HAPPY CHRISTMAS MORNING 2009

Merry Christmas Morning ! No snow so far ! No rain ! No sun as its still dark but hopeful ! Turkeys hiding in the kitchen ! Kids still asleep ! There is a pressure of excitement in the air ! It wont be long before all the kids in the nieghbourhood are charging towards their presents in an excited rage, swiftly moving from one to the other, the pet generally going crazy with the wrapping paper, whilst mum and dad watch in one of those moments of reward for being a parent unless of course you have adolescent teenagers who have probably got under age hangovers and are still asleep ! By nine it will move onto the getting dressed and moving outside to test presents in the garden whilst the mess is cleaned up and the turkey is caught and imprisoned in the oven ! And still a whole day to go of indulgence ! HAPPY CHRISTMAS !

Christmas Eve Day at the Office Eating Chocolate !

Well a very Merry Christmas to everyone from me on Christmas Eve. Im having a London Christmas with my family and we hope to eat lots of one of my clients chocolate ! I may even buy some extra early for valentines day ! I have attached a picture of the now mature student building in its true dusk glory last night as it will be the last time i see it in 2009 and in 2010 it will not change much now until its occupied ! Its been a tough year and ive just sorted out all my desk and papers ready for 2010 ! I'll be back with renewed energy and vigour with some great new clients starting with us in January ! A big welcome to them, to our secret online marketing winning services at Weboptimiser !

London Love Story

Just went to see Bright Star. All about Keats, his poetry and his first love that i guess never happened. The perfect romantic film to take your partner to start a romantic night off on the right foot !

compare broadband

I was looking through the paper and started thinking about the recent film release Avatar and how many other films that I have missed over the years and thought, of course, I can watch films over the internet and realised that I think the problem is my restricted and limited internet connection that I have at home. So I did a bit of research to find out more and I was reminded of my client, broadband choices.

If anyone else is thinking of upgrading their broadband I recommend Broadband Choices, who are great for broadband , broadband choices. They are not the only provider of broadband choices and analysis, but when I was looking I found them in Google against other terms that included "compare broadband" and more. Well it is my job, but I was very pleased to find them there when I needed them.

A brief update of the student building project ! Looking good ! Still cant believe its going to be student accommodation ! My digs were a long way from this when i was a student !

Interesting talk last night with Boris Johnson ! He made the point that cycling is healthy living and keeps those of us who have to watch our weight in check ! Thinking of getting a bike myself now ! Only downside is when people call him a tory tosser on the way to work in the morning ! His words not mine ! Overall a very entertaining speech although not sure i heard a great deal of London changing policies !

Well the Christmas trees are up, lights on, parties galore ! Christmas is here again !

GORILLA RUN

Another weekend of extended summer !

This weekend for me was all about The Great London Gorilla Run ! On Saturday one thousand humans dressed as gorillas ! in fancy dress ! Running round the city of London. There were gorilla doctors and nurses, gorilla punks, gorilla shoppers, bananas, gorilla gentlemen ... you name it gorilla everything ! and a great crowd turned out to line the streets !

The aim to raise money to protect and look after the eight hundred wild gorillas left in existence !

The heat made running in the suit rather sticky ! I think i lost a few kilos in weight ! Managed the 7km in under an hour which for me is good !

I spent all day Sunday aching !

Last Days Of Summer

London this week was full of sunshine ... the last days of the summer ! Maybe ! Spent this afternoon walking around Hyde Park listening to the band sound checking the equipment for tonights proms, playing rolling stones songs !

Last week was one of our busiest weeks this year and i can see confidence coming back into the economy ! Next week is full of meetings and new business for Weboptimiser ! Our new mobile offering is really exciting as it integrates into all off and online marketing ! Social media uptake and changes in peoples mindsets continues to evolve. Email, Video, SEO and PPC continue to be core mainstream parts of our strategic online consultancy offering.

Our product launches start rolling out this Tuesday aimed at the smaller business and entrepreneur. A more affordable product on a done for basis but streamlined to make it more affordable.

Growth in the City

Its a while since i posted anything ! Since the last time the city has grown even more ! Business is starting to pick up and we are developing some new initiatives.

Last weekend it was the Notting Hill carnival and went to a Ronnie Scotts jazz jam session which was great !

In training now for the Great London Gorilla Run at the end of the month !

ConradSwailes

Social Media

Social media efforts 'could fail due to overconfidence'

Warning fired over social media overconfidence

Issue Codes Social Media

Marketers who believe themselves to be particularly knowledgeable about social media marketing may find that their tactics fail due to overconfidence in the medium.

