Year: 2007

Your business blog needs really strong opinions from you

Readers of your business blog don’t come along just to find out your latest news. No, according to research from the market research company Synovate, most people read blogs for the opinions they carry, not for their news value. The study was really looking at how much value people placed

ITV News turns up on the doorstep

Earlier this morning the doorbell rings and standing there was a reporter from ITV News. After a brief chat we agreed on a recording that will take place later in the week.

And you thought everyone did business online

You are a special kind of person. No, I’m not just being nice to you, though I don’t want to be nasty. Actually, the fact that you are reading this article about Internet business means you are interested in the whole notion of online business activities. Well guess what, new

Would you like YouTube in your pocket?

Researchers at IBM have managed to crack a conundrum which means microchips could dramatically fall in size. They are predicting that data could be stored at the atomic level, meaning processors could fall to the size of a particle of dust. Not only does this mean you could store the

Don’t believe everything you read about the Internet

Readers of the latest Web User magazine might be a bit worried if they are business owners trying to make the best of what the Internet has to offer. According to a study reported in Web User, Internet users favour online-only brands over and above those shops that have a

Big bank bows to social network pressure

One of the world’s largest banks, HSBC, has caved in to a pressure group organised on Facebook. The group called “Stop the great HSBC Graduate rip off” has attracted nearly 6,000 members on Facebook. The group was set up to campaign against the fact that students who recently graduated were

Banning Facebook will reduce productivity

Employers are increasingly deciding to ban social networking sites like Facebook. Kent County Council, for instance, this week slapped a ban on using Facebook in the office. Now the TUC has joined the debate by suggesting that employers should have a policy in place about the use of social networking

People trust Google to deliver excellent results even if it doesn’t

New research using eye tracking tests has shown that people trust Google almost instinctively. The study, published in the Journal of Computer Mediated Communications, shows that people believe Google’s ranking of web sites to be correct – even when the description of that web site clearly shows it is not

Business bloggers have lost interest in blogging

Business bloggers are no longer interested in finding out about blogging. Or at least so it seems. The lack of interest means that the latest Blog Business Summit has been cancelled. This follows three years where the Blog Business Summit was THE place to go to find out about the

Bank holidays boost online business

Online business will do very well today in England, even though it is a Bank Holiday and we are all supposed to be “resting”. What tosh! The “Bank Holiday” concept – and British politicians want to increase them – are from an idea that is past its prime, to say

Internet advertising rule book to be torn up

Online advertisers are still trying to get to grips with “pay per click” advertising, such as Google AdWords. Considerable numbers of people spend large amounts of money on pay per click advertising with little if any return. The auction model for things like Google AdWords is complex and requires considerable

Women do most of the shopping, so target them on your web site

Eight out of ten purchasing decisions are made by women, according to Trendwatching. The future thinking organisation suggests that women are the real buyers in society, so forward thinking businesses are targeting women instead of men. This suggestion follows hot on the heels of research from the University of Newcastle

Interaction is the key to online success

New research on the success of an Adidas ITV advert shows us an important psychological factor which will increase the success of any web site. The research looked at the follow-up viewers took following an interactive advert for Adidas. The advert achieved only a small click through rate of 1.38%,

Silver surfers are the real Internet whizz kids

People aged over 65 spend more time online than any other age group. According to the latest report from Ofcom, those aged over 65 spend a staggering 42 hours per week online. At the other end of the age range, children are also spending more time online, amazingly giving up

Back on BBC Tees again

BBC Tees had me live on air for half an hour today talking about “web revenge” – how people try to use Internet systems to get their own back on people who have crossed them…! I had a fun discussion with Alex Hall during her mid-morning programme.

Business leaders still do not understand blogging

Leaders of corporate businesses still do not understand blogging. That’s the conclusion you can draw from a recent study of CEOs. The study reveals that half of the CEOs do not think that blogging is a good way of communicating with customers. Err…what? These leaders of top businesses reckon that

Online statistics tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing like the truth

Internet business owners rightly want to know how well their web site is performing. Thankfully virtually every web site hosting package these days comes with statistics. However, these statistics are often misleading. Hits, for example, tells you nothing. You can still see some web site owners with little badges claiming