A long time supporter of local Business, Aaron Yates, Managing Director of Berea, was proud to be invited back to the Hinckley Business Associations quarterly dinner on Thursday 3rd April to give the Vote of Thanks to the speakers. The keynote speaker, Katie Hopkins, who noticeably came into the public awareness from her time on The Apprentice, was warmly received by the Associations members and a pleasure for the entire audience composed of Hinckley’s local business community.

• Aaron Yates
  Managing Director
  aaron.yates@berea.eu

What is a Cookie?
To paraphrase Wikipedia:

A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is a piece of data stored by a website within a browser, and then subsequently sent back to the same website by the browser. Cookies were designed to be a reliable mechanism for websites to remember things that a browser had done there in the past, which can include having clicked particular buttons, logging in, or having read pages on that site months or years ago.

They continue…

Although cookies cannot carry viruses, and cannot install malware on the host computer, tracking cookies and especially third-party tracking cookies are commonly used as way to compile long-term records of individuals’ browsing histories — a major privacy concern that has prompted European and US lawmakers to take action.

Almost every website you visit will store a Cookie on your computer. Due to the abuse of this technology by larger organisations and Ad Networks, lawmakers want to give consumers the right to opt in to receive these files where they are not essential to the running of the site. Such non essential files includes those for Advertising Network and Website Analytics.

Why are Cookies a Privacy Concern?
Say for instance you visit Facebook, then visit another third-party (non-Facebook) website that has a Facebook social plugin of some sort installed. Facebook could quite easily be recording your progress around the web simply by checking Cookies for an identifier unique to your account. This concern has also been placed against Google and Amazon, where the belief exists that knowing your routines and actions enables these companies to serve more targeted advertisements to you. Relevant and targeted ads are clicked more often meaning they are more profitable for all parties, thus the complexity and capability of this Cookie tracking has substantially increased over time.

What does this new legislation demand?
Visitors to your website will have to give “informed consent” before you’re allowed to store any Cookies at all on their computer. This means that it is likely your website will have to be altered by a website developer to fit the letter of the law. It is unlikely that small businesses will be persecuted by this law, however non-compliance it is a risk you take on your own.

What problems will this create?
If your website runs advertising from an Ad Network you may notice a decrease in revenue as less targeted adverts are displayed. All websites running analytics software such as Google Analytics may immediately notice vastly decreased browsing statistics as users choose not to have the cookies that make this application work stored on their machines. This ultimately means that split testing, and other website optimisation techniques currently used as standard for improving operational performance, will become increasingly more difficult to pay dividends due to a vastly decreased data sample being available for analysis.

What are the penalties for non-compliance?
The ICO can levy a penalty of up to £500,000 fine for failing to adhere to legislation under their remit, however it should be known that this maximum penalty has never been levied and most prosecutions are made against public institutions. A full list of actions taken by the ICO can be perused on their website.

For the most part the Digital Marketing industry is split on what course the ICO will take when this legislation comes into force. From a political standpoint the current Conservative/Lib Dem Government are pro-small business, meaning they will be unlikely to chase after the butcher, baker and candlestick maker who fail to comply. Larger enterprises are likely to be expected to know better and will be running the gauntlet without compliance. Organisations such as Amazon, Google and Facebook are the most likely to attract attention from the ICO due to the large number of cross website tracking cookies they use.

How can we get compliant?
If you’ve bought your website after the end of May 2011 your website should be compliant as standard. Check with your website developer and ensure they’ve done this for you. If they have not they should be willing to rectify the website free of charge for providing a non-compliant site.

If you bought your website prior to the end of May 2011 you’ll want to undertake the following:

• Have a cookie audit undertaken to determine what cookies are being sent from your website that are not essential to its operations.
• Notify your developer of your wish to have the site made compliant with the law. The majority of hard work has already been done for them by way of open-source plugins being available, though they may have to charge a half or full days work to integrate these to your liking.
• If in doubt contact Berea for an entirely free of charge introduction to a provider capable of making your website compliant.

Where can I learn more?
The Information Commissioners Office Website

What can cause a website to stop working?
There are a number of technical and non-technical issues that can cause a website to stop appearing when it’s address is manually typed into a web browser. Similarly there are other issues that could be at play if a website, when clicked on in a search engine, doesn’t display a page for the chosen website. The easiest way to diagnose if your website has truly suffered a fault is to enter its main “domain name”, e.g. www.berea.eu. Ordinarily if a page should appear, you can be confident that website is still live. Click a link to another page, just to make sure. This is the easiest test to perform if you’ve landed on a website from a search engine. Sometimes, if old content is removed and the “404” (web page not found) error is displayed, it’s simply a case of the error detection behind the website not functioning correctly. However, the far more serious issues arise when the home page cannot be displayed.

