Can your choice of operating system boost your marketing campaign?

Lawrence Jones, September 1st 2008, 11:21AM

When you’re choosing a server to boost your business you should be thinking about your server’s capabilities as a marketing tool.

A couple blogs ago I wrote of the importance of a speedy dedicated server to build your brand online. Since then I’ve been asked several times whether a Linux or Windows-operated server is more beneficial to the marketing of your business. The key to a successful online marketing campaign is a fast server, so which operating system offers the quickest service?

In actual fact there is very little difference in the speed of Linux and Windows servers. Speed is largely based on the quality of the hardware. So, if your online business resides on a Quadcore Dell or HP, with a high level of bandwidth your server and therefore website will be much faster.

As discussed in a previous blog, server speed directly affects Search Engine Marketing because Google ranks sites that provide a valuable customer experience more highly. So as long as your server is fast, your Web marketing campaign benefits.

Tags: dedicated server, linux, marketing, windows
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How to get people to buy from your website

Lawrence Jones, August 20th 2008, 5:01PM

The results are in from my latest poll – what makes people buy from a website? The options were trust, appearance, price and usability and the results show some very interesting trends.

At 43%, trust is by far the most popular choice. So the question is how do you promote trust on your website?

For ecommerce sites secure payment is imperative. Your customers need to know their personal details and cash are safe online. Internet security is a hot topic and everyone is aware of the threat of hack attacks and identity fraud. You need to demonstrate to your web visitors that yours is a reputable enterprise.

An SSL certificate shows your company’s commitment to safe transactions online. UKFast clients who purchase SSL or EV SSLcertificates invariably fare better. SSL indicates that you care about your customers and establishes your business as a trustworthy organisation. This promotes a professional online identity, develops confidence and so generates more sales and increased profits.

If you have an SSL certificate make sure it is displayed prominently on the relevant webpages.

Another manner in which to build trust is to show your affiliations with other reputable organisations. Display logos clearly on your homepage so your visitors know straight away the sort of organisation they’re dealing with.

Visibly show contact details so web visitors know yours is a real company. Have a specific contact page with an address, phone number and email details so you’re easy to reach if a customer or potential client has a query. In certain situations, such as in smaller organisations with a less established brand, it is a good idea to display names and faces. This indicates professionalism and shows your company is not a dodgy, faceless organisation, run from some dingy student cellar.

After trust come usability and price - both at 29%. Usability is incredibly important so make sure you have a strong navigation system and relevant information is clearly displayed and easy to find.

However, tread carefully when it comes to price. Think about the brand image you are trying to portray. For example, use price comparisons if you are offering price competitive goods. However, stay away from comparing prices if your offering is focused on premium priced quality.

The final option, appearance, received no votes at all. Looks aren’t everything and you definitely can’t judge a website by its cover, but you should always make sure your site’s appearance is professional, clear and easy to use.

Tags: marketing, websites
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A fast server is intrinsic to your online marketing campaign

Lawrence Jones, July 4th 2008, 3:21PM

Did you know the speed and reliability of your website is a massive factor in the stickiness of your site, for both human visitors and search engines?

For the ever demanding customer, website response rates have to be immediate. How long do you spend on a slow page which doesn’t load properly? My guess is not long at all. And neither do your potential customers.

For slow websites the click-away rate is often incredibly high – and what do web users do when they’ve clicked away? They go to the next search engine listing, which just happens to be your fiercest competitor.

Speaking of search engines, many of the top ones use website response rate and server speed as part of the ranking process.

When a website responds more quickly, search engines see the site as more reputable and of a higher quality. These sites are rewarded because they offer a good customer experience and so they’re boosted higher in search rankings.

Fast websites are always located on quick and powerful dedicated servers. The hosting solution will often include more than one dedicated server for increased stability and performance – but that’s for another blog.

When you choose an internet hosting provider make sure you check out the reliability of their hardware. The speed of your server is as vital as other parts of your online marketing campaign.

Meta, keywords, PPC, dynamic content, great design and link building are all successful methods with which to advertise online. But what’s a great campaign if the website it’s based around is too slow to keep the attention of your customers?

Tags: dedicated server, marketing, ppc, seo, seo campaign, ukfast, websites
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Online video changing the face of the web

Lawrence Jones, January 17th 2008, 12:29PM

In 1979, video killed the radio star. Today, online film is set to become the next media craze.

