EMNET Ceases Trading

What would happen if your web designer/developer went bust?

Nottingham based web company EMNET is no longer trading. Initially the website said "Following a number of difficulties EMNET has ceased trading," whereas the website now describes their status as "restructuring."

EMNET's difficulties serves as a timely reminder to consider what arrangements you have in place with your web developer.

Communication at stressful times like this can be difficult; phones are unlikely to be answered, and information may be restricted to email.

In an ideal world there will be an orderly shut down of the business, with the hosting of your website continuing until you can make alternative arrangements.

In addition to web design, hosting and Internet connectivity, EMNET managed initiatives like the Anubis project which has very recently awarded £10,000 to each of 10 small businesses in the East Midlands, including GreenEnergy360. The Anubis project was funded by EMDA and the European Regional Development Fund.

What are the main issues do you need to consider in the event your web designer ceases trading?

1. Who owns your domain name registration?
Was your web designer helpful, and registered your domain name for you? If so, the ownership and contact details may be in the designer's name, including logon access and renewal reminders. It can be very difficult to get your name transferred at stressful times, so get the details sorted now. And if you forget to pay your domain name renewal then you risk losing your domain name.

2. Do you have a backup of your website?
Your web designer's decision to shut up shop may come quickly, so do you have a secure backup of your web pages that you can get access to if necessary?

3. Who owns the intellectual property of your website?
The intellectual property of your website should be yours, but that probably excludes any applications such as shopping cart software or other applications. If you are running web applications such as e-commerce shopping carts, content management systems, or forums then establishing ownership might be problematic. If you are using open source software, or industry standard packages then you might be able to move your applications to a new company.

If it is a bespoke solution, then the intellectual property might belong to the web developer and you should have a legal agreement in place stipulating what happens if the developer ceases trading. And at the very least, you need to have a utility to extract your data for the worst case scenario of having to create a new website.

4. What are your hosting arrangements?
Your web designer may have their own web servers, or may be renting space on your behalf on a shared hosting service. Do you have passwords, copies of invoices and other information that might help with the continuation of your services.

Website Review: Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Chamber of Commerce

The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce have launched their new website, and my first impressions are a bit mixed, to say the least.

Let's start with the home page navigation.

Vincent Flanders coined the phrase "mystery meat navigation" on his WebPagesThatSuck.com website. Unfortunately, DNCC's site is a candidate for one of his infamous awards.

The navigation on the new website is a mystery: run your mouse over the various squares and watch menus flash around the page. Then try to remember what appeared where. Oh dear...

The point of Mystery Meat Navigation is that it may look cool, some might even use the word groovy, but it is a real hassle for the users of the site. The flashing squares are alarming and confusing.

A review of the user experience on a website should address a number of other questions, which might include:

1. Are the category and subcategory names clear and mutually exclusive?

The meaning of the categories of "Your Chamber" and "DNCC Members" is ambiguous. The meaning of "Business Support Services" isn't any clearer. As a result the logic for placing information within those categories is not obvious and logical. And it makes it difficult to find what you're looking for.


2. Does the Home Page provide access to the essential goals of the site?

I would have thought encouraging companies to join the Chamber would be a high priority of the site. But there is no Join Now call to action on the home page. And the Membership Application option is hiding away as the 17th menu choice within the "Your Chamber" section of the site. For some silly reason I thought joining the Chamber might be in the DNCC Members section.

Informing members of business issues and encouraging discussion of big topical issues like the proposed Car Parking Levy in Nottingham might be a big priority of the Chamber, but no sign of that on the Home Page.

3. Is essential information given priority?

I am a Chamber member. And I think the items given priority on the Home page are irrelevant to my business.

Does my business care about the Cinema Listings given priority on the Home Page? Nope.

With all due respect, as a company based in Nottingham, do I care about Derbyshire Community Information? I do not.

And do I care about the hot news in Caerphilly? Sorry, not relevant to me.

4. Does the keyword search on the website provide precise and comprehensive information?

I used the search box on the Home page to search for "Car Leasing", a typical concern for small businesses. Unfortunately, The Computer Says No: no results. This is not good news for the 7 chamber members who provide car leasing services. As it turns out, you have to search the members database separately. If you can find the mysterious pink search box.

