The web is changing

Initially the internet mainly consisted of static, information-based content, with a clear separation between the content provider and end user. The term Web 2.0 generally refers to providing richer content, based on collaboration and information sharing. Newer websites often encourage their end users to interact with the content they access and produce their own web content in response.

Web 2.0 could mean new opportunities for your business. Users can easily access the web at home, in the office or on their phone. Faster connections, new devices and new online applications have all helped to change the way people work, socialise and shop. Web 2.0 is the movement of the internet into these new frontiers.

It is now easier than ever for you to directly target customers with viral marketing campaigns, offer new online services or build brand awareness through blogs, forums or social networking sites. Web 2.0 is far more about creating a ‘web culture’ and a community around your brand and greater interaction between you and your customer.

How customers’ online expectations are changing
Due to the changes in the web landscape, customers are choosing to engage with a business or brand online in multiple ways. They expect richer content and a greater variety such as audio and video, blogs, online forums and social networking. Customers also want to build a relationship with the brand. This requires a two-way dialogue between the customer and the business.

Although this new web culture provides a richer customer experience, it also raises issues of how businesses use and manage these new technologies and personal data.
Web 2.0 and social media should be incorporated into your public relations (PR) strategy. PR means getting people to talk and think about your business in a positive way. Social media provides a platform for your customers to talk with each other. How you manage that platform and engage with what your customers are saying is an important part of your PR strategy. Think about what your customers would find engaging and strive to have “thought leadership” within your field.
This new web culture has also raised customer expectations. They now expect immediacy in their online interactions – where content is regularly updated and any comments they make are quickly replied to. This places new demands on how you manage your website.
There are more choices than ever before for customers online, so websites need to balance accessibility with richer and more engaging customer experiences using the variety of tools that are available. If you are looking for a web developer to help update your website have a look though our developer database to find the right developer for you.

by Amit Shah

Tags: changing internet landscape, PR, rich content, social media, video, Web 2.0, web developers
Posted in News | No Comments »

Here is a guide to monitoring and lowering your energy usage and saving money on your energy bill.

Monitor your meters

Take regular readings and compare consumption to previous months. When comparing fuel used for heating your premises, take into account the weather. The colder the period the more energy you will use. If you’re comparing energy used in production, consider your output. The best way to do this is to record energy used per item produced. You could also measure by office, floor or staff numbers.

Control your heating

Try to reduce heating temperatures in the winter by one degree, as this can cut your heating bill by up to 8 per cent. Conversely, in summer, increase the set point for your air conditioning. Ensure that thermostats are accurate by positioning them away from draughts and direct sunlight.

Avoid wasting heat

Keep doors and windows closed when heating or air conditioning is running. Fitting draught excluders and making sure your premises are well insulated should be very cost effective, with short payback times. The Carbon Trust’s guides CTL062, CTL063 and CTL064 contain further information on draft-proofing and insulation.

Minimise artificial lighting
Keep windows and skylights clean, so you can cut the amount you spend on lighting. If you are only working in one part of a room, isolate the lights to that area only. Make sure switches are labelled so lights are only switched on when they need to be. You could also consider installing presence and daylight sensors to turn the lights on and off automatically.

Switch off all equipment
A single computer and monitor left on 24 hours a day can cost over £50 a year. Switching it off out of hours and enabling standby features can reduce this to £15 a year. You could also fit seven-day timers to ensure equipment like printers, copiers and water chillers are turned off overnight and at weekends.

Compress your air costs
Compressed air is often generated at maximum pressure. Reducing pressure by 10 per cent can lead to 5 per cent savings in energy. Make small, incremental reductions, checking that operations aren’t affected. Also, regularly test for and fix leaks – even a tiny leak could cost you more than £700 a year in wasted energy.

Keep track of your energy costs
By taking note of what actions you have taken to save money, and how much you have saved you will be able to monetise your efforts. As well as saving money, you are also helping the environment.

Find out more about energy efficiency at the Carbon Trust website

by Amit Shah

Tags: card processing, envorionment, fuel, green, saving energy, saving money
Posted in News | No Comments »

VAT cuts must be put in place to restore growth in key sectors, says the Federation of Small Businesses.

