1) Contact Details
Contact details should always be offered in an internationally accepted format. For example local phone numbers should be changed from (e.g. 01727 739812 t o +44 (0) 1727 739812).

Also consider use of a local phone number. Skype (and many other VoIP companies) offer local phone numbers (e.g., Skype’s service is called “SkypeIn”), which can be dialled from any phone. You can choose to receive calls either via your computer, or forward them to a landline or mobile. See www.skype.com, www.voipvoip.com or www.mydivert.com for more details.

You may also consider buying domain names for your target country, in which case consider using email addresses for that country, these can forward to an existing email address, so for example if we used fl1group.fr to target a French audience we may advertise enquiries@fl1group.fr which may then in turn forward to our current enquiries@fl1group.com.

Use local addresses if possible. These may be the addresses of local partners, distributors or agents, or could be virtual. For more information on sourcing local addresses try www.regus.com or www.globalvirtualaddress.com – or search on Google. If you’re using a UK address, ensure the country is included.

Finally, if you display your VAT number, VAT registration numbers should have the “GB” prefix.

2) Internationalised English
If you’re not keen to offer different translations of your website’s copy, consider using International English. It is easy for the British to be understood anywhere, so they think, because everyone now knows English. The trouble is it’s easy for us when it’s our first language but it’s not a level playing field if English is not our partners’ mother-tongue.

• Use shorter sentences and keep sentences active, not passive.
• Use headings, sub-headings, bullets and bold text to make your text easier to read and absorb.
• Avoid or explain any abbreviations or acronyms, e.g. WEEE.
• Avoid or explain any jargon, metaphors, cultural references and geographic references that may not be understood or may be misunderstood. Explain references to UK or international institutions, standards or legislation, e.g. TSB.
• Try to provide visual support whenever possible, this can include diagrams or just well selected Imagery.

3) Language Translations
A 2004 survey by Forrester found that internet users are four times more likely to buy from a website in their own language. This can be achieved in a number of ways, but generating translated copies of existing pages, using Google’s free imbedded translation tool, or by using a Content Management System with support for translations.

An important point to consider is that one design may not fit all. Chinese and Japanese websites for example read right to left and down the page, so a typical UK website structure would make it very difficult for a local readers. Arabic is another example where text is read right to left, hence a left-to-right European layout would again be inadequate.

From a technical view, web pages need to use international character encoding to ensure that non Western European characters can be used. This is not always the case with many web pages by default.

It’s common for entire localised versions of a website to be built and adapted in terms of layout and content for a local market. For example, quite often imagery and in some cases product names will need to be adapted for different markets, and an special localised copy of the website can often fulfill this need.

Whenever planning and designing an international website, always consider carefully the languages you wish to use first and never assume that “one size fits all”, it rarely does.

Also consider designing the layout of the website with concepts being developed in two languages from the outset. German is a particularly good example, where quite often words are longer. This approach makes it easier to identify potential sizing and formatting issues early on, and can save expensive revisions later in the build process.

4) Local Domain Names and Hosting
It is a good idea to buy local domains (e.g., .de,.fr, co.in, .be ) for all your key target markets, even if you don’t use them yet. You wouldn’t want a competitor to get there first!
Over time you can migrate your foreign language content to these local domains.

In the UK, it’s easy to register .co.uk domain names, however it’s not always the case in other countries. It’s quite often a lengthy process that involves you proving that you are a legally trading business within that country. Having a local partner or agent can help with this, or sourcing a local domain registration agent. Using the latter approach can often be expensive by comparison to registering a domain name in the UK.

If you are investing in a local domain, then hosting it on a local server can make a big impact on Search Optimisation. Remember, Google lets you restrict your search to ‘pages from the [UK] only’ – and many people do this.

Here is a recent interview with Google spokesman, Matt Cutts, discussing the impact of server location on Google rankings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXt23AXlJJU

5) Local Search Engines
Just because your website appears in Google.co.uk it doesn’t mean that it will in the other regional Google searches. It’s also fair to say that outside of the UK and US Google isn’t the only game in town. There are a number of tools that can be used to submit your site in to directories both locally and internationally, and these should always be considered.

Google also has a geotargeting option in its Webmaster Tools (Google Webmaster Tools is a free service from Google, available at: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/ – you need to create a Google account first).

