NetNews our ONLINE NEWSLETTER (Latest issue)

Developments in web marketing, site design, and web services

The Online Newsletter from Net Commerce Solutions

As one of several small green shoots lately, the large companies have increased their spend on web advertising in 2009 compared to 2008 (iab.co.uk) – and we have certainly seen more life in our own new business flows over the past couple of months.

If the upturn is coming, now is the time to fight for a better ranking for your site - hopefully the pointers in section (1), based on our own promotional results, can help build the link volumes needed to achieve this.

After the past, horrific, eighteen months, I hope you are seeing more promising signs in your own business. I hope 2010 is a better year for all of us, and send all good wishes from myself, and the Net Commerce team for a Happy Christmas, and a prosperous New Year.

1. NET ISSUES - significant issues that could impact on your website approach

“So how do I build up the inbound links to my site?”

First check how many you have got – ie check your link volumes not just in Google but in Yahoo. Google are highly selective in the backlinks they report and make visible. From our data, we know that Yahoo report over ten times the volume cited by Google (Google are of course fully aware of all these links – they simply choose not to report them)

Our own backlinks now exceed 2000. We use the full range of techniques, to generate these. We have analysed approximately 1,000 of them, and found that:

Forums – we contribute to many highly rated web industry sites – they have generated about 100 links although it is difficult to be exact – many of these Forums hold high PageRanks – if they don’t, then don’t bother to join them!
 
News Releases – very successful for us. Probably three dozen inbounds from various news sites. We use top-rated companies to issue our releases and the link spreading flows from their distribution process, ie placement on other news sites. We find it best value to use the premium packages – say £95/£135 – as they allow more links in the release and have wider distribution than the basic packages.
 
Articles - many of our articles now feature in our backlinks – we place with all the best  known ezine sites. Process is very simple provided initial research is completed carefully, and access/contact details are properly maintained for each ezine. Same is true for sector-specific ezines, but these are harder to find.

Directories  - feature very strongly, although we have avoided paid-for directories, for the  past 3 years. We have had to invest considerable initial research time to identify free directories which are worth using from the many 1000s which exist.

Social networking sites – just beginning to contribute to overall link volumes, as are links from not-for-profit entities which seem to carry useful value.

Internal site links - both Google and Yahoo report these extensively – it is critical to use each of the key enablers, ie footer text links, site plan links, and internal page links.

Standalone relationship links  - (in our case, mainly clients) feature strongly in our backlinks -  we now make minimal use of reciprocal links.

We have far more detailed material on each of the headings - just contact us if you would like help in building your link popularity further.

Digital channels are still developing strongly...............

Mobile web access/m-commerce - we expect m-commerce growth might reach 300% in medium term as mobile devices improve, and iphone adoption spreads. In the meantime:

•37% of mobile phone owners have already tried m-commerce (atg.com)
•nearly 60% of iPhone owners use them to search the web (nma.co.uk)
•research by Gartner.com suggests that some UK top tier retailers expect mobile retailing to influence up to 20% of their sales by the end of 2009.

Social Networking – Facebook had 23m unique UK visitors in September and accounted for 75% of time spent on social networking sites. They gained share from Bebo, Myspace and YouTube (nma.co.uk/Nielson Online).

Online Shopping Update - UK figures show continued strong growth.............

•UK online sales are climbing again – Bloomberg highlighted that in Aug/Sept online spending increased by 16% - the growth reflected spending on clothing, accessories and electrical items
•British Retail Consortium reported that non-physical sales, including online, telephone, grew by 18% in October

Internet Promotion – the shift away from traditional media continues........
•internet advertising grew by approx 5% in the first half of 2009 (iab.co.uk). Other advertising continues to contract, but at a lower pace than previously.
•within the 5% figure, the strongest growth was in paid-for search which grew by 12%
•online advertising spend in the UK has overtaken TV for the first time, following the growth in web advertising in the first half of 2009 (iab/pwc)

3. NET TIPS - Some tips you could consider

Don’t be there just for comparison  - 37% of site visitors just want to comparison shop, whilst 27% are looking for coupons (webpronews.com). So it is best to include a price offer on your site to win the sale for you, so they don’t just click to another site to close the deal

Use the 8 seconds – research suggests that if your site hasn’t grabbed your visitor within 8 seconds, they will click away - this is a sharp test of the design and content of your key landing pages. We have a strong understanding of how to present your offer to keep their attention – contact us if you think the content or design of your site needs reviewing.

4. NCS FOCUS - News and services from NCS that might help

Mobile Access - we have tracked in these newsletters over the past 18 months the strong growth in mobile access to the web. Most site operators now check how their site views on a mobile phone, compared to their competitors. We now tailor sites to achieve the optimum usability – just contact us if you would like a quote.

NCS Forums Service – pundits tell you that forums are a good source of inbound links for your site, but how do you do this? To help our clients build their forum programme, we have re-defined our forums service and can provide details of forums to target, and the necessary access and tracking info. Contact us if you want us to assess the scope for using Forum Links in your sector.

NCS SEO Services – NCS was again selected in November as the highest ranked Link Building Firm in the UK by TopSeos the independent authority on SEO companies. Link Building is critical to achieving a good Page Rank so we’re delighted to get this recognition for our Link Building Services.

Xmas and New Year Holiday Office Closure - During the holiday period, the office will be closed from Thursday 24th December to Monday 4th January. Please do still contact us however for any urgent problems.
 

Dave Abernethy,
Managing Director,
Net Commerce Solutions Ltd

Tel:     (+44) (0) 870 246 7642

info@net-commerce-solutions.co.uk     Web site: www.net-commerce-solutions.co.uk

Registered in England and Wales. Company number 4052885: 6 Bramble Close, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 4AN