This is according to MarketingSherpa, which conducted research showing that two-thirds of corporate marketers that have never used any kind of social media marketing or PR believe they are either 'very knowledgeable' or 'somewhat knowledgeable' about the channel.

It warned that this attitude to social media could result in their strategies backfiring.

Businesses should instead ensure they give social media marketing projects to those with proven experience in the field and if there is no employee with this type of background, an outside agency or consultant should be brought in, MarketingSherpa advised.

"These experts understand what works and what doesn't in social media," the website remarked, adding: "When it comes to social media marketing, an investment in expertise will ensure a rapid return."

Last year, Gartner published research findings suggesting that over half of firms using online communities as part of their web marketing strategies will see their campaigns fail in establishing a common purpose between the company and the customers in question.

Search Engine Optimisation SEO

Specialist content 'could enhance SEO'

Aid SEO with niche content

Issue Codes Search engine optimisation Media

Businesses could improve their search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies by concentrating on niche content, according to one expert.

Peter Da Vanzo of SEO Book said that carving out a niche within an existing sector can help to earn valuable links from bigger sites and blogs within that industry, potentially boosting search rankings as a result.

He went on to note that such a tactic could be particularly useful for newly established websites, remarking: "When you start a site, you don't have much in the way of leverage. 

"You don't have an established reputation, which can make it difficult to get attention and get links."

Addvantage Media published study findings earlier this year indicating that British internet users prefer niche websites because they perceive such content to be of a higher quality than that found on all-encompassing portals.

It also suggested that over a third of web users spend most of their online time on sites offering niche content.

Weboptimiser at Internet World 2009

The Internet World Week was a successful one for me and Weboptimiser. We met loads of existing customers and potential ones. Our VIP area was well used to the point of constantly running out of tea and coffee !

Thanks to all the Weboptimiser team at the show and back at the office supporting us. Get ready for the orders !

The party on Wednesday night was definately enhanced by the attendance of approximately thirty F1 models who insisted on practicing their poses with everyone. It was how i imagine heaven to be !

Back in the office !

After sleeping off man flu all easter its good to be back in the office. Only good thing was it was a good weekend for Twitter followers ! 

This week is a short one again and loads to get done. Amasing how quick buildings go up these days. The building shown came out of knowhere ! Its student accomodation in the heart of the city ! Lucky students !

Its Easter !

After continued craziness post G20 we again have demos about the demo death, tamil tigers and SATs. Helicopters that cost £2000 an hour circling around overhead whilst i lay ill with man flu in bed ! How do i know ? Thanks to my twitter friends !

Weboptimiser has been busy again this week with some great new prospects lining up to benefit from our successful digital marketing services. Seacrch remains main stream whilst social media continues to evolve faster than the speed of light ! I seem to evolve my own twitter software i use to manage every week as something better comes to light.

We have had one of those weeks with quite a few of us hit with illness so a big get well to the sick ones and a big thankyou for the rest of the team for supporting us ! Thankfully i managed to limp through till Thursday night but now wiped out. Be better for Tuesday though !

Weboptimiser Email Marketing - Email Response

Email marketing 'must be relevant'
06/04/2009

Make email marketing relevant to avoid blacklisting

Issue Codes Email marketing services

Companies need to ensure that their email marketing programs are as relevant as possible to avoid being blacklisted by email services and consumers, an expert has advised.

Jeffrey Grau, senior analyst at eMarketer, noted that recent research by eROI suggested almost one-fifth of US email marketers do not track the effectiveness of their strategies.

The majority of those in this group said they did not know how to track their campaigns, while others flagged up issues regarding cost and time.

However, implementing the necessary analytics procedures could help to resolve the problem of being ignored by recipients, Mr Grau said.

"The solution lies in using segmentation and personalisation techniques to target emails. Of course, retailers also need to be vigilant about testing their tactics to determine which are most effective," he stated.

Graham Charlton of Econsultancy advises those involved with email marketing to ensure they use a program provider that is capable of integrating with their e-commerce website to track orders.

Easter PPC the Weboptimiser Way

Expert: Devise separate PPC campaigns for Easter
06/04/2009

Easter PPC campaigns should be separate from others

Issue Codes Pay per click services

Businesses should ensure they create separate pay per click (PPC) ad campaigns if they sell goods that are directly related to Easter, it has been advised.

According to Yahoo! content quality analyst Noah Belson, those selling items such as chocolate and flowers would do well to start up distinct PPC campaigns for Easter in order to make their ads and keywords easier to manage.

