Most companies set out to create a website that they can rely on to be relevant for the next few years.  While we don’t know exactly what changes are on the horizon, there is one thing that you can be sure of, your website needs to look good and function properly on a mobile phone.

Anyone who attended Charles Arthur’s talk at The Internet Conference will know that online browsing on the move is a major new trend.  More and more people are browsing the internet on their phone.  More and more people have smartphones.  The numbers of people buying smartphones and using them to surf the web is set to get much, much greater.

So all of you smart website owners will want to get ahead and make your website is mobile-friendly now.

Use the iPhone simulator to find out how your website looks on an iPhone.  Chances are if it doesn’t function properly on this fancy smartphone, less sophisticated mobile browsers will struggle with your site.

Do you like what you see?  Does your website look good on a mobile phone?

+++

Katie Saxon

Whether you have an ecommerce site or promote offline services to your customers, there is one thing every website owner wants to see: conversions.

It’s not enough to have thousands of visitors to your site, you need as many visitors as possible to follow your call to action.  You want your visitors to do something on your website – buy a product, sign up to your newsletter, make an enquiry – and your website needs to be designed so that they want to do it.

I went to Dr Mike Baxter’s excellent talk on Improving the Ecommerce User Experience at The Internet Conference last Friday, and while he had lots of great advice there was one fact that stuck in my mind.  Visitors decide whether they like your website in one 20th of a second.  And if they don’t like it, they won’t convert.

So how do you know if they will like your website?

Blur it.

Use photoshop or search for an online photo editor and blur your web page until you can’t read the text.

Dr Baxter explained that by blurring your site you avoid the tempation to read the text on your website and can focus on the design.  You can see if your colours are harmonious and can tell what your customers see when they first visit your site.  If you have a well designed site, your eyes will go straight to your call to action.  If they don’t, you may need to consider a redesign.

At Hallam Communications we’re planning a web redesign so let’s see how our website measures up.  Here’s how it looks normally:

And here’s how it looks once it’s been blurred:

Was your eye drawn to the bright orange box on the black background?  Good.  That’s our primary call to action.  The three other orange boxes all contain key messages, but aren’t direct calls to action, so they stand out less.

In fact the only concern is that your eye might be taken straight to the image of Susan’s smiling face.  Lovely though it may be, looking at her isn’t going to tell you what we need you to do on our website, and this could be affecting our conversions.

Go ahead and try this on your website to see how your web design measures up.  Remember you need:

• A harmonious colour scheme
• A clear call to action
• To draw attention to the call to action through colour, white space and placement.

So go ahead and blur your website and seeing if your design could be damaging your conversions.

+++

Katie Saxon

If  you missed The Internet Conference 2010 then you missed one amazing day.  Our expert speakers shared a huge amount of knowledge, and feedback from the delegates says it was a great opportunity to network and connect with other businesses using the Internet.  We will be organising another event next year, even bigger and even better, so watch this space!

In the meantime, our speakers have kindly agreed to share their slides with you:

What’s New With Google

Susan Hallam:  Hallam Communications Ltd

Getting it Wrong:  Change and Measurement on the Internet

Charles Arthur: The Guardian

Essentials of Search Engine Optimisation

Ian Lockwood:  Ian Lockwood Digital Consultancy

Improving the Ecommerce User Experience

The Google Keyword Tool is a useful tool for your keyword research, which is the first stage of any successful SEO strategy or PPC campaign.  Recently Google has been spring cleaning their products and the Keyword Tool has been given a fresh look.  But are the changes purely superficial or will they have any impact?

I’ll start by saying that the new look is undoubtedly fresh, clean and clear.  Features are more clearly laid out and signposted, which is a major bonus for users.  While many of the features you’ll see aren’t actually new, they are now more prominent or simply easier to navigate to, making for a more user-friendly experience.

There may be no change to the data, but columns such as Local Search Trends were previously only shown after customising your layout.  Many other tweaks like this don’t give users anything new, but allow anyone without previous experience with the tool easier access to advanced features.

There are however a few new features that deserve a mention.

Search Type – Broad, [Exact], “Phrase”

Previously you could choose whether you wanted to do keyword research on a broad, exact or phrase match.  Now you can do all three at once and download the results in one spreadsheet.  This is mostly a benefit for anyone setting up a PPC campaign, but it can be useful for keyword research too.

