Today ebuyer.com, the computer and technology etailer, launched a £1 clearance giveaway. As they hoped, the demand was high but perhaps they didn't expect their capacity constraints to bring the entire site down with such a bang!

Within minutes of the website stalling, eBuyer.com found a tirade of critical posts on their facebook page and I'm sure a number of their staff scratching their heads saying "why didn't we spot this as a possible issue?"

The fact is, just because your website runs well in your normal day-to-day opperations, before you embark on a significant scale in demand, you must be sure your services can cope. Cloud based hosting is an option, the cloud gives you the flexibility to scale as your demand increases and scale back when demand reduces. Often such changes to capacity can be tweaked in realtime meaning no reboots or significant outage times.

eBuyer.com, we hope you manage to the fix the issue quickly and as always are more than happy to assist your scalability in the future so such problems don't happen again.

We have had a few clients who have purchased images but then receive demands for backdated royalty payments over their use of the images on their website.  How can this be avoided?  

The first step is to check the usage rights for those images. For example:

• Are there any limitations on your use of the image? 

• Are you able to use them on your website?  Any other website?

• Is the use limited to a specific time period, after which you need to pay an additional fee if you wish to continue using the material?

• Have you obtained the images from a reputable source/from someone who has the right to sell the image to you?  Images can often be sourced by website developers, but their licence may not cover the use of the image on your website.

If you do receive a claim regarding unauthorised use, you should:

• Suspend use of the image while you investigate; 

• Contact the third party who supplied you with the image to ascertain how the problem arose; 

• Do an internet search to see if anyone else is complaining of a similar problem with the photo agency in question and how they have dealt with it.  

In most cases removing the image should be sufficient, but if not you will need to consider settling.  It should be possible to negotiate the amount due.

(An insight into things that could get you into trouble for saying/posting on your social media profiles)

Users of social networking sites disclose a lot of information to providers and users of those services, and this raises a number of legal and commercial questions.  What are the basic do’s and don’ts of posting profile data?

Do:

• Be savvy about the personal data you upload.  By posting information, you may unwittingly be making your data available to strangers and there is potential for that data to be misused.  Some parts of social networking websites are public spaces; once the information is “out there”, it may be difficult to control what happens to it because others may be able to copy it, alter your photos, etc even after you take it down.  Therefore certain information (details of “real life” location, e.g. home, school, work place) should not be uploaded to public spaces. 

• Bear in mind that information posted could be embarrassing or damaging in a different context outside the social network.  There are various reports of people missing out on employment opportunities due to potential employers reviewing social networking profiles as part of their recruitment procedure.  However, potential employers need to be cautious using this as a recruitment tool.

• Be careful what information you post about your employer.  If you post information about your company which is inaccurate, or misrepresents what the company does, this could constitute misrepresentation or a breach of advertising legislation/codes of conduct for which you and your employer could be liable in some situations. Furthermore, for listed companies, by posting certain information you could be in breach of insider dealing regulations.

Don't:

• Use content belonging to a third party.  Where content is uploaded that is owned by or based on content owned by third parties, this could amount to infringement of the third party’s rights, such as copyright.

• Post personal data relating to someone else. You shouldn’t upload data relating to someone else, unless that person has consented, because this could impinge on their privacy and data protection rights

Also, the social networking site’s terms of use will usually specify that the third party should consent to any of his/her data being posted.  Defamation may also be an issue.

I am a firm, solid believer that no matter what kind of business you are, whether it be a local barber to a small garage, up to a small chain of business and then all the way up to an international corporation, your business can have its' place and reap benefits from social media.

It's not necessarily about just having the bare essentials; a Facebook page, a Twitter account and maybe a LinkedIn company page though. It's more about ensuring that your time spent on these social media sites is worth your while. The golden rule is that if it's not going to help your business, whether it be financially or branding-wise, then don't do it!

The way to go about social media is to find your target sites, understand your demographics and your target audience, and then incorporate it into your marketing.

Are you a small restaurant in a local town? Set up a Twitter account, find and follow as many residents and local businesses as you can, and then offer a free drink if they mention a code or a phrase that you send out through Twitter.

Are you a barber? Do the same as above, but offer discounted hair-cuts through social media.

It's not necessarily just about giving stuff away, and using promotions to get people from their computers/mobile phones and into your store. Engage with your audience, talk to your followers and your fans. Find out how their days are going, what they do for a living… become friends with them!

If you have any questions about social media, please leave a comment or give us a call!

One of our clients, Positive Branding, was recently found in a well-known search engine and then approached by the Producer's of a small British TV show. You might have heard of it… it's called The Apprentice?

