Although Micrositez doesn’t offer performance based marketing, we thought we’d share some great points outlined by a fellow marketer in one of his recent articles, which can be found on http://www.conversationmarketing.com. The author who goes by the name Ian, made eight great points in his answer to one of the most commonly asked questions, of one of the most misunderstood internet marketing campaign; “Can I pay you based on performance?”

It seems many clients are miss-lead by the term ‘performance-based’ when it comes to internet marketing. Ian echoed the frustration of many marketers who are worn out from explaining to clients why this route can often cost more, and not less than other marketing campaigns.

Here is a summarised list of those eight points that were given in hope of dispelling any confusion, or bad feelings between clients and agencies.

• The agency must have 100% control over the client’s site’s design and development.
• It is the client’s responsibility to guarantee fulfilment capabilities.
• There should be no interference – let the professionals do what they do best.
• Trust is a vital component between both parties, or there is no point.
• Once an agreement is in place, it can’t be changed.
• It’s not a route if you’re looking for cheap marketing
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, but consider other sources.
• Keep the contract simple.

If you’re considering going down the route of performance based SEO, or just interest in finding out more about this topic. We recommend reading Ian’s article, ’Performance based contracts ain’t cheap‘ first.

Micrositez is an award winning digital marketing company.

Internet Marketing, performance based marketing, performance based seo, SEO Marketing

At F8 back in September, Facebook announced the launch of the Open Graph initiative, which was engineered to allow users to share the news stories they were reading with friends. It’s proven to be an immediate success, with top newspapers like the Guardian and Washington Post gaining 4 million and 3.5 million subscribers respectively. The publications are pleased too, as it has given them access to a younger demographic. The Guardian has had strong uptake in the under-24 age group, and 83% of Washington Post app users are under 35 years old.

Some users greeted Open Graph with some derision, as the automatic sharing of news stories they are reading isn’t something they wanted. Many still share stories using the more familiar copy/paste method, giving users more control over the articles they choose to share.

The most popular story shared on Facebook this year came from the New York Times; a collection of interactive satellite images of the after-effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March. This story was shared over 600,000 times. The second most shared story was a CNN feature on “What teachers really want to tell parents”, which was shared 586,000 times. The top ten was rounded out by a variety of stories including animal tales, feminist themed editorial and two stories on zodiac signs. The top 40 is available as a note on www.facebook.com/media. It’s clear to see that humorous and political pieces are the most often shared types of story on Facebook.

The volume of articles shared and uptake on news apps is further proof that social sharing is a massive influence on the way we consume news today. More and more current events are shared on Twitter before the mainstream news catches on, meaning more people turn to their social networks first when looking for the latest updates. Just this week a video of a woman in the UK having a racist rant on a London tram spread like wildfire over twitter. By the time BBC News caught on to the story, it was to report that the woman had already been identified and arrested. The line between traditional news media and social media is blurring by the day, and it will be interesting to see how this trend evolves in 2012.

Micrositez: SEO and Social Media.

BBC news, facebook, Guardian, Open Graph, social sharing, twitter, Washington Post

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are three of the biggest shopping days of the year in the US. Today is Cyber Monday across the pond, and while the UK equivalent isn’t for another week, we thought it was still a good enough reason to check out how businesses are using social media to promote their big deals this year.

Cyber Monday falls on the Monday following thanksgiving, and is the busiest day for online retail of the year, as families prepare for Christmas. In the UK the busiest day for online retail is usually the first Monday in December. US retailers often offer massive discounts, similar to Black Friday deals and will be competing with each other to lure shoppers to their sites.

This year, more than ever, social media is being used to spread the word about deals, offer exclusive discounts and attract customers. According to shop.org, 29% of American consumers will check out the Facebook pages of retailers when deciding where to shop this year. More than ever, it pays stores to have a social media presence.

Social media also serves the customers well. Dedicated Facebook and twitter accounts have popped up seeking out deals for customers (searching “Cyber Monday” on either site yields a large number of new accounts). Individual retailers are also offering exclusive deals to fans. Great techniques include inviting fans to “events” at their online store (Hudson Jeans), updating fans with new offers in real time on twitter (Best Buy, Kmart), and deal alerts to customers’ mobile phones by SMS (Amazon).

