Tag Archives: Search engine optimisation

SEO Agency Generates New Visitors For Luxury Hotel Resort

Online marketing agency QueryClick has helped a luxury hotel resort dramatically improve its Natural Search returns by driving over 30,000 new unique visitors to its website between 2011-2012.

One of the specialities of the search marketing firm is to help businesses get better results online through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), which ensures that their clients’ websites appear higher and perform better when Internet users make searches on Google.

The Edinburgh-based agency also helped generate 33,824 organic visits to the Rockliffe Hall website – an increase of 50% compared with the previous year. Of those visits, 3,883 came through on non-brand terms compared with 1,999 during the same period of the previous year. This represents a 94% increase in traffic from non-brand, organic keyphrases.

Chris Liversidge, founder of Queryclick, said: “We’re delighted with the success of our work with Rockliffe Hall since we started working on the search engine optimisation of their website in August last year.

“We helped with the design and launch of their new site at the beginning of December and since then it’s gone from strength to strength.

“The site has already reported a significant rise in total and organic traffic and in January the site achieved the highest level of traffic in 12 months with a total of over 48,500 hits with over 20,000 new visitors which is a massive achievement.”

Rockliffe Hall is the newest and most exciting 5-star luxury hotel resort to open in North East England and is set on a magnificent restored 18th century estate on the banks of River Tees. With there being strong competition in the hospitality industry success is increasingly linked to online performance.

Over the course of the campaign Queryclick ensured that Rockliffe Hall achieved a total of 82,926 organic SEO visits between January and March this year which is an increase of 23,008 during the same period in 2011.

Chris Liversidge added: “The results speak for themselves here and when you consider that since the new website went live in December there has been over 97,000 organic visits compared to 73,000 in the three months prior to launch, the value our expertise has brought the business is invaluable.”

“Going forward we’re eager to further improve website functionality and help increase traffic levels and conversion rates by implementing E-Commerce tracking, as well as completing outstanding page title and meta description updates.”

Via EPR Network
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Ikroh SEO Rank 6th Best Enterprise SEO Company In February 2012

Ikroh SEO has once again ranked 6th on this month’s list of the best enterprise SEO companies. topseos release monthly rankings lists following rigorous evaluations, delivering a list of the best of the best internet marketing vendors working in the SEO industry in the United Kingdom.

“It is always a great honor for Ikroh SEO to be presented with such an acknowledgement. We hold topseos in high regard and being part of this ranking is an indication of our hard work and efforts,” said Daniel Wright, Managing Director.

Ikroh SEO has been included in this list for some time due to our consistent performance and the delivery of superior services to our clients. As always, this doesn’t mean Ikroh SEO are planning to stand still – they intend to continue to strive to be even better. The staff at Ikroh SEO prize customer service and want their clients to be happy with the services they receive as well as the way those services are delivered. Despite being the smallest company in the top ten, that definitely doesn’t reflect the size of Ikroh’s aspirations, so they have every intention of continuing to move up that list!

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LBi & bigmouthmedia Publish A Christmas Countdown

To help retailers effectively plan for the Christmas spike in trade, which typically accounts for around 20-30% of the industry’s annual sales, global digital marketing and technology agency LBi and its media arm bigmouthmedia have published ‘A Christmas Countdown: Getting your online business ready for the holiday season’, a joint insight document which provides best practice advice and recommendations on how to plan and execute an effective Christmas ecommerce strategy.

The agency, which works with clients including Boots, Cath Kidston and Play.com, has developed a detailed month-by-month timeline packed with advice on how to best utilise online channels in the run up to the festive season.

Phil Gripton, MD at LBi and bigmouthmedia, said: “Last December there were 2.1 billion UK visits to online retail websites in the UK, with 44% of Britain’s online adult population spending more online than in the previous year, pushing the total value of online purchases to £2.8bn. This was in spite of the gloomy economic situation. The Christmas period is therefore vital to the health of a retailer’s bottom line, and with the digital media landscape constantly evolving, it’s important that retailers embrace the latest trends and techniques, which are featured in our insight document.

“We will continue to help our clients maximise their potential in the peak periods through challenging plans and assumptions, bringing the best practice and ideas to the activity and pushing hard to maximise opportunities. It’s an exciting time to work with our retail clients and our guys love the thrill of it.”

To download the full A Christmas Countdown report visit http://www.bigmouthmedia.com/brains/.

