We’re all familiar with the concept of spam and spam traffic to websites that shows up on Google Analytics’ data and can, depending on the size of the site and the level of traffic it receives, really skew the data collected and make it hard to accurately analyse what is happening with the site and its visitors. However, we now also have the problem of ghost spam!
Unlike traditional referral spam, which relies on bots hitting your site, ghost spam is something that shows up in Google Analytics as a visit and has the effect of skewing the data collected, but doesn’t actually equate to anything or anyone having visited the site. (more…)
The ones that follow you around the Internet, the ones that pop up half way through the article you’re reading or the flashy ones at the top of a page. Adverts are everywhere and are ever more pervasive, invasive and persistent, until now.
Ad blocking, particularly in mobile advertising, is becoming even easier for the user to do, potentially plunging your advert, your money and your presence online into oblivion. Ad blocking has grown globally by 41% in the past year alone as more users are purging their pages in favour of a clutter free viewing that is of their choosing. (more…)
A little over a month ago, in a move that caused something of a stir, Google rolled out its latest search algorithm update for mobile platforms and the world went crazy.
Well, maybe not the world, but for those within the industry this seemingly major update signalled a fairly large prospective change in the way businesses may have to develop their websites.
The update (playfully dubbed ‘Mobilegeddon’ by those with a penchant for the melodramatic) marked a clear distinction as to what search results Google would or would not rank highly. Specifically: Mobile-friendly websites. Google categorically stated that if your website does not function properly on mobile devices, it won’t appear highly in mobile search results. (more…)
Online public relations and search engine optimisation share the same objective – to improve a client’s presence in the marketplace. They take slightly different approaches but share similar channels and opportunities. As a business grows, it’s vital to have the right combination of both so that the business can reach its full potential for inbound marketing. The disciplines have to be aligned because internet marketing has become more about branding and building up trust and authority. Producing good quality content that deserves to be shared and offers something of value is the way forward. This goes hand in hand with PR, which is concerned with delivering a clear message to achieve set objectives. (more…)
Removal of links
First of all, you should take an in depth look at your current status and assess the quality of the backlink profile that already exists. It is worth approaching this methodically to ensure that you assess it thoroughly, otherwise you could make more work for yourself by cutting corners and potentially cause the performance of your website more harm.
We can safely say the launch of the new Zatchels brand – a range of contemporary and stylish satchels – has been a resounding success.
A successful media campaign (albeit almost under the cover of darkness to keep the launch a secret!) plus the launch of the Magento e-commerce website at www.zatchels.com means that the fashion world now has a new star.
The reaction to the Zatchels range has been incredible; everyone who’s seen the products and viewed the website seems impressed. We’re pleased, our client is pleased, the journalists were warm in their praise of the products, and the consumers seem equally impressed.
It would seem then that we’ve bucked the economic trend. With retail sales down, consumers struggling with bills, and the whole world seemingly on a bit of downer at the moment, we could have been forgiven for thinking the timing was all wrong.
The fact is though that fashion does buck trends. In 2008 leading fashion pundits were forecasting that the recession, which had still to really bite deeply back then, would take its toll. By 2010, the retail sector was suffering but it didn’t collapse. Even if some brands did suffer it basically came down to a question of image.
The fashion industry can sometimes be seen as decadent and self indulgent so what sets Zatchels apart from the crowd?
Well, it seems everyone’s agreed that satchels are the ‘must have’ accessory of the year, which is all well and good so long as people can afford the ‘must have’. And fashion, accessories and cosmetics spend is also considered therapeutic; when all else fails buy yourself a new dress or a new lipstick.
Where the Zatchels range really is a winner is in sensible pricing, affordable quality and the fine craftsmanship that lies behind this very British brand.
And apparently being British – especially in the world of fashion accessories – can be cool.
Last Tuesday (Nov 2nd) a couple of us travelled down to Kensington Olympia for the annual MediaPro Exhbition to have a look round and see what was on offer. We had intended to go to some seminars but unfortunately, didn’t have the time.
