Opt in – You can only carry out unsolicited marketing by email if the individual you are sending the message to has given you their permission. If you are at a business networking meeting and email addresses are circulated then this would be within the law as someone’s presence at such a meeting gives implicit permission to be contacted.

Opt-out / Unsubscribe – In tandem with the above, a ’soft’ opt-in must be accompanied by the addressee being able to opt out or unsubscribe from future emails easily. A clear statement of how and who to contact should be provided and acted on quickly.

Good data management – It is important that good data quality practice is carried out so a system must be in place to update email addresses, record bounced emails and correct where necessary.

For sending out bulk emails we would always recommend using a good email client such as Constant Contact rather than Outlook cc lists as it helps you comply with data protection laws as well as providing many other benefits:

• automatic handling of opt outs and opt in so you can easily comply with data protection laws
• tracking of open rates, bounces and click through’s so you can assess the success of your email
• tools to improve your data quality

Please get in touch to discuss setting up email marketing for your business. See our email marketing page for more information.

1. The domain name should include or be your business name

Sounds obvious but the domain should be as close as possible to your business name otherwise you risk confusing your customers. Failing that, the domain name you choose should reflect your services. For example the UK DIY chain B&Q use www.diy.com as their main website with variants of www.bandq.com pointing at their main page (also the `&` is a banned character for domain names).

If someone has already bought the domain name you want to use then you can find out who they are using a tool like http://whois.domaintools.com/. Then unfortunately it?s a case of negotiation until you agree a price. We have been quoted prices starting at £500 to purchase an existing domain name from a broker.

If you’re starting from scratch it’s useful to check what domain names are available so you can adjust your final business name to suit – see our domain name checker http://www.webgrowth.co.uk/domain-name-check.php

2. Brand or descriptive name or combination?

Amazon started out as an online book seller but spent a lot money building their brand so everyone knows what they do. Without that backing it’s best to choose a name that reflects your services so “companyname.com” should for example be “companynameproperty.com”. This more literal approach makes it easier for your prospects to understand your services and counts in your favour for search engines ranking.

3. Long or short names?

Domain names can be up to 67 characters. Longer names are more susceptible to spelling mistakes but fare better in search engines as the name includes descriptive keywords. Shorter names are more memorable but need to be relevant to your business.

4. .com, .org, .net, or .co.uk and the rest?

If your aim is world domination then ‘.com’ is always worth considering however think carefully about your business and where it is delivered. Sometimes indicating you’re from a particular location is better in e-commerce where your customers might prefer to deal with a company in their own country. ‘.org’ implies a not for profit organisation and ‘.net’ is ok if a name is not available but beware of trying to simply operate a ‘.net’ version of a competitor’s website as this could end up in the law courts!

If you have any questions about buying a domain or website hosting then please get in touch.

Windows and Internet Explorer users who subscribe to automatic updates will be presented with a screen offering a choice of 12 browsers, including IE, with the top five displaying in a random order.

Here’s our quick guide to the top 10 browsers that you’ll be presented with.

Internet  Browser	Pros	Cons
Internet Explorer (Microsoft)	Versions 7, 8, stable and security improved, auto complete on address bar	Still a major target for hackers and Malware. Version 6 has particularly poor security and stability with crashes that can affect the operating system.
FireFox (Mozilla)	Very fast, stable, very secure and well supported, good features and add-ons	Can get a little bloated with all the available add-ons which means start up a little slow.
Chrome (Google)	Fast and stable, good security	Relatively new, lack of ‘nerdy’ features / add-ons (which may well be a pro for some users!)
Opera (Opera)	Fast and secure, some useful features	Lacking widgets and add-ons
Safari (Apple)	Neat interface, secure up to a point.	Lacking in features, actually quite insecure but not currently targeted by hackers and virus writers
Flock	Social networking dedicated browser, friendly interface	Doesn’t support major web services
Maxthon	Easy to useSupports many plug-ins Customizable	Lacks competitors features like thumbnail previews, a smart toolbar, and anti-phishing technology
Avant Browser	User-customizable tabbed interface Page zoom slider – 25% to 500% Multiple home pages Good support	Lacks parental controls and ability to synchronize settings from other browsers
Deepnet Explorer	Pop-up BlockerAnti-phishing Peer-to-peer facility for file sharing	Not as intuitive as other browser
PhaseOut	Customizable and tailored to easy surfing Top Security Features	No password manager, feeds, or parental controls

This move will result in the further erosion on Internet Explorer’s market particularly with faster and more secure browsers being freely available.

See the following links for more information.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/mar/01/microsoft-windows-browser-choice-screen

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/mar/01/microsoft-browser-choice-which-best

http://www.honeytechblog.com/pros-and-cons-of-top-10-web-internet-browsers/

The only problem was that goods never arrived.

The website is currently down for maintenance, the call centre numbers have been terminated and thousands of people are trying to get refunds from their credit card companies.