To find out more, read the full story here.

by Amit Shah

Posted in News | No Comments »

Payment Card Industry compliance is a worldwide industry standard level of security, developed to protect cardholder information. The standard is applicable to all merchants processing card card transactions as a method of payment. PCI DSS is a set of six principles that encompass 12 specific requirements. These requirements are intended to reduce the organizations risk of data breach.
Build and maintain a secure network
• install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect your cardholders’ data
• do not use vendor defaults for system passwords or other security actions
Protect your cardholder data
• protect any stored cardholder data
• encrypt transmission of your cardholders’ data across open, public networks

Keep a vulnerability management plan
• always use and regularly update your anti-virus software
• develop and maintain secure systems and applications

Implement strong access control practices
• limit access to cardholder data to only those who need to know
• give every person with computer access a unique ID
• limit physical access to cardholder data

Monitor and test your networks on a regular basis
• track and monitor all access to your network resources and cardholder data
• regularly test security systems and procedures

Keep an information policy
Always keep a policy that addresses your information security

To find out more, or get help becoming PCI certified speak to one of our specialist today.

by Amit Shah

Posted in News | No Comments »

In the UK, the internet is the nation’s number 1 source of media, news and information. With the high street under threat from a decrease in consumers spending and large chains reporting record lows in profits the internet is a primary way to save your business from the drop in high street spending. In the UK online spending is set to reach £56bn by 2014**, so now is a better time than any to have an online presence for your business. Here are a few key reasons why getting online has so much potential for your business.

1. Traffic

The high streets are emptying, but millions of people use the internet all day, every day. By setting up an online store you will be opening your business to the whole of the UK and maybe even the world. A website extends your ability to serve customers and widens your opportunity to gain revenue.

2. Open 24/7
One of the biggest advantages of an online shop is that it can stay open 24/7. So you’re still doing business while you are sleeping. By widening your opening hours you are giving your business the opportunity to serve more customers. You could even accept order from customers with in different time zones.

3. Operate anywhere
As long as you are able to execute the delivery of goods, you can run your business from virtually anywhere, giving you flexibility.

4. Start small
You can start getting used to selling online by having a custom ecommerce website put together using woo-themes. Most of the sites are already designed and all you have to do is put your content and photo’s up. Woo themes even allow you to integrate a Card Save payment gateway so you can rest assured that transactions will be processed safely, securely and quickly. As another option EKM Powershop is a good platform to get merchants online; £20 per month gives a merchant a hosted template website, with built in SEO, shopping cart, back end merchant functions to create delivery notes and much more.

5. Diversify
With an online business you have more flexibility to experiment with other products and services. There are less overheads, and therefore more capital to put toward business development and marketing. There are still plenty of gaps in the market with online retail and there is a lot of opportunity. Do your research into what niche you would like to go into

6. Knowledge and resources
Even if you don’t have great computer skills, it’s easy to learn more about selling online. There are hundreds of resources online, and once you get started you’ll be surprised how simple things are to manage. Commit time and resources towards your online strategy, and remember you get out what you put in.

by Amit Shah

Posted in News | No Comments »

Multi channel marketing is a great way to reach a larger breath of customers, and increase traffic to your site. Here are a few ways to reach customers and maximise online brand awareness.

1. Paid Search

Advertising on Google is an effective way to ensure customers searching for a specific product or service you offer will find you on the search engine results page. Management and set up of a paid search account does require a certain level of expertise, however Google do offer extensive online resources to help you learn. If you don’t have much time, speak to your web developer about setting up an Adwords account. If you are having trouble finding a developer take a look at our developer directory.

2. Email Newsletters

Customer’s sign up to newsletters to stay up to date with what products and services are on offer. Email newsletters are a great way to communicate with your customers and reinforce brand awareness. Newsletters take a short time to produce from conception to delivery and are a sure fire way to get extra eyes and cursors on your site. Also, a user may not choose to buy from your site on that occasion but they are more likely to keep you in mind, and refer the email on to someone who might be, especially if they have used your before. Newsletters also enable you to build regular communication with your customers about news and events going on in your business.

Read the rest of this entry »

by Amit Shah

Tags: blog, multi channel marketing, newsletters, paid search, SEO, social media, video
Posted in News | No Comments »

If you are building a business, it’s important to make sure you have a great working environment. Here’s some great tips on how to create a great place to work!

by Amit Shah

Tags: Ecommerce, entrepreneur, merchant services, new businesses, online business, sme
Posted in News | No Comments »

In our previous post, The Evolution of Mobile Commerce we talking about how mobile marketing and commerce is a growing industry, but how can you get a slice of the mobile pie? Here are some tips on how to get your mobile strategy up and running.