He also said on the Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog that marketers may do well to focus on Easter items that are likely to generate revenues rather than free resources.

"If you sell chocolate but also offer recipes or other info on your site, make sure that your ads focus on what you sell, rather than what you give away," Mr Belson commented.

Furthermore, businesses should ensure their ads are showing the right text for the right occasion as it is possible to make a mistake and display a Valentine's Day ad rather than an Easter-themed one, he stated.

Nearly £2 billion was spent on PPC ads in the UK in 2008, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau. You will see Weboptimiser's client already at the top for terms such as Easter Egg for SEO as well.

Demonstrations !

Its been a few good weekends since i posted largely because of time enjoying overseas tripsto Manilla  and Twickenham outings !

A busy week again at Weboptimiser seeing an old client from the finance sector coming back on board for the 5th time in as many years. Must be doing something right ! Also revolutionised our marketing and published a major newsletter that we mmanaged to sellout on first day !

In the run up to the G20 there has been a lot of talk of trouble so today was good news for Londoners who were envisaging poll tax type riots ! Lets hope it stays quiet next Wednesday ! Was that the summer earlier this week ? It was hailstoning today and 1 degree ! whats going on ! 

This week saw the first signs of spring and almost saw the coat being left at home ! I must have brought the sun back from the Philipines ! Maybe i should go again next week ! A busy week at Weboptimiser with a number of major deals progressing to final stages. The power and influence of social media grows by the day with the groundswell of social media actually changing the course of social media itself when facebook decided to reverse its terms and conditions change.  I know i saw a lot of twitters on this so it wasn't just facebook users ! Weboptimiser continues to advise in the social media space adding significant strategic direction from its social media analysis, strategy and ongoing monitoring and implementation processes.

At work in Manilla

Well London life became Manilla life for a week or so for me. Hols and a little business as always. It was nice to be warm all the time if a little bitten by the mossies. Managed to not do too much Weboptimiser business whilst away but there is always something ! I wont go on about it but will share one photo only that was my favourite day of the trip ! Back to the cold but stimulating London Life this week with Weboptimiser !

Twitter and Weboptimiser in London

Well this last week i have been experimenting with Twitter mainly personally but i guess everything i do is Weboptimiser related these days. I now have almost 1000 followers and am finding it really interesting. From having fun about the rugby with fellow rugby twitterers, some social recomendatons, some referrals, some semi spammy offers (cringe !), some great general chit chat with people doing interesting things ! I think im going to start up a london twitter as it all went a bit global too quickly !  

This week has been a fast short week dominated by snow, ice and power cuts. From initially being brought to a standstill central London thawed out and has been reasonably ok unless you wanted to go anywhere outside the capital. I tried and failed to escape a few times ! The Weboptimiser office functioned well with our great committed team stepping up to the challenge of looking after all our customers.

London comes  to a standstill ! Why ? 15cm of snow in central london ! Nobody can get into the office. No buses. no trains. few tubes. Whats the explanation ? I guess its because transport staff cant get into work either ! catch 22 ! BORIS ! TFL ! I wonder if there is a snow emergency plan to get staff to work ? Anybody know ?

Snowflakes in London today .... cold ... a good time to catch up on emails and write some blogs !

This week takes Weboptimiser up north to Birmingham, Wakefield, Leeds, Manchester and Huddersfield ! Spreading the word of cutting edge Search engine optimisation, SEO and our other services including social media. 

Most people are still considering social media as part of seo which it is and search still drives it, but our social media service has become an independant essential service to all. The demand to see us and talk about our new services is immense.

The past week was a busy one. Spreading the word of weboptimiser to more busineses still not adopting cutting edge search engine optimisation, SEO, pay per click, PPC, Search engine marketing, SEM, email marketing, video production, video optimisation, mobile marketing and our latest offering social media. 

Dublin provided a quick break where i attended a social media conference held by netimperative and met a few clients. The Guiness brewery proved a great venue and vantage point to enjoy a few pints of Guiness and the panoramic views of Dublin. Nice to see Weboptimiser thought leadership to be ahead of the competitors !

The sports Bar on Haymarket was full of interesting companies from Couttes as english as it gets to a number of European companies and from as far afield as my old host country Sri Lanka. Brumus provided a nice after venue where we chatted further with our new friends.

Weboptimiser video

to see the video go to www.weboptimiser.com/GordonBrownVisitsWeboptimiser.html

Conrad Swailes meets Gordon Brown at weboptimiser

Well what a week this was. Gordon Bown came to see us at weboptimiser.com to announce the new bank cash injection to start the banks lending to small businesses again.