Websights

We have been doing some promotion of a recently re-launched web hosting site and part of this is building traffic through the search engines.

Looking at our detailed access logs, we can see that we are getting a small amount of traffic each day for the single keyword “hosting” from MSN search (live.com). Now, this would be a bit like the holy grail to be ranked on page 1 of MSN and Google for the keyword hosting. But according to our stats, that is exactly what is happening on MSN.

So, we have been running the query on MSN ourselves to see if the site is listed, but it never comes up on the first page (or even on the next few pages for the single keyword “hosting”).

So, our stats say one thing, but we can’t see any evidence of it ourselves… odd. Presumably the stats package wouldn’t make it up, so presumably its happening.

It seem that maybe Live search is somehow rotating the results it show for keywords during the day - we all know that search engine rankings may go up as well as down (so don’t secure your house on them ;-)) but we’ve never heard of the results cycling repeatedly during the day.

We’ll keep an eye on it, but it may be a new development, or of course it may be just a quirk.

Now, when we get on page 1 of Google.com for “hosting”….

Meet Homer, the latest edition to the Milsom household.

It has been a long wait, we wanted a cat or kitten as soon as we bought the house but felt amongst all the renovations needed to the house it was a bit unfair to bring an animal into all the dust.

Homer arrived with us last week, from a friend. He certainly has brightened up the house and has been officially declared a nutter! He has settled in very quickly and as you can see, has taken over the computer chair already and found his way around the keyboard already, computer genius in the making!

So now we have the little kitty, he needs some toys. Looking through our portfolio, Max & Milly springs to mind, they provide extremely high-quality grooming products and beautiful, stylish accessories to dog owners who really care about what they buy. Shame I cant find something similar for cats. I would recommend any dog owners take a look at Max & Milly as you may not be able to resist getting the plastic out! The site is a fully functional ecommerce site, with the facility to simply login once registered to place an order, without the need to re-enter your own details each time.

Again from the portfolio is Pets Health Care, this is the website for the Pets Health Division of Seven Seas, so if we get any problems with his health, I know a good starting point.

Customers who contact us now in the 21st Century want fresh, standards based, SEO (Search Engine Optimised), web sites. And rightly so - it’s often the first impression people have of a company when they visit the site.

But it’s always fun just to see how ermm, interesting, some web site designs seem now looking back to the designs of the early 90s.

They have frames, huge text and spinning gif images, it could all look very scary back then.

So I thought I’d share this link to view more or less any web site design from the beginning of THE INTERNET!

http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

Take a look at
http://web.archive.org/web/19991129050057/http://websights.co.uk/�
to see how Websights looked in 1999 - £85 for a co.uk domain name registration? Those were the days

Then in 2001 we had a bit of a re-vamp
http://web.archive.org/web/20010707052613/http://www.websights.co.uk/
(some images are missing unfortunately).

By 2002 it was another design
http://web.archive.org/web/20010707052613/http://www.websights.co.uk/

2004:
http://web.archive.org/web/20040509150602/http://www.websights.co.uk/

It just goes to show how web standard web design has come along over more than ten years. One interesting aspect is how clean, simple design has come back into fashion - partly thanks to Google where good content triumphs over excessive design.

Hi,

As part of our services, we offer search engine optimisation and PPC campaign setup and management (in fact we will be launching a new comprehensive all-in-one service soon). We have the opportunity of working with one of our longstanding clients to promote the sales of scooters (50cc, 125cc, and 150cc). We have setup a site dedicated to cheap scooters to drive traffic to the main web site and increase online sales.

The site has been setup from scratch and is now undergoing a link building and content exercise to build traffic from the search engines. There is also a dedicated PPC campaign (PPC) running to deliver paid-for traffic as well. We will be monitoring progress closely and analysing things such as the CPA (cost per action - in this case a sale) and the best performing keywords.

The natural traffic (ie, not paid for) is also being carefully monitored and analysed to ensure the site gets the appropriate traffic and that it delivers sales.

Wordpress has been used to build a simple but effective site as quickly as possible, and content is regularly added to keep the search engines coming.

We will use the site as a full case study once we have some meaningful data and post our results here!

If you are interested in increasing the traffic to your web site, please let us know (sales@websights.co.uk or 01430 498231) and we’ll have a chat.

The site is intended to deliver sales for cheap scooters and can be viewed at www.scooterspot.co.uk. Note that it’s not an exercise in stunning design, it’s a demonstration of traffic building and converting!

I was looking to move house a few months ago and went for a Westbridge Homes New build development.

After moving in I was sorting all the usual stuff out; insurance, post redirecting, and addresses for all my domain names updating etc. I called KC to get a new telephone line put in with a Broadband connection and was told at first I would be called back in the next week to arrange a date for when an engineer can come and connect us.

After all the madness of moving I realised I never got that call, so I called KC in Hull and was told it would be a further 3 weeks at least due to all the flooding in the Yorkshire area, mainly Hull. So I wasn’t too pleased but in the situation of much of Hull been under water they had a fair point.

The annoying part was I was stuck in a contract for a further 10 months just because I requested a static I.P. from KC otherwise I would have gone for maybe the SKY deal.

The line and BB connection was for general browsing but was also to enable me to work securely from home to remote servers that host websites and relay email for out of hours support.

Otherwise BT could have done it much sooner and it’s no fun browsing web pages on a T-Mobile flex account on my laptop (dial up comes to mind).

Only 5 days to go and counting

If you are taking credit & debit card payments online you should already be aware of some changes which are due to be implemented which will affect many online merchants.

These changes were originally planned for June but were put back and are now due to be launched on 1st August 2007. This includes the launch of 3D secure, also known as “Verified by Visa” (VBV) & “MasterCard Secure Code” (MSC)

What is 3D Secure?