Back in October 2010 when they were filming Series 7 of The Apprentice, Positive Branding, a supplier of high quality embroidered clothing, was approached by the producers of the show to manufacturer the branded restaurant uniforms used in the second to last episode of the series, after being found through search engine listings. They received the call at around lunchtime, but it wasn't until 5:45pm that the artwork came through. Once the images had gone through the necessary digitizing, the approval came through at 6:30, and then the end products were completed and collected by 9pm! 

What this shows is that it's important to have a reputation for being able to work to deadlines without compromising quality. No matter what you do, having a reputation for being able to meet tight deadlines with high quality goods is a fantastic reputation to have, and it was just this reputation that won one our client this fantastic business opportunity. Whilst any business can offer a product or service, it takes a special sort of business to go above and beyond the call of duty, and whilst no business can promise service like that on all jobs, in the words of Melody, one of the other contestants from the show... "Don’t tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the Moon."

We'd also like to congratulate Tom Pellereau on winning The Apprentice series 7, and wish him luck in his future endeavours!

RyanAir have been made the butt of many jokes over the years, but now it appears they're dishing out the fun, and making light of the phone hacking scandal.

"Hacked off with high fares?" The homepage image reads, a picture of Rebecca Brookes sitting below with a speech bubble of "I'm outta here with RyanAir."

Now, while they are poking fun, what they're doing is actually very clever. It's precisely the kind of thing that can go viral, and turf a lot of new visitors into the RyanAir website. A few people will tweet the link to their friends, those people will retweet it also… maybe a handful of people will place the link on their Facebook walls, telling others to check it out. And thus, a viral link is created. It gets people talking, clicking the links, checking out the RyanAir website, and, most importantly, getting the RyanAir offers, promotions and prices in front of the potential customers.

When you've got a bit of time... have a sit down and think about things to do with your business, whether related or not, that you could perhaps do that would be a bit different. Think about 'out of the box' marketing strategies, and get people talking/.

Oh, and whether you're a RyanAir fan or not, it would be interesting to see their site stats...

When thinking about engaging in social networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others. Its best to understand the audience, as it is with all marketing, but more importantly in these online circles, it's vital to understand who is going to be contributing, creating or just spectators to the conversation.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just plug in an age range, a location, a gender and discover what the percentages of creators, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators and also inactive people there are in that group?

There is obviously more to the pot of strategy, but knowing that only 19% of female 25 to 34 year olds in the UK actually create content in social media sites compared to 38% of 18 to 24 year olds. Have a little play with this created by Forrester's, it's quite interesting and useful, especially if you don’t have the resources to create a full social media strategy.

Understand the different engagement names with this slideshare.

There was once the everyday mantra of the everyman SEO consultant that said your PageRank ("PR") is the most critical metric for tracking the performance of your search engine ranking improvements.

"PageRank?" Most clients would say, "what's that?"

To which the everyman SEO consultant would roll into an explanation of quality inbound links and the value links have to the pages they link to and so on. However today, PageRank is only one in many metrics the everyman SEO consultant should be talking about. Nowadays, Google is more interested in "engaged web pages". Ok, hold the phone once again! "Engaged web pages… what is that now?"

If you imagine a website that is top of the search engine listings and is therefore clicked regularly, however the website simply doesn't deliver the correct message to enough visitors. Would you consider such a site worthy of the top position? No is our guess and this is Google’s feeling also. Google wants to deliver quality content quicker and it gauges quality based on the duration and interaction a visitor has with each website. This is what engagement is and is what you should certainly track within your analytics on a weekly and monthly basis.

However, don't rush off to Google Analytics just yet. There isn't an "Engagement" button or nice pretty graph in Google Analytics, not yet anyway.

You need to keep track of the following statistics and try to get them to improve over time;

Bounce Rate

You want to see the number of people that visit and then move straight away reduce over time. You are always going to have a bounce rate, but you don’t need to be too concerned about it when it hits 25% or less.

Page Views

Page views are the average number of pages each visitor looks at each visit. Again, once this is above 3 you're doing ok, but try to increase this to at least 5. (It's a tall order for most, but worth increasing this).

Clickthrough Rate

This is the number of times your website is displayed in a search engine result compared to the number of clicks it receives. For example, if your website is displayed in search results 100 times but clicked on only once, your click through rate will be 1%. For SEO and organic searches your clickthrough rate should be 50% or more, however if you also run AdWords or PPC campaigns a clickthrough rate of 3% is good.

You can read more about some of Google's recommended actionable metrics here.