The Technical Issues:
Before you arrive at the website there are two main areas that can affect whether a website can be displayed (assuming you have a stable access to the Internet). These areas are your “domain name” and your “website hosting”. A website domain name is much like a contact in your mobile phone’s address book; you tap a name to call, rather than having to remember a number. A domain name is very similar, it “resolves” to an “IP” (Internet Protocol) Address, where this number is the identifier of the “hosting” where your website’s files are stored. If your domain names “DNS” (Domain Name System) details are altered, or not correctly pointing to your hosting, the “call” won’t connect properly, and your website will not be displayed.

Likewise with your website hosting, should its “environment” be incorrectly configured, this could prevent the “source code” behind your website being properly executed, again preventing the website from being displayed.

These two technical issues can arise in a number of ways, some accidental and some malicious. Accidents can happen when registering a domain name or changing it’s DNS settings, though these can often be resolved with ease. Sometimes you may forget to pay your domain name renewal fee, where this results in it’s DNS information being withheld until payment is made. If you’ve bought your domain name through a third-party who then controls it on your behalf, they may likewise restrict its usage until you’ve paid your bill. Hosting suffers a similar but larger set of threats. Website hosting is susceptible to virus infection, both from the “back office” (infecting the hosting providers servers directly) or the “front of house” (malicious code injection, DDoS and other hacking efforts). These examples are just a few of a small number that could result in your website becoming inaccessible. There also exists the possibility that, should you fail to pay your hosting bill, again your website may be taken offline- this is much more serious as, if your hosting is erased and you do not have a recent back up, the damage caused by its deletion may be irreparable.

What Can You Do To Mitigate Against These Risks?

1. Always register and control your own domain names directly
2. Always register and control your own website hosting directly
3. Ensure you pay your domain name and hosting providers on time
4. Make regular backups of your website and any associated databases
5. Check that any website software has the latest security patches
6. Follow your hosting provider’s security announcement news
7. Have a Incident Response/Crisis Containment procedures in place
8. Ensure your team can respond quickly to your website going dark

Conclusion:
If your business is reliant on its website for sales, you’ll want to ensure you’ve done everything in your power to ensure the longevity and security of this revenue stream. Worst case scenarios can and do occur, so ensure that suitable precautions, and checks and measures have been implemented to scale back your risk as much as possible.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the impartial and independent advisor to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can advise on your incident response or crisis containment planning, or if you’d like further information on how Berea’s input could reduce risk created by third-party domain name/hosting/website providers, call us on 0116 287 3600 or email info@berea.eu

Aaron Yates, Managing Director of Berea, said “The strength of Berea’s positioning and offering has grown significantly. I’m hugely confident that the new solutions we will begin to deliver in Q2/Q3 2012 will be well received and extremely popular in the larger business community.”

For more information on Berea Associates please contact Aaron using the details below.

• Aaron Yates
  Managing Director
  aaron.yates@berea.eu

Before agreeing to purchase a website.
Prior to undertaking a pre-launch quality assurance you, of course, first have to have contracted a Website Provider (or “Digital Agency”) to supply a website for you. We’ve discussed this process in other special reports. As a quick recap, always ensure you have a contract in place and that you’ve supplied a brief supportive of your organisations currant and future needs.

Standard Agency delivery terms.
To avoid a website dispute you’ll likely have had a review of the website contract supplied to you by the Digital Agency. This website contract will have laid out the terms of payment. Often this will be in a staggered approach with a deposit up-front, a further payment after your design has been chosen, with the final (and often largest) payment delivered just before your website is made live to the public. It is at this juncture that you’ll want to ensure everything meets your needs prior to parting with the largest chunk of your hard-earned profit. Some Agencies may try to strong-arm you into payment without viewing the website in its development state, however we advise this is an essential step before you fully commit to completing your transaction. The majority of contracts are not considered complete until you’ve made this final payment, so this is the last opportunity you’ll have to ensure that the website you’re buying accurately meets your needs. Remember- a reviewed website contract will help you avoid the potential of a website dispute later down the line.