1. What’s the aim of the game? What is your end goal? Acquire leads, build awareness, or achieving downloads? Centre your mobile strategy on this.

2. If you already have a mobile application, put together a mobile site to support this. If you already have a mobile site, think about what kind of app would encourage leads to convert.
If you are a high street clothes shop think about putting together a catalogue of your product in an app. If you provide a service and require leads to call you back, why not set up a “call me back page” on your mobile site?

3. Write for mobile
Remember that the user is using a mobile. Optimise your content so that users know you are aware that they are on a mobile. Set up separate paid search account campaigns, and look to setting up online advertising dedicated to mobile users.

4. Optimise your site for mobile
If you use google analytics or adwords you already have a useful amount of data about your customers. Utilise this, and use it to target the right demographic. For example, If your customers are students, target students with in your online strategy.

5. Implement a checkout process optimised for mobile
If you are selling goods or services, have a mobile checkout setup. Users are spending more time searching and browsing on mobile devices, and are also more akin to making purchases through their mobile phone. By having a safe, secure checkout processes set up on your mobile site customers are more likely to feel comfortable making a purchase on the site.

by Amit Shah

Tags: Mobile E-commerce Strategy Tips, mobile internet, Mobile strategy, selling through phones
Posted in News | No Comments »

The hear say is that “things are tough out there” and that the double dip is going to make things difficult over the coming winter months. However, here is a list of reasons why small businesses are still able to report profit and growth during the recession.

Flexible suppliers

Small businesses have the option to be flexible with suppliers as they are less likely to have long term contracts. Therefore small businesses command a higher bargaining power, and are able to switch suppliers with relative ease.

Multiple sales and marketing channels

High street businesses have the option to sell online, and on the high street giving them the benefit of multiple sales channels. Many online stores sell through their website and through eBay to help contribute towards revenue figures. Also, the use of email marketing and paid search helps business to acquire new business for relatively low cost per acquisition.

Easier to adapt to market changes

With less people going out for dinner and opting to stay in, independent fast food and take away stores have managed to stay in profit. High street takeaways have low overheads, so with healthy profits business owners are able to expand their businesses.

Fresh workforce

With university and school leavers competing for jobs, small businesses are able to employ graduates and students for a relatively lower wages. Small businesses are also able to benefit from government initiatives to encourage the employment of graduates, further lowering the cost of employment.

Professional workforce

As larger organisations are making redundancies, skilled professionals are opting to take their talents to smaller businesses for less pay and higher job security. As a result small businesses benefit from skilled manpower at a lower cost.

Acquisition of knowledge

Knowledge is power, and with so much knowledge now so readily available entrepreneurs are able to learn and devise strategies with little expense. Government run business networking initiatives and, private business networking organisations also give entrepreneurs the opportunity learn, network, and share valuable knowledge.

Easy to implement plans

The non-rigid management structure of small businesses allows the implementation of business initiatives to be executed more efficiently, and with less bureaucracy than that of a larger organization.  Due to these dynamics, small businesses are able to experiment and innovate. Innovation leads to opportunity and through new opportunity small businesses are able to acquire profits.

With all this in mind, it pays for start ups to be optimistic about the future of their business, and to consider taking a leap of faith into a world which will potentially bring great opportunity through flexibility.

by Amit Shah

Posted in News | No Comments »

Mobile search volumes rose by 216% in the second quarter of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010 according to Google and the Retail consortium. In response to this, new research shows that online retailers have been unable to keep up with user demands.

A survey taken by over 4000 smart phone users confirmed that 71% of users expect mobile phone sites to load up as quickly as when viewing on a desktop, 70% of UK users will not wait more than 5 seconds for a site to load. 77% of top companies have mobile sites which take over 5 seconds to load.

Ecommerce traffic has increased by 163% amongst smart phone users in the past year, however only 5.8% of all mobile users are accessing ecommerce sites. This research suggests that companies are unable to keep up with the speed at which consumers are adapting to new mobile technology.
Mobile is the next giant leap for online retail, and it is safe to say that within 5 years most mobile phone users will have a smart phone with web browsing technology. Orange committed to investing over £400m in updating their mobile networks across Europe over the next year, due to expected increase in mobile internet use.
With these facts in mind it is necessary for companies to have a sound mobile strategy in place when looking to compete online. With the price of smart phones dropping and the appeal amongst 18-35 year old increasing, this new technology will change the way people think about shopping online.

by Amit Shah

Tags: Mobile
Posted in Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, Mobile | No Comments »