This week a study by Tiscali showed that more than a third of UK consumers log on to watch TV on demand. The figures show double the amount on last year, of people watching television online. I’m sure you’ll agree that’s an astounding increase.

The statistics reflect a growing trend in viewing and producing online video. It is a media format most definitely has its good points - providing dynamic web content on platform that can be seen the world over. And it also has its bad points. I’m recalling the recent happy-slapping craze which swept video download site YouTube.

Online video downloading also has the potential to financially cripple the entertainments industry as downloading free and often illegal video beats buying it by four to one.

But for better or worse, internet video is here, and its here to stay.
For businesses, advertising, marketing and communications videocasting has massive, almost untapped, potential.

For example, when designing your website it’s important to remember that content is king. Lots of text is wonderful for search engine spiders, but it is not just robots who read your web pages. Even if you manage to get a top spot in the search engines, if your content isn’t up to scratch, your organisation’s message is lost.

By adding video content to your site you automatically increase your validity as a company, appearing bigger and more authoritative. Additionally you open up a medium to provide a direct message to your audience.

Video attracts visitors and keeps them. It’s proven that consumers don’t stay long on pages that bore them, which is why reams and reams of text may not convert your hits into sales. Online film gives a face or personality to a format which is otherwise quite flat. It builds a trust with your customers, and can be both informative and entertaining.

In the years to come, videocasting will become more and more commonplace, so start now. Be ahead of the game and your online business will benefit no end. At UKFast , we have had a massive interest in our new videocasting department. We’re producing broadcast quality video for our clients as well as ourselves and the standard of dynamic content we are providing has given some glowing testimonials.

My advice is this: don’t stop writing content, it’s still important to have substantial information on your site. But if you haven’t already, definitely consider dynamic content like podcasts or videocasts to really capture your audience’s attention.

Tags: marketing, seo, videocasting
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Keyword shortcuts can backfire

Lawrence Jones, December 13th 2007, 11:29AM

I was asked in a focus group recently, whether Google allowed a company to put multiple ads under the same keywords.

I have always been led to believe that Google does not agree with this, on the basis that it is unfair competition. It merely drives up the cost per click for other advertisers and allows them to monopolise the Google results.

I know that from time to time UKFast advertises under the same keyword. However, we do so only when promoting completely different brands. Each brand has a different marketing strategy so it is very unlikely that two UKFast ads are ever seen next to each other.

Whilst doing some research, I chose keywords that related to our industry. The two words being ‘dedicated servers’.

Immediately, I was confronted with a marvellous example of how you can take advantage of the system. The UK arm of a well established hosting company Rackspace, and indeed a competitor of ours, was ranked in spots one, two and three.

I spoke to Google this morning and they confirmed that at first look this is the case. They assured me they are already aware of the situation and it is with their policy team at the moment awaiting a decision.

I was pleasantly surprised that this organisation, who have grown so quickly, remain consumer focused and totally on the ball.

However, in spite of Google frowning on this type of monopolisation or abuse of the system, I imagine it is a very successful method of marketing.

Effective keywords are few and far between so it is easy to envisage the fun you could have if you literally own the keywords. Possessing the top three spots means tripling the volume of leads coming in.

But then on the other hand, I was brought back to Earth when I remembered a conversation I’d had recently. We’d won a piece of business from a company and our contact stated that he felt this cumulative marketing strategy was wholly unnecessary.

He’d needed quotes from three different companies and had to make many extra phone calls to really get a good overview of the industry. This monopolisation of Google top spots had really all been a waste of his time. Because of this, the way he now looked on our competitor was unfavourable.

So personally, my advice to companies wishing to use adwords to the absolute maximum is; ‘work within the rules’. There is no point cheating the system. Eventually you will be found out and it may reflect badly on the way you are perceived both by competitors and potential clients.

Examples of the domain names and their registrant details can be found below.

Domain name:
summit-hosting-guide.co.uk

Registrant:
Rackspace Managed Hosting

Trading as:
Rackspace Managed Hosting

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 28-Mar-2007
Renewal date: 28-Mar-2009
Last updated: 17-Jul-2007

Name servers:
ns.rackspace.com
ns2.rackspace.com

Domain name:
serverandservice.co.uk

Registrant:
Rackspace Managed Hosting

Trading as:
Rackspace Managed Hosting

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 15-Apr-2007
Renewal date: 15-Apr-2009
Last updated: 17-Jul-2007

Name servers:
ns.rackspace.com
ns2.rackspace.com

Tags: google, keyword, marketing, pay per click, ppc
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