Tuesday 27th January 2009
Online shoppers spent more than £4.67 billion online in December, up 14.2% on December 2007, a figure equivalent to £76.67 for every person in the UK.
Of the 2000 consumers who were questioned for the IMRG Capgemini survey, over a third (37%) said they did more than half their shopping online, while nearly two-thirds (59.9%) revealed they had spent more online this Christmas than last.
Mike Petevinos, head of consulting for retail at Capgemini said: "Our research provides further evidence that consumers are turning to the internet as the most efficient way to save money in the downturn. Retailers are seizing the potential of the internet to reach shoppers with targeted discounts and promotions. These factors have led to the robust growth rates we are seeing for e-retailing as a whole."
Monday 8th December 2008
The Federation of Small Businesses has advised its members to use the internet to increase sales during the downturn. Nearly half of small businesses that use the Web to advertise their firms increased turnover by one fifth, according to new FSB figures. The survey also revealed that the number of small businesses who had their own website had leapt by a quarter to around 70% since the last survey.
Dr Gary Packham, head of enterprise at the University of Glamorgan, said: "These figures show the very clear link between new technologies and business growth. If the country's 4.7 million small businesses are to take advantage of the internet to grow their businesses they will need good quality services to be in place."
John Walker, the FSB's national policy chairman said: "All firms should look to the internet to maximise their sales and efficiency."
Taken from an article published in ERT Magazine 04/12/08
Friday 28th November 2008
Google is the king of the search engines, with a close to 90% dominance of all online searches performed in the UK. It has become so popular that when people talk of searching online they often say that they’ll ‘Google it’. People trust Google’s results will be relevant to what they are looking for, and they seldom go beyond the first few pages of search results displayed. Getting their website to rank highly in Google is a must for all business owners.
There is a lot of often conflicting advice out there about the best ways of getting your website to the top of the rankings. Ethical and unethical methods abound. At Think365 we will always follow the latest seo best practice guidelines.
Now, for the first time, Google has produced an easy to understand Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide, available as a free pdf document that you can download for free. Whilst it does cover some of the technical aspects of how to optimise a website, as an introductory guide we think it is a great educational tool for all business owners who would like to have a better understanding of how their website optimisation works. And it should also help you communicate to your SEO experts without thinking they are talking a foreign language!
Monday 24th November 2008
The government today announced a 2.5% reduction in VAT from 17.5% to 15% in an effort to support the economy, businesses and households. This has immediate implications for all business owners because the change takes effect from 1st December 2008 through to 31st December 2009, meaning businesses have a week to adapt. You can read the official pre-budget report here.
At a time when both businesses and consumers are sensitive to price the first decision business owners need to make is whether to update their prices and pass this reduction directly on to customers. Do you operate in a market that is highly price sensitive? If you update your prices will this give you an edge over your competitors; or conversely, if your competitors reduce theirs and you don't what affect will this have on your sales?
Websites will need updating wherever the VAT amount is displayed, and for e-commerce websites the new VAT amount will need applying to all sales from 1st December. Product prices may need changing and shopping carts will need updating to calculate new gross totals. On websites that have VAT hard-coded into the pages this could prove a real headache for business owners. It highlights the true value of having a content management system (CMS) website where text on a page can be freely updated, without the need to go to a web designer.
All Think365 e-commerce websites come supported with an easy to use CMS, and VAT needs changing once only, with the new amount instantly applying throughout the store. And of course, it will need to revert back to 17.5% on New Years Eve 2009. Happy New Year!
Tuessday 11th November 2008
You will often find us trawling the web to read the latest research findings and thoughts on how we can make websites work better on all levels. Not just from a technical or design perspective, or in terms of usability, but also how we can improve our clients’ websites to support their business objectives: whether it is raising the profile of a brand, offering information, generating new lead enquiries, or maximising product sales.
This is a subject that is dear to our hearts. A website may appear at first glance to look good and have fancy design bells and whistles, but how successful is it at actually helping you achieve your objectives?
One measure of website success is conversion rate – the number of website visitors who took the action you wanted, as a percentage of the total number of visitors to your website. A question we are often asked is ‘What conversion rate can I expect from my website?’. Whilst ‘typical’ conversion rates for industries are available, self-reported conversion rates can be prone to inaccuracies, and are therefore unreliable. Furthermore, there are numerous factors that influence the conversion rate on any one particular website.
Just recently I’ve been reading the book ‘Call to Action’ written by conversion experts Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg, which has topped the New York Times bestsellers list. In the book they discuss conversion rates and propose strategies and techniques that can be used to give your website the winning edge.
Here are some of the key points raised:
Here at Think365 we are experts in making practical changes to websites that boost conversion rates. Contact us today and we'll be happy to discuss, with no obligation, how we can help your business succeed online.
Unlimited design revisions ensure you get the exact website you want. You also receive FREE 'Go-Live' Support for the first month
We assist you linking your website to other websites: part of a strategy to help your website rank highly in search engines including Google
It's easy to keep informed on your website traffic and how your customers are using your site with in-depth statistics reporting tools
Your domain name is included and you also benefit from FREE Website Hosting for the first year on our fast, secure servers
Think365 is a web design company based in Worthing, West Sussex, specialising in affordable website design and e-commerce websites to clients based throughout the UK. Our value web design services include brochure websites, shopping cart websites, content managed websites and blog websites. Our flexible solutions come with a comprehensive website benefits package including: bespoke website design, free hosting, search engine optimisation, and FREE 1 month ‘Go-Live’ support for complete peace of mind.