On Small Business Saturday – a US only event which encourages shoppers to buy their festive goods at small, local merchants – American Express customers who synced with Foursquare got a great deal: a $25 dollar voucher towards purchases at the small businesses of their choice. Etsy, as a collective of small merchants selling handmade wares, was a perfect fit for Small Business Saturday, and used their blog to showcase deals available on the day.

At Micrositez, we can’t wait to see if UK retailers are as keen to use Social Media to get our attention next Monday.

Micrositez: SEO and Social Media.

Cyber Monday, facebook, Foursquare, online retail, social media, twitter

Welcome to part 2 of what’s next blog series that aims to highlight key topics and trends taking place in the world of digital marketing over the next few months.

We talked yesterday about the integration between SEO and social media, and touched briefly on how social media is affecting search, by its popularity and personalisation. Today we’ll look at two more areas;

1. Personalised search

We are already starting to see changes being made by Search engine giant Google, to take a more local search approach where studies have shown an increase in the number of users making choices based on Google place listings. So if you haven’t got a places page then, we recommend you get one, and make sure you fill in those details correctly, to be easily found. The more recommendations you gather from aggregators will also help build your online presence, so don’t miss out and gather. And finally, to fully take advantage of this growing trend, make sure you are clearly labelled, and include relevant links back to your site.

2. SEO for mobile platforms

With more users jumping on their mobiles to surf the net, whether that person is in transit from place to place, or sitting in front of their TV screen with their laptop and smart phone in hand, (studies have shown this to become more common). It stands to be the case that as more searches are conducted on mobiles now than any other device, marketers and businesses must adapt and adjust their SEO strategies to become SEO mobile friendly.  According to one study Google currently own a 99% piece of the mobile search market pie. Just this week, Google adapted their search options to offer a mobile app filter that enables users to locate apps from popular app providers including, Apple iTunes App Store, Google Android Market and many more. These apps are already being indexed now too.

3. Search v Display

Just a brief point we thought would be worth mentioning as these two separate areas normally compete with each other. We believe next year there will also be integration between search engine marketing and display advertising, something we’ll cover more in next week’s blog, which focuses on PPC.  Combining both could potentially produce very interesting results, utilising the strengths of both and putting them together could create one very powerful source – one to watch out for.

Micrositez Digital Ltd is a Search Engine Marketing Company.

Google, organic search engine optimisation, search engine marketing, search engine optimisation

This week’s ‘What’s Next’ blog will take a look at what’s current and what’s still to come for SEO in 2012. We can’t cover it all, but we will offer up a few snapshots of what’s taking place within the world of SEO and worthwhile keeping an eye on for 2011 going into 2012.  If you’re a business with a website, then an SEO campaign is something you should either be aware of and weighing up, or something you already participate in.

As usual, over the course of today and tomorrow we will highlight just a few important SEO topics we believe you should be aware of. Today, we will cover:

SEO v social media

The integration between search and social data will continue to be a big part of SEO’s future, as the power of social search in power networks such as Facebook, Twitter and open source content management systems like WordPress and other blogging  platforms puts pressure on search engines to produce the freshest, most relevant results in real time.

Just a few weeks ago, search giant Google announced a bunch of algorithm changes which reward fresher content – A clear move by Google to ‘adapt to survive’ from the rising power of social rivals such as Facebook and Twitter as ticker and timeline feeds becoming an favourable alternative to search.

Does this mean the end for SEO? Not at all, statistics have shown that people are still more likely to buy in to search results offered up by old timer search engines such as Bing, Yahoo and Google. That being said, as the integration between SEO and Social media continues to merge search engines will be pressured to make changes much like Google are introducing at the moment, and more.

Still wondering what Google means by raising the bar for fresher content?

Ultimately, this will be relevant for bloggers and businesses that should all by now have a blog integrated within their website. We should all be striving to produce fresh and engaging content as good practice anyway, which ultimately impacts your rankings too. Google has been building on its on-going effort to make recent events, and more popular content appear higher up in search results. Demanding higher quality of content from our CMS will also mean less risk of your fresh content being duplicated too.

