Online Marketing for SMEs

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Setting up Google Analytics on Your Website
2007-11-26 00:11:00
Not got Google Anal ytics ? Here is a short video showing you how to get started with this powerful website statistics packages (and it is completely FREE)
More About: Website , Google Analytics

A Little Often Goes a Long way WIth Search Engine Optimisation
2007-11-22 14:36:00
When was the last time you updated or added new content to your website? Yesterday? Last week? Last Month? NEVER!I hope it is not the later, but don't worry if it is you can change that from now.Search Engine Optimisation Tip - Did you know that many search engines check to see when you last updated your site and use that as a gauge as to whether your site is up to date and relevant - the logic here is that a site that has been update in the last month is going to be more relevant that a site that has not been updated for over a year.So what to do about this. Well assuming you have access to edit and add content to your website (either via FTP or through a Content Management System) you should go in an make sure that the information on your website is up to date. It is? well start adding some content - Make it a once a week habit (once a day if you can really spare the time).There is another added bonus of doing this - over time you will be building your website so it could have po...
More About: Search Engine , Long , Search Engine Optimisation

Free food on Offer
2007-11-07 16:32:00
We will very soon be launching a new site called Independent Restaurants Newcastle which as the name may suggest is all about the promotion of Restaurants in Newcastle. The site is live now, but the big launch event will be in the next couple of months.The site is part of a marketing strategy to promote the diverse range of restaurants in Newcastle that do not form part of a national or international chain.Anyway, enough of that preamble HOW ABOUT THAT FREE MEAL? The site is due to offically launch early in 2008 and as part of the launch many of the restaurants are going to be offering discounts, buy one get one free offers an the like (thats your free meal by the way, you didn't expect it to be totally free did you?). If you sign up to the enewsletter you will be sent this voucher booklet straight to your inbox as soon as it is ready!To get the booklet go to the Independent Restaurants Newcastle website and sign up for the offer at the bottom left of the page.This is a no strings ...
More About: Food , Free , Offer

Crank up you Adwords Campaign NOW
2007-11-05 18:15:00
It's been a while since my last post but I thought I best get back online and tell you about what you should be doing now to get the most from your ecommerce store in the run up to Christmas.Like any shop Christmas can be one of the most important times of the year, often contributing to a large amount of the annual turnover of a company. If you were running a shop you would want to be dragging people through the door when they have the money in there pocket and the intent to spend it. Well it is exactly the same with your ecommerce store.It could be worth ploughing a lot more money into your Google Adwords budget to get those buyers onto your website. As long as you are measuring the cost per sale correctly you are likely to see this figure go down - which means your Google Adwords campaigns are running much more effectively. Assuming you are making a profit with these sales (and lets face it if you are not then Google Adwords may not be for you) then spend more money, up your dai...
More About: Campaign , Crank , Cran

7 Top Tips To Choosing the Right Web Development Company For Your Business.
2007-10-05 15:09:00
Gone are the days when Internet Marketing was a tool that only those with a large budget or great technical expertise could actually make use of on a day to day basis. These days most businesses of all sizes and backgrounds recognise the important part that online marketing and web development can play in promoting and expanding their enterprise.Baring all of this in mind, I’ve put together ‘Mancala’s 7 top tips’ when choosing a Web Development Company :1. The first thing to think about is what does your website need to achieve to expand your business. This is important as many businesses can end up spending money on unnecessary features which may not directly be beneficial to them. It is important that you have a clear idea of what you would like your website to accomplish early on, as the greater the functionality, the more research and work will be involved which will inevitably push up you costs.2. Even if this is your first foray in to online marketing check your deve...
More About: Business , Tips

Hit’s Versus Visitors – What Are Your Webstats Really Telling You About
2007-09-26 17:50:00
One of the most common queries I come up against time and time again from my clients is the confusion surrounding the difference between visitors and hits on sites. It’s a common misconception that is used to great effect in marketing and PR to dazzle target audiences with mid boggling statistics on the huge amount of hits a newly launched sites have received during its first month.Working in the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and New Media field as a whole for many years, this has long been a bug bare of mine and I hope to dismiss some of the myths surrounding it in the hope of educating consumers when deciphering their own webstats in the future.First of all, Website owners should be most concerned with Visitors whom account for individual activity on a site. The difference between a Visitor and a hit is that a hit is created every time an action on a webpage is recorded or a page is loaded up.For example logo’s, images, files, and graphics loaded as HTML, CSS and Java Scr...
More About: Versus

Ecommerce Tips for Christmas 2007!... Already
2007-09-19 01:35:00
Although most of us have only just unpacked from our Summer Holidays the retail year marches relentlessly on, as I discovered to my horror in my local supermarket over the weekend. Keen to stay ahead of their competitors, giant retailers are unabashed at panicking their customers in to preparing for Christmas with the ever expanding array of seasonal foods and gifts available from September onwards.Despite the palpitations it evokes in most of us it does bring home the importance of preparation for this period and it couldn't be more important to retailers this year as research shows that in the UK alone consumers will spend over £10 billion pounds in the run up to the festive season.As a web design and development company Mancala Technology have begun to contact our Ecommerce clients with the following 7 top tips to ensure that we all receive a little Christmas cheer this year:1) Planning is everything.Take a tip from the high street and get organised early. Give your business or...
More About: Tips

Don't forget to Email your Client List
2007-09-11 15:13:00
It is easy to forget that you have a list of clients who have bought your services/ products before. Don't forget to get in touch with them. Assuming you have done a good job they are more than likely to buy from you again - and it is a lot easier than trying to find new clients.Make sure you make the effort to send an email out to them. See what happensEmail Marketing Newcastle
More About: List , Client

Christmas is coming! Well not quite but it is time to start thinking about
2007-09-11 14:41:00
A reminder popped up in my calender today telling me to start my campaigns for Christmas . 'Its only September', I thought, 'Fenwicks haven't even started to clean there windows for there Christmas Display'. However I new my reminder was correct as Christmas does have a habit of creeping up.This year I will be telling all my ecommerce clients to check their AdWords campaigns to ensure they are allocating the correct budget and are testing the campaigns so they are getting a maximum return on investment (ROI).It is amazing how well AdWords campaigns perform at any time of year, but during the Christmas season it is the only sure way to get traffic to your website. There is another reason why you should be spending time now on getting this right - AdWords and the keywords you choose are ranked based on how much you want to pay per click (PPC) and also the 'quality' of you advert - if your advert has a high click through rate then it is likely that it will appear higher in the li...
More About: Time , Start , Thinking , Well

Welcome to Online Marketing for SMEs
2007-09-07 14:47:00
Hi my name is Deryck, and welcome to my first post on Online Marketing for SMEs. I have been working in IT for 18 years, the last 8 of those years I have been involved with business large and small promoting them online. Currently I run Newcastle Based Web Design and Online Marketing Agency Mancala Technology Limited.I decided to start this blog because I often come across ideas and suggestions that will help businesses like yours get a competitive advantage in the world of online marketing.What is online marketing?Online marketing covers a whole range of functions - I will list a few, but this is not an exhaustive list.Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the ability to get your site listed high is search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN (to name but a few). As someone once told me, getting to the top of Google does not happen by accident. By implementing a good SEO strategy over time you will see your site climb the rankings.Google AdWords Campaigns, or Pay Per Click (PPC). PPC cam...