Via EPR Network
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Bigmouthmedia Appoints Mike Mason as Director of Product Portfolio

Bigmouthmedia, global digital media company, has announced the appointment of Mike Mason as director of product portfolio. Underlining the company’s commitment to high quality client service, Mike’s role will see him take operational responsibility for delivering a programme of best practice and continuous improvement to services across the entire bigmouthmedia client roster.

Mike will also take ownership of the day-to-day running of a broad range of services including search engine optimizationPPC, performance marketing, usability and reporting & analytics for bigmouthmedia’s mid-tier clients.

Mike has worked in the technology, mobile and telecoms sectors for over 20 years in operational and sales and marketing roles, including sales and marketing director at the post sales service provider Regenersis and a 10 year stint as a non-executive director for Codestuff. Mike has also led teams that designed and delivered successful services for some of the world’s leading technology and communications brands, including Telefonica, Panasonic, Deutsche Post (DHL), Vodafone, Sony and Apple.

Phil Gripton, MD at bigmouthmedia said: “bigmouthmedia is a mature company with a global footprint and delivering consistent, high quality campaigns to all of our clients is the central value of our business. Moreover our clients should, and do, expect this whether they are a start-up or a blue-chip brand. Mike’s breadth of experience will be a significant asset to the bigmouthmedia senior team and his proven track record in generating operational quality for some of the world’s most recognisable technology firms will be critical to us in the coming months. His appointment represents our clear commitment to best practice and client-centred service delivery. I’m very much looking forward to Mike’s contribution to the business.”

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Bing’s Move Towards Social Networking Integration Is A Smart Move, Says Seo Company Queryclick.com

Microsoft’s Bing has been trying to chip away at Google’s prime position in a number of ways, and now the search engine has revealed a new social integration strategy sure to get industry experts talking.

As an increasing number of web users turn to social networks for information and breaking news, search engines are being forced to reassess their traditional methods of ranking. This means that search engine results are changing, and the introduction of ties with Twitter and Facebook indicates Bing is embracing the new order.

The search engine will now offer real-time Twitter updates in Bing News, as well as in other SERPS, as a way to offer searchers up-to-date and breaking news in their search results. This way, the search engine hopes it will allow users to keep on top of trending topics without bypassing the search engine altogether.

This is the kind of move search engines need to be making if they want to engage with a new audience, claims SEO company Queryclick.com. A spokesperson said: “Integration like this is the best way search engines have of safeguarding their position as the top place for searchers.

“As social media channels become stronger, search engines face the danger of losing younger generations. By offering users the chance to make their searches a little more social, Bing could help tempt them to stay on one, centralised engine, rather than choosing to search within their favourite social networks.”

Additionally, Bing has announced a new partnership with Facebook, which will see Bing’s entertainment results instantly shared to Facebook users, if they are signed in to both. This feature will utilise Bing’s liked Results functionality and will allow users to share news of their favourite films, artists, musicians and TV shows to all of their Facebook friends.

The Bing and Facebook integration will also offer an overview tab that will allow Facebook users to update their statuses directly from the Bing entertainment results.

By keeping users in the search results, Bing could create an advantage for itself, said search engine optimisation experts explained. “If Bing can persuade its searchers to update their Facebook pages without having to leave the SERPs, it will have achieved something of a coup.

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Bing’s Integration of Facebook ‘Likes’ Is The Next Phase In Social Search, Claims SEO Experts QueryClick

True to form, the world of social media shows little sign of slowing down in terms of infiltrating every aspect of our lives; search engines being no exception.

While Google laid bare plans to include relevant content from social media sources such as YouTube, Flickr and Twitter, Microsoft’s own search engine – Bing – has been preparing its move into the realm of social search with a much touted tie with Facebook.

Now Facebook “liked results” will become integrated with everyday Bing searches which Bing’s development team described as “part of a longer journey” into an improved cohesion between search and the social sphere.

Commenting on Bing’s inclusion of Facebook ‘liked results’, a spokesperson for Edinburgh-based SEO experts QueryClick said:

“QueryClick are not surprised to see Bing announce a tie with Facebook in a bid to keep shoulder to shoulder with Google following the launch of the latter’s real time, social media search results some 18 months ago.

“The ability to ‘like’ search results and see those that your friends have ‘liked’ is another step closer to a much more personalised search experience that pulls in the activities and opinions of an individual’s social circle.

“It’s also highly likely that personalised search will lead to a much greater emphasis on personalised advertising which has already been seen on Facebook.”