This is definitely new ground for search and social as the pair can no longer be separated. Both hold exceptional influence over search rankings and as we move towards a world that’s much more consumer-driven both will hold equal importance when trying to achieve a personalised online experience.

Join us tomorrow for part 2 in our ‘What’s Next for SEO in 2012’ blog series, where we will be looking at Search v Display and Mobile Search.

Micrositez: SEO Marketing Company

search engine optimisation, Search Engine Optimization, search engines, SEO, seo packages

Visitors to Yahoo! Site Explorer are now greeted with the message below, confirming that the service is no more. Although plans to discontinue YSE had been public knowledge for around five months, search engine marketers have noted its passing with some sadness. As a leading provider of Search Engine Marketing solutions, here at Micrositez we know the value YSE provided.

(screenprint of http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/index.php taken today, 23 November 2011)

The move follows completion of the algorithmic transition to Bing across global markets (excluding Korea), and YSE itself has now been merged into Bing Webmaster Tools. The YSE page recommends that webmasters use Bing’s tools for search traffic monitoring, but there are alternatives out there. While Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools give you a wealth of information about your own site, they aren’t as helpful to companies doing an initial report for a client or checking out competitors.

Free alternatives include SEOMoz’s ‘Open Site Explorer’ (although information is restricted without a paid subscription) and ‘Searchmetrics’. Toolbar plugins like ‘SEOBook’ and ‘SEO for Firefox’ are also helpful. More information, as expected can be found in paid tools, such as ‘Link Research Tools’, ‘Linkdex’ and ‘Who Links To Me’.

SEO resource sites such as Search Engine Watch and SEO Round Table have also expressed their disappointment at the loss of YSE. Writing for Search Engine Watch, Frank Watson expressed hope that Bing would repackage YSE under the Bing brand and relaunch the tool.

Micrositez provides award winning Link Building Services.

Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, search engine marketing, SEO, Yahoo! Site Explorer

The rise in tablet traffic online has been closely watched by analysts and businesses. Companies are optimising their sites for tablets to take advantage of an increasing market, and recently released figures seem to imply they’ve made the right decision.

According to Affiliate Window’s M-Commerce white paper, on mobile commerce in 2011, the average conversion rate for Apple’s iPad in August was 3.82%, compared to 1.9% for desktop devices. This means people are more than twice as likely to purchase goods online from their iPad as from their desktop computer. The value of the purchases made is also greater; the average order value made from an iPad is £69.94. When you compare this to Android (£43.76) and Blackberry (£32.50) it’s clear to see there is real value in optimising for the iPad. The data used for Affiliate Window’s research involved 81.9 million visits to online merchants, and recorded 1.57 million sales. The positive conversion rate does not take into account in-app purchases, which is money spent within an application by a developer or retailer. The figures concentrate on iPad statistics only, but as the dominant force in the tablet market (generating over 88% of tablet traffic) this is the device e-commerce is most interested in for now.

The tablet market is expected to experience massive changes in the coming year. Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer and Asus are planning to exit the tablet market, after weak sales of their Android powered devices. There are new entrants to the market in the shape of Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet (both in the USA only for the time being). These new devices, from Amazon and Barnes and Noble, are priced far more competitively than iPad and, instead of current tablets, are marketed as e-readers with a little extra. While not as technologically advanced as the iPad, analysts are expecting huge sales and subsequent traffic from both.

Both Samsung and Nokia have announced their tablet plans for 2012, and both companies are developing tablets optimised for the Windows 8 OS. Windows has failed to make any real entry into the market so far, and will be hoping that teaming up with these smartphone manufacturers will help them enter the tablet market and compete with Apple.

Micrositez is an award winning Digital Marketing Agency.

android, Apple, ipad, online retail, tablets, Windows 8

Here in Scotland, it has been reported that footfall in shopping areas has dropped 9% compared to this time last year, and the Christmas period isn’t looking too jolly for the high street. Online retailing has bucked the trend, and the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) has forecast a bumper online spend this year.