Undertaking your website Pre-Launch quality assurance tests.
Now that your Agency has notified you that your new website is only one small hurdle from being live you’ll want to put a website pre-launch quality assurance plan in to motion. The first step is to request a “development URL” from the website provider. When you access this address you’ll see your website exactly as it’ll be seen when it’s live from your own domain. Remember- do not release your final payment to the Agency until you’ve completed this essential quality assurance stage.

Test 1: Ensuring website content is accurate.

• Ensure all images are ones you have supplied, or if they are sourced from a stock photography site, that you have permission to use these on your website.
• Spell check all of the copy on your website, ensure email addresses and telephone numbers are accurate.
• Ensure the content within your website is logically structured, and that your primary services can quickly be discovered and easily understood.
• Double check that no pages have been created for ‘black-hat’ SEO (search engine optimisation).
• Double check with your website provider that all On-site SEO has been undertaken, e.g. that all images have alternative text tags and that ‘H1’ tags are optimised.

Test 2: Checking the website is built properly.

• View the “source code” behind your website (Menu -> View -> Source). Check that all “META” tags have content appropriate to your business and services.
• Ensure that Google Analytics is in place and that you have access to this service.
• Check that any forms within the website work as expected. If any enquiry forms are used, ask the website provider to confirm all enquiries are saved to a database in case the email function of the form ceases working.

Test 3: Ensuring you’ll be supported in the future.

• Ask your website provider to supply you with the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and MySQL (database) details to access all of the aspects composing your website.
• Ask for a copy of your website’s code and database schemas to be delivered on either a USB flash drive or on a CD as a back-up.
• Ask your website provider for a copy of their support agreement/warranty. Will they keep the website up to date with the latest security patches?

You’re about ready!
You should now be in a position to move forward and complete your transaction. Please note that this process may not be complete as your needs may differ based on the type of website you’ve purchased. Without proper care and diligence you may unknowingly increase the likelihood of a website dispute in the future. Should you like further impartial guidance on your own internal website pre-launch quality assurance please contact Berea directly.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the impartial and independent advisor to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can advise on your website pre-launch quality assurance assessment, or if you’d like further information on how Berea’s input could support your future technological growth, call us on 0116 287 3600 or email at info@berea.eu

What is left for the IT Manager?
Whilst technical advice on back-ups and system security will, for the foreseeable, remain the realm of the IT Manger, the basic components of assembling a small office network with email are becoming increasingly easier for a small business owner themselves to manager. As this situation scales and the business grows, whilst some input is required on efficiency, cost and security, for the most part the small business can prosper without the additional overhead of the IT Managers. Even the once turbulent world of the office printer has become, for most enterprises, a thing of the past. Plug and Play devices, and much easier interoperability between different computing platforms such as Mac OS X and Windows, has significantly lowered the knowledge required for an effective and secure small business computer network to be established. Whilst traditional IT as we know it is currently in a twilight phase, a new area is arising where the IT Manager might specialise, that concerning off-site colleagues. The advancements in Cloud Computing and Mobile/Portable devices is creating a new void, ever steadily being regulated to better protect consumer data and confidential business information, that is yet to be filled or approached by the traditional IT Manager in any meaningful manner.

What should the IT Manager be required to do?
The aforementioned scenario creates space, in forward thinking businesses, for IT Managers to reposition themselves in the field of “Digital Efficiency Engineering”. Portable/Mobile devices, supported by Cloud Computing, means that a physical office space could hypothetically burn to ground one day yet be fully operational again within 24 hours. All that needs replacing is the hardware, as the data is securely held in multiple data-centres around the globe. With such a system in place, IT Managers can begin to investigate the potential of these devices and solutions in further streamlining the operations of their organisation, more in a support capacity to the Operations Manager.

Is the title of IT Manager still relevant?
This article appreciates the traditional role still required of the IT Manager, however Information Technology is a title that is steadily being supplanted by newer practices. As technology becomes easier to configure and maintain by non-technical colleagues, the IT Manager has to redefine their role in enterprise by looking at how it can better benefit future operations, rather than simply supporting in the management of existing working routines. The IT Manager’s role becomes a cross-over between Operations Management with a strong leading towards Digital Marketing. Digital Marketers tend to keep one eye to the future with regards to emerging technologies, and actively seek ways to merge these with existing campaigns for a competitive advantage. The same mindset, albeit much more circumspect, is required of the individual responsible for an organisation to discover, understand and deploy emerging technologies, to streamline the acquisition, processing and retrieval of data to the overall benefit of the company.