I then tried searching the Members Directory for the word "Internet," hoping naively that I might find my business. Apparently Beeston Fields Golf Club is a better match on the word Internet than my business. Relevance does not appear to play a role in sorting the search results. Hey Ho.

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I know it is easy to snipe from the sidelines, and that isn't the point of this review. There is a lot of good in the new DNCC design.

But it is worth:

• ensuring you have a clear set of goals for your website
• producing a site that is intuitive and effortless to use
• testing the site with your user base before launch
• and learn lessons from other websites!

Hallam, Dell & Aircom National Finalists

Hallam Communications has been shortlisted alongside Dell and Aircom in the Blackberry Women in Technology Awards for the category "Best Female Mentor."

The Awards look to honour the individual (or company) that has achieved success and competitive advantage through innovation, management and return on investment via technology.

I have been specifically nominated for Best Female Mentor award, recognising
leadership and inspiration to others in the field or use of technology.

The winners will be announced in 6 May; keep you fingers crossed for me!

See the full press release here.

East Midlands is Tops... for eBay

Did you know the East Midlands is the "eBay capital" of the UK?

The East Midlands are leading both in terms of business success, .... and also law breaking.

eBay have announced that over the last two years Nottingham, Derby and Leicester have produced the largest number of new eBay 'start up' businesses.

eBay entrepreneurs in Derby alone are reported to generate a stonking £64m for the British economy.

One Derby company was not so pleased about all this eBay success: AceCad found their £13,000 specialist computer aided design software being being sold on eBay for £12.

The villain, Michael Walton, faces a 10 year prison sentence for software piracy.

eBay also report a distinctive north-south divide, with the largest number of startups being located outside of too-posh-for-eBay London.

eBay have announced incentives to stimulate growth in the business, and in doing so gave us some very interesting cocktail party conversation statistics:

• 180,000 people make a living buying and selling on eBay
• eBay sellers generate £2 billion in sales, more than WH Smith
• 10 million items for sale on eBay at any one time
• there are 20 million eBay users

Get in touch if you ar interested in using eBay as part of your business - I offer eBay training and consultancy for small businesses.

Web Design Reviews: East Midlands Tourism Websites

Tourism plays a huge part in the East Midlands economy, and even Mister Luddite knows tourists use the Internet to research and book their holiday arrangements.

Everybody loves tourists (or more accurately the pounds in their pockets), and that's why each of the 5 counties in the East Midlands have official tourism websites.

So you would have thought our counties would try and take pride in what makes our counties special, show off a bit, take the chance to strut our stuff.

But you would be wrong. Dreadfully wrong. One particular county's tourism website is pants. That's Olde English vernacular for "they put us to shame."

I'll be the one to mention the Emperor's New Clothes. These sites are just not good enough. They lack enthusiasm or passion or spirit.

The real question is: would you want to visit our region based on their websites? At the end of this posting I've listed some good examples that you might want to take a look at.

I'm so cross about this I am recommending that you write to your MP to get these sites up to the standard that our region deserves. (I'd write, but I'm disenfranchised, and that's another story...)


The Worst: Nottinghamshire

Unspeakably awful colours and design. Cluttered, cramped, and confusing. Deadly boring, frustrating to use. I went to the Arts calendar, only to discover Nothing is On. Nor are there any Sports events. It is quite simply a mess, and this is without a doubt one of the worst websites I've looked at in a very long time. And I've not even mentioned the slanty N. Click on the image to visit the site:


The Best: Lincolnshire

I was pleasantly surprised with Lincolnshire's site. The imagery was appealing, and it talked about Castles, and Film Locations, free horse riding lessons and other fun stuff. Lincolnshire actually looks interesting



And All the Rest: Northamptonshire

Nice touch to be able to send local e-postcards. But somehow the site made even the Silverstone and all the wonderful Stately Homes look boring. Some change has taken place with domain names that makes people like my mother worried. It's just not right.



Leicestershire

This website doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. It all a bit overwhelming with so very many inappropriate menu choices: Investment opportunities, conference facilities, the tourism industry, and something mysteriously called LPL. And it flashes, yuck.




Last but not least: Derbyshire

Derbyshire do a very good job - interesting content, online booking. But the site doesn't really convey the essence and beauty of Derbyshire - again, a missed opportunity.