It has been said that online shopping is killing the high street, and IMRG’s forecast of a £7.75billion “spending bonanza” in the UK this festive period appears to support that. The smarter high street retailers are taking advantage of their existing brand loyalty, and investing in their online stores. A year on year increase in online sales of 13% for high street stores has been their reward, and this is expected to swell even further this Christmas shopping season. Online retailers without a high street presence have seen even more growth, a massive 16% compared to this time last year.

eBay are piloting a new approach to online shopping this year, opening a pop-up store with no tills in London’s West End. Customers will browse goods in the store and pay by scanning QR codes with their smartphones. The online retailer’s 200 most popular products will be available, and delivered to customers’ homes once they order. The plan, say eBay, is a Christmas shopping experience with “no queues, no bags, no stress”. House of Fraser, an upmarket high street department store, has also tried a different approach this year. They have opened a store in Aberdeen with no products, just some friendly assistants with iPads and plenty of free coffee.

The most common reason people will give for getting their Christmas wares online is the price. This Friday, bargain hunters can take advantage of Amazon’s Black Friday offers again this year, with products on deals expected to sell out just as quickly as they did in 2010. Black Friday is an American tradition; the day after Thanksgiving most stores open early to hold large scales sales with heavy discounts, and across the pond people have been filling Christmas stockings with Black Friday bargains for many years. The name originated in Philadelphia, and refers to the period of the year when retailers would start to become profitable (or be “in the black”). Official figures have shown Black Friday as the busiest shopping day of the year in the US every year since 2005.

The Christmas shopping experience has changed completely in the past few years, and with people spreading word of bargains and good customer service across social media more than ever, it pays for retailers to get off the high street and on the web.

Micrositez: Social Media and SEO.

Amazon, Black Friday, Christmas Shopping, eBay, online retail

London became the first 4G hotspot in the UK this week, in a trial of the next generation mobile network by O2. The trial was praised by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who hailed the trail as a great example of “how firms are continuing to invest in, and develop, the type of communications services that will keep the UK at the forefront of the digital revolution”.

To run the trial, O2 have installed 25 masts over a 15 square mile area of London which includes Soho and Canary Wharf. This equipment will eventually become part of O2’s 4G UK network, and can carry more data than the whole of O2’s current UK 3G network.

It has already been well documented that smartphone and tablet use are on the rise in the UK, and it has been speculated that this rise is already having an effect on overcrowded 3G networks. With more and more people accessing online content on the go, and a high demand for constant connection, there will need to be large investment by the networks on new masts across the country. Many mobile handset manufacturers have already made it clear that they have plans to integrate 4G into handsets from 2012 onwards, in time for the proposed 2013 activation of the UK-wide network.

In the US, where 4G is already available, consumers are enjoying download speeds of around 15Mbps in comparison to the 1.5Mbps available on 3G networks, but they are paying for the privilege. For a 10GB monthly data allowance, customers in the UK are paying their networks the equivalent of £70 per month, a figure likely to make 4G usage cost effective for only a few users for the moment.

However, when increased data consumption over mobile devices is factored in, and the convenience afforded by constant access to data in smartphones, we may see a big swing away from home broadband to 4G access. After all, if the future really is mobile, why wouldn’t users choose broadband speeds at their fingertips?

Micrositez is an award winning Digital Marketing Agency.

4G, broadband, mobile internet, Smartphones

Eric Schmidt’s letter to the US Senate’s antitrust committee surprised many, thanks to an admission from the Google chairman that there was a “serious threat” to their search dominance. That serious threat is Siri, the voice controlled personal assistant bundled with the iPhone 4S.

At the time of the statement, it may have been difficult for some people to understand why Schmidt was worried – after all, a mere smartphone application should be no match for a search engine giant – but the more we learn about Siri the more it seems that there really might be something to fear.

There are three crucial components to Siri that make it a potential challenger to Google: smartphone integration, voice control and artificial intelligence.