Clickable Keywords

Want to know how much competition there is on that juicy long tail keyword phrase?  Now you can just click on the phrase to be taken to the Google results page.

*Warning!*

While this tool might make your life easier, just seeing how many results Google serves for your keyword does not give a true reflection of how much competition there is for a phrase.  If you want to know how many websites are optimised for your keywords you need to use the intitle: command in your search results.

So clicking on your keyword might show you this:

But the intitle command will show you how many of your competitors understand SEO and are optimising their content for your keywords:

Categories

The new categories feature does exactly what it says on the tin – groups your keywords into relevant categories.  This is particularly useful for managing PPC campaigns, which is after all what the AdWords tool was made for.

If you are creating a Pay Per Click campaign all you need to do is put negative matches on keywords from categories that are unrelated to your own, which should help keep your cost per click down and your click through rate high.

Downloading Data

Previously the Google Keyword Tool only let you download entire spreadsheets of data or individual keywords without any of the search numbers.  While the first option was helpful for analysis, you did have to trawl through a whole lot of information to get to the facts you were interested in.  The second option was helpful for creating a PPC campaign, but less useful for analysing keyword research.

Now you can have the best of both worlds and just select the keywords that you are interested in to download but you still get the lovely raw data to analyse.

Simply highlight your choices, choose to just download the selected keywords and you’ll get your keywords along with global and local monthly search volumes.  They do give you search data for the previous 12 months, so you may still need to delete – or ignore – extra information, but generally there seems to be less to wade through.

If you are using the Keyword Tool to set up your AdWords campaign the new downloading features do have one big downside – no option to highlight a keyword phrases for a negative match.  While there are ways round it – downloading a spreadsheet just for negative matches, for example – it is the one clear problem with the new tool.

The New Google Keyword Tool is taking a massive step in the right direction.  The changes may not be extensive, but the tool already worked well.  Instead these changes make for a tool that will be more useful to both SEO bods doing research and anyone using PPC, good work Google.

+++

Katie Saxon

So many factors affect your rankings in the search results, and Google’s Chameleon is another ingredient in the rich soup that can push your website off the top page of the search engine results.

Chameleon is the Google internal codename for what we call “Bossy Google knows best.” It is different to just a simple spell checker.  Chameleon will insert a section into the search results  triggered by what Google has identified as a more appropriate or helpful phrase than what you originally typed in.

If we search for the keyword tenders – a reasonable seach for a business that is starting to investigate potential public sector tender work – we encounter a problem. It appears that Chameleon thinks it is a possibility that we were actually searching for eastenders:

.

This isn’t new to Google;  the Chameleon effect was been reported in May 2009 by Matt Cutts, and the Eastenders glitch reported since the  same time.

Aside from the spelling, the relationship between Tenders and Eastenders needs more than a leap of imagination to make the connection.

Chameleon can have a serious effect on your rankings in the search results.  By introducing an additional three search results your own company listing can get knocked off the first page, or for high ranking sites your page could get pushed down “below the fold” so users would have to scroll down to see it.

More importantly, if you were originally ranking number four for the phrase ‘tenders’ you will now have dropped to number seven. Essentially you are now below the fold and this could have a negative impact on your business.

The Chameleon effect crops up in unexpected places.

Try searching for a Crane, and Google proposes Crane Valves. An utterly irrelevant proposal, whether it be for birds or building equipment.

The phrase bulldozer triggers the Chameleon suggestion for bulldozer game

Your Chameleon Action Plan

1.  Research your own keyphrases to see where Chameleon has an effect.

2. Decide whether to optimise for the Chameleon suggested phrases.

3. Likewise, decide whether you need to optimise for spelling mistakes and variations.

+++

Wayne Barker

Here’s are some of the best posts you might have missed on Twitter from Susan, Katie and Wayne:

1. @Richard_Flewitt will doing a demo : how to create effective video content for the web. Brave Man! http://bit.ly/9KFF2w 14 May Internet Conf 1:53 AM Apr 29th
2. If you own a trademark, have you bought your new .CO domain name? http://bit.ly/aHqR9u 12:57 AM Apr 29th
3. RT @mattcutts: If you’re told Google is OK with paid links that pass PageRank cause the links are “relevant”–that company is lying to you. 11:08 PM Apr 28th
4. Facebook is the top Social Media site in the UK for Q1, but Twitter isn’t#2… Statcounter data: http://bit.ly/doFgSl 11:27 PM Apr 22nd via TweetDeck
5. Turning off Facebook’s unwelcome/intrusive personalisation features. Via @mattcutts: http://bit.ly/aLYKBx 11:15 PM Apr 22nd
6. Google Product Search now displays reviews (powered by @Bazaarvoice) http://bit.ly/9LEv7O 1:59 AM Apr 22nd
7. @Conservatives: 27,782 followers… @LibDems 16,000 … @UKLabour only 15,000 9:19 AM Apr 21st
8. RT @google: 1 of 5 Google searches relates to location. New tools in ” Google Places” support local businesses: http://bit.ly/bio6Ey 9:12 AM Apr 20th
9. Is Google Analytics tracking code slowing down your site? Read this overview of Google Async code: http://bit.ly/bChavt 8:53 AM Apr 20th
10. RT @fishbowlhq: Expert commentator @SusanHallam gives advice on how to maximise return on investment in business exhibitions http://ow.l … 5:08 AM Apr 13th
11. Social media marketing truths – a good read. http://bit.ly/ctrUVz 8:06 AM Apr 10th
12. Google announces Site Speed is now a search ranking factor, but not in the UK… http://bit.ly/d8RiJD 4:23 AM Apr 10th
13. Internet Conference Keynote Speaker: Charles Arthur – The Guardian’s Technology Editor. Book your place now! http://bit.ly/9KFF2w @TIC10 2:43 AM Apr 7th
14. Brilliant Guardian TwiTrip around Nottingham. Loads of cool places to discover. http://bit.ly/ajEYSa 6:20 AM Mar 31st
15. “We do not disclaim anything about this email. We’re quite proud of it, really.” Endnote on a lawyer’s email. (Honestly.) RT @charlesarthur 1:45 AM Mar 31st
16. How to track B2B visits to your website using Analytics via @DaveChaffey http://bit.ly/a5FH7L 1:15 AM Mar 31st via TweetDeck
17. Everything you need to know about SEO Copywriting (part of an excellent SEO series) http://bit.ly/djMc62 12:16 AM Mar 31st
18. RT @TIC10: Confused by Search Engine Optimisation? @IanLockwood makes SEO make sense at #TIC10 http://bit.ly/clb34N 6:33 AM Apr 30th
19. Interesting thoughts on why Twitter can/should play a role in the run up to the election by Paul Mason http://bit.ly/9n3rn6 via @jamesga 7:48 AM Apr 27th
20. What did you think of it? RT @jamesga: Thoughts on social media and the leaders’ debate….well my thoughts: http://bit.ly/a9zlqz 4:29 AM Apr 16th via TweetDeck
21. RT @TIC10: @DaveChaffey will tell you how to use Google Analytics to improve your business results at #TIC10 http://bit.ly/aksJ93 5:11 AM Apr 14th
22. A town in Rutland installs their own super-fast broadband http://bit.ly/bT4owx Good for them – but shame they had to. 1:38 AM Apr 14th
23. Romeo and Juliet on twitter: excited to see how this social media project progresses – follow @Such_Tweet – via @TIC10 3:45 AM Apr 13th via TweetDeck
24. RT @TIC10: Confused by Social Media Marketing? Our experts @iamkellyherrick & @Richard_Flewitt will teach you the essentials at #TIC10 2:16 AM Apr 13th
25. RT @iamkellyherrick what went wrong with the #cashgordon social media campaign… http://bit.ly/dhyeHs @marketingb2b 7:45 AM Apr 7th
26. Google shows its sense of humour with Google Translate for Animals http://bit.ly/boqten lol 2:18 AM Apr 1st
27. Worried about the affect of outbound links on your google ranking? Don’t be: http://bit.ly/cuZcZI
28. seomoz blog post about the top #seo problems and the tools to fix them http://bit.ly/b4BRbA 3:42 AM Apr 29th
29. RT @IanLockwood: Great tips for optimising for local (maps) search: http://selnd.com/b6jHLa – scroll down a bit to get the meat! 1:40 AM Apr 27th
30. RT @sengineland Google Earth Added To Google Maps, No Download Needed http://selnd.com/bFkVk1 1:30 AM Apr 27th via TweetMeme
31. A tale of two Googles http://bit.ly/dxYroH from @econsultancy 8:23 AM Apr 21st
32. Comparing Labour and the Conservatives in the Google search results – http://bit.ly/d2paFh 8:14 AM Apr 21st

Google has added a new feature to it’s search functionality that makes it easier for non-English speaking users to type in queries when faced with a foreign language keyboard.

