As Scotland’s first minister Alex Salmond announced plans for an independence referendum in 2014 the odds of Scotland becoming an independent nation may have increased. But how is national identity reflected on the Internet?

Top Level Domains (TLDs) such as .com, .org and .net are International, although some Americans believe they belong to the USA as they invented the Internet; in much the same way that we in Britain don’t have to put our country on postage stamps as we invented them.

There are also geographic-specific or Country Code TLDS, known as ccTLDs.

People have been campaigning for Scotland’s own ccTLD for over 10 years, and a Dot Scot Registry was established as long ago as September 2009. The group, which is backed by the Scottish Government, believes that .scot should be permitted as a Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD). They are appealing for .scot to take the place of Scotland’s current .co.uk domain. The use of .scot could see these websites being given an SEO boost in Scotland.

Some businesses in Northern Ireland use the Republic of Ireland domain .ie, but using national domains such as .ie and .scot, can be controversial. In Northern Ireland the choice of .ie or .co.uk can be viewed as a political issue. The approval of .scot could lead to a similar divide. Businesses targeting Scottish audiences could find that the decision between .scot or .co.uk defines their customers politically – and that can be very challenging for marketing.

What about ICANN?

The assigning of TLDs is the responsibility of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in California. If Scotland achieves independence it is more likely that ICANN will approve .scot, although ICANN’s recent, more relaxed stance means it is now likely to be cleared anyway.

 TLDs for Brands?

ICANN have begun accepting applications for any TLD, including brands, communities and geographies. Online brand establishment and Internet marketing may be set to change dramatically. For example the current www.coca-cola.com website could now become www.home.cocacola, www.coca.cola or even www.drink.coke.

In 2004 .asia, .cat, .jobs, .mobi, .tel and .travel were granted generic top level status by ICANN. Last March .xxx was also permitted, and could be in use as the Internet’s red light district by the end of this year. However, many businesses and homes will automatically block the .xxx, so domain providers may find they do better by remaining in .com.

Domain names are a finite resource

ICANN’s relaxation of their rules can be seen as productive of either domain name scarcity or simple economics. Website owners are often forced to consider alternative domain names when www.desired-domain-name.co.uk and www.desired-domain-name.com have been taken. Over 4 billion domain names have been taken in the last 40 years, and more TLDs means more available domains and fewer compromises having to be made.

Buying a TLD, however, is still not for everybody. ICANN might be allowing a wider range of applications, but it costs $185,000 for them to evaluate a proposed domain. Equally, a vanity Brand TLD could just confuse customers.

Domain TLD matters for SEO

Registering a domain in the most appropriate TLD is important for SEO. Businesses may find it more difficult to rank in search engine results pages without a domain in an appropriate TLD, and KPI often advise clients on domain name selection.

 Should I change my domain?

Changing an established website’s domain name has to be handled carefully to avoid a detrimental effect on ranking, but changing to a domain in a more relevant or regionally specific TLD can be an important way to target a website’s audience. For example, businesses marketing to a UK audience should generally choose .co.uk, whereas businesses targeting international customers may find it beneficial to use a .com address.

 What about .biz and ,info?

As far as non-geographic TLDs are concerned, website owners with domains such as .net, .org, .name and.biz may well find that their addresses are less memorable than if they used .com or .co.uk. Theoretically .net and .org are intended for internet businesses and not-for-profit-organisations respectively, but other websites often choose these addresses if their desired address isn’t available on a better TLD. .name and .biz are sometimes associated with spam sites and websites using these TLDs can find it harder to achieve good rankings. Choosing any of these TLDs, perhaps because a preferred address is not available on .com or .co.uk, can lead to sites missing their target audience.

Can I register a .gov domain and will it help my search results?

Google has had a rough time of it of late. In the past month it has had to hobble its own browser’s rankings after the search giant breached its own rules on paid links; been accused of breaching trust for its integration of Google+ into its search results; apologise to the Kenyan local search directory Mocality for scraping its database and claiming a fictitious relationship with the company; and been fined $500 million dollars for helping Canadian pharmacies to illegally sell controlled substances to US customers via AdWords. Add to this a couple of weighty anti-trust investigations looming on either side of the Atlantic and you start to wonder; can a search engine ploughing on so wilfully through dangerous waters continue to dominate the market? And if not, what does this mean for search engine optimisation and the humble SEO agency?

Greg Sterling, over at Search Engine Land, has argued that the Mocality fiasco was something of a Rorschach test for people’s opinions of Google. If you view the company as a deserved market leader that is forever looking for ways to give its users better and more relevant results, then it was the sort of unfortunate misjudgement that can occur within any large corporation. When you employ over 30,000 people around the world, it’s almost inevitable that some of them will make mistakes. The same goes for the pharmacy sting. If, on the other hand, you see Google as the golden boy who let hubris take control, then the current barrage of criticism is nothing but a very large whirlwind being reaped.

You don’t have to work for an SEO agency to see the irony. A decade ago, Microsoft was facing similar anti-trust investigations regarding its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows. It was the end of Microsoft’s run as the hot property of the digital world. