Facebook, Google 1+, Twitter and other social networking sites have had a major impact on web hosting. While in times past it was enough to have a website, most companies now have accounts on all the social network sites mentioned above, along with a blog and YouTube account. Anyone who wants to create an online retail site or profitable blog or website will need to take advantage of social media and all that it has to offer.

Facebook

Facebook has hundreds of millions of users. A business that wants to engage with potential clients in a friendly manner should open up a business (not personal) Facebook page. This page can be used for advertising special offers and discounts. It also allows a business owner to have friendly conversations with clients and potential buyers.

Google 1 +

Google’s new site may not be as popular as Facebook, but it already has tens of millions of users. Google has also promised that Google + sites will get good search engine ratings. This means that a business that wants to get higher search engine ratings for its website or blog should create a Google + account.

Twitter

Twitter is one of the most popular forms of social media. Many people turn to Twitter to find out the latest news and a business will want to target such individuals by creating a Twitter account to go with the business website. There are many Twitter applications that can be used in conjunction with this form of social media, in order to help one space out tweets, keep track of tweets, follow and unfollow people and more.

YouTube

YouTube is yet another very important form of social media. It is owned by Google and so Google gives relevant YouTube videos good search engine ratings. No matter what type of website or blog one has, he or she can make one or more videos relating to the site and then post these on YouTube with a link back to the site.

Anyone who wants to have a successful website should consider these forms of social media indispensable. Web hosting without social networking sites is simply not successful as it once was. In order for a website to gain a lot of traffic, it should have social network sites that help to back it up.

Digital Marketing · Facebook · Google · Social Media · Twitter

If you are a business owner, hopefully you are starting to explore the world of social media for your company. Social media has several great advantages. First and foremost, it’s a way to easily spread your company’s message about what you have to offer. It also gives you a chance to illustrate your customer-friendly service by interacting with current and potential customers online. Third, it’s free and easy.

Some business owners may be tempted to use Facebook as their primary website. But while it does save a little time and money by not needing web hosting or domain name registration, choosing to forego a traditional website, in this internet-based era, is not a good idea.

Here’s why: even more important than being customer-friendly is being reputable. You want your company to be a company that customers trust to do the job well. Friendly but incompetent just won’t cut it.

A traditional website is a place to provide reputable data, information, photos, and list the services you provide. Yes, it means you will need to search through domain names and buy a domain name (or find a UK hosting company that offers free domain names). You’ll also need to select a hosting company to host your domain, website, and email addresses.

But it will be well worth it when your website, paired with your Facebook account, helps you establish a reputation for quality service and quality customer interaction.

Facebook · Social Media · Web Hosting

According to the digital marketing intelligence company comScore, use of Twitter has doubled over the past twelve months. The company’s latest research shows that Twitter.com attracted almost 93m users in June 2010, a year-on-year increase of 109%.

Clearly the relentless growth in the use of the social networking site shows no signs of slowing down. Significantly, more and more businesses are starting to exploit Twitter’s commercial potential – Dell Outlet being amongst the most successful with almost 1.6m followers.

If you haven’t setup a Twitter account yet, now is the perfect time – more and more of your customers are already using it.

Setting up an account is quick and simple – of course, you can always get help from your web hosting company if you need it. In fact, your web hosting company or your web developer should also be able to integrate your Twitter account into your blog and Facebook page.

Certainly, as a web hosting company, we are seeing an ever-increasing number of our own customers exploiting social media including Twitter. Join them today and start a dialogue with your customers.

Facebook · Social Media · Twitter · Web Hosting

Over the last few weeks or so we have been running some interviews for an undergraduate placement opportunity here at Freezone.

While I don’t subscribe to the suggestion that our education system has been dumbed down, there does seem to be a lack of concentration on digital marketing.

Even amongst those reading more commercial subjects with a focus on business or marketing, students seem very unfamiliar with basic terms such as domain name, web hosting and search engine marketing. (Familiarity with social media tends to be self driven rather than being ‘taught’ as part of a course.)

Given that practically most companies now have a website and use some sort of digital marketing and also given that channels such as direct mail are in decline, we need to ensure that our graduates are equipped with the right kind of knowledge and skills to succeed in a digital economy.

If there are any academic establishments looking to develop a practical curriculum for all things ‘web’, we would be happy to help.

domain name · Search engine optimisation · Social Media · Web Hosting

If you happen to be in London next week, do try to visit Centaur’s Marketing Week Live show at Olympia.

As well as an exhibition, the event offers you an excellent opportunity to attend free seminars and learn how some of UK’s major brands are exploiting digital marketing including social media.

For more information and a free ticket please visit Marketing Week Live. (And before you ask, no, we don’t provide web hosting to Centaur or have any other vested interest – the event simply looks like a great opportunity to pick up some tips and inspiration!)