The title of IT Manager thus becomes depreciated. The individual in this capacity must still have a strong knowledge of IT security, computer systems and technical support, but they must be better able to delegate these tasks to focus on their larger objective of increasing organisational efficiency through technology. Technology Manager, or the out-sourced title of Digital Efficiency Engineer, are much more apt and encompassing of this direction.

How will this affect larger organisations?
It can be quite easily seen that the proliferation and ease of use of modern technologies has made it much easier for a small start-up to grow more quickly. A secure computer network with back-ups and email accessible off-site for smart-phones and tablet devices, once an IT Managers pipe dream, can now be implemented for an extremely reasonable sum for a small enterprise. As these newer enterprises grow the larger market place becomes an increasing threat to larger more traditional businesses. These larger organisations, more firmly entrenched in their ways, and without strong leadership and vision, will struggle to adapt to the changing technological environment. The enterprises that do survive this ‘non-futurist’ purge will have thoroughly redefined their internal operations around technology rather than people. The internal computer systems will be flexible enough to allow for change and growth, whilst simple enough in their deployment and daily use to create improved efficiency. Large enterprise IT will become increasingly decentralised and supported by more junior technical specialists, whist the Technology Manager, supporting the Operations Manager and Directors, will constantly work with an eye to helping the business automate or better streamline the 90% of work that composes the daily activity of the majority of organisations.

What opportunities exist for Smaller Businesses?
Smaller businesses, founded more recently and by younger entrepreneurs, have a distinct advantage over the next 5 to 10 years. Their understanding of the potential use cases for modern technologies, and agility due to constant changes in the market places, makes them much more like to seek out and adopt solutions that the traditional IT Manager might consider high risk. Smaller Businesses, at this time, have an increasing competitive advantage against larger competitors, regardless of industry, for the simple reason that they can change. They can adapt and grow with new technologies built in to their core. As technologies advance, further reducing the barriers for a new business to enter the market place, larger businesses will begin to stop looking at their peers when undertaking reviews of competitors, and have to begin seeking out the smallest entities in the marketplace for inspiration in maintaining their position.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the first truly impartial and independent advisor to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing and Digital Efficiency. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can advise on the future of IT, or if you’d like further information on how Berea’s input could support your future technological growth, feel free to call us on 0116 287 3600 or email at info@berea.eu

Understanding your requirements:
When you’re buying a new fleet vehicle, what do you look for? Of course, your requirements of the vehicle will change depending on who will be using it. If it’s a salesperson covering 100,000 miles in a year, reliability and economy with a hint of style may well be watchwords. When you’re looking for new offices to grow into you’ll also likely have an eye to the future on how long the premises will be suitable based on number of staff, and whether the layout of the facility is complimentary to the organisational layout you have in mind. Even further once again, when you’re employing a new member of staff, you’ll have a job specification detailing the requisites for the role, as well as a process for induction and performance assessments through that individuals time with you. With this picture in mind it should be a little clearer for you to see that same level of in-depth thought and consideration needs to go into your website. How will be using it? What would you like it to do? How long will the website be relevant for before, if shop-window fashion, it goes out of date? Who will be responsible for ensuring it meets it’s performance objectives, and what exactly are those tangible milestones? Before committing to a new website your business has to completely understand how the tool will benefit your company and how it will integrate with your existing and future plans.

Website basic technical requirements:
There are a host of technical requirements that we at Berea consider to be standard, though unfortunately these are not considered standard by the Industry that will make your website. Diving into the deep-end of these technical requirements includes factors such as a website being optimised for on-site SEO from launch, that Google Analytics should be built in from launch, that the website should still support IE6 and IE7 if even just a few of your previous visitors are still using these antiquated platforms. Modern considerations must also be factored in, such as that the website must be “touch friendly” for tablet devices, and that Flash shouldn’t be used if an iOS (Apple iPad or iPhone) device were to access the site. Once solid technical foundations are clarified you can begin to plan the “property” itself. This process can be quite exciting as it is nearly the same as planning your “one-off dream home”. We always recommend that you find websites that are inspirational, either in aesthetic or functionality, to inform your chosen website provider of what you’d like to achieve. Even better, you can set these websites as benchmarks to check your own website against once it is delivered.