I have to admit I'm biased, and I know California would be a predictable website to recommend as best practice, but the site is great.

But even lesser-known tourist destinations like Minnesota , Oregon, Tennessee or South Dakota have an enthusiasm and spirit lacking in all of our East Midlands sites.

Sherwood Forest: The People's 50 Million Lottery Giveaway

Please take just 5 minutes right now out of your busy day, and vote to give 50 million Lottery-funding pounds to Sherwood Forest: The Living Legend Project

The money will create 300 hectares of new forest. A 250 kilometre network of walking, cycling and riding paths, one of the largest networks in Europe. And create a visitor centre worthy of Robin Hood and Sherwood Forest.

Voting closes on 12 December.

You need to register to vote; only one vote per email address.

Please Vote For Sherwood Forest!

Best Online Business Award

And the winner of the "Best Online Business Award" is....


I was very pleased to sponsor the Best Online Business prize, awarded as part of the Women4Women business support project.

The equivalent of an uber-cool electronic maid of honour, UK Girl Thing are hen party planners and purveyors of fine hen party products.

Larisa Pich at UK Girl Thing has built an online business that demonstrates the kinds of best practice that we were looking for when judging the six nominees.

UK Girl Thing were the clear leaders:

• demonstrating sound business results, with a 25% increase in sales as a result of her online marketing activities
• unswerving commitment to the online business model, which ultimately led Larisa to take the decision to do a complete rebuild of her ecommerce website in order to make it search engine friendly
  
• building an online brand that is leveraged by brick and mortar marketing experience
  
• multichannel selling, both from her own website and as an eBay Power Seller
  
• email marketing her client base

Well done to UK Girl Thing!

Choosing UK Domain Names

British consumers have a higher level of trust in .uk domain names, and a loyalty to local websites.

Nominet's Domain Name Industry Report (PDF) provides some useful marketing information regarding trends and developments in the UK domain name market and behaviours.

Here are my highlights:

• British Internet users are six times more likely to choose a .uk rather than .com address when looking for information via an Internet search engine

• And a YouGov survey found that 62% of users believe a .uk address suggests that a company is local or more relevant than .com.

• When searching for a particular company on the Internet, 72% said they would visit a British address above any other.

• And an independent online survey in August 2007 found that 60% of UK marketing professionals would choose to buy a co.uk domain name

• The vast majority (92.4%) of .uk domain name registrants are based at a UK address, with the largest proportion of registrants based outside the UK being in North America

• 25% of domain names that are cancelled are then re-registered (presumably by somebody else) within one day, and 7% are re-registered within 10 seconds of cancellation

• Only 12% of all UK domain names are registered in the East Midlands

Free Internet Marketing Conference

I'll be speaking at the eBusiness Club Internet Marketing conference taking place on 14 December at the lovely Nottingham Belfry Hotel.

It's going to be a brand new Search Engine Optimisation presentation - so you won't be seeing any of those same old slides (but you may hear the same old jokes...)

Topics to be covered on the day include:

• Online Branding (mystery speaker, but somebody awesome)
• Getting the most out of your Pay Per Click budget (Ann Stanley)
• Getting other people to sell your stuff using Affiliate Marketing (John Kirk)
• Improving Your Search Engine Rankings: what's new, what works (Susan Hallam)

Internet Marketing Grants

• Could the use of Internet Marketing transform your business performance?
• Do you want grant assistance to help to pay for training, consultancy, or equipment?
• Are you looking to develop new markets, implement online marketing technologies, or improve your overall business efficiency?

Business Link are offering the Business Transformation Grant which is available to small businesses across the East Midlands region. The grant can provide 50% funding for both consultancy and capital projects up to a value of £10,000. The capital grant will usually be in conjunction with mentoring, training, or consultancy.

Of course the grant funding isn't limited to Internet marketing. But this is my company marketing blog, after all. And as a Business Link Quality Assured supplier, you may be able to get grant funding for my consultancy and training services.

The process involves meeting with a Business Link Business Support Adviser. After an initial review, if your business is likely to qualify, then you will carry out an in-depth diagnostic which results in an Action Plan. Appropriate elements of your Action Plan can generally be funded on a 50/50 basis.

Get in touch if you want to discuss your project with me.