Normally when I get woken up by my 5 year old son Zack at some atrocious time in the morning, his needs are very simple! "Can I play with your phone daddy?” he asks, to which I reply “Yes, now shhh son, Daddy’s sleeping".

Yesterday, his hour of alertness was earlier than normal at 04:30, so he got hold of my iPhone 4 and started to play, after, of course, ensuring the volume was turned all the way down. Ok, so now wind forward a few hours and Zack goes off to a party and I settle down to look at my emails and read through a few articles I’ve been meaning to catch up on. As my PC whirls up I remember thinking that perhaps I should have done this on the iPad as it starts so much quicker, but take a sip of my coffee and decide that it is Sunday and there is no need to rush.

So Outlook opens and I have 54 unread messages. This is unheard of, I mean I cleared my inbox on Saturday night so I must be being spammed. Damn that spam filter we purchased, what a load of shhhh…… Then I realise, that these are actual contacts emailing me, all with a very similar subject.

Re: Hey! I need a wingman.

I of course get an instant flashback to 1986 to Goose and Maverick dog fighting, but that’s a whole other story.

It turns out that Zack was playing with some jetfighter game and he must have been prompted to invite others to play. Not knowing what he was doing, my little angel selected “Yes to All” and off went a few hundred emails.

So now I have to send an apology email to my whole contact list explaining why they received the email. Needless to say, I was not happy.

As it turns out, the email was affective in making contact with people that don’t normally respond to our marketing emails. Yesterday and this morning I have heard from people that I haven’t been in contact with for a very long time, so in actual fact Zack was quite an effective viral marketer.

Viral marketing is not about selling a product or service; it’s about engagement and getting people talking. Since these emails went out everyone I have come into contact with today and yesterday afternoon has, in some way, mentioned or alluded to a “wing man”. So if you are thinking of a good viral campaign, don’t think product, think more about capturing peoples imagination or simply giving them something to smile about.

So, if you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks and have emerged, bleary eyed and wondering "What on Earth is this Google +1 button?" Then you've come to the right place.

The Google +1 Button is like… the "Like" button on Facebook, but instead of being for people's posts, updates and photos, it's for the web. Instead of liking a post, you're liking a website, a blog article, someone's profile… anything! To use it, you have to have a Google Account and, in turn, a Google Profile. If you've just got an account, you can still +1 a page, but you'll have to click "Create a Profile" when you first try to use this new feature. Why not try clicking our +1 button at the top to get into the swing of it?

The Importance of the +1 Button

The Google +1 Button is going to be important for many reasons; Google will begin to tailor search results so that if you've got a friend associated with your Google account that has liked a page related to what you're searching for, chances are, Google are going to rank the page they 'Plus-Oned' above the pages that they didn't. The other thing is, even if none of your friends have Plus-Oned a page, chances are the pages that have more will rank better.

It's for this reason, and this reason alone that we deem this new +1 button as very important. People are starting to speculate that if the +1 button kicks off a lot, Google might start to favour the pages using it over the pages that aren’t...

We also know that the +1 button is a surefire way to make sure Google knows about your page. All +1s will be stored, somewhere, in Google's complex database systems, but Google's algorithms will be looking at this list to make sure it is regularly spidering the pages people are 'Plus-Oneing.' (How many of these have we created?!)

If you have any questions, or need any advice, give us a call at 24/7 FastTrack IT on 0845 838 7801.

Learn more on the official Google +1 Page.

The much anticipated 'ChromeBook,' a laptop running the new Google Chrome OS, has gone on sale on in the United States, hailing a new era of modern, online-based computing.

The premise of the ChromeBook is that current computer systems are still based on a system that was developed before the internet, and has adapted to use the internet. The ChromeBook is more of a new system, designed to work solely with the internet. While the system has been hailed for being faster and simpler, and removing the need for internal storage and anti-virus software, critics have claimed that the ChromeBook doesn't function terrifically well when offline.

For the computer user who spends the majority of their time on the web, this is an ideal solution, with its' almost instant boot-up time, and simple, safe web browsing. For the conventional user who uses a mix of desktop applications, both offline and online, the idea may need some more refining before it's ready.

Related Links:

Google Chrome OS video on YouTube
Article on the BBC

As we all know, we're quickly running out fo IPv4 addresses to assign to new online devices, with the complete pool of IPv4 addresses expected to run out within a couple of years. The heavyweight internet giants, such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook, are trialling IPv6 versions of their websites to trial how it all works, to find possible issues and such.