The introduction of the ‘Bing Bar’ – a simple tool bar function – will also serve to blur the line between search engine and social media platform even further.

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Google’s Decision To Include Social Media Updates In SERPs Is The Latest Move Towards A Greater Emphasis On The Social Sphere, Says Search Engine Optimisation Experts QueryClick

In true Google style, barely a month goes by without the search giant making a tweak here or a change there to its algorithm.

While some changes are kept under lock and key to prevent spammers and unethical SEO practices degrading the quality of search results, other tweaks are allowed to create something of a stir.

Google’s most recent announcement regarding its inclusion of social media results in SERPs was one such change that – quite appropriately – caused sites like Twitter to get all in a flutter.

Working by aggregating content from social networking sites such as YouTube, Twitter and MySpace, the move is yet another step towards a bold blend of search and social; all under one roof.

Commenting on Google’s decision to make its search results richer in social media-related content, a spokesperson for SEO experts QueryClick said:

“QueryClick’s SEO predictions for 2011 contained a big focus on the move to mobile search as well as a greater emphasis on social media so it’s not surprising that Google have taken the step to introduce more social media-specific content in their SERPs.

“In terms of the benefits of this change for search engine optimisation, there’s now improved opportunities for sites which are under performing or in highly competitive verticals, jumping onto the first page – albeit temporarily – if their social media output relates to search terms.”

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Search Engine Optimisation Experts QueryClick Welcome The Intellectualism of Google Search

Google has long dominated the search culture in society, providing solutions to all manner of queries. Whether you need directions, a plumber or a birthday present, for many the first stop is Google. It has entered into the social lexicon as a synonymous term for search itself; to “Google” something is to find the answer to your question.

The search engine giant has taken a step further into our lives recently with the development of their ‘Culturomics’ tool. This searchable database of over 5m digitised texts allows Google to compare and analyse the significance of certain words, phrases and concepts within the context of culture, dependant upon their relative proliferation throughout the literature.

The tool represents a new dimension in search, providing insightful information on society in addition to simply presenting users with suggested solutions to arbitrary questions. Of course, Google has always utilised various algorithms in their quest to organize SERPs into an order based on relevance, however, the latest undertaking offers the means to engage with that order in a more analytical and in-depth manner.

QueryClick spokesperson commented on the new approach to cultural research:

“The computational analysis of cultural trends is not a new phenomenon, but the Culturomics tool represents the most comprehensive and widely available instance of such an approach to sociological study. Using the tool, research into linguistic development as well as cultural shifts can be studied with ease.”

For instance, a quick comparison of the proliferation of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra over time shows that the latter was theoretically the most popular/famous/written about of the two until the late 1980s. After this point Elvis took over and has remained more culturally significant since.

In addition to the culture comparison tool, Google has also developed the Reading Level function, available within the Advanced Search options. The process allows users to set their reading level to either basic, intermediate or advanced depending on the complexity of results they seek. This filter then separates the wheat from the chaff so to speak, and purports to offer a more relevant group of results based on the user’s reading level.

The results can sometimes cause concern with regards to their implications however. For example, a search for ‘biology’ on the advanced level returns the wikipedia page for the term, whilst the basic results allocate top spot to a video of the Girls Aloud song entitled ‘Biology’. From this it seems that if you don’t like complex biology, you must either be a girl, prefer pop music, or both.

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Learn SEO Launches Brand New Web Presence

Learn SEO is a website dedicated to providing up to the minute accurate information on Search Engine Optimisation and allowing it’s users to become more informed about the subject-matter of SEO without having to resort to paying a large SEO Company to handle an SEO Campaign on their behalf. The Manchester based outfit has complimented its vision with a brand new web design and the initial feedback from consumers suggests it was a positive step worth taking. The main target audience for the website will be the same consumers that so many SEO Companies aim to target – consumers with an interest in Small Business SEO.

Learn SEO has recently expanded its offering with a new range of SEO courses to compliment its brand new web design. Initial feedback from the courses suggests they are a very welcome additional to the marketing arsenal of small businesses looking to find more information about SEO. The new structure of the website and the expanded course offering has prompted many small business owners interested in SEO training to get in touch with the webmaster, Gareth Mailer.

“Needless to say we are delighted with the feedback we have received so far”, says Gareth. “I think small business owners are literally crying out for options they can pursue when it comes to marketing their products and services online and the initial feedback we have received from running our courses has been very positive.”