Local versions of Google now offer a “virtual keyboard” lets users type directly into the Google search box using their own local language script.

I don’t know if you have ever travelled abroad and tried to use a non-English keyboard, but I often found myself cutting and pasting search phrases into the search box when faced with a mysterious keyboard.  Even the simplest of tasks are a nightmare: how many of you can reliably find the @ sign on a French keyboard?

Can you imagine the difficulties faced by an Arabic or Hindi or Polish visitor when faced with an English keyboard?

Polish speakers using a UK keyboard will need to use a series of control characters to display their specially accented  character sets. The new virtual keyboard means they can enter these diactritics by using the click of a mouse.

A new small keyboard icon now displays to the right of search box the local version of Google for 35 different languages, including Polish:

__________________________________________________________________________________________

This triggers a virtual keyboard displaying the special character sets:

_________________________________________________________________________________________

And of course for Arabic speakers:

Keyboards are available in Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Basque, Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Finnish, Galician, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kazakh, Kirghiz, Macedonian, Malayalam, Mongolian, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Swedish, Tatar, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Uzbek.

Read more about the Google Virtual Keyboard on the Official Google Blog.

This course is Solicitors Regulation Authority CPD accredited for 2 hours and 45 minutes

Is your firm ready to improve its Internet marketing?

Do you want to know which Online Marketing techniques are right for your business?

This seminar will provide you with information you need to make the right management decisions when it comes to marketing your firm on the Internet.  Learn how to get Google to send more visitors to your website.  Create a plan to spend your online advertising budget sensibly. Avoid wasting time and energy on marketing that won’t get results.

This seminar will provide you with a plan of action for using:

1. Search Engine Optimisation
2. Pay Per Click advertising
3. Social Media Marketing

.

Your Solicitors CPD workshop is in the afternoon, but in the morning join us for an inspiring conference with some of the UK’s leading Internet experts, including our Keynote speaker:  The Guardian’s Technology Editor, Charles Arthur.  Our expert social media marketing panel will be discussing how to engage with your clients using Twitter and YouTube, or you will have the chance to have your site reviewed by our own “Web Inspector.”

Date

Friday, 14 May 2010

Times

(09:30-12:30 Optional: Main Conference speakers)

12:30-13:30   Conference Lunch - included in your seminar fee
13:30- 16:30  CPD Seminar: Successful Internet Marketing for Law Firms

Venue

East Midlands Conference Centre
University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RJ

Fee

£245 + VAT .
Early Bird Registration only £195 until  16 April.

Additional discounts for LawNet members

Course fee includes comprehensive course notes, lunch, and afternoon coffee

Register Now

CPD Seminar Leader

Susan Hallam is Managing Director of Hallam Communications, an Internet marketing training and consultancy agency serving small and medium sized businesses in the UK. Hallam has specialist experience in working with a range of law firms across the UK, and has delivered workshops for LawNet and the Professional Marketing Forum, and is a contributor to Delia Venable’s “Internet Newsletter for Lawyers and Law 2.0”  She was previously Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent’s Faculty of Law, Economics and Social Sciences.

Her accreditations include:

• Chartered Institute of Information Scientists
• SFEDI Enterprise Trainer / ILM Enterprise Trainer
• Google Analytics Accredited
• Google AdWords Professional
• She is approved supplier for BusinessLink in London, West Midlands, and East Midlands

CPD for Solicitors: Successful Internet Marketing for Law Firms.

Course level:

General

Delegates:

Solicitors, Practice Managers, Marketing managers, Trainee solicitors, Legal executives and other legal professionals

Course Aims and Intended Learning Outcomes

The aim of this course is provide to solicitors, trainee solicitors, legal executives and other legal professionals with a sound understanding of three Internet marketing techniques that will, in turn, give the learner both the confidence and a structure in which they can explore how these technologies can be used as part of their law firm’s marketing activities.

