Latest in the industry

As an industry leader, we like to think we know the score - so here's an update on the industry with some of our latest news:


Search advertising competition 'necessitates' expert advice

"Explosive growth" in search advertising and keyword optimisation has made it more necessary than ever to hone the effectiveness of company websites with expert advice, according to a leading web design expert.

Writing for the E-Commerce Times, Robert Bergquist, chief executive and president of website optimisation specialist Widemile, advised firms to contract the services of top website design companies and search marketing groups in order to stand out among the crowd.

With the emergence of an $8.2 billion (£4.1 billion) industry centred around pay-per-click search advertising, Mr Bergquist said that the choice of keywords and the lay-out of a website were at an absolute premium.

Digital media agencies and search engine marketing providers were recommended to companies: "This should be your first call, especially if you don't have an expert search analyst on staff equipped with a good keyword bid management tool."

But advice did not stop at how to get customers on site - Mr Bergquist proceeded to explain the need for better designed landing pages which drive towards the key goal of conversion.

Again expert advice was recommended, along with encouragement to demand the best of that service: "Push your design team to think like your users and employ some well-established best practices."



Social networker GirlfriendsCafe.com spans US

North American social networking site for women, GirlfriendsCafe.com, has expanded to all 50 states of the USA.

Excluding men from membership, the site has identified a profitable niche in the burgeoning social networking market, bringing in more and more members by offering a safe haven online community for women.

The flirtatious undertones of leading social networking site Facebook - which includes the suggestive option of 'poking' people - is expressly avoided by GirlfriendsCafe, which set out to provide a safe environment for all-female communication.

The site has gained thousands of members across Cananda and the US, spreading to every American state by promising to keep email and personal details safe, as well as focusing its appeal less on young people than other networking sites have done.

"Whether you are a professional, stay-at-home mom, newly divorced or widowed, and whether you are young or older, there is a place for you at Girlfriendscafe.com," Linda, a co-founder of the site, told FinanceVisor.com.

A new name in the social networking arena may provide new competition to Facebook, which recently turned heads by surpassing MySpace as the top social networking destination in the UK.

Facebook has, however, never been far from controversy, with founder Mark Zuckerberg accused of stealing a conceptual blueprint for the site from friends, while offensive postings on photos displayed this week embroiled a UK conservative MP's assistant in racism allegations.


UK small businesses 'should prioritise' web services

Small businesses in the UK should make their web presence a top priority, according to advisory firm SmallBusinesses.co.uk.

Advice centred on a need for companies to respond to consumer trends which are increasingly online-heavy, with speedy broadband connections identified as preferable to a dial-up connection.

Adam Wayland, editor of Smallbusiness.co.uk said: "I do think it's important for small businesses to have a web presence because that's how people look for their services these days."

Mr Wayland highlighted the benefits of a rapid connection which provides the best possible basis for achieving this online presence, but added: "I don't think every small business needs a website that is totally interactive and using Flash and using very hi-tech programs."

UK Online data recently showed that 37 per cent of small businesses in Britain use a consumer internet package instead of a business grade service, suggesting that far from providing sophisticated web services, small businesses are adapting slowly to web opportunities.

Mr Wayland accounted for the reluctance, stating: "It's very difficult if you have no technical knowledge, it's almost impossible to be able to set up a website where you can have transactions on a site and interactive aspects to it."


Internet ad spending is 'biggest grower'

Website-based advertising is set to see the biggest increase in allocations of marketing spend, according to ZenithOptimedia, part of the Publicis media services group.

Internet ad spend is expected to register an 85 per cent increase on 2006 figures by 2009, making it the fastest growing marketing outlet, according to yesterday's revised forecast from ZenithOptimedia.

Growth at the predicted rate will allow internet-based advertising to surge past outdoor figures this year, as well as seeing its resources match those of radio-marketing by 2008.

Johnathan Barnard, head of publications at Zenith Optimedia, identified online video and local search as key drivers of growth in internet advertising investment, with losses to web markets leading investors in other media to channel more resources across.

"Networks seem to be at the forefront of the development of online video, helping to offset some of their losses to the internet," Mr Barnard was reported as saying on Clickz.com.

The boom in internet ad spending is particularly isolated when seen in the context of other flailing areas, with overall ad spend predicted by ZenithOptimedia to fall well below the 1.08 per cent of GDP it accounted for in 2000.