Posts

Business Directories, who do you use and why? 7th November 2013 9:25 PM

Fair play. I've always considered it a risky strategy if all outbound links are no follow, although it should lower the daily seo churn, it will also put a lot of businesses off. Plus the linking profile can be weighted the wrong way if all no follow, but there's plenty of arguments either way, and different schools of thought.

Big big fan of semantic search and have been using mark up for years, although only recently consolidated with schema.org (other than bread crumbs).

Best of luck, and always up for a directory discussion, no more self promo though

Once you've got a few decent posts, you can soft sell with a forum sig.

Business Directories, who do you use and why? 6th November 2013 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by tim

“Try The Business Index if your looking for a manually edited directory. The interface is really easy and functionality seems rich. Its at thebusinessindex.com”

Well Tim, an 18 month thread bump! I was about to delete for self promo seo spam when I saw the IP was Dorset and I just love directories

So assume you run the business index. Out of curiosity, why are the links are no follow? Was that a concious decision?

Good to see someone else that has embraced schema.org

UK is a service sector economy... 5th November 2013 1:49 PM

According to the Beeb..

“Activity in the UK services sector last month increased at its fastest rate since May 1997, a closely watched survey suggests.

The Markit/CIPS PMI services index rose to 62.5 in October from 60.3 in September, beating forecasts of 59.8.

Readings higher than 50 indicate growth.

Markit said the services sector, which accounts for around three quarters of the economy, was the "major driving force" behind the UK's economic upturn...
BBC News - UK services growth at 16-year high”

Blimey, 3/4 of the economy!! So we really are a nation of call centres... What happened to all the talk of Small Business will lead us out of recession blah blah... Obviously yesterdays news..

Phones ringing, no doubt another "have I been missold PPI" call, but as long as it's helping the economy

Telemarketing - Good or Bad? 5th November 2013 10:49 AM

“The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has implemented new rules for telemarketing effective this October, and this is certain to affect telemarketing campaigns.”

It sounds great if it works. But realistically, other than a few high profile cases that no doubt will be used and held up as examples, how is it going to be effectively enforced? Is there a staffed agency that that will be specifically monitoring this, or will it be passed on to some other dept or agency, and no doubt slide down the priority queue.

Telemarketing kitemark scheme launched 5th November 2013 10:38 AM

“The Direct Marketing Association has launched a certification scheme for telemarketers, aimed at recognising companies that comply with privacy regulations and the principles of the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Telemarketing kitemark scheme launched | News | Marketing Week”

I suppose anything is good news if it means an attempt to curb unwanted marketing calls, especially at home, but I'm a bit of a TPS cynic, as the last time we tried to follow the process, it was long winded and convoluted! Which is why most telemarketing companies seem to ignore it...

Hopefully this new focus on TPS will restore some confidence. Anyone else had any experience with TPS, or reporting offenders?

What is your addiction? 4th November 2013 4:46 PM

Deleting spam and low quality posts

Thanks for this post:

Thanks from: indizine, Emily

What merchandise do you think is the most cost-effective and also most popular ones 4th November 2013 4:44 PM

Originally Posted by The_Bag_Supplier_Ltd

“BAGS, BAGS, It has to be BAGS! ... and might I also suggest BAGS?”

hmmm, bump bump bump

Will let you off if you do an intro and say hello

What is the best advertising - on a shoe string budget? 3rd November 2013 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by Local Trader

“Now contrast that with Google AdWords. It's keyword driven, and uses IP addresses to determine a location for specific countries or regions. At a local level, it's not particularly accurate. I live on the Kent coast, but according to Google my location is Hounslow in west London! I've never lived or worked in Hounslow, and have only ever passed through the place on my way to and from Heathrow Airport. Go figure

An unsung British Icon retires from service 3rd November 2013 9:42 PM

Originally Posted by Local Trader

“I hear Land Rover is going to discontinue the Defender. They call it progress, but to what?”

As a Landrover buff, and ex L90 V8 owner, I'll be sad to see them go. But it's design now is really showing it's age, and the reality is most farmers these days are happier in a disco or a pick up truck which is more comfortable and doesn't leak when it rains

Plus I think gadgets, traction control, heated seats, and other elecy gizmo's which people expect now have killed it, which you can't take seriously when fitted on a defender. You used to be able to drive round the world in a series III or a L90, and if it broke down, any village in the middle of nowhere that had a black smith, could get you going again

Drive a modern defender through a ford and it will prob short circuit

What is the best advertising - on a shoe string budget? 1st November 2013 4:44 PM

Originally Posted by Local Trader

“If you're looking for paid, online advertising, Facebook ads are probably a better bet than Google Adwords as you can really drill down and target only those people who fit your target market profile...”

Interesting response, have you seen this yourself then?

I've been a longtime fan of Google PPC because it works. Our campaigns are optimised and we sit around the 30% conversion mark which I'm happy with and makes it very viable.

I've tinkered with Bing campaigns and FB ads, including just a couple of weeks ago and can never get any kind of return. I can generate likes, page impressions or visitors very cheaply. But if I'm paying for traffic, regardless of how targetted it is, I just want to see conversions.

Maybe FB (as I've long suspected) is dependant on your biz type.