This is available for all ‘top-level’ domains (.com, .net, .org) and allows you to tell Google where in the world you would like specific pages of your website to appear.
For example, if you had created a microsite for the USA, with five pages of specific content for the USA, you could use Google’s geotargeting tool to make these pages more visible to people searching on google.com in the USA.

just as it is with your website within the UK, always look to get quality in-bound links from local sources, that link and refer to your website.

Look to obtain links through getting a listing in:
(a) reputable online directory/directories including open source directories; For example Applegate, who are part of Alibaba, a popular international directory. Submit your international pages (or domains) to the relevant country-specific sections
(b) business networking, e.g. creating your own group on LinkedIn;

The update also demotes one of the complainants to the European Commission, Microsoft-owned Ciao, which will almost vanish from many searches as a result of the downgrading.

Many voucher and discount sites have also been hit by the wide-ranging changes. So have some so-called “content farms” such as Ehow and Mahalo.

We’ve also seen websites we work with hit where the subscribe content from a third-party website or are using affiliate linking. Initial research seems to suggest that the publisher of the affiliate program isn’t effected, more the affiliated website that refers to the source website.

For more details visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/pda/2011/apr/13/google-panda-uk-update-winners-losers

In reality, this can be tedious, time consuming and costly task that can often yield fewer results than expected.

If you consider how people get to your website, in essence there are three fundamental types of visitor:

1) Direct Traffic. This is where people type your web address directly in to the address bar of the browser, they know who you are, and how to get to you, and that’s just what they do.
This can be an existing customer, the result of a telephone conversation, clicking on a link to your site on your email signature, or simply someone who has your business card and wants to take a look at your website.

2) Search Engines. This takes little explanation. Your prospective customer types something in to a search engine and up comes your website. From the Search Engine listing they click through to your website.

3) Referrals. This is where someone has seen a link to your website on another website and clicked through. In effect your website has been referred to or recommended by another website.

Most business owners focus on Direct Traffic in day to day conversations and when networking.
Search Engines are more often than not most website owner’s primary focus, with so much buzz around Search Engine Optimisation and a weight of expectation in Google being the answer.

So what about Referrals?

This is the one grey area that most Search Optimisation companies gloss over and most business owners shy away from and often don’t understand. The reality is though, that done well this can seriously improve your business online as well as offline.

What is a Referral?

Simply put, it’s a link from someone else’s website to yours. There’s really nothing very technical about it, it’s just a hyperlink, or could even be an advert, it really depends on what you’ve agreed with the owner of the website linking to you.

Sounds simple enough right, so where’s the catch?
Read that last part again “it really depends on what you’ve agreed with the owner of the website linking to you”. This is the bit that presents a challenge to most business owners .

If you think about what type of websites might link to yours, they generally might fit in to a few categories:

1) Local or business listing directories
2) Portals running articles or press releases submitted by you
3) Suppliers or strategic partners
4) Customers, brand advocates, resellers of your products

1 and 2 you can achieve quite easily with a bit of thought and investigation, however 3 and 4 and much tougher ones to crack.

That said, most of the time they’re not. More often than not, it’s a simple conversation that needs to be had between two business owners to get to know each other and discuss how they might be able to collaborate together and advertise each other’s services via a link on each other’s websites.

Now that in my book is called “networking”, and as those who read this who regularly go “networking” know, it’s all in the relationship and the simplest of initial chats can lead to untold opportunities.
The most successful websites that we’ve built that have really achieved great things online, have used this approach.

The best bit about it is; take care of the link building and relationship building and more often than not, your Google listings take care of them self.

Want to find out more, why not give us a call on 01727 739812 or book yourself on one of our free workshops.

I know lot of companies who should have experimented haven’t because of the perceived complexity of the system. I know that I was put off initially.

But it’s not that bad, in fact we’ve even put together a beginner’s guide to break you in gently.

The Basics
So let’s start at the beginning; Google Base is an online database provided by Google providing ‘meaningful structured data’. A user can add any type of online or offline content, ie text, images and structured information in formats like XML, PDF, Excel, RTF and Word Perfect.

If Google finds your product relevant it may appear on it’s shopping search engine, Google Maps, or even ‘universal search’ results on regular Google web search pages.

Google Base is free and products are submitted via data feeds or the Google base API. It has recently been split into Google Base and Google Merchant Centre. Google Base is now used for events, jobs and vehicles, while Google Merchant Centre is for everything else.

How can Google Base and Google Merchant Centre help you?
Typically a search might trigger a small number of Google Product listings, and people can either click straight through to the merchant’s site or browse more similar products. If they browse more, they are taken to a page where they can refine their search based on a number attributes users can specify about products.