Having the technology enabled in a smartphone also means that users have access to any information they want on the go, and there is no need to connect to a computer to search. And because Siri is enabled by voice control, a user can search for anything that they need by merely asking. A smartphone user having the ultimate convenience of enabling a search by simply talking could be unlikely to revert to traditional search methods, such as going to Google, Yahoo or Bing on their browser. This could create problems for Google’s financial model, based partly on paid advertisement links. Because Siri is not a visual medium, users no not see any advertisements or pay per click links when they search.

Siri’s biggest strength however is the AI technology integrated into the programme. Siri’s development originated with DARPA – the birthplace of the internet – who contracted a firm called SRI International to work on what they called the CALO Project. CALO stands for Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organises, and it was stipulated at the outset that the project was aimed to be an intelligent and friendly personal assistant. Siri is just the first incarnation of this, but is already being praised for adapting to the needs of users and gradually “learning” their preferences.

The announcement of an AI based desktop discovery engine from Siri’s sister company called Trapit will have Google and others watching with interest. The integration of AI into desktop search could well be another threat to Google’s dominance.

Micrositez: Search Engine Marketing.

AI, Google, search engines, Siri, Smartphones, Touchit

Adobe Systems announced in an e-mail to partners last night that it will cease development of its Flash plugins for mobile browsers.  The news appears to signal a shift in focus for Adobe’s mobile strategy; when it launched flash 10.1 in June 2010, the company had lofty plans to have Flash pre-installed on more than half of all mobile devices by 2012. Companies such as Motorola and RIM who heavily promoted the Flash functionality on their products may feel let down by Adobe’s shift in tactic, but will have to accept that mobile browser Flash just wasn’t working.

Mobile-optimised Flash has been desirable to smartphone and tablet users for some time, but has been plagued by problems since its initial launch on Android devices. Development of the plugins had been promised and delayed since 2008, and when it finally did arrive it was only available on devices running Android 2.2 and above. Smartphone users who could not download Flash were frustrated by the lack of availability, while users who did have Flash expressed frustration at bugs and functionality issues.

The news from Adobe may well have a larger impact on another company: Apple. Steve Jobs famously took issue with Flash technology, stating in his widely circulated ‘Thoughts on Flash’ message in April 2010 that “Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it.” Apple’s decision not to support Flash on the iPhone’s iOS software has been criticised in the past, and has been credited with driving some users to purchase alternative smartphones. Now that Flash on mobile is being put to rest, Apple may well have proven that they made the right decision about the technology.

A statement has been promised from Adobe, but analysts are already suggesting that Adobe’s focus will shift to development of HTML5, and focus packaging apps with Adobe AIR. People will also be watching Adobe closely to see whether this could signal the beginning of the end for Flash player on desktop browsers too.

Micrositez: SEO and Social Media.

Adobe, android, Apple, Flash, HTML5, SEO, social media

Google has taken to their blog once again to announce Google+ Pages – the place for companies and organisations to establish a presence on the social network.  Until now, Google+ profiles had been limited to personal profiles assigned to an individual. Now, businesses and brands can create Google+ pages and open up the potential for interaction with the growing number of Google+ users.

By allowing businesses to create a presence on Google+ the new kid on the social network block has opened its doors to those looking to build brand awareness and generate business. The immediate popularity of the new feature is apparent to anyone with a Google+ or Twitter account, as feeds have immediately been littered with links to new Pages. It will be interesting in the coming weeks to see the statistics on new accounts, and the number of Google+ users who are adding organisations to their circles.

One notable feature is Direct Connect. Taking advantage of their search dominance, Google has enabled the feature, which allows a person to find a company’s Google+ name by simply searching for the company’s name with a + symbol in front. This simple search shortcut makes a Google+ Page a must for any company looking to expand their web presence. The open nature of the Pages platform (all feeds are automatically set as “public” meaning anyone can access them) makes companies’ presence immediately accessible, even to those without Google+ accounts. The search engine giant is hoping to merge search and social in a way that means a Google+ page is the essential internet presence for a business, just as websites have traditionally been, and Facebook and Twitter accounts have been more recently.