It's an inevitable fact that one day, probably within the next few years, everyone will have to make the change, but corporations and consumers alike are being told not to worry as the process will not be a 'switch off/switch on' process. It will take time, and be rolled out slowly. Another downside to this necessary change will be that, unfortunately, new hardware may have to be purchased and installed. A lot of current routers already support IPv6, in which case a firmware update will be necessary.

For businesses, the process of upgrading to IPv6 will be more costly and time-consuming, as more hardware will have to be installed, and with this will come new software installation, costs of new hardware, costs of fitting and installation if these processes are outsourced.

However you look at it, the transition to IPv6 is inevitable, and is something businesses and consumers alike will have to prepare for.

As of the 1st of August, Google will no longer be optimising its' products to work with older web browsers. People using older versions of browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Safari and Mozilla Firefox will find that when they use Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs and some other products, some features may not work.

There are a few reasons for doing this. One is to try and break the trend of people clinging to older browsers, for whatever reason, another may be so that Google's developers can begin to utilise the functions of HTML5 without worrying about affecting some users. Google has stated that they will only do compatability testing and offer support for browsers up to the "third oldest" release version. So, for instance, 'BrowserX' versions 3, 4 and 5 will be catered for, whereas 1 and 2 won't.

This is a breath of fresh air for some web designers, because as Google is now causing a shake-up in browser standards, web developers can start to limit their compatability testing to ensure their websites only work with up-to-date browsers.

Businesses that have been rushing around, trying to find a solution to the vague new EU cookie laws that are coming in tomorrow, can breathe a sigh of relief, as the ICO states that websites have a full year to find a workable solution in gaining users consent before cookies are stored.

According to the BBC, the Government have set up a working group to work with browser manufacturers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome) to find a workable solution that runs cookie protection processes in the background.

This doesn't let everyone off the hook, however, as the ICO has stated that "Those who choose to do nothing will have their lack of action taken into account when we begin formal enforcement of the rules."

For more information, you can read the official ICO release and the official article on the Government's department for culture, media and sport website.

If you'd like us to carry out a review of your website, or have any questions, you can contact FastTrackIT on 0845 838 7802.

On May the 26th, a new law comes into effect that governs how website's use and store 'Cookie' data online. (We apologise for the following joke) A law that's certainly set to... make the cookie crumble.

If you're not aware of what a Cookie file is, it's a small, sometimes encrypted text file that lives in browser directories, that are used by web developers to store information about people who visit their websites. While this sounds sinister, it's really not. They're used, for instance, to store information on products you've added to your basket on an eCommerce store. For more information about Cookies, go to All About Cookies.

What do the new laws mean for you?

The new laws essentially mean that web developers have to gain consent from their users before they can utilise cookies, but the first thing to remember is to not worry too much about it, as it's certainly not worth panicking about, at least not yet.

The second thing to do, is to have a look at what cookies are utilised on your site, and what they're doing. Some cookies are exempt from the legislation "if storing cookies is strictly necessary for a service requested by the user." For example, if you run an ecommerce site, storing cookies is necessary for an item to be kept in a customer's basket.

For users signing up to an online account, you can put some text in the Terms and Conditions that the user expressly allows the website to utilise cookies, and you can also do this on login pages.

The ICO have released a comprehensive PDF about the new EU Cookies Law (PDF) that we highly recommend taking a look at!

If you haven't heard about it by now... where have you been?! This friday (the 29th April), we'll see the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, a glorious event that has kindly given the working men and women of England a day off of work!

However, whilst the employed are rejoicing at the thought of a day of partying, barbecues and relaxation, businesses are expecting mixed results this week.

The opinion seems to be fairly divided, with many claiming that the wedding will drive millions of pounds into the economy through tourism, whilst others claim that businesses will lose millions as their staff pull sickies for the three days between the two long weekends. An accountancy firm named RSM Tenon have warned that the loss to an average British business for every bank holiday could be as much as 6-billion, so who knows what effects this event could have on the UK economy.

There has always been the long-running argument as to whether the Royal household spends more money than it generates, but the 2010 Royal Public Finances Document shows that around £38 million was spent on the royals, where VisitBritain claims that the British Monarchy "generates well over £500 million a year from overseas tourists."

While we won't truly know the effect of the Royal Wedding until long after the event has happened and everyone has returned to their day-to-day lives and jobs, we should just relax, have a good day and celebrate the unity of our future monarchs!

Back in the 90’s, a revolution started. A revolution that’s speed and adoption impacted the world quicker and with more long term bearing than any previous transformation of the world’s technical landscape. Of course I’m speaking about the Internet. Yes, I guess we can debate my assertion, I guess we could discuss how the invention of electricity was a bigger and more important an event and that it was needed to facilitate the Internet, but hey, this is just a blog post, so a little poetic license please.