Generally the more information you provide about the product the better. Not every company has gone to the effort of submitting their products, so often it can be a great way to get more result page real estate and drive more business through your ecommerce site.

If you are a product-based business you need to sign up for a Google Merchant Centre account to enable them to upload products.

An account can be created here

Product Attributes
You will need to create a list of attributes to associate with your products. Google Merchant Centre provide a list of attributes that can be associated with any product, and you can also create your own attributes.

Popular Attributes

• title
• brand
• color
• model number
• condition
• description
• id
• image_link
• link
• price
• product_type
• payment_accepted
• location
• payment_notes

You can also create your own customs attribute, you need to start the attribute with a “c:”

There’s more information on attributes, over at Google

Once you have chosen your attributes and described all of your products in this way you need to upload it.

Though there are several formats you can use, an XML document is usually the easiest.

Most of our e-commerce solutions have an automated feed option that can be used. If not, we’re happy to add one.

For more information, feel free to drop us a line at client@fl1group.com or call 01727 739812.

It surprised us how well it’s been working and how well it’s been received.
All we’ll say is; if you’ve been thinking a Facebook page is a waste of time…think again!

www.facebook.com/fl1group

Garth also tied the knot this month to lovely Emma and has been showing us boys in the office the virtues of healthy eating brought on by married life.

We also welcome Pako to the team (Alex’s brother) to help out on the design and sales team. Pako will be working initially on launching our new e-commerce and ebay platform which will be announced next week.

Finally, following the feedback we received from the recent Google Analytics Workshops, we’ve decided to make them a regular thing and add a few more while we’re at it, including:

• Social Media Essentials Workshop (Tuesday 23rd November)
• Search Engine Optimisation Essentials Workshop (Wednesday 24th November)
• Copy Writing Essentials Workshop (Tuesday 30th November)
• Word Press Essentials Workshop (Tuesday 7th December)
• Google Analytics Essentials Workshop (Thursday 9th December)
• ECommerce Essentials Workshop (Wednesday 1st December)

The workshops are completely FREE, all we ask is that you reserve a place in advance.

See you next month!

More about Macintosh data recovery

A common problem can be with links that are used in website menus that move, or appear to fly-out when you hover over them. These can often use Javascript to create the animation effect.

So why is Javascript such a big problem? The truth is, it isn’t always, however depending on how the Javascript is written, and it can be very difficult for Google to ascertain where the link is actually going to.

If Google can’t work this out, it won’t be able to find all the pages on your
website.

If Google can’t access all the pages on your website, it can’t read all of the content you have.

If Google can’t read your entire website’s content, it will only be able to run you based on a fraction of the keywords it could possibly find.

If Google doesn’t find all the keywords it could, guess what… poor ranking!

Adding sitemaps and pages full of links can help this issue, but ensuring search natural links using Search Engine accessible code is always safest.

As a final thought, it’s also not just about Search Engine accessibility, but human accessibility. People using screen readers and relying on the use of a keyboard without a mouse will also likely encounter problems.

Jason did an interview with BBC online this week about Business Resilience in the recession along with writing off his motorbike (he wasn’t hurt at all thankfully!).

We’ve only just launched our new Facebook page a few weeks ago and already have 93 followers.
It surprised us how well it’s been working and how well it’s been received.
All we’ll say is; if you’ve been thinking a Facebook page is a waste of time…think again!
http://www.facebook.com/fl1group

The free Google Analytics sessions we ran throughout August have been so well received, we’ve decided to continue running them on a monthly basis. For more details on these sessions visit http://www.fl1group.com/google-analytics.asp

So what next?
Well, we’ve got a new series of seminars being planned, a whole new e-commerce platform launching that includes an eBay integration and direct links to Amazon, PriceRunner and Kelkoo.

See you next month!

Domain names link (or resolve) to an IP (Internet Protocol) address which could be thought of as a digital postal address. An IP address looks like 214.213.87.564 which although is useful to a computer, is not all that useful or memorable to a human being. For this reason, Domain Names were introduced to make internet addressing much more usable for us human beings.

How do I get a Domain Name?
Domain Names can be acquired from a Registrar. Most Web design companies will offer this service for you, however it’s simple to acquire a Domain Name yourself. Popular registrars include 123-Reg, Go Daddy, UK Reg and 123 Connect and FL1 Group.