While immediately popular, there are some issues with the new types of account. A page can only be administered by one Google account, making it difficult for social media teams to maintain a company page as they would do on Facebook. And with little ability to customise their page, there is a limit (at present) to how creative businesses can be with their Google+ presence.

Micrositez is an award winning Digital Marketing Agency.

You can now add the Micrositez Google+ Page to your  circles.

Direct Connect, Google, Micrositez Google+ Page, social media

Email marketing proves to be a returning trend as the latest research carried out by the Direct Marketing Association showed encouraging results.

The results are believed to be coming from a number of successful email campaigns returning higher numbers of traffic; as high as 33% increase in email click through rates between 2009 and 2010.

The email sector saw a 35% rise in the number of emails being sent in 2010. In numbers this transfigured into a growth of email addresses equating to 90.2 million, between Jan-Mar 2010. By the end of 2010 this grew again by 11.5million, totalling 101.7 million email addresses by the end of that year.

There really is great value for companies who can produce something of interest to the consumers, and make them want to sign up. With little cost to the marketer, or the company producing the email, the benefits of a good email campaign are by far outweighing reasons not to.

Which company wouldn’t want to increase their click through rates, and enhance opportunities for lead generation?

James Blunting for the DMA’s Email Marketing Council told The Drum, “Email is driving more traffic to websites than ever before.”

As email marketers in the UK continue to build on this growing industry, the sky really is the limit for what appears to be a bright looking future.

Micrositez: Email Marketing and PPC

direct marketing, Email marketing, PPC

Google has announced that changes have been made to search algorithms that could impact 35% of searches. The changes were announced yesterday on Google’s blog, and reflect one of the biggest tweaks they have made recently. By comparison, the recent Panda update was estimated to only affect 12% of search queries. The last major algorithm change in February was designed to distinguish between high and low quality websites, and award less authority to sites it deemed to be “content farms”.

The latest algorithm changes have been made in response to the increase of social media use in delivering the most recent and up to date news and events on the web. The search engine giant hopes to compete with Twitter and Facebook as the go-to page for updates on the latest news and events, and redirect some of that social media traffic back to search. In order to do this, Google recognised that it had to amend the algorithm to freshen up some stale searches. Google also need to maintain market dominance over Bing, who already include more Twitter feeds and Facebook updates in their search results.

Google Fellow Amit Singhal blogged: “Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today’s world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old.”

In Google’s blog, Amit wrote that changes will affect searches relating to the following:

• Recent events or hot topics – quality content and stories on the latest news and talked about events as they happen.
• Regularly recurring events – relevant updates on annual conferences and events, Olympiad and sporting tournaments.
• Frequent updates – the most up-to-date product queries and reviews (e.g. “best camera” or “ford fiesta review”).

In order to ensure they are not compromised by “freshness spam” (websites re-posting stories to ensure they are the latest word on a topic to boost rankings) the freshness will be determined by the time the page is first crawled. The usual rules of quality and topicality will also apply, so making sure your content is relevant and well-written is key to maintaining rankings.

Micrositez: SEO and Link Building

facebook, Google, link building, search algorithm, SEO, twitter

According to figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, almost half of the UK population now owns a smartphone, and smartphones now make up 70% of mobiles in active use. Data released yesterday showed that the growth of smartphones in the UK isn’t likely to stop anytime soon, and that growth among all operating systems is accelerating.

Analysts expect smartphones to make up between 70% and 90% of the total mobile market within the next two years. UK network carriers are keen to stock a smaller range of phones (as they rarely make a large profit from handset sales) and earn more money by offering data packages on contracts.

Sales of smartphones running Nokia’s soon to be phased out Symbian system have been declining rapidly, and Windows OS phones have yet to take a foothold. Apple’s iPhone makes up a substantial 18.5% of all smartphones in use, and RIM’s Blackberry handsets still manage a 22.5% share despite recent financial and operational woes.

The real success story of the smartphone revolution is Google’s Android. Android operated phones make up a massive 50% of the smartphone market – a quarter of the total mobile phone market. Breaking down the Android figures by manufacturer, Kantar’s market research revealed that HTC are the biggest players on Android. 44.8% of all Android phones sold are manufactured by HTC, with the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, not far behind.