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Bigmouthmedia Identifying Current Key Affiliate Marketing Issues

Bigmouthmedia is to conduct a new affiliates survey designed to identify the key issues in affiliate marketing in the current climate.

The digital marketing agency has commissioned the research in a bid to establish firm information about the latest developments and emerging challenges that matter to the sector. Affiliates responding to the survey will be asked for their opinions on a series of issues ranging from networks and tracking technologies to the use of creatives and advertising exchanges.

“Are affiliates most successful when they concentrate on just one niche? Is commission attribution modelling a major threat to the industry? There are many questions hanging over the affiliates industry and we want to know which issues matter most to them,” said Fiona Robertson, head of Affiliates and Performance at bigmouthmedia.

“Our Affiliate partners are extremely important to us. We believe it’s important to know what makes their businesses work, to understand what they think of the digital industry as a whole, and that identifying affiliate opinions on the key issues currently facing the industry is an essential step towards creating greater clarity in the sector.”

The questions include: are affiliates better digital marketers than many of the merchants they work with? Are there too many affiliate networks in the UK? Do networks in the UK have a problem with low quality or fraudulent traffic and does Google want to become the world’s largest affiliate?

The new bigmouthmedia affiliate marketing survey, which closes on October 6th 2010, is open to any affiliate that wishes to participate and receive a free copy of the final research in return, and one lucky winner will also get an additional a prize. Responses from networks, agencies and merchants are not being sought.

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Bigmouthmedia Hires Fiona Robertson As Head Of Affiliates And Performance

On the back of the recent affiliate wins, Fiona Robertson (nee MacPherson) has been hired by bigmouthmedia to head up the Affiliates and Performance service. As well as running the team that works on the affiliate campaigns, Robertson will be responsible for the overall growth strategy of bigmouthmedia’s affiliate and performance offering. Bigmouthmedia’s current affiliate clients include Best Western, Habitat, Macdonald Hotels and Kwik Fit Insurance, amongst many others.

Fiona, who sits on the IAB’s Affiliate Marketing Council, has over 6 years experience in affiliate and digital channel marketing and her most recent positions have been at WPP’s MediaCom and Glasgow-based Equator as Senior Affiliate Manager, where she developed affiliate and direct response strategies for a number of high profile clients. Fiona’s main focus will be to integrate affiliate marketing fully into the overall bigmouthmedia offering, spotting key areas for growth and ensuring that affiliate strategies fit seamlessly within the clients’ business models.

“We are delighted for Fiona to be joining the bigmouthmedia team”, said Robin Richmond, head of Digital at bigmouthmedia. “Her experience building performance-led strategies will be of massive benefit to our clients affiliate marketing campaigns. We are also seeing a definite uptake on our affiliates and performance services offering by new and existing clients as part of more comprehensive cross-digital marketing packages. Companies are becoming more aware of the synergies and added value that a single supplier can bring on board, and the recent growth of bigmouthmedia’s affiliates and cross-digital teams is a reflection of this new market trend”.

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Bigmouthmedia Reports Google Changes Will Make Advertising Attractive For Comparison Sites

Bigmouthmedia reports that Google’s latest changes to its trademark policy will make pay-per-click advertising more attractive for comparison sites.

The press conference announcement means that from September 14th 2010 the UK will now follow Google’s existing US AdWords policy, which allows any advertiser to use trademarked keywords within their advert text in some cases. Using trademarked terms in advertising copy will remain outlawed in mainland Europe, but following the rule change keywords will no longer be protected from others bidding on them.

“Aggregators will now have the ability to use brand names in their adverts. This is likely to improve their click-through rates and quality score, and will therefore make it more attractive for such operations to bid on brand terms,” said Lyndsay Menzies, Chief Operations Officer at bigmouthmedia.

“In the UK the news may have a large impact on brand bids in industries such as finance, travel and electronics. While advertisers in mainland Europe will be unable to put trademarked terms in the advertising copy of their campaigns, the changes are still likely to have a big impact on brand budgets.”

Bigmouthmedia believes that Google’s decision to allow anyone to bid for trademarked keywords across Europe is widely predicted to lead to price rises in the markets affected. When this happened in the UK – where the policy change was first rolled out in 2008 – bidding on some brand terms increased by as much as 500% in the short term. The hike was relatively short lived mainly due to British brands’ unwillingness to get involved in bidding wars, although this may not be the case in other European countries and brand bidding may break out in earnest.

