We’re very excited about the latest version of UBIshop – our own full feature e-commerce system.

It’s been a while in production as we wanted to get it right, but it’s now being implemented into a number of client sites, the latest of which is Electric Fencing Direct (EFD), one of the country’s leading electric fencing and agricultural supplies specialists.

What sets EFD apart from the competition is their dedication to their customers.  The free advice they offer and the lengths they go to to satisfy their ever-growing customer base is second to none.   We can relate to that here at Ubisan!   Their old system relied heavily on a positively creaking Microsoft Access database and this has been replaced by a fast and user friendly e-commerce and customer management system which will help the company grow it’s online profile, and sales  considerably.

Further features are also in the pipeline to maximise the online shop’s sales potential and this will be further boosted by our involvement in ensuring EFD remain ahead of the pack when it comes to marketing their products and search engine optimisation

I’ve been thinking a lot about how SEO specialists market themselves and try to attract new business. Truth is that most decent SEOs don’t!. They never need to advertise their services, never mind solicit new clients, so it surprises me as much as it irks me whenever I hear of people I know being sold a bit of an SEO dummy.

I’m not interested in outing anybody so for the purposes of this article, let’s change the name to something suitably Glaswegian…BAWBAGSEO. This list just serves as an example of stuff I’ve discovered going on that I believe no decent web or SEO professional would ever involve themselves in. Furthermore, if you are a business and considering outlaying for some SEO on your site, steer clear of any of these scenarios…

1. BAWBAGSEO carries out SEO work for Client A and gets Client A good results. BAWBAGSEO then approaches client B, who is a competitor of client A and offers to optimise client B’s site for a long tail search term that Client A hasn’t optimised his for. You read that right…SEO’s offering out sloppy long tail seconds to client competitors. Very poor.How to avoid: Ask your SEO if they have any other clients in a similar sector to yours and what their policy is relating to this.
2. Aside from providing SEO services, BAWBAGSEO also runs 3 day “all you can eat” SEO courses at a £1000 a pop so participants can then carry out SEO successfully themselves (alongside running their day to day business)
3. Scaring client B into SEO expenditure (preferably supplied by BAWBAGSEO) by showing them their site’s W3C validation error report when BAWBAGSEO‘s validation report has twice as many errors as client B
4. Guaranteeing page one results for long-tail, traffic-light, highly specific search terms. A recent post on the consistently excellent Hoboweb blog titled How many clicks does a no 1 ranking in Google get compared to No 2, 3, 4 & 5 threw up some pretty interesing data that shows how much potential traffic can diminish past the first few results. Of course, using the Google Keyword tool, you can find out roughly how many searches across the Google network there have been for a specific search term. I reckon it’s even tougher now because the first page of search results is getting so clagged up with Google Places, Adwords and other Google bolt-ons.  Remember folks..technically, a page one result could be position 10 and you’ve got to ask yourself how much of a return on your SEO investment will this get you?
5. Beware the one month contract.  Any SEO relationship needs to be set up for the long haul.  If an SEO tells you they can achieve everything they need to achieve in one month they are lying.

I guess we all know companies similar to BAWBAGSEO. Has anyone uncovered any other unsavoury SEO practices they’d like to share?

Interesting video post from the dependable Matt Cutts at Google regarding how often the Google Algorithm gets altered….much more than you’d think – maybe as many as 350 times in a year!

Whilst some of the changes to this algorithm can be minor, some can have a pretty major impact on your search positions – good and/or bad.

How are you placed?  With changes taking place almost daily do you have the time to keep up with these developments?  Contact us to find out how we can help with your website optimisation and safeguard your Google Equity now!

Just been reading an excellent blog post over at SEOMoz about the 4 biggest threats that Google faces. Fascinating stuff.  To summarise, the article reckons it could be one of the following:

1. An existing search competitor wins back it’s share
2. A startup becomes the new golden child of search
3. Web search fractures into verticals
4. Traditional Web Search is Replaced by a More Compelling Information Retrieval Model

But what about Facebook?