Anyhow, now almost 20 years on the landscape is ever growing but equally changing. Currently there are approximately 1.8 billion desktop based Internet users worldwide, this is compared to a massive 4.6 billion mobile Internet users. More than double the audience is on the move and statistics also show us that mobile users are more engaged.

Mobile phones, smartphones and mobile devices such as iPads are all being embraced by an ever increasingly diverse demographic of individuals. Whether they are waiting for a bus or perhaps a meeting, or just sitting in front of the television at night, these devices have their users more engaged because they are more accessible. They no longer need to wait until they get home to get access to their PC or Mac. Their iPhone, Android handset or tablet is accessible and instantly available. Hence, mobile Internet browsing is normally longer than desktop browsing sessions.

The future doesn’t look like its going to change either. Matt Brittin, Managing Director of Google UK, says that research indicates that in the year 2020, there is going to be an estimated 5 billion desktop based Internet users compared to a huge 10 billion mobile users.

Hence my question: “Shouldn’t we rename the Internet to Mobinet?”

Good job we can build side-by-side websites for Desktop and Mobile users!

We've got 5 copies of our Beginning Internet Marketing DVD to give away! The DVD takes you through how to make your site search engine friendly, how to get it indexed and provides a fantastic resource for any internet marketer!

For your chance to win one of these DVDs, all you need to do is post a comment on this blog article outlining how you would increase a Facebook Profile's coverage, make it more appealing and/or increase the number of 'Likes!' The best five comments will get a copy of the DVD!

So, what are you waiting for?

I met with an old friend, soon to be client, the other day at his shop. The guy’s been running retail shops longer than I’ve known the meaning of retail. Anyhow, he really knows his stuff; he was telling me that he moved one of the cash desks the other day because there wasn’t enough space for customers to get through, plus if he moved it to the lower left corner he could get another 2 sets of shelves in etc, etc…

While telling me all of this he notices a small mark on a carpet tile, I’m not kidding, 10 feet away! "We need to get that cleaned or replaced" he barks while pointing at this dot! Anyhow, I guess his attention to detail and knowledge of his domain was really impressive to me, he has retail in his DNA.

The flip side to this is his website, not quite the same authority at all. Misshapen images, products with no descriptions or very poorly written ones. Categories duplicated and in some areas over 5 levels of navigation. And don’t get me started on the checkout process! I mean, does he want to sell anything? "Am I adding to basket or to the cart? Are they the same? I don’t know, let’s see! Ah, what’s this, I need to login first, ok, I’ll create an account then. Why exactly do you need my credit card to allow me to add something to my basket? I mean cart! Oh, whatever!"

But that’s not the worse part at all! Search good ol' Google for his business name, and his website comes below the fold at position 6 or 7. We can only guess his products are visible to the "page 10 brave".

The shame of it is that we see this kind of situation so often. Experienced business people that understand their realm of commerce so well, but when it comes to launching their Internet empire, they are convinced they can do it alone, with no prior experience or guidance. However, that in itself is not the issue. I’m all for self development and taking responsibility for your business’s progression. However, this is not the case. None of these sites are updated or have had any attempt made to make them better. The same problems exist online and offline, if someone has a bad experience in a shop, they are likely not to return and, online, the same applies.

Those old-school retailers with retail DNA coursing through their very being, need to find a way to have the Internet DNA spliced with theirs. And until they can, they need to find someone, or some- team, that can truly drive their online ambitions home.

It isn't quite the hot topic of the month being shouted from every street corner, but it certainly is a question that we hear being asked.

A Virtual Office is, to put it simply, an absolutely fantastic way for small businesses, sole-traders, freelancers and the self-employed to further their business at a fraction of the cost.

Here's the lowdown; say you're a small business or a one-man-show, and you're having difficulty keeping up with your phone calls. You're out at meetings, or doing jobs, and clients are going through to your mobile's answer phone all the time... Not a good image. This is where a Virtual Office comes in. For a very low price, you can have any regional number set up (an 020 for London, for example) and use this number for your business. Clients can then call this number, and will be put straight through to a 'Virtual Receptionist,' who will answer the call in your company name, and then either direct the call as necessary, or take a message.

Cool, huh?

Well, that's not just the end of it... There's a whole range of other features that Virtual Offices provide. For instance, you can pretty much 'set up' at a complete new location for the price of a cup of Costa coffee per day! OfficeFront, a Virtual Switchboard Service provider, offer a Virtual Office package that contains call handling, a London office address and a lot more for under £2.50 a day!

It's definitely worth considering, especially if you're a smaller business...