Come up with a variety of different tiered options for Agencies to quote on. Create a “site map” of how you envisage everything will fit together- you know your business and your consumer best, so you’re the only party ideally situated to undertake this task. The website provider you choose can always flesh out and improve your concepts later, but unless you specifically understand and state what you want now, you certainly won’t be delivered anything like it at delivery.

Getting quotes for a website:
As mentioned above, draw up a list of options you would like the Agency to quote on. Create a document dedicated to your ideas and your goals informed by what you think will work. Before dispatching the document ensure your senior team is asked for feedback on how the website will integrate into your operations. Are your objectives clear? Does the document consider that the website will be unlikely to have any major alterations in the next 2-5 years, when your business will most likely have changed significantly in that time?

Once your Website Requirements and Website Technical Brief is assembled select a short list of Agencies that you believe are capable of undertaking the work. At Berea we recommend you only ever choose local businesses and further recommend they are Accredited as “Honest Agencies”. Whilst the nature of the web means that you can buy services from anywhere in the world, the benefit of buying local means that you can call your supplier in if needs be if you feel you have a problem. Face to face meetings are much better for resolving issues that a Skype call or an easy to misinterpret email chain.

The website purchasing decision and your next steps:
With your Requirements and Technical Brief circulated to at least 5 Agencies/Website Providers you should, with one to two weeks, receive a spread of quotes for the work. We predict that the proposed quotes will have vast differences in their pricing structure. To be able to compare these costing better, and if the Agency has not done so, ask for a breakdown of the total price. How has their figure been arrived at? Have they included an annual hosting fee and maintenance/support contract in their pricing? What makes their charge so different to that supplied by another party? Don’t be fooled by cost- the cheapest and most expensive options may not always be the best for your business.

Always ask each Agency for references and samples of previous work in industries similar to yours to get a better picture of the quality of work you’ll receive. Ensure that you ask for references that are over 6 months old. Some Agencies will provide references for clients that are ecstatic having just received their new website, where this temperament may quickly change within a few short months in difficulties are encountered. As the consumer you are in the driving seat until you sign the Agencies Contract.

Before agreeing to a Providers services always undertake a Website Contract Review. Standard boiler-plate contracts are often designed to protect the Agency and not the rights of your business meaning you will struggle significantly should a Website Contract Dispute arise later down the line. In such instances, and if you hold it, Legal Expenses Insurance in unlikely to cover you for costs incurred.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the only truly impartial and independent advisors to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can help you avoid complications when buying a website, or if you’d like further information on how Berea’s input could support your plans, please feel free to call us on 0116 287 3600 or email at info@berea.eu.

Issue 1: Is a Mobile App really needed?
The first question your organisation has to answer is whether or not a mobile application will present any benefits. The question of it’s purpose needs to be seriously considered. Will the application be used to increase orders, increase brand awareness, create a distinction in your USPs in the marketplace? How will you market the application and make your customers and target audience aware of it? The time of “build it and they will come” has disappeared quickly, you need a strategy for getting your new investment into the hands of people who you want to buy from you. Whilst it is always worth entertaining any approach from a company offering services in this space, you’ll have a much greater degree of control by preempting the situation and assessing first whether or not an App is right for you.

Issue 2: Is a generic App worth the investment?
Generic Mobile Application now abound in most industries. There are services for Accountants, Real Estate Agents, Sports Clubs and many more. The problem with a generic application is exactly that, it is generic. An provider offering these generic services can often make small amends to the App for you, but otherwise, you’ll offer functionality exactly the same as that of your competitors to the same audience. You will equal each other out. A generic application, by it’s very nature being more affordable that a custom/bespoke App, will only have a very short lifespan as your competitors also begin to acquire similar solutions. You should only consider a industry-generic Mobile App as part of a larger strategy, with a plan for a bespoke replacement 6 to 12 months down the line, otherwise your competitive advantage will be lost.

Issue 3: Would a bespoke App offer any benefit?
Bespoke Applications are much more difficult to conceive and deploy. If you’re offering a bespoke service however you’ll have a great variety of options available to you. For instance, you can employ a freelancer to develop your software in-house, giving you additional IP within your business. This application can either be offered free of charge or for a fee to consumers through the App store. B2B applications will often attract a higher retail price than those meant for any and all consumers, as the marketplace (and therefore economies of scale) will be significantly smaller. For an individual to download your bespoke Application is has to offer value, it has to make the buyers life easier, less stressful, more productive. As discussed in our previous White Paper, the Attention Economy dictates that you consumer, when using a mobile device, will want to achieve their desired goal in the shortest amount of time, therefore careful and considered planning will most likely take up the majority of your project time.