Digital Marketing · Social Media · Web Hosting

So there it is – the long trailed emergency Budget from the coalition government. Whether you consider it a Budget based on ideological choices or one based on necessity, one thing is clear – we’re in for a period of some considerable fiscal pain.

Or are we? The initial response to the budget seems to be mixed. While the social media space was abuzz with quick pronouncements long before the chancellor sat down, the press is starting to have its more considered say too. While some, like Polly Toynbee writing for The Guardian have used more poetic prose to express their disapproval (“…Lib Dem yellow ribbons decorated the axe handle, but they barely impeded the executioner’s swing.”) others have displayed more optimistic sentiments.

In fact, the consensus seems to be that we are all going to have to pay but not as much as we had feared. Economists estimate that, on average, we will all be £400 a year worse off.

From business point of view there seems to be some positives too. Markets have not shown any dramatic response – FTSE 100 slid down on yesterday’s close but no more than its daily fluctuation. What’s more, rating agencies have declared that Britain’s AAA status is safe.

Here then are some of the highlights:

• expected savings have been increased to an eye-watering £113bn – that’s £40bn more than the previous government’s already ambitious target of £73bn
• public sector borrowing will tumble from £149bn this year down to just £20bn in 2015-2016
• across most government departments, there will be average budget cuts of 25% over four years
• public sector will have to endure two-year pay freeze (effectively a cut in real terms when you take inflation into account)
• VAT will jump to 20%
• growth forecast for 2011 has been revised down from 2.6% to 2.3%
• capital gains tax will rise to 28% (from 18%)
• corporation tax will be cut to 27% in 2011 and then by 1% in each of the following years until we reach 24%
• small companies’ tax rate will also be reduced to 20%.

While social commentators and public policy experts argue whether this is a ‘progressive’ or ‘regressive’ Budget, economist will tell you that UK businesses will have to endure tough times for a good while yet. The reduction in public sector borrowing and investment will have a knock on effect on small businesses too. And in regions where the public sector is a major employer, the impact on both people and businesses is likely to be worse.

Certainly, talking to our small business web hosting customers, we see a fairly cautious approach to investment, recruitment and marketing. Managers are looking at more value for money channels (digital including social media) and dropping some traditional channels such as direct mail.

No doubt that over the coming months discussions about the possible impact of the Budget will fade as reality starts to kick in. In the meantime, our advice to our customers is simple – make your online presence a significant part of your marketing strategy.

Business startup · Social Media · Web Hosting

On the eve of the emergency Budget, the chancellor of the exchequer and his aides have been busy jumping from one news studio to another trying to prepare us for the ‘age of austerity’.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, George Osborne was careful not to give away too much details but it was clear that our breakfast next Sunday would need to be a lot less lavish than it might have been in the past.

The list of tax rises and spending is long and is likely to include increases in capital gains tax, VAT and NIC and a freeze in public sector pay and recruitment. Some independent observers estimate the cuts to amount to some £85bn. What’s more, if these cuts don’t do the trick, the chancellor hinted at more to follow.

Given that we have borrowed £1 for every £4 we spend and that our budget deficit is the highest of the G20 leading economies, there is universal consensus that action is needed. However, there is considerable concern too amongst the small business sector that it is likely to suffer disproportionately.

Consequently, small businesses expect to cut their investment and marketing budgets to pay for some of the tax rises. However, while you may have to cut costs, you don’t want to damage your revenue. Making the right choice about where you spend your money is critical.

In fact, in challenging times, it is even more important that you choose your marketing channels carefully. Focus on the simple metric – return on investment (ROI).

And that means a focus on digital channels – your website, email marketing and social media. Talk to your web hosting company to discuss how you might get more out of your web presence and how you might exploit email marketing and social media.

In fact, not only does digital marketing cost less, it is much more effective – when managed well, you can expect significantly better ROI than many traditional channels.

So while the chancellor delivers the emergency Budget tomorrow, make sure you put in to place your digital strategy today.

Email Marketing · Social Media · Web Hosting

One of the critical aspects of ensuring success for any business is to control costs. This point is infinitely magnified when you are the owner / manager of a small business.

And given that one of the major costs for small businesses is attributed to recruitment, for those using external employment agencies, this can be crippling.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, the average staff turnover for UK companies is almost 16%. This means that for a company of 20 employees, you’ll have to pay out around £20K in recruitment costs alone (ignoring the cost of training new staff and the loss of productivity while they get up to speed with their responsibilities).

And unlike bigger and established companies, when cash runs short for small businesses, the consequences can be much more devastating. For small businesses, their bank covenants tend to be a lot more fragile.

So, how do you cut the cost of recruitment?

The simple answer is to go digital and exploit social media.

Let’s start with your own website. Do you have a ‘Work for us’ option on your website? If not, add it today and encourage visitors to your website to send you their CV. It is simple and does not cost you anything. As a web hosting company looking after 1000s of websites, this is the single biggest omission that we see on small business websites.

Now, let’s move on to social media. Do you have a Facebook and Twitter account? If not, set it up today – it takes just minutes and there are tools to help even the most novice of users to create pages quickly and efficiently. Once done, ensure you add the ‘Work for us’ option.

Remember, your web hosting company should also be able to give you free advice to help you build your presence on social media. (In fact, feel free to call Freezone’s web hosting team – just don’t tell them that I sent you!)

Then, join the professional network LinkedIn. It’s free and it allows you to connect to other like minded professionals as well as create / join special interest professional groups. Again, ensure you create a full and complete profile including links to your website.  LinkedIn is a key source for professionals looking for jobs as well as for advertising vacancies – at the last count there were some 70m members of the network.

Finally, join reed.co.uk, the only free job board in the UK. You can create an account and advertise your vacancies absolutely free.

Clearly, for some things, there are no ways to avoid costs. For recruitment, however, you have a number of choices before picking up the phone to a costly employment agency.

Facebook · Recruitment · Recruitment for small businesses · Social Media · Twitter · Web Hosting

“Talk to your customers.”

I think most people would agree with this statement. By talking to your customers, listening to and understanding their needs should certainly help to provide a more appropriate solution and a better service.

But how effectively does traditional marketing help you to talk to your customers? Not very well I would suggest. Traditional marketing has mainly focused on talking at customers, telling them how lucky they are to be using the company’s product or service.

Take a look at a typical direct mail piece. In fact, please see if you can find one now. (It’s probably in the bin under you desk!) I’ll wait.

Now, there is a good chance that your direct mail piece addresses you as ‘Dear Customer’. (This despite digital printing allowing easy personalisation.) It probably then goes on to tell you how wonderful the company’s product or service is. And soon enough it directs you to the order page. I am pretty sure that at no point does it make any real attempt to understand your needs.

In fact, traditional marketing is mostly a monologue. Alright, I exaggerate a little, but I hope you see my point.

Social media marketing, on the other hand, offers a real opportunity to have a conversation with your customers and target audience.

Take Twitter, for example. It allows you to address your customers by their real names, debate key issues with them, understand their problems, reply to their questions and provide effective solutions. All in real time. And all for free.

The same is true with Facebook. What’s more, you can also seamlessly integrate these channels into your existing website to conduct a genuine dialogue with your customers.

And unlike traditional marketing, you don’t need overpaid creative agencies to design your Twitter and Facebook pages. In fact, you can do that yourself with easy-to-use tools and I am sure your web hosting company will help you integrate both into your website.

So, if you haven’t added social media into your marketing armoury, now is the perfect time to make a start. Good luck!

Bebo · Facebook · Social Media · Twitter · Web Hosting

Everybody’s at it! Or so it would appear from the recent statistics that show that there are now over 75 million Twitter user accounts. In fact, there are still around 6 million new accounts being created every month.

Not surprisingly you would expect celebrities to dominate the list of top Twitterers – even the most powerful man in the world is only 5^th, behind actors and musicians:

Ashton Kutcher 4,906,132

Britney Spears 4,903,081

Ellen DeGeneres 4,630,911

Lady Gaga 4,046,743

Barack Obama 3,981,824

Closer to home in the UK, the picture is no different with Lily Allen, Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross all featuring in the top 10 most followed Twitterers.

Now, in our celebrity-obsessed culture, many of us need our daily fix of celebrity gossip – our day is not quite complete unless we know what Britney Spears had for breakfast or what the President is listening to on his iPod.

However, businesses are now starting to experiment with Twitter with a little more seriousness. Certainly both mainstream and niche publishers have added Twitter to their social media strategy (that also include Facebook and Youtube).

Retailers too are now starting to realise the tangible benefits of Twitter with the likes of Argos, ASOS, Next and Penguin Books amongst the long list of businesses with a dedicated account and announcing unique offers to their followers to actively drive sales.

While these chaps won’t tell us what they are making, Dell is a little forthcoming – to Dec 2009, they had turned over more than $6.5m. And the cost of all this revenue? Practically nothing!

And that, perhaps, is a critical point as far as small businesses are concerned. With a little bit of effort, you stand to gain considerable returns without incurring any real costs. And with Google now searching across Twitter, your tweets can help to drive more traffic to your website too.

While you will need to think about Twitter as part of your overall social media strategy (and we’ll come back to this topic in a future blog) setting up an account and starting a conversation takes minutes. Visit www.twitter.com today and discover how easily Twitter could become part of your marketing strategy.

Facebook · Social Media · Twitter · Youtube