You can contact Business Link East Midlands:

phone: 0845 058 6644
web: www.businesslink.gov.uk/eastmidlands

SEO Training

I'll be running my next Search Engine Optimisation Training course on 8 November.

This one day course is ideal if you have taken the first steps optimising your website, and want to learn more.

It will be a fast moving update on what's new in search engine optimisation, including:

• inbound linking strategies
• blogging
• localisation
• Web 2.0
• keyword analysis and tools

Full details are available on the SEO course flyer (PDF).

Just drop me an email to book your place.

New website accolades

Congratulations to a few teams developing shiny new websites in the region:

Milestone Seminars, providers of management and executive training, have designed their own website, and it's looking great. John is walking the fine line of balancing his search engine optimisation efforts with compelling visuals. It's a great design, and he's implementing some important basic SEO hygiene.

Abacus Lighting are a world leader in exterior lighting. Paul and the team have just launched their new website. I'm hoping to provide a "before and after" case study documenting their rapid progress.

Well done to you both!

SEO Nottingham

Announcing 2 search engine optimisation (SEO) training courses taking place at Regus House, near the East Midlands aiport.

DIY Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for Small Businesses
6 September 2007
This one day workshop is designed to provide small business owners and managers with a complete understanding of how to improve their rankings in Google and the other search engines.

Advanced Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Training Course
13 September 2007
This is an advanced workshop designed for those who already know the basics of search engine optimisation and want to move their knowledge to the next level. It is the ideal ?next step? if you?ve attended previous SEO training, or if you are a web designer who wants to learn more advanced solutions.

Nottingham Girl Geek

Charles Babbage may have invented the first computer, but it was Ada Lovelace (daughter of our own Lord Byron) who wrote the first software.

I toast Nottingham's own first Girl Geek!*

If you're a girl geek (or the guest of a girl geek) come and join us where I'll be speaking at the Nottingham Girl Geek Dinner.

From what I understand, it's a friendly, informal gathering, takes place at a bar, good chance for discussion and networking. I'll be talking about the geeky part of search engine optimisation.

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NottinghamGirlGeekDinner Rules

If you are male and wish to attend this event you must bring a female with you or be brought by a female. NO FEMALE, NO ENTRY!!!! Sorry Guys! (They will keep the numbers balanced!)

DATE: Monday 9th July 2007

TIME: 19:30 onwards

WHERE: Upstairs at Fat Cat, 2 Chapel Bar, Nottingham, NG1 6JQ
http://www.fatcatcafebars.co.uk/nottingham/index.html

HOW MUCH: £10 per head includes buffet (to be paid on the night). Drinks are to be bought separately from the bar.

WHAT HAPPENS: 7:30-8:00 Drinks, 8:00-8:30 Speaker, 8:30+ Buffet and Drinks.

BOOK YOUR PLACE: http://nottinghamgirlgeekdinner.pbwiki.com/

*(Someone who is female and has an interest in technology, particularly computing and new media. )

Support for Women Owned Businesses

I'm pleased to be involved in the Women 4 Women programme, offering women-owned businesses in the East Midlands free mentoring and subsidised marketing support. The programme aims to boost women's enterprise for start ups, new businesses, or women seeking to further develop their business.

To be eligible you must be located in an Objective 2 area and you can check your postcode eligibility here. The business must be at least 50% woman owned, and fit the usual SME requirements.

I'll be mentoring women in the Lincolnshire area, but my Internet marketing training and support is eligible for support across the entire East Midlands Objective 2 region.

Get in touch if you'd like to know more.

Experian flexes Internet muscle

Nottingham based Experian has acquired Internet marketing intelligence company Hitwise. Hitwise collects and aggregates data about how consumers use and search the Internet.

Take a look at the type of reports Hitwise is able to produce about people's online behaviour:

In this example, Hitwise is reporting on the Travel sector for the period ending March 2007:

Not many of our small businesses can afford this kind of data, but from time to time Hitwise produces a freely-available report which can provide us with invaluable information:






This acquisition strengthens Experian's offering for it's clients who are switching their advertising pounds into online ads and the Internet:

"Hitwise strengthens Experian's position in market research by bringing new, unique data to Experian on how consumers behave online, to complement our existing knowledge of how they behave offline. Hitwise's services are also complementary to other Experian products. For example, Hitwise will leverage the sales and distribution network of CheetahMail, our email delivery and analytics company."