One positive route forward in this space is hiring your own developer. Find ways that your own organisational efficiency can be increased through a mobile app and then find out how you can white-label the platform to retail it to others in your industry. This should not only give you an immediate boost in your operational capability, but will further serve to create a new revenue stream off the back of it.

Issue 4: IP, Ownership and Maintenance
Buying from any third-party will always raise questions regarding IP, Ownership and Maintenance. Who is responsible is something goes wrong? Who ultimately owns the software? Is this a capital asset investment that will add long-term value to your business, or simply a marketing investment where the sum paid is expected to show Return On Investment? Contractual Law is still playing catch up with the recent advances in Digital marketing, and Mobile Applications are no exception. If you choose to work with a third-party out-sourced development team, rather than bringing in a a contractor (the safest option), you’ll need to assiduously check your Contracts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to ensure your rights are protected and that the service provided will be in the interest of your organisation.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the only truly impartial and independent advisors to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can help you avoid complications when buying a mobile app, or if you’d like further information on how an app could benefit your operations, please feel free to call us on 0116 287 3600 or email at info@berea.eu.

Issue 1: “Screen real-estate” and the “Attention Economy”
The ability to communicate (access, process and store data) at an ever increasing speed has created a phenomenon we now call the “Attention Economy”. If a non-priority task takes more than a few short seconds to complete it is not considered worthy of pursuit. Current technology such as the Laptop and Desktop sport a high level of screen real-estate, therefore the likelihood of being able to locate, manipulate and respond to various data is markedly higher than if a similar scenario were to be undertook on a mobile device. If less data can be seen on screen, and that data turns out to be less relevant, the time required to complete the allotted task will increase exponentially. This simple fact alone lays the foundation for the issues we will begin to see in B2B and B2C Web Disputes over the next 24 months.

Issue 2: Time-frame of issue to impact
We believe that 80% of consumers in the United Kingdom will access the Internet through a mobile device by 2014, presenting a total of 24 months before this situation becomes painfully apparent in the world of modern business. Whilst our current trajectory has been set for at least the last 5 years, there has been no major alteration to the Digital Marketing industry that would indicate their acknowledgement of the situation, or any attempt to alter their ways to begin to prepare their customers for the gargantuan seismic shift this single, simply change in technology will have on the way they all do business.

Issue 3: Buying websites
Before the advent of the iPhone and iPad, a simple rule existed for website designers. When producing a website never make it wider than 960px (‘pixels’), this way +99% of visitors should be able to see and experience the website as you intend. As screen size on computer monitors has gotten ever larger website display sizes have remained relatively consistent. The ability of interactive elements has increased markedly, but the underlying proportions of a website have simply not changed in the last decade. What this means is that businesses have become accustomed to the package they buy with a website. Even the least tech-savvy business owner can type a Web Address and check a product of some sort has delivered, and as long as the dimensions are correct and the screen space is filled, they’ll assume everything to be above line and correct. Unfortunately, the Google Analytics reports of all our clients now shows on average that at least 10% of their site visitors are using mobile devices, up from an average of just 2% across the board in January 2011. We expect this access-average to rise to +20% of total traffic by January next year. B2C websites will see the shift first, though B2b websites are not far behind. Herein lays the crux of the first issue, businesses, especially smaller ones, have never bought a mobile website before. It is an entirely new product to get their head around and understand. Businesses today are still spending hefty quantities of hard-earned profit on new websites, completely unawares that their investment will be near worthless in just 2 years time. Technical issues exist behind this scenario as well. Will a mobile website be built into a traditional template? This way your URL structure will remain the same and the website will simply change it’s display based on the device on which you visit. Or will the website redirect entirely to a sub-domain hosting entirely different content? Suddenly businesses will have to deal with the realisation that they’ll have to manage not one, but two completely independent websites. This leads us on to the cost and management headaches involved in Digital Property Maintenance.