We are very concerned how such a company could get hold of an Internet Merchant Account (so they can debit credit cards) and a secure server (the padlock that appears on websites to indicate you are transmitting confidential information) as both normally require lots of form filling and hard proof of business credentials. That said, smart criminals are adept at getting around this type of requirement so here are some tips for spotting a fake website:

• Ask yourself whether the site is selling brand name items at too cheap a price.
• Check where the website is registered, how long it has been registered and to whom it is registered. You can search for domain name registrant information using an online search tool, such as whois.com and nominet.org.uk (for .uk domain names).
• Always check for feedback, both positive and negative. Enter the website name into a search engine
• Find out about the company you’re buying from and where it is based. Companies should supply their full geographic address, not just a post office box or mailbox number. Check the address using a search engine – you can often find out if it is just a mail forwarding service.
• Find out how to contact the company and look for a landline number. Establish if the number works or whether it is just an automated message or an answer phone. Be wary if only an email address or mobile phone number is provided.
• Beware of companies that have recently set up and have a tiny or non-existent internet footprint.

See this article for more background information:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/jan/15/focusclothing-customers-out-of-pocket

Please get in touch to discuss any aspect of e-commerce.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3210429&

This was prompted by the publication on the Internet of what is effectively a hacker`s recipe book for malicious websites to install all kinds of unwelcome software on a PC using Internet Explorer. This is software that slows down your PC and could steal passwords and personal information.

Microsoft themselves have recognized the security flaw and are working on a patch that won`t be released until 9th February 2010. In the mean time both the German and French governments are advising their citizens to steer well clear.

These days Microsoft`s Internet Explorer is less and less important with excellent rivals FireFox and Google’s new Chrome browser eating into its market share. At the time of writing less than 50% of all web users now use Internet Explorer.

http://www.webgrowth.co.uk/latest-browser-market-share.php

The publicity around the German and French warning means that Internet Explorer`s market share looks set to fall even further which also means a few extra grey hairs for any conscientious web developer. Your website should always be developed and checked for the major browsers FireFox, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera as there can be marked differences in how the same page displays. As long as the pages are developed using good coding practice then most issues can be fixed without too much hair tearing!

The race for the Christmas No. 1

The ITV reality show X-Factor commands huge audiences and is popular with children, teenagers and adults alike. In the past few years the winner has always had the Christmas number one selling single until this year. A Facebook group was started with the aim of getting US rap metal band Rage Against the Machine`s song `Killing in the name` to Christmas No.1 instead.

There have been similar campaigns in the past – last year a group was set up to get Jeff Buckley`s classic version of `Hallelujah` to number 1 instead of the X-Factor winner`s version – but this group really seemed to chime with the public. Despite the massive publicity provided by the X-Factor, Rage Against the Machine made Christmas No. 1 quite easily in the end, outselling the X-Factor by over 50 000 copies. A simple Facebook group started for free, mobilised enough people to beat a multi million pound promotional machine that had previously thrashed all comers to the Christmas No.1.

Trafigura and Twitter

We`ll need to tread carefully here, but earlier this year oil trading company Trafigura got very heavy with any media considering reporting on cases of health problem emerging from the Ivory Coast where contaminated oil had been dumped. The Guardian and process industry magazine The Chemical Engineer received gagging orders from Trafigura`s libel lawyers preventing them from even mentioning the issue.

Trafigura`s various injunctions were rendered pointless when news leaked onto Twitter, various important political blogs and finally mainstream media.

More details here:

http://www.tcetoday.com/tcetoday/NewsDetail.aspx?nid=12188

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/13/trafigura-ivory-coast-documents-toxic-waste

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/oct/13/twitter-online-outcry-guardian-trafigura

Jan Moir and that Daily Mail article

Daily Mail columnist Jan Moir wrote an article about the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately that was at best ill informed but to many had homophobic undertones. Without social media the article would have slipped by unnoticed by the wider world, however people started discussing the article on Twitter and Facebook and the touch paper was lit.

The Mail`s website was deluged with negative comments, but significantly, major advertisers such as Marks and Spencer and Tesco had their banner advertising removed from the article on the Mail`s website.

See the facebook group here:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=151083562155&ref=ts

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/oct/16/stephen-gately-jan-moir

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/oct/16/jan-moir-stephen-gately-facebook-twitter

Your business and social media

The power of social media to influence and spread information is something you can harness for your own business. Some example uses include the following:

• Setting up a facebook group about your company, create events and send out invitations
• Use twitter to remind people about new services, and link to updates on your website
• Setup a YouTube channel with video footage of relevant services, key personnel talking about important subjects
• Use a personal Linked In profile to update your contacts about your activities
• Use ipadio to record and share audio updates from your mobile phone and share automatically on Facebook, Twitter and other social media

When you do take the plunge it`s important that you plan what you are going to say and your profiles are setup properly with appropriate branding. Also your main website should allow users to share on your website using services like AddThis.

Please see our social media page for links and more information.

Microsoft`s new Bing search engine

Microsoft`s clout means Bing will gradually eat into Google`s near monopoly, but most of the same good SEO (search engine optimisation) principles that work with Google will work with Bing.

Therefore Google is still THE search engine you should consider when optimising your website to appear higher in search engine results. We have made Google`s own Search Optimisation Guide available on our search engine optimisation page, which is an excellent introduction to a huge subject.

Please get in touch for more information on getting your website ranking higher on search engines.