tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62344579761496970292011-11-27T16:10:13.981-08:00Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-71203156234529909552009-03-19T06:47:00.000-07:002009-03-19T07:01:52.406-07:00According to Hitwise statistics, UK traffic to video websites is up 40.7% over the past year. In February 2009 1 in 35 internet visits was to a specialist video web site, this is up from 1 in 50 in February 2008.<div><br /></div><div>YouTube has 62.9% of the total visits, BBC iPlayer is second with 11.2% and Google 3rd with 2%.</div><div><br /></div><div>BBC iPlayer traffic has grown 152% over the past year receiving traffic via search for its' favourite TV shows such as "East Enders" and Comic Relief as well as traffic from the BBC's other sites such as Radio 4.</div><div><br /></div><div>Wikipedia is the most popular for music video searches with 10% overall share, YouTube's share during week ending 14th March 2009 was 7.5% and although this is a marginal drop on the previous week, YouTube's overall traffic is up.</div><div><br /></div><div>It still remains to be seen whether YouTube will resolve its negotiations with the PRS and its' decision to remove copy-written music videos. The long term effects of doing this are still to be seen.   </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-7120315623452990955?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-49652152420433167082009-03-11T13:29:00.000-07:002009-03-11T13:45:29.705-07:00According to the latest figures LinkedIn is enjoying the social media boom with a 137% increase in users over the past year. LinkedIn is now the 5th most used social networking site.<div><br /></div><div>This compares well with the growth of the largest social network, Facebook, which achieved 168% increase over the past year.</div><div><br /></div><div>LinkedIn now has 15 million users and is a growing business tool, it has a valuable customer base of business minded users which could prove a valuable asset when compared to mass audiences at Facebook and MySpace.</div><div><br /></div><div>Recruiters are making the most of LinkedIn, it's a great source of candidates however, LinkedIn's customer base of 15 million users is relatively small, compared to Facebook's 108 million.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>  </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-4965215242043316708?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-82317721979565050582009-03-10T15:50:00.000-07:002009-03-10T16:20:36.866-07:00According to the latest Nielsen report, 67% of the global internet population are now using social networks and Blogs. Social networking and Blogs are are now the 4th most popular online activity.<div><br /></div><div>The time spent by users on these activities is growing at 3 times the rate of overall internet usage and accounts for 10% of the total time spent online.</div><div><br /></div><div>The biggest audience growth of social media in 2008 was 35-49 year olds. </div><div><br /></div><div>Surprisingly, in the UK over 2 million people had actually used their mobile phone to visit a social networking site. Internationally, Facebook, the world's most popular social network, is now visited monthly by almost 30% of people online.</div><div><br /></div><div>The conclusion is that social networking sites and blogs, also known as "member communities" are growing at an extremely fast pace and have now overtaken personal email in terms of popularity. However Search, Portals and PC Software remain in the top three most popular activities, according to the report.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-8231772197956505058?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-32101291973366086102009-03-10T07:09:00.000-07:002009-03-10T07:33:08.768-07:00YouTube is to block access to music videos for it's UK site users over the next two days. <div><br /></div><div>The decision follows a breakdown in negotiations with the Performance Rights Society, the body that governs music publishing, regarding increased licensing costs and conditions.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the ban on music, Patrick Walker, YouTube's director of video partnerships, said that YouTube was still was committed agreeing terms. The debate and commercial positioning between Google and the PRS highlights part of a wider question of how to fund and price content in the digital age. </div><div><br /></div><div>It seems that YouTube, who has the worlds' largest video watching audience,  feels costs are prohibitive of publishing content, stating that Google could end up losing money, whilst the PRS says the move is punishing British consumers and is urging Google to re-think its' position. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-3210129197336608610?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-61024622164297618002009-03-05T12:00:00.000-08:002009-03-05T12:17:44.274-08:00Google's PR man, Matt Cutts, says that Google has now factored "trust" into its' PPC algorithm explaining why big brands are appearing in more of the top sponsored search positions for high volume generic search terms.<div><br /></div><div>"Trust" signals, not surprisingly, include metrics such PageRank, (Google's public display of affection for certain websites) as well as other metrics that convey the importance and value of a page. <br /><div><br /></div><div> This "minor" algorithm update, which appears to have affected the generic terms as opposed to "tail end" keywords has noticeably pushed brands ahead of their smaller rivals with inferior PageRank and importance. </div><div><br /></div><div>The question is does this update help the consumer? Well yes and no. We know that consumers prefer to purchase online from trusted brands and websites however does this move by Google mean that new companies and smaller enterprises will be forced out of the market reducing competition which could ultimately result in poorer services and more expensive prices.  </div><div><br /></div><div>In the short term, good news for ecommerce managers and search marketing managers working in the major corporations but bad news for small businesses who struggle to compete due to increased costs and lower sales conversions. <br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-6102462216429761800?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-65115063036178146392009-03-05T03:15:00.000-08:002009-03-05T03:39:39.919-08:00According to latest Hitwise statistics, Facebook is the most "searched for" brand in the UK followed by YouTube and eBay.<div><br /></div><div>In the 12 weeks ending January 3rd 2009 Facebook's market share of total UK brand searches was 2.39%, YouTube 1.57% and eBay 1.25%. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 4th and 5th palaces were the UK social networking site Bebo and the BBC. Tesco was the 9th most searched for brand with 0.26% market share of total UK searches.</div><div><br /></div><div>Amazingly Facebook's traffic has more than doubled over the past year and during February 2009, Facebook received 1 in 24 of all UK searches. Its' traffic has grown 18.6% so far in 2009. </div><div><br /></div><div>Social networks now attract 1 in 10 of all internet site visits and 1 in 5 total page views.</div><div><br /></div><div>Liam Paulus, Ecommerce Manager and SEO specialist at T-Mobile, said that he had recently been focussed on the T-Mobile social media initiative, "join the dance" which has been featured in YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/lifesforsharing </div><div><br /></div><div>There's no surprise that online marketing agencies and SEO consultants are focussing attention on social media, this being the new industry "buzz phrase".</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-6511506303617814639?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-27602609779183537922009-03-02T16:36:00.000-08:002009-03-02T16:52:54.822-08:00Due to the popularity of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook,  Google will change its' currently link based algorithm to include social media signals. True or false?<div><br /></div><div>It sound pretty logical and if that's the case then the best way to future proof your SEO strategy would be to start building your social media marketing plans today.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've recently been talking to other social media experts who have definitely seen some good SEO benefits by placing content in social sites. However the SEO benefit still relies upon the widely known fact that good, quality inbound links will improve your keyword ranking in Google, and provided they come from a good, on theme, relevant website the links don't have to come from social websites.</div><div><br /></div><div>The interesting fact was the behaviour of users who cut and paste search phrases from social media articles and placed them in the search bar in Google. </div><div><br /></div><div>Mike Grehan of Acronym Media, an agency based in Empire State Building, NY has written a book on the subject see his guide to future search engine signals at http://www.acronym.com/new-signals-to-search-engines.html</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-2760260977918353792?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-4104940514168593582009-02-28T05:04:00.000-08:002009-02-28T05:16:09.604-08:00Is "SEO" now an outdated term to be replaced by "Social Media" and "Reputation Management"? - Yes, I think so. <div><br /></div><div>It's no longer about SEO it's about engaging with customers. Even if the objective is still to rank top in the search engine "SEO" is no longer the way to get there. Instead it's about social networking sites and positioning your brand on the web. Of course, as you're positioning your brand on the web you might add some text links with the end result the same, reaching a page one position in Google, it's just not called doing "SEO" anymore, that phrase is now dated!</div><div><br /></div><div>I noticed that Icrossing, one of the best known "SEO's" doesn't even have "SEO" on their home page. I think times are a changing!   </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-410494051416859358?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-25728023022785081552009-02-27T06:46:00.000-08:002009-02-27T06:48:28.430-08:00According a survey in 2006 by iProspect, 36% of internet users believe that companies whose website were returned at the top of the search engine results were the top brands in their field.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-2572802302278508155?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-57375057851162428342009-02-26T12:11:00.001-08:002009-02-26T12:17:14.625-08:00According the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), early evening is the best time to send B2C email campaigns for all age groups. <div><br /></div><div>A recent consumer insight study by G2 Data Dynamics also stated that 57% of consumers prefer to be contacted by email than other channels of communication however still up to 37% remained comfortable with Direct Mail, I'm certainly not one of them!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-5737505785116242834?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-68739616754598536902009-02-25T15:45:00.000-08:002009-02-25T16:01:51.438-08:00According to the latest Hitwise data, social media site Twitter has trebled it's traffic so far in 2009! Twitter has become one of the UK's top 100 most visited web sites, outranking Expedia UK and Moneysupermarket and over the past 12 months it's traffic has grown 27 fold!<div><br /></div><div>It seems celebrities and politicians have the most popular feeds with Barack Obama not surprisingly having the No.1 spot closely followed by Jonathan Ross!</div><div><br /></div><div>There are several widgets, applications and accessibility tools for Twitter such as Tweetdeck, Twitterfeed, Twitterific and Twitpic.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'll be watching how things progress at Twitter and exploring the commercial benefits.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-6873961675459853690?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6234457976149697029.post-21466815206488486902009-02-24T13:52:00.000-08:002009-02-24T14:05:49.509-08:00I'm the MD of Status Media an ethical search engine marketing consultancy and strategic out-sourcing business with 10+ years experience. I specialise in SEO, PPC and Web 2.0 this includes social media and reputation building. My company is based in Norwich, UK and this is where I live. Most of my work is London based although I have developed outsource operations in USA, India and Thailand. You can find out more about Status Media at www.statusmediaplc.com.<div><br /></div><div>In my spare time you will find me developing social media/ web 2.0 strategies that's if I'm not snowboarding, at the gym or playing tennis.   </div><div><br /></div><div>My goal is to build a successful career in the field of sales and marketing. I am a fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management and whilst I have a wealth of experience in business development I am currently focussed on digital.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6234457976149697029-2146681520648848690?l=garycollinsblog.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Gary.Collinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02998598626519593976noreply@blogger.com0