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Bupa Appoints bigmouthmedia To Search Marketing Account

Leading international healthcare provider, Bupa, has selected bigmouthmedia, Europe’s largest and most experienced digital marketing agency, to lead its search marketing strategy.

The new deal will see bigmouthmedia take on a major search engine optimisation programme which will involve Bupa’s key UK websites. The project, which will be the company’s most extensive digital marketing campaign so far to date, and is designed to deliver significant growth to the international healthcare provider over the next three years.

“We’re delighted to be working with a brand of Bupa’s quality. Having worked side-by-side to create an ambitious search marketing strategy, we’re now looking forward to getting our teeth into what promises to be a particularly exciting project,” said Scott Boocock, major account director at bigmouthmedia.

David Lengen, head of digital communications at Bupa added, “Search is an essential element of Bupa’s strategy to becoming recognised as a global healthcare leader. Bigmouthmedia will help us to position the brand f r o m being purely about health insurance into the broader health and wellbeing sphere, where so much of Bupa’s expertise lies.”

With its team of over 200 online professionals and experts across the fields of SEO, PPC, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, display advertising, online pr and copywriting along with an existing client base which includes many major household brand names, bigmouthmedia is ideally positioned to take on and help drive this exciting project to increase Bupa’s online presence to become a global leader in healthcare and wellbeing.

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Bigmouthmedia Reveals Most UK Brands Don’t Understand The Value Of Mobile Visitors

A bigmouthmedia survey has revealed that more than three quarters of the UK’s big brands do not understand the value of a visitor via mobile compared to other digital channels

The research, which polled the views of key decision makers at a raft of leading UK companies, shows that despite a significant 89.2% of respondents sharing the belief that mobile marketing will become increasingly important over the next 12 months, very few have fully embraced the channel. Reflecting the uncertainty with which many businesses regard the emerging the field, 70.3% of those surveyed currently don’t have any engagement with mobile marketing at all.

“We are at a critical point in the evolution of mobile marketing. A growing group of organisations are starting to derive competitive advantage from their early mover status in the channel, yet the vast majority of companies have yet to gauge the impact it is likely to have on their business,” said Simon Heyes, Head of International Sales Operations at Bigmouthmedia.

“There are no benefits to be derived from being slow on the uptake. With the mobile channel set to become increasingly influential over the next few years, companies need to move now, engage with the medium and start building the campaigns that are going to keep them ahead of the game.”

Despite an apparent lack of engagement with the channel the research revealed a keen awareness of the potential advantages, with 75.7% of respondents citing increased brand awareness as the main benefit of undertaking mobile marketing, and 67.6% believing increased customer engagement to also be a major benefit. Over 60% also believed that increased traffic, leads and sales were also a major driver.

Bigmouthmedia’s survey – conducted amongst a large group of large and medium sized enterprises – showed that just 5.4% companies describe themselves as being “heavily involved” in mobile marketing at the current time. Another statistic to emerge is that while they considered the channel increasingly influential, 75% of the respondents claimed not to know the relative value of a visitor from mobile compared to other channels.

“What is clear from our research is that while the vast majority of businesses accept that mobile is going to become a critical part of the marketing mix, there is a great deal of uncertainty over how to approach the channel, and in particular how to get buy in from the wider organisation. Companies know they need to get on board the mobile bandwagon, but a lack of clear understanding is holding many back from exploiting its potential,” said Heyes.

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Bigmouthmedia Develops Virtual Cinema For Paramount Germany

Bigmouthmedia, Europe’s largest digital marketing agency, has developed a virtual cinema for Paramount in Germany.

Bigmouthmedia Develops Virtual Cinema For Paramount Germany

Launched this week, Twittkinos promises to break new ground in the way cinemas reach out to and communicate with their customers. The new movie site enables Paramount to provide interested film fans on Facebook and Twitter exclusive insights into the latest trailers, movie premieres and other events from the star-studded world of the silver screen.

Campaigning under the slogan “we’ll bring cinema home,” Paramount is opening up a new era in the way it uses Social Media to interact with movie lovers. Unique in its field, Twittkino is completely integrated with Facebook and Twitter, where fan’s posts are published in real time.

Using their Facebook or Twitter accounts film fans may visit www.TwittKino.de to register and see the latest exclusive trailers – often even before they are released to the market – live streaming of movie premieres and a host of further features dedicated to the world of movies. One particularly popular feature will allow members to post questions prior to major premieres that will be answered on the red carpet by stars and celebrities. A selection of further activities including competitions is also planned.