In the 18 months since the first Google operated phone, Android as grown at an astronomical rate, having doubled since the same period in 2010. Kuntar’s consumer insight director Dominic Sunnebo expects Android to maintain this momentum, saying: “Over the next six to twelve months, the current group of Android owners will be coming to the end of their contracts and looking for an upgrade. Our data shows that when these consumers upgrade they tend to remain fairly loyal to Android itself.”

The latest figures released do not yet take account of the massive sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S, the launch of Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich and the new Windows/Nokia partnership. With so much competition among smartphones, consumers will have a wealth of choice when they decide on that upgrade.

Micrositez: SEO and PPC.

android, Apple, HTC, RIM, Samsung, Smartphones, Windows

In a startling admission, Facebook has declared around 0.06% of the logins they receive over any 24-hour period are compromised. This may seem like a small percentage, but it translates to 600,000 compromised logins each day. These hacking statistics were detailed on Facebook’s blog, along with an introduction to new security features. Attempting to reassure users, Facebook said, “We are adapting and responding to new threats everyday and will continue to roll out new ways to protect your account”.

The most talked about of these new additions is the “trusted friends” feature. Users can assign trusted status to between three and five friends. If your account is compromised, Facebook can send codes to the three friends you have nominated. You then simply retrieve the codes from your friends to regain access to your account. Application security is also under the spotlight, and Facebook are now planning to allocate passcodes to maintain security for users.

There are some basic security steps that all users of social media can take to prevent their account being compromised:

• Never share login details with other people
• Choose complicated passwords, containing letters, numbers, and symbols
• Avoid using the same login details for multiple sites
• Regularly change passwords
• Report any suspicious activity on accounts to site administrators, and
• Ensure you log out of your profile/account after each use, especially on shared computers.

Exploting the fear of online insecurity, Jason Zada, a TV, digital and music director, created “Take this Lollipop”. Many users of Facebook will be familiar with this film experience, considering the speed with which it went viral last week.  Users log in using Facebook and are then presented with a security nightmare. (If you’re brave enough, have a look for yourself at www.takethislollipop.com.) It can be speculated that the video’s popularity has a lot to do with the way it taps into the very real fear users have of someone accessing their Facebook accounts.

With social media such an integral part of day to day life for hundreds of millions of people, online sharing has become the norm. The difficulty for many users is striking the balance between sharing and engaging online, with maintaining privacy and security.

Micrositez: Social Media and SEO.

facebook, online security, privacy, social media, take this lollipop

There’s a new kid on the social media block. A cheeky young upstart by the name of Unthink has launched with the lofty ambition of toppling Facebook. By immediately pitting themselves against the big boys of social, they have attracted a lot of attention from the press and bloggers.

But of course, we’ve heard this before. Google+ has the money and clout to take on Facebook but hasn’t taken the mantle (at least for now). Diaspora’s launch in November last year was hyped in tech media, but their growth has been slow and with the site still in alpha release (no features like video, links, etc.) it isn’t likely to be a real challenger for now.  Unthink, however, may just be the one to watch.

Visitors eager to sign up to Unthink have swamped their servers, and users were greeted with this screen almost immediately. (Disclosure: I am one of the masses eager to try it out, and because of high demand have been waiting for an invite code to get started for three days.)

Unthink hopes to appeal to the large contingent of Facebook users who are concerned about privacy and the level of information sharing with advertisers. Unthink CEO Natasha Dedis came up with the Unthink concept when her teenage son wanted to sign up to Facebook. In order to survive the social minefield of school he had to be online, but Natasha was unhappy at the privacy conditions that come with a Facebook account. Her plan was to create a social network that she could feel happy about her son joining.

To attract investment and keep advertisers interested, Natasha developed a novel model for users to control their account. Users can either pay a subscription fee to use the site (just $2 per year) or choose a brand to “sponsor”. By choosing a brand, users are allowing targeted advertising from a company they are already aware of or interested in. This kind of active brand engagement could be the key to the fortunes of Unthink, as at first glance it looks like a win-win for users and advertisers. While no one is expecting them to unseat Facebook from their social media throne anytime soon, they could make a serious impact.