Who owns a Domain Name?
Domain names are generally owned by a small number of key bodies. For example Nominet and TUCOWS. When you register a domain name, you in effect lease the domain name, you never actually own it.

How long can I register a domain name for?
In theory as long as you want. Typically 2 years tends to be the standard registration term.

Can someone else take control of my domain name?
Technically no, although in theory if someone managed to convince your Registrar that they were working for your company, they could redirect your domain name to somewhere other than where it should be. This isn’t
typical, but sadly can happen.

What happens when my domain name expires?
When a registration expires, it falls in to what’s called a Redemption Period. Typically as the last registrant, you are given first refusal to renew the registration. If the Redemption Period elapses, the domain name becomes publically available for purchase again. Depending on the registrar, there is often an additional charge to renew a domain name once it’s in redemption.
This can sometimes be hundreds of pounds.

How much do they cost?
They vary. A .co.uk domain name will cost between £7.00 and £20.00 for 2 years, whereas a .com will be between £25 and £50 for two years.

What suffixes are available?
There are a wide range that are both generic and specific to a particular country.
For a comprehensive list visit: http://www.sharpened.net/helpcenter/domains.php

What happens if someone else has registered my domain name?
This is common where a web designer has registered a domain name in their own name rather than their client’s. This is not good practice, but unfortunately is not uncommon. In some cases it’s possible to write to the registrar and provide evidence that the domain name registration is rightfully yours. This is not always a simple process and can take many months to resolve.

How many domain names can you have?
As many as you need. Always purchase the key .co.uk, .net and .com names for your business name if you can. This can protect your brand and block your competitors from trading under your name.

In summary
1) ensure a domain name is registered in your business’ name, not your web designers’
2) ensure your domain names don’t expire. This can be a costly mistake
3) protect your brand and buy all the necessary .co.uk, .net and .com domain names
4) if you’re a business, avoid .org and .org.uk. These are for generally for not for profit organisations, not businesses.

Don’t forget, if you need any more advice or need help with any of the above call us on 01727 739812!

The points behind this question include:

• well-established sites have old domain names, so by reverse logics, an old domain should mean that the site is well established;
• spammers register and drop domains quickly, thus logically spamming sites usually have newly registered domain names.

Generally, webmasters agree that domain age isn’t the most important Search Engine ranking factor but opinions vary:

1. it can be no factor at all;
2. it can play only a single minor factor in the millions of other factors (but it still is);
3. it matters a lot.

Google’s patent “Information Retrieval Based on Historical Data” of 31/03/2005 implies that Google does look into domain registration (1) and renewal (2) dates:

1. … the date that a domain with which a document is registered may be used as an indication of the inception date of the document.

2. Certain signals may be used to distinguish between illegitimate and legitimate domains.
… Valuable (legitimate) domains are often paid for several years in advance, while doorway (illegitimate) domains rarely are used for more than a year. Therefore, the date when a domain expires in the future can be used as a factor in predicting the legitimacy of a domain and, thus, the documents associated therewith.

While the patent does sound rather straightforward (by the way its official version is no longer available online, so it might have been deleted), domain age factor is both overestimated and misinterpreted. The point is simple: domain registration date cannot speak for either quality or trustworthiness of a website as:

• domains can be registered but never used for a long time (parked);
• new domains can be used for highly established companies (with the old domain redirecting to the new one);
• domain name can be used for illegitimate purposes for years and then sold to a “good” person/company without any change of the initial registration date.

Thus our verdict to the whole dispute is as follows:

1. Website age (and its backlink profile age) is what really matters;
2. Domain age can play a minor part only as damping factor – i.e. one of the factors signaling the search engine that this might be a spammy / illegitimate site;
3. Old domains may carry more weight due to their past records (i.e. old backlinks pointing to them) – this can be a good point to consider but then again if you are serious about your brand, keep in mind that an established domain already has associations and history before you own it and they might be hard to conquer.

Conclusion: domain registration date won’t of course hurt but it will hardly help. So we would focus on registering a new short niche-related and catchy domain name instead of trying to buy an old (previously owned by someone) one.

Not for us I’m glad to say, as the internet gets busier and busier with more online business being done than ever before.

A key part of making any business work is being to measure its performance and make effective decisions on your findings.

The internet is no different.

Using tools such as Google Analytics, it’s possible to see what’s working and more importantly not working with your website.

We continue to get asked more questions about Google Analytics than any other subject, that’s why we’re offering a free training session throughout this August.

Drop us a line or follow this link if you’d like to know more.