If I were Google I’d be more concerned about the sustained and continuing growth of Facebook and the tightening grip it is having on people’s lives.

Regular Facebook users can completely immerse themselves in the Facebook world for hours on end (even if this time can consist of cyberstalking, running farms or playing at being a Mafia boss) and it strikes me that if Facebook can develop a useful, reliable method of search from within that extends outwith it’s own network then they’ll be well on their way to becoming a dominant force in search and a real challenger to Google.

Facebook already comes ready-rolled with a search box.  Imagine the “convenience” for it’s users if this search box was their gateway to information on anything they want, rather than just a tool that gets used to track down friends?

There’s also several concerns over privacy relating to Facebook but imagine how focused  search results could be served if they were not only based on what was out there but on every single piece of data that you’ve added over the years to your Facebook account.

Scary, or simply progress?

The Digital Economy Bill that was hurried somewhat undemocratically through the Houses of Parliament this week is an ill-conceived, poorly thought-out and downright ludicrous piece of legislation that will cause all sorts of problems whilst potentially and unnecessarily criminalise a considerably significant proportion of the unwitting British public.

This piece of legislation is going to throw up all sorts of legal and logistical conundrums as it primarily affects the provider of the internet connection rather than the “illegal” downloader.

I’d love to get a legal perspective on the following scenario that I’m currently testing at the moment.

I’m on my way to London on a Virgin Train, enjoying free Wi-Fi coverage courtesy of a mistaken upgrade to First Class.  I’m also currently downloading “God Save The Queen” via Pirate Bay, which was the first single the band released on Richard Branson’s own Virgin Records.  Seemed like the perfect test track to use (Malcolm McLaren RIP) as I’ll also be over by Buckingham Palace in a wee while visiting Google HQ (that’s a story for another day!)

Would this count as one of the three “strikes” that could lead to Virgin Trains losing their internet connection? Can I expect the police to be waiting for me at Euston Station?

Been spending the morning tweaking some of my client’s Google Local Business Centre (GLBC) listings to take into account some pretty useful new features that the boffins have introduced.

One of the points I never tire of making when I’m out and about talking to other business owners is that you may not actually need a website…but what you do need is a web presence.  GLBC provides this and sometimes a well constructed GLBC listing is all you need to keep the new clients rolling in.  Why?

Take a look at these search results for the term ‘glasgow builder’.

By the time Google serves the adverts at the top and then lists the results from Google Local Business Centre, there is no space for any organic results on the screen.

A recent study from Jakob Nielsen indicating that web users spend 80% of their time looking at information above the page fold.  That means the large majority of searchers won’t bother scrolling down for the results if they can see a listing in front of them that holds their attention.

Another great feature of GLBC is the reviews option.  Users may be tempted to click on a result from GLBC if it has lots of reviews attached to it.

Google Local Business Centre new features

Given the amount of prime page real estate Google is allocating to it’s GLBC listings these days, it’s obviously something they are choosing to focus on.  In fact, they’ve introduced some new features in the past week that increases the efficacy of the GLBC system greatly – and makes it more usable for businesses that aren’t tied to a specific location.

1. You can now specify whether your business location is a destination for customers (ie a shop where they come to you) or whether your location is merely an office and you take your service to your customers (termed “”this business serves customer at their locations”).  This works on a number of levels but the main benefit is that if you deliver your service at your customer’s locations then you now have an opportunity to say how wide your service area is.
2. “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” allows you to hide your business address whilst still maintaining a presence in GLBC listings.  This is tremendously helpful for home-based businesses and anyone who has no interest in receiving business visits to their home address.  It remains to be seen whether this privacy option has an overall impact in your GLBC listing.  I’m currently testing it out.

It will be interesting to see how users adapt and abuse these new features.  In theory, you would be able to hide your address but say you cover an area almost 2000 miles in diameter but I’m pretty sure this will have an adverse effect on listings.