Micrositez: Social Media and PPC.

facebook, social media, social media advertising, Unthink

Head of Google’s web spam team, Matt Cutts recently clarified Google’s thoughts on SEO during one of his recent video blogs, (as featured below).

“SEO is not spam,” Matt said.

His statement was welcomed by many digital marketers who are already aware of this, but often spend a large majority of their time explaining the value of SEO to those led to believe differently. For anyone who doesn’t work in the SEO industry, SEO can often be linked directly with the term spam. As Matt explains in his video, this is not the case.

SEO, otherwise known as search engine optimisation is a great way to get your website performing across search engine platforms. Some of ways in which Micrositez operate, Matt outlines in this video. For example;

• Making sure your pages are crawl able for search engines.
• Making sure people use the right keywords to find you
• Making sure your site design is good
• If you can make your site run faster

These are just some of the white hat tactics adopted by Micrositez. Although we are not denying back hats tactics used within the field of SEO, Micrositez are proud to not be one of them. The obvious differences are black hat swap search engine results pages, (SERPS) where white hats don’t.

Matt on goes on make some valid points, including the following statement, (one we are extremely passionate about) that is; “SEO can be enormously useful.”

Micrositez: Digital Marketing Agency and SEO.

Google, search engine optimisation, SEO

It looked like Microsoft could have it in the bag… And then, search giant Google  raised their hand of interest in the potential take-over, and auction of  struggling search rival, Yahoo.

It’s no secret that media companyYahoo have been struggling for sometime, trying everything in their power to turn the company back around from its disappointing results. 

Appointing Carol Bartz, back in 2009, was part of that recovery plan. However, it became clear those plans had failed, which then led to the firing of Carol Bartz from her position as CEO, on 6^th of September this year.

Yahoo has around 700 million visitors to its website every month, and although Google primarily dominates search in the UK. Yahoo does have significant influence across America as one of the largest websites in the US.   

Benefits of a Google or Microsoft take over are clearly circulated around the trio’s interest in internet advertising, and the combination of Yahoo’s existing network, which includes email services, and advertising partnerships are clear attractions.

It’s thought Google in particular will be particularly keen on any such acquisition of Yahoo, as a clear benefit for Google’s strengthening arm in display advertising.

Yet, despite having the interest, and the cash to buy, we suspect the regulation factors will shout the loudest and impact any decisions to be made. The conglomerate, are already under the watchful eye of the US Federal Trade Commission, who are reviewing Google’s business practices.

Analyst Greg Sterling, at Opus Research in San Francisco told Bloomberg; “If competition dissipates or diminishes, then the hand of regulators is strengthened. If competition is diminished or marginalised, then all the arguments about Google being a monopoly ring more true.”

Yahoo may be America’s largest website, but Google currently hold 65% of the market share in the search sector, with Microsoft just under Yahoo’s 15.5%, at 14.7%.

If Google were to get its hands on Yahoo, it’s certain Microsoft would be completely shut out of any existing relationship with Yahoo, and potential close of any meaningful position in the desktop search market for good.

Micrositez: Display Advertising, Search Engine Optimisation.

Bing, display advertising, Google, microsoft, search engine optimisation, Yahoo

Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit this week,in San Francisco, Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of Google Engineering stated that Google+ will  be  integrated with Google Apps, the company’s cloud-based office suite.  Google has not only focused on social media, but has also has set its sights squarely on the enterprise. The combination of Google+ and Google Apps will pull company’s  two main focuses together.

The Integration of Google+ with Google Apps will allow the Google Apps users whose  identity is linked to domain of their business or other organization to Sign up and start using Google+. Currently you can sign up for Google+ using  your personal Gmail ID only. The Google+  ability to setup selective different circles will allow the corporate users to set up circles for different customers, colleagues and businesses associates.

The industry analysts and experts are waiting to see some enterprise related updates being made to Google+ to get it ready for corporate use.

Micrositez Digital: SEO Agency and Social Media

gmail, Goggle+, Google, Google Apps, Google Circles