By the end of this seminar learners will be able to:

a)      identify the advantages and disadvantages of each the three Internet marketing techniques

b)      assess their firm’s readiness to undertake these marketing activities

c)      estimate the resource requirements for the delivery of these activities

d)      draw upon new models for developing a set of Internet marketing strategies

e)      develop a plan of action for the next steps for their firm to take

Register Now

The Internet Conference is a one-day event focussed on the fast-moving world of Internet marketing.  A line-up of leading Industry experts will be speaking at this national conference, which will help you to harness the power of web marketing.

The Internet Conference is ideal for marketers, business owners and Internet professionals with an interest in Internet marketing.  Whether you are already tech-savvy or are a total newcomer, there will be sessions to suit you.

Topics covered at The Internet Conference:

• Essentials of Social Media Marketing
• The Web Inspector
• Essentials of Search Engine Optimisation
• Using Google Analytics to Improve your Business Results
• Successful Internet Marketing
• Essentials of Copywriting
• Improving the Ecommerce User Experience

There will also be chance to attend The Internet Conference Exhibition.

Date

14th May 2010

Times

09:00 – Registration & Coffee
09:30 – 16:30 The Internet Conference

Location

The East Midlands Conference Centre
University Park
Nottingham
NG7 2RJ

Fee

£195.00 + VAT
* Early Bird Booking Rate until 9 April 2010!  Then price jumps to £245.00 + VAT *
Includes your choice of workshops, entrance to The Internet Conference Exhibition, lunch, drinks and snacks.

Book now for The Internet Conference

The essential one day Hallam Search Engine Optimisation seminar focused on improving your rankings in the search engines, solving your SEO problems and answering your search marketing questions.

This independent, practical and highly enjoyable SEO Training course is a must for businesses owners and managers who want to get Found in Google.

This course has been designed for business owners and managers who need to understand what is involved in search engine optimisation.

Many attendees are senior managers who are working with an Internet marketing agency and want to get a better understanding of what they are getting for their money, and to be sure they are receiving a high quality service.

Or, you may want to be undertaking the SEO (search engine optimisation) yourself, and want to sharpen your skills to improve your rankings in the search engines.

You will learn how to:

• Diagnose your website problems
• Create an SEO plan of action for your website
• Use search engine optimisation tips and tricks to increase your rankings and traffic
• Understand why some sites rank so highly
• Measure your SEO success

Dates

Course Date
20th May 2010

Times

09:00 – Registration & Coffee
09:30 – 16:30 Course
16:30 – 17:00 Informal Q&A

Euston House
24 Eversholt Street
London
NW1 1AD

Fee

London – £395 + VAT
Includes comprehensive course notes, lunch, drinks and snacks.

Select the “Other Payment Options” if you would prefer to pay by cheque or pay by invoice.

Click here to book your place now via email

About this Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Training Course

This course has been designed for business owners and managers who need to understand what is involved in search engine optimisation. You may be doing the SEO yourself, or you may be working with an agency and need to be sure you are getting value for money, and that they are delivering a high quality service for your business. We are assuming that you already have a website, or you may be planning a new website and that you understand the basics of how search engines work.

You will leave the day with a written plan of action detailing the specific steps you need to take to optimise your website.

Susan’s workshop materials are constantly updated as the industry shifts and changes, and this workshop will reflect the latest strategies to reflect the evolving search engine optimisation  marketplace.

You will be provided with a comprehensive set of course notes, articles and reference guides. Following the course, you will have access to Hallam’s password protected online library of SEO support resources.

Seminar Programme

• Update:  the lastest news in search on the Internet
• Principles of SEO: content, links and relevancy
• Jump starting poorly performing websites
• Producing keyword rich webpages
• How and when to use keyword analysis tools
• Copywriting perfect webpages
• Understanding Google Page Rank
• Innovative techniques for getting inbound links
• How to use Blogging as an SEO tool
• Your Google Toolbox: Webmaster Central, Local Search & More
• Google Analytics:  What to measure, and how to interpret your web statistics
• Staying out of trouble with the search engines
• Researching your competitor’s SEO campaigns

Click here to book your place now via email

The Trainer

Susan Hallam one of the UK’s leading Internet marketing trainers and consultants, with more than 20 years experience in the information industry.

She is a regular speaker at conferences including Search Engine Strategies, InternetWorld, and the East Midlands eBusiness Club’s Web Academy and eBusiness Expo.