endeavor to create fresh content as often as possible (at least once a month).

It can be tacky, but let’s face it – sometimes you need to splash the cash, and search engines are very easily impressed by a big spender who picks up the bill on a date. So make sure you buy all the available Top Level Domain (TLD) extensions (i.e., .com, .co.uk, .biz, .info) for your brand name. But just for good measure, here are a few more FREE ways to serenade search engines:

1)    Use unique and relevant titles on every page of your site.
2)    Validate your sites, so spiders can crawl through faster.
3)    Keep your pages under 1 kilobyte.

Hopefully this post will help you along the often rocky road to search engine romance. Please let us know if you’ve got any SEO tips you’d like to share with your fellow readers. In the meantime, good luck with setting those search engine hearts all aflutter.

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