Issue 4: Digital Property Maintenance
Businesses will have to maintain two websites going-forward for the foreseeable future. One shall be a traditional experience optimised for larger mobile/portable devices such as the iPad (and other tablets), the other a slimmed down website optimised solely for mobile use (Android, iOS, etc). These websites will most likely be entirely different. A traditional website is too large a structure to efficiently mimic on a mobile device where the effects of the Attention Economy are much more pronounced. Site structure, pay layout, calls to actions and even purchasing mechanics will be entirely different. Individuals will access each different website to achieve different goals, and that must be taken into account by your Information Architect and User Experience/Interface Designers. For a business to remain competitive it will have to carefully balance it’s management of these two systems. Whilst new tools will arise to simplify this pressure, the way a business thinks about Digital will have to change vastly if they intend to remain competitive against younger start-ups.

Issue 5: Rethinking The Digital Strategy
Digital Strategy as a field will evolve in 2012 through 2015. The processes and systems for effective business management of digital tools and services will become more advanced and easier to integrate. Marketing Managers will need a better understanding of the overall digital landscape and the trajectory the industry is on to deliver quantifiable benefits to their organisations. IT Managers will become extinct in their current form, replaced by Digital Efficiency Engineers, individuals who analyse the component parts of a business and that can construct secure digital systems that will increase efficiency, compliance and overall business operation security. The Marketing Manager and revamped IT Manager will have much closer roles, coordinating their activities and overlapping business responsibilities with a much greater degree of control than ever before. Considering that 90% of most business activity being the same repetitive routines, accuracy and quality will better through an increase in their consistency of being underpinned by the logical rules of a digital platform. Businesses will find the flexibility offered by such an approach to their work will give them greater latitude in future new product development.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the only truly impartial and independent advisors to businesses struggling or confused with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can help you with your Digital Strategy and Digital Efficiency, to help you achieve your business objectives this year and next, call us on 0116 287 3600 or email us at info@berea.eu.

What Is “SEO”?
Search Engine Optimisation, commonly abbreviated to SEO, is the process of increasing the position of a website in Search Engine Results Pages (“SERPs”) for a specific key phrase. A key phrase is a group of words related to the commodity you wish to promote, based on what your consumers call it. For instance “Professional Indemnity Insurance” is a key phrase. “PI Insurance” refers to exactly the same commodity, but is a different key phrase, meaning you will get different results displayed if you undertake a search for both of these terms individually.

What most businesses do not realise is that there is no formal qualification or standard for SEO, and that the act of it’s undertaking is not a pure science. Whilst there are many thousands of search engines in existence most individuals will typically use Google, Bing or Yahoo. Google currently accounts for over 80% of searches made in the UK. Each Search Engine has it’s own proprietary “engine”, the core functionality that determines how websites should be ranked when a specific key phrase is searched for. The algorithms that create this ‘engine’ is always kept closely guarded, meaning that no provider (regardless of how they explain it to you) has an inside track on how to manipulate their algorithm for the best results.

Who Provides SEO?
SEO is predominantly sold by Digital Marketing agencies as a natural extension to a website. An “Honest Agency” should optimise the website you buy before it is launched, where Agencies engaged in sharp practices will often try to add this as an additional fee. “On-site” (factors relating to your website) and “Off- site” (placing links, etc, on the websites of others) SEO are the two different practices related to achieving a higher search position. Some providers operate solely with SEO as their offering, rather than supplying a broader set of products related to the industry. It is debatable whether these organisations offer any benefit than dealing with a cross-industry Agency.

How Do SEO companies create their charges?
SEO companies will often formulate their charges in one of three ways, where these are:

1. A fee per key-phrase per calendar month (variable based on day rate and activity)
2. A fixed monthly campaign fee (often spanning multiple key-phrases)
3. A full-service fee including the cost of website development

It should be noted that the majority of providers will not offer any guarantees on improving your position in search results and that this statement will be present in their legal contract. In all cases most organisations will also state that it may take up to three months of charges before you begin to see any change in your results. Remember, most search engine users will not typically go past Page 3 in search results, so movement from Page 98 to Page 50, whilst large proportionally, will not deliver any noticeable returns to your business. Always consider SEO as a marketing tool that should deliver return on investment.

1. Per Key-Phrase Fee
Under this model you will pay a provider a fixed fee per month, per key phrase, and for a defined time-scale of activity. For example, under this model if you were being charged £200 per month for a single key-phrase, one of the provider’s SEO team would most likely spend no more than 1/2 day per month on your project.

2. Fixed Campaign Fee
A fixed campaign fee model will often commence at around £500+ per calendar month. Under this model, assuming a below-average provider day-rate of £400, an individual with SEO knowledge will be assigned to optimise a list of (ordinarily) 5 key-phrases related to your search traffic. This contract will, again, typically run for one year and have no guarantees.