What we did do though was see and talk to lots of people exhibiting at the show, where we had many interesting conversations and learnt a few things too…
Probably the most interesting (dare I say “exciting”) piece of news in the day was being introduced to a man who had no connection to us. Surprisingly though, when he saw that we were from Mulberry Square, he recognised us immediately. It turned out that we had unknowingly featured in a seminar held by Dotgain.org about Marketing Services Providers! The speaker, Tony Hodgson, had simply typed “Marketing Services Provider” into Google and Mulberry Square featured top in the organic search results.
Whilst we have done work on our own SEO for our website, we have tried to concentrate more locally so it was a nice surprise to find out we had succeeded so far beyond our aims! As we were told by a few people at MediaPro, we really must be doing something right.
The recently launched Unecom IT Services websiteThe web development team at Mulberry Square Marketing Services today launched a new updated internet marketing driven CMS website for Leicester based managed service provider, Unecom IT Services.
Unecom IT Services have an enviable reputation for providing IT support services for businesses and organisations across the East Midlands. They recently introduced industry leading remote managed support to their proposition and needed to beef up their online presence to better represent the progress they are making.
Mulberry Square were privileged to be chosen by a business with such cutting edge services and were able to respond with web design and development services to match the very high standards that Unecom IT set.
The content management system (CMS) chosen to provide the platform for the development of their website was chosen because of the robustness and flexibility it provides in the construction of the website but also because of the ease of use for the client when updates need to be made.
The website has a built in IT support calculator coded by the Mulberry Square web developers and also accommodates a WordPress blog and Twitter social media feeds in order to encourage enhanced natural search results. The copy on the site was developed following keyword research being performed by account managers at Mulberry Square with a view to not only providing enhanced search results but also with a view to improving the results of an Adwords campaign that Mulberry Square will be implementing on Unecom’s behalf.
As well as internet marketing, ongoing maintenance and support of the website with be provided by Loughborough based marketing services provider, Mulberry Square.
We were recently approached by a new company called Bizzing to provide graphic design services to design and develop its branding, in addition to offering marketing services to support the company in its promotion.
As well as the branding development, we were asked to design and develop a website for them to include many different levels of functionality, including password protected user accounts for customers and forum capability.
We have designed a temporary static website to showcase Bizzing whilst we are busy with further web design and web development behind the scenes. In designing this website, we have been involved in creative copywriting, including SEO enhancement, as part of our marketing services and have sourced a range of images to support the website design. We have also employed our creative copywriting services to provide captions to these images to further enhance their message.
Watch this space for the upcoming fully functional website for Bizzing…
Simple… our world is changing. Business is changing, marketing communications are changing and communications platforms have already changed. Long gone are the days when you could stand alone in this world as a Marketeer, Graphic Designer, Web Designer, Web Developer, Data Analyst, Printer, Print Manager, Print Finisher, Mailing House, even a postal service provider – just look at the Royal Mail!
Whether it be the pressures exerted by the recession or clients becoming more demanding, value no longer remains in being a small cog in the great machine that is the creation and delivery of marketing communications. Very small, and lets face it one dimensional, players who are scrapping to stay alive on the one hand and some very cute purchasing on the other perhaps baiting the situation have put paid to that. Just take a look at the examples being set by the print management giants of this world such as Communisis, St Ives, the Lateral Group and the GI Group, all of whom printed, mailed, managed data and now offer platforms to deliver communications by email and SMS through trigger marketing, whether that be via web pages, telephone calls, texts or some other way.
In the same way that Mulberry Square has looked to innovation to stay one head of the game, all of these big boys are doing the same by either developing their own platforms or working with the likes of Kodak, who themselves are looking for the next new angle, to develop solutions to knit the whole complex mixture together into a marketable product. Where Mulberry Square are ahead of the game is that we have outsourced the more commoditized services of printing and mailing with high quality well managed partners and introduced services that deliver creativity and greater value, particularly in the internet services arena.
Where we are now is in a more mature place where clients want us to help them deliver clear measurable results for their organisation whether that be the way that they present their propositions on just a campaign level, an overall strategy or across their business as a whole. That way it is not just about a question of price, it is about creating, managing and delivering communications that justify the trust placed when working intimately with the client by creating true return on investment (ROI), with lead generation, customer retention and enhanced data t’boot.