Monday, November 29, 2010

The decline of Internet Explorer?

One swallow does not a summer make, & so today's quick gander at my website's Google Analytics does not herald a decisive trend, but ..... for the first time that I can recall, Internet Explorer (IE) is no longer the main browser used to view my Leicester web design company site. Well, its still has the largest market share, just under 40%, but FireFox, Chrome and Safari collectively account for almost 57% of users. A year ago, IE would have had about 70-80% of market share, so that is a considerable decline.

Is my site unique? Is the demographic different? Well, yes and no. Looking at the statistics from some of our client's sites, the decline of IE market share is also visible but not quite so pronounced. The trend appears downward but not uniformly. IE still accounts for approx 60-70% of visitors on some sites but is much lower on others (50-60%). On those sites where IE usage is higher, these sites tend to cater to the B2B user. On those sites where IE usage is lower, their target market is more broadly defined, encompassing B2B & B2C, as well as 'artistic' markets. On one technology consultancy website, Firefox accounts for 51% of visitors while IE only 11%.

As I said at the start, this is too small a snap shot to say definitively that IE is in terminal decline. But one straw in the wind - no Windows based mobile device was recorded in any of the visitor stats on any of the sites I sampled, only iPhone & Android devices were logged. As mobile internet usage grows, IE & its Windows operating system may become irrelevant in mobile market share.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 4

Well, good news for Leicester skip hire company Bakers Waste Services. They are now ranked 13th in Google's natural search results for the search term Leicester skip hire.

So, within less than a month, they have gone from nowhere to page 2, with on page optimisation only. There has been no link building strategy, apart from this one blog. So, that raises interesting questions about the importance of link building - how essential is it, or are quality links the key to higher page 1 rankings?

Watch this space!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 3

We're pleased to announce two developments in relation to this experiment. The first is that a new design of the website has now gone live. The second is that Bakers Waste now has first page ranking for terms such as "skip collection leicester".

So, some significant signs of improvement and it will be interesting to see what influence, if any, the new design has on its Google rankings.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment part 2

Its been 2 weeks since we started the experiment to get Bakers Waste Services on page 1 for search terms such as "skip hire leicester" using only on-page optimisation and the "power of one" - one external link, that is, this blog.

Well, rankings have improved! Bakers Waste is now on page 2 (from nowhere) for terms such as "skip hire leicestershire" but were still not yet there for "skip hire leicester".

So the quest continues ....

Nuneaton Properties Manager Website

Leicester web design company Fresh Web Services are proud to announce the launch of a Properties Manager powered website, Longshoot Properties. Designed by our friends at R&G Design, the website allows administrators to quickly and easily add new properties and news articles, while tenants looking for property to rent in Nuneaton can quickly find what they want.

Properties Manager is a simple and affordable online property management tool, enabling landlords, estate agents and villa owners to easily advertise their property portfolio online.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Skip Hire Leicester - an seo experiment

I've been tasked with improving the search engine rankings for the term 'skip hire leicester' by a client. So, I've created a single page about skip hire in leicestershire on his website, and was wondering what influence a single blog post on Google's own blogging platform might have on its Google rankings.

This page has some basic information about the type of skips that can be hired and what each skip is best used for. I've not gone in for over the top 'on page optimisations' (like loads of headers, etc) & I've also tried to ensure that all the content is original - ie, not lifted from a highly ranking competitor. So, the page has some good, original and useful content. But good content is not usually enough, especially in a competitive search sector.

Good quality inbound links are usually thought to be key factors in improving page rank. That's one reason why almost all the comments on this blog tend to be spam, with links through to some site or other. The spammers are trying to gain inbound links for their own campaigns. So, I thought I'd experiment with the power of one - one deliberate inbound link.

Todate, this website only has one 1st page Google ranking, for the term 'commercial skip hire leicester'. Domestic skip hire leicester is another key phrase, but the real target is skip hire leicester or leicester skip hire.

So, I'll check back in a week or so & see if this little contribution has had any noticeable effect. Although how I quantify the effect is something I frankly don't know yet!

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

LiveLink WCM - new roadmap

Well, OpenText recently announced a new roadmap for their LiveLink WCM product. Sometime after announcing its likely demise, it has now risen, not quite Phoenix like, from the ashes and will have a facelift & other cosmetic enhancements. To celebrate, OpenText are now selling new licences for LiveLInk WCM, almost a couple of years after saying no new licences would be sold.

This announcement can't be good news for RedDot, another WCM offering owned by OpenText - it was RedDot that LiveLink users were meant to migrate to. So, not a vote of confidence in RedDot then.

Frankly, if I was an OpenText customer, I'd be more than a little cheesed off, especially if I'd followed their advice and spent big on migrating to RedDot. I'd also be really annoyed if I was a LiveLink developer who had followed their lead & prepared for the end of LiveLink WCM. What now for those that have invested in training and developing LiveLink - RedDot migration services and technologies?

On the upside, LiveLink WCM customers may save themselves quite a bit by not having to consider migration to another platform. On the downside, can they trust OpenText again?

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Magento Eccomerce Website Launced

Fresh Web Services are pleased to announce the launch of several websites in recent weeks.

First, is the Magento powered Goldmark Books, selling the beautifully produced books published by the Uppingham art gallery and publisher. This is the first of a series of Magento powered ecommerce websites we will be rolling out for Goldmark Art Gallery.

Our most recent project is a Properties Manager holiday cottage rentals software service, appropriately called LookB4UBook. Those searching for a UK holiday cottage can view videos of the cottages and the surrounding area, as well as viewing pictures and reading descriptions, etc.

Last, but not least, Northampton Probation Trust website is live. Powered by the award winning Joomla! content management system, we were responsible for the design, hosting, training and implementation of the project.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Paypal Scam

I received an email today purporting to be from PayPal, with the subject of "Your account has been limited and will be suspended."

The body of the email is as follows:
        Dear customer,

During our regular screening we have detected that your account
has been accessed by
different IPs which does not match the IP you've registered
your paypal account.

PayPal is trying to protect paypal community and your
account can be
suspended.Please download the attachement,
read and fill in the form to avoid suspension.
If suspended a copy of your driver license
will be required and other documents which confirm your identity.

PayPal Validation Department
Message ID 8128F
The attached file is 'Restore Access Account.html' Downloading and completing this form would give these criminals access to your Paypal account. Sending a copy of your driving licence would enable them to steal your identity and Lord knows what else.

So, please be aware and do not reply to such criminal attempts.