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Bigmouthmedia Nominated For Two Travolution Awards

Bigmouthmedia has been shortlisted for two awards at the prestigious 2010 Travolution Awards. Judges at the awards – which recognise excellence in the travel marketing industry – handed Europe’s largest independent digital marketing company nominations in two critical categories.

Bigmouthmedia Nominated For Two Travolution Awards

Bigmouthmedia’s work with British Airways has seen the industry-leading campaign placed amongst the front runners to carry off the 2010 trophy for Best Use of Search Engine Optimisation, while the agency’s successful strategy for Macdonald Hotels has seen it named amongst the contenders for the Best Use of Affiliate Marketing prize.

Anneli Ritari, senior travel strategist at bigmouthmedia, said: “We’re delighted to have been nominated in two categories. The team has worked closely with both BA and Macdonald Hotels to deliver what have been two extremely effective strategies and we’re very pleased that all their effort and innovation has been recognised in this manner. It’s a real boost for everyone involved.”

For their winning campaign bigmouthmedia and British Airways partnered again to launch an ambitious search campaign integrating SEO and PPC aimed at improving SEO rankings, reducing PPC spend and ensuring PPC budget was used tactically to drive incremental sales volume. Their strategy, which carefully matched business objectives, achieved, cross-channel synergies to maximise ROI and budget efficiencies and delivered excellent results, including 31% reduction in paid search CPA, 87% reduction in PPC spend for certain keywords and 400% increase in number one ranking positions for “flights to <destination>” keywords.

The proactive affiliate marketing campaign which bigmouthmedia put together for Macdonald Hotels based around the use of bespoke offers and improving coverage of hotel name and brand-hybrid terms achieved equally strong results. In addition to improved ROI across all online channels the strategy saw average booking values increased by 13.9% and drove a 110% year-on-year increase in revenue from the affiliate channel for the group.

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Streamline.net Reveals Business Owners Consider Making Money From Hobbies

According to research released by Streamline.net, a leading provider of value web hosting, the challenging economic climate has caused many business owners to consider raising income from their hobbies or pastimes.

The study of 1400 business owners* found that 42% have considered creating an enterprise from their hobbies or recreational skills in order to increase earnings. The down-turn in the economy has led more than half of SME owners to reconsider their work-life balance in general. 1 in 3 owners believe that since the recession they are more likely to launch a business unrelated to their primary business activity. For many, earning their living from a recreational pursuit is now seen as most likely to provide long-term happiness. The internet is seen by two thirds of owners to be the first port of call for launching an enterprise from a hobby or pastime.

Streamline.net’s study of British small and local businesses found that economic pressures over the past 2 years have led many to reconsider how they earn their living. 42% admit that the recession has directly led them to consider options for earning money from their hobbies or pastimes (such as sports, crafts or travel) whilst 23% report that they can already do so. 56% of firm owners would consider starting a new venture related to their hobbies rather than their professional capabilities.

Launching an internet-based business is seen as the most feasible, with 66% of owners saying they would focus their sales efforts online. Nearly all of those that currently make money from hobbies or secondary skills (22%), use the internet as the main means to source this income.

The data reveals that the recession has prompted 53% of small business owners to re-think their work/life balance, and 90% have reconsidered what motivates them about work. It appears that many have concluded that earning an income from hobbies or skills unrelated to their main business activity offers the most potential for happiness. The ability to earn a living from hobbies or pastimes is viewed as the most desirable scenario for 48%. 40% would still see the earning of maximum income from their existing business as the best route to happiness.

Steve Holford, Marketing Director at Streamline.net, said “Britain’s small business owners have weathered challenging times, however, the data suggests that the entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive. More owners are keen to start out in a totally new direction, and creating a hobby-based business is a common ambition. Plus with simple and affordable web hosting solutions it is easy to get a business online without the need for any technical expertise or significant investment.”

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Bigmouthmedia Survey Reveals Public Believe Online Financial Advertising Is Dishonest

Bigmouthmedia has called upon the Financial Services Authority to introduce new rules to govern the selling of finance products online.

Bigmouthmedia Survey Reveals Public Believe Online Financial Advertising Is Dishonest

Speaking at the annual bigmouthmedia Finance Summit in London, finance strategist Chris Cathcart unveiled the results of a new consumer survey showing that 77% of web users believe that online financial advertising is neither honest nor straight-forward. The research – conducted in partnership with Financial Marketing UK – revealed that a clear majority of respondents mistrust the sector.