3. Full-service SEO with a new Website
Some Agencies will build a new website and offer a discount if your purchase a mid-tier off-site SEO package to accompany it. Whilst this will spread your costs over the period of a year, it should be noted that this type of contract (as a deliverable is encompassed in the contract) is much harder to escape. If you do choose to buy SEO, always purchase it as it’s own separate contract.

What Risks Are Associated With SEO?
There are a variety of tactics employed by SEO providers to increase your position in search results. Some of these tactics are disproved of by Search Engines such as Google as they skew their algorithms too far. It is not in the interest of Google for businesses with the most money to always be at the top of every search results page. Google’s goal is to display the most relevant content to your search query. If Google starts delivering too many results that are obviously ‘bought’, consumers will begin to use another search engine, and then Google looses money from their Pay Per Click (PPC) service, Google AdWords.

These sharp-practices are collective known as “Black Hat” SEO. It is not a ‘dark magic’, it is simply a catch all term for SEO practices that run the risk of being noticed by Google. If your website is being artificially promoted through these tactics it runs the risk of being “black-listed”. Being black-listed means that your website will be removed from all Search Engine results. Many cases exist of this happening, and it has even happened to BMW Germany.

How To Buy SEO Safely
Before buying SEO determine what your business objectives are. The ‘dumb system’ of simply funnelling more visitors will not be economical. Understand who your consumers are and whether or not a higher search rank will deliver a better calibre of prospect to your website. When approaching an SEO provider ask them what model they utilise for ROI. Ask the provider how long they’ve been trading and to see results for organisations similar to yours. If you do not understand the sheets of figures presented, ask to speak to their client’s directly for a referral. Ask their client if the provider has truly delivered tangible results. If possible, try to speak with businesses you’re familiar with to improve the reliability of the their claim. Ask the provider what guarantees they have in place, and what refund structure they have if their SEO package does not accomplish any increase in business. SEO should not be a gamble and honest providers will be happy to provide some reassurances. Ask the provider for a copy of their contract and examine it thoroughly, query all terms that are unclear. If an acronym or abbreviation (such as SEO) is present without clarification of it’s meaning, ask for it to be clarified in the contract.

If you’re in doubt, Berea can provide assistance. We can provide introduction to an Accredited Honest Agency (Audited regularly for a consistently high quality of honest and transparent service), we can review SEO contracts and we can perform an impartial investigation into whether your existing SEO service is delivering any tangible benefits to your organisation.

The Future Of Search Engine Optimisation
SEO has a bleak future, in fact, by 2015 it will no longer exist in it’s current form, or possibly any form. Search Engines do not make any money from SEO, they make their money from businesses paying for “Pay Per Click” advertising alongside search results. SEO means Search Engines do not make as much money as they would like to. In 2011 Google launched their own Social Network named “Google+”. Using information collected about your browsing habits Google has begun to providing personalised search results. What does this mean? It means that if one individual searches for “PI Insurance” on their home computer, and another individual performs the same search on their mobile phone whilst set right next to them, there’s an increasingly good chance both individual will receive different search results. The factors affecting these results listing are based on vast databases of your previous activity, meaning that SEO in it’s current form will no longer have any effect in the next couple of years. Unfortunately we expect many Agencies will continue to sell a service under the ‘SEO’ title, where your money will for all intents and purposes be wasted.

Conclusion
The raft of changes in Digital Marketing coming in 2012 through 2015 mean businesses have to invest carefully and shrewdly in services informed by a well-assembled and well-considered comprehensive Digital Strategy. With an ever increasing number of SEO providers flooding the market with an easy sales pitch, more and more business owners are getting their fingers burnt through false promises and high-costs. Berea Associates Ltd. are the only independent and impartial advisors to businesses struggling, confused or frustrated with Digital Marketing. Whether you’re looking at a new website, iPhone App, SEO or Email Marketing, we can provide the guidance you need to achieve your goals securely, compliantly and cost-effectively.

Would you like to know more?
Berea Associates Ltd. is the only truly impartial and independent advisors to businesses struggling or confused with Digital Marketing. If you’d like more advice or information on how Berea can help you avoid making a mistake with Search Engine Optimisation and help you achieve your business objectives, call us on 0116 2873600 or email at info@berea.eu.