3D Secure is the latest fraud prevention initiative launched by the card schemes as a more
secure method for authenticating the shopper at the time of the transaction. Visa and MasterCard will take responsibility for your 3D Secure Authenticated transactions, taking the liability and reducing the risk of chargebacks your receive.

Why do I need 3D Secure Authentication?

3D Secure is becoming an Industry standard. As well as being a free service, 3D Secure is also a value added tool. It is easy to set up and can compliment your existing fraud screening options.

How does it work?

3D Secure is an extra step the customer must take to process their order.

After the shopper has chosen their goods and elected to pay, when submitting their card details, depending on the card type they entered, they will be redirected to a Visa or MasterCard page.

1. If they have registered their card for 3D Secure, they will be asked to enter their 3D Secure password.
2. If they have not registered their card before, they will have the option to do so, there and then.
3. If they have not registered their card and do not wish to do so they can bypass the process.

If the shopper has registered their card for 3D Secure, Visa or MasterCard will verify the shopper and if correct will the transaction will continue as normal and be sent to the bank for authorisation.

If the customer chooses to bypass the scheme they will still be passed to the bank for authorisation unless you have set up a Rule Base to reject them.

Benefits of 3D Secure

• Liability shift: The major benefit to you as the vendor is that a transaction fully 3D- Secure validated, cannot be charged-back to you if it is subsequently found to be fraudulent. You are protected by the card issuer against such chargebacks because the bank themselves assume the liability.
• Flexibility: You have the option of setting up a rule base on your Protx account to automatically accept or reject transactions depending on the 3D Secure results.
• Cards that are part of the scheme: VISA, VISA DELTA, MASTERCARD, UK MAESTRO, SOLO, and VISA ELECTRON.

Limitations of 3D Secure

• Chargebacks can still occur: A 3D secure validated transaction will not protect you in circumstances such as in the event where the customer denies receipt of goods.
• Not all cards are part of the scheme: As yet there are no similar initiatives for American Express, JCB or Diner’s Club.

What do I need to do?

Contact your card processors and they should be able to enable 3D Secure on your merchant account.

You will also need to remove any Switch logos from your site if you are using one. This can be replaced with Maestro if required.

We have been passed around a little between our bank and the card processors but with a little determination we have managed to get the two to liaise with each other and should be setup for the deadline next week.

If you take payments over the phone then this may not apply to you - contact your bank and your card payment processors to find out if this affects you

Most customers will be aware of this, but since the 1st January 2007 it has been a legal requirement that certain information is disclosed on company web sites and emails.

Limited Companies are now required to include on web sites and all emails:
1. The Company Name in full
2. The Registered Office address
3. The Company number and disclosure of the country of registration, usually in the format “Registered in England; No. 123456789”.
This information is also required on Company websites.  The new legislation brings emails and websites in line with the requirements for Company letterheadings and other company stationery.

From the DTI web site:

LANGUAGES & TRADING DISCLOSURES REGULATIONS 2006

2.1 Do we have to put our registration details on emails?
If the email relates to the company’s business, then yes.

2.2 My organisation is made up of a number of subsidiary organisations.  Do we have to put details of all subsidiaries on all websites?
It’s up to you.  We know some groups are having a single page which links between all the parts of the group giving their registration details.

2.3 What are the consequences of non compliance?
If you do not comply you could be subject to a fine.  The current fine is one fifth of the statutory maximum of £5000.

2.4 Do I have to put my VAT numbers and details on documents?
This is not required by the Companies Act.  You may want to check the point with HM Revenue & Customs.

2.5 Do I have to put the details on every page of my website?
No, though it should be somewhere it can be easily found and read.

2.6 Does all this information have to go on my business card?
Not unless you want it to.

We have noticed that some of our clients (in common with lots of organisations!) are not currently complying with this requirement.

As far as emails go, it is easy enough to add a signature in your mail client (usually Outlook or Outlook Express) that is autoatically added each time you send an email. It can also be setup in our web mail client as well. It’s well worth adding for peace of mind.

As for web sites, we will happily up date your web site to make it compliant for a one-off fee of £50 (except the who have a maintenance agreement, who will get it for free). Just give us a call or email and we’ll sort it out for you.

Note: this is not legal advice, and anyone who is unsure should seek independent legal advice.

For those who are intersted, this is how our e-mail signature looks:

Worldwide Websights Ltd – Award Winning Web Design
Latest Web Sites: www.websights.co.uk/portfolio.asp
E-mail: dpollard@websights.co.uk
Tel: 01430 498231
Fax: 01430 423982
Web: www.websights.co.uk
Registered Office: Technology House, Annie Med Lane, South Cave, East Yorkshire, HU15 2HG.
Registered as a company in England and Wales, number 3348289
VAT Registration Number: 698 8530 63

The information in this email and any attachments is confidential and intended for the sole use of the addressee(s). Access, copying, disclosure or re-use, in any way, of the information contained in this email and attachments by anyone other than the addressee(s) is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error, please return it to the sender and highlight the error. We accept no legal liability for the content of the message. Any opinions or views presented are solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Worldwide Websights Ltd. We cannot guarantee that this message has not been modified in transit, and this message should not be viewed as contractually binding. Although we have taken reasonable steps to ensure that this email and attachments are free from any virus, we advise that in keeping with good computing practice the recipient should ensure they are actually virus free.

It’s Internet World (www.internetworld.co.uk) time again and we are going to be there on Thursday (Duncan, Andy, Rich, and Darren) taking a look at the latest developments in both web design and hosting.

As it’s such a long way from East Yorkshire, we’ll also be staying over on Thursday night for a bit of a night on the town.

If any of our customers are down there, please feel free to let us know so we can meet up for a chat.