“The Financial Services Authority has to recognise that the web marketplace presents a unique range of challenges for the finance sector and that continuing to ignore the issue is no longer an option. They must step up to the plate and help organisations by providing a detailed set of guidelines governing selling online if we are to avoid what could end up as a compliance nightmare,” said Cathcart, bigmouthmedia’s senior finance strategist.

Consumers also displayed similar levels of mistrust and suspicion when it comes to the financial figures such as interest rates and potential savings gains displayed on websites. A resounding 65% of respondents categorically stated that they do not trust such numbers and cannot make decisions based upon them.

When asked to identify the product categories they found troublesome to research online, consumers identified the most significant challenges as arising when investigating investment opportunities. A compelling 65% said they found researching investment products either “fairly confusing” or “very confusing”, whereas 80% said they had little or no problems evaluating car insurance deals on the web.

Results from the research indicate that language could play a significant role in the confusion. An overwhelming 98% of respondents believe that the terms and conditions governing products and services sold online should be in plain English rather than the complex legal jargon currently used in the majority of contracts.

“The evidence couldn’t be any clearer: the majority of consumers distrust the finance sector and there is a lot of work to do to win that confidence back. Wording terms and conditions in a manner they can understand would be a major step towards achieving this,” added Cathcart.

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SEO Company Queryclick.com Welcomes News That US Online Ad Spend Reached A Record High In The First Quarter

While the worldwide economy is still struggling in the aftermath of the global recession, recent research has revealed that the online advertising market has bucked trends and has continued to expand regardless.

SEO Company Queryclick.com Welcomes News That US Online Ad Spend Reached A Record High In The First Quarter

According to figures from industry bodies Interactive Advertising Bureau, PricewaterhouseCoopers and comScore, the market has experienced record breaking growth that takes total advertising spend for the first quarter of 2010 to the highest total ever recorded for an equivalent period.

The news is likely to be welcomed industry wide, and SEO company Queryclick.com has announced it is pleased to see that the sector is performing as well as it predicted. With an increase in US online advertising spend to the tune of 7.5 per cent, the SEO experts are confident that the figures will help companies realise that money is well spent in online ventures – even when budgets are tight.

A spokesperson for Queryclick explained: “It’s great to see that online advertising is proving its market strength despite the recent economic downturn. We hope that news such as this will help businesses recognise the many cost effective advertising options that are available online.

“The huge advances in technology have made it possible for business of all shapes and sizes to interact online, and we hope that this news is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the ways in which online experiences will continue to improve for users and businesses alike.”

Coming after a tough year in 2009, when online advertising spend dropped in the US for the first time since 2002, the recent figures will provide a boost to the American economy as well as a boon to marketing departments championing online venues for their services.

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Bigmouthmedia Named Number 1 UK SEO And PPC Agency For Second Year Running

Bigmouthmedia has again been named the UK’s number 1 SEO and PPC agency in the New Media Age Marketing Services Guide for 2010.

This is the second year in a row that the agency has topped the prestigious chart, widely regarded as the definitive guide to the UK’s digital marketing landscape. The NMA league table is ranked on the basis of income, with bigmouthmedia’s range of big brand client wins, cross-channel expertise and experienced management team cited as being key to the company’s industry-leading status.

“Like every industry the search sector has faced a lot of challenges recently, but despite difficult economic circumstances the blend of effectiveness and measurable ROI that online marketing provides is still proving a winning combination,” said Phil Gripton, Managing Director of bigmouthmedia UK.

“We’re delighted that the company’s continued progress has been recognised. It is a tribute to the dedicated, skilled and passionate team that underpins everything we do at bigmouthmedia.”

Highlighting the international expertise offered by bigmouthmedia’s offices both in the UK and across the US, Germany, Italy, Norway, Sweden, France and Spain, New Media Age attributed the company’s success, despite challenging trading conditions, to its reputation for digital marketing expertise and a strong social media offering.

Moving forwards the agency’s digital, technological and creative capacity is set to expand following bigmouthmedia’s merger with LBi, which is due to be completed in July. The combined agency will be the world’s largest marketing and technology agency. Announced in February the deal was brokered to address a changing climate where clients are increasingly looking for best in class agencies with the capacity to cover all aspects of digital marketing.

Via EPR Network
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