Old Blog Content

One of the problems with blogging is that your best content might be buried away in the archives of old articles. Oldies but goodies, but nobody can find them.

But your web statistics will show you your most popular postings. It's been a year since the launch of the new website, and I've had a chance to review my most popular postings.

I'm going to add them as a side bar to my blog in my forthcoming update, but in the meantime:

Susan Hallam's Top 10 Blog Postings

1. Writing for the Web: web readability tests
2. Internet marketing trends: local search
3. Internet usage in the UK
4. Search engine "findability" index
   
5. Top tips for your Title tag
   
6. Social bookmarking and search engine optimisation
   
7. Pay Per Call: Touch Nottingham
   
8. Internet marketing myths: Googlebowling
   
9. Internet marketing toolbox: iWebTool
   
10. Personalising PPC campaigns using Microsoft AdCentre
    
    

eMarketing News

Lots of good news to report -

Congratulations to all the finalists in the East Midlands eBusiness awards, and special mention to these nominees:

• Abacus Lighting Ltd - Increasing Exports through ICT
• The Plate Market - Best eBusiness Start Up
• LicenceCheck - Most Innovative Use of ICT

Congratulations as well to the team at Freeth Cartwright. Their IMPACT law blog came awfully close to winning the 2006 Web Log Awards Best Law Blog. Well done to Andrew, Alex and the rest of the team.

And finally, congratulations to the many local businesses launching new and re-designed websites, including Penk Taxi Insurance, Gotham Car Sales, and SpillDirect.

Get in touch if you have other local good news to share.

eBusiness in the East Midlands

I attended the launch of EMDA's "Challenge of e-adoption in the East Midlands Survey 2006" - a very interesting review of the uptake of IT by small businesses in the region.

It's a hefty report, but I reckon one key message was made:

36% of businesses in the region don't even have a computer

This "intransigent third" just don't see the need for computers. 80% of these non-adopters said they would be unlikely to ever start using a computer. Never have, never will.

One sector with a very high proportion (59%) of non-adopters is Hotels and Restaurants. This seems surprising (and daft,) since most consumers are using the Internet to research and book holidays, tourism activities and entertainment.

The big question is: should the government just let these companies just go their sweet Luddite way? What, if anything, should EMDA do to help these businesses see the Computing Light?

Or would it be better if EMDA spent their valuable pounds instead supporting those businesses that have at least taken the first step towards deploying some kind of computer technology? And just wait for those non-adopting small businesses owners to retire or go bust?

Of those businesses in the East Midlands that do have a computer:

• 83% have broadband
• 64% have a website

Looking at the figures more closely, however, we can see that

• only 60% of businesses with 11-49 employees have a website
• and an amazing 13% of businesses with 50-249 employees don't have a website

There's lots of other gems in there:

Where do companies go for IT advice? They most commonly ask friends and family, with only 20% going to an IT supplier or professional for guidance.

Who is the main source of IT help in small businesses?

31% of companies depend on an IT enthusiast whose main job is not IT. Alternatively, 38% have either no support or just don't know where to go. And that leaves roughly a third that have got their IT support organised. No wonder businesses are crying out for help.

If you're interested in learning more about the survey results, get in touch.

Who wants to win £15,000?

Has your business grasped the nettle, and have you introduced new ebusiness technologies?

Are you willing to brag about how it has improved your business in just 1000 words or less?

Then enter your business into the East Midlands eBusiness Awards and take a shot at winning the grand prize of £15,000.

There are £5,000 awards for the winning businesses in each of 5 categories, with the grand winner getting a further £10,000.

The deadline for entries is 19 January 2007, so get applying, and good luck!

Online Marketing Strategy Consultant: That's what we do

My family hosted a French exchange student last week, and she asked what I do.

Are you a web designer? (Le dessinateur de toile?) Non...
Do you host websites? (la toile accueille?) Non...
Do you actually sell anything? (Qu'est ce que tu fais, exactement?)

We help businesses to design their online marketing strategy and tactics. We provide impartial, unbiased advice to help figure out what they should be doing on the Internet. And we write up the action plan to get them moving towards their goals.

Our discussions with our clients cover a lot of ground, because there are so many options out there. And every company's needs are different.

We assess whether it's worth improving the user experience on their website to convert more sales, or working on improving their rankings in the search engines, or communicating better via blogs or email marketing. Where should pay-per-click fit in the mix? Do they have processes in place to handle their email enquiries? What are their competitors up to? Is there an international element? Where do you want to take your business, and how can the Internet help with that goal?

And the end result is a set of requirements and a business plan that managers can use as a basis to go off and look for suitable web designers, or software salespeople, or buy online advertising. Confident in knowing their objectives, and knowing they won't be "sold a pup."

Online marketing strategy consultants. That's what we do.

Search Engine "Findability" Index

78% of small businesses in Greater Nottingham are invisible to the search engines.

We've just completed a research project assessing the websites of 100 small and medium sized businesses in Greater Nottingham, and to be blunt the news wasn't good.

Only 22% of the businesses achieved a score of 50% or above, meaning the remaining sizable majority of websites cannot be found easily by the search engines.

The attributes we were looking for were quite straightforward: amongst the 7 factors assessed were Title tags, quality of the content, site map, and Page Rank.

Take a look at the findings from our Search Engine Findability Report for Small Businesses in Greater Nottingham.

Google dominates UK searching

We all love Google, but I didn't realise just how much. Google dominates the UK search market, generating nearly three out of four (74%) of all UK search referrals

WebSideStory's research for the month of February 2006 shows Google's nearest competitor is Yahoo with just 9.3% and MSN lagging behind with 5.4%

I'm whistling a different tune when it comes to SEO in the UK: I love Google, you love Google, and clearly the UK market loves Google, so let that guide your SEO strategy.

Rushcliffe eBusiness Day

If you are a business owner or manager in Rushcliffe, and want to

• learn how to get your business ranked more highly in Google, or
  
• learn how to trade successfully on eBay,
  

then don't miss the Rushcliffe eBusiness Day.

This free event takes place on 28 March in the beautiful surrounds of The Sanctuary restaurant in St James Park, Saxondale.

To participate in this event you will need to register with the Connected Nottingham eBusiness Club. All you need to do is take a few minutes to submit your details online and return the forms.

See full details and book your place or the Rushcliffe eBusiness Day

Or, if the city centre is more convenient, join us at The Citlodge Hotel on 29 March for the Nottingham eBusiness Day




Data Recovery

National Consultants Register

I'm pleased to announce I've been listed on BusinessLink's National Consultants Register.

Businesses are not always confident that they can find web marketing consultants who they can trust, and who will deliver on the promises made. The National Register helps them to take the first step in finding a suitably experienced consultancy partner.

I am proud to have participated in this rigorous accreditation process. I was more than pleased to have independent assessors interviewing my current clients, verifying my academic credentials, and documenting up-to-date policies and processes.

And of course, being listed on the National Register means that projects I work on are eligible for government grants and funding.

Pay Per Call: Touch Nottingham

You can see Pay Per Call in action: go to the Touch Nottingham site and search for catering or electricity, or even medical insurance or loans and you are very likely to see an advertiser using the "Call Me Free" Pay per Call icon.

Here is a catering example:


This link then takes you to a pop up window inviting you to enter your phone number and requesting with a Call Me Now icon to get in touch with the advertiser:



Touch Local Pay Per Call doesn't come cheap, with typical minimum charges starting about £5 per call and then rising for more competitive key phrases. You will need to start off by depositing in the region of £250, and then calls are deducted from your balance. Art work for the ads are included in the price.

Interesting? I think so.

Pay Per Call Advertising on the Web

Pay Per Call Advertising is big in the States, and it is heading our way.

Pay per call works by displaying an advert that are similar to the Google text ads. When the punter sees the ad they are invited to use a Call Me Back button, and the retailer can ring them straight back.

Rather than paying when someobody clicks on the ad, the advertiser are charged for each call they receive.

Benefits?

• It's great for local businesses
• If they are motivated to talk on the phone, they probably want to buy
• Get them on the phone to answer questions and overcome objections
• You don't even need a website

I'll be writing more soon....

Ebusiness Expo

Don't forget to attend the Ebusiness Expo taking place on the 30th November at the East Midlands Conference Centre. It's free and you can hear people from Google, Yahoo and other ebusiness experts talk about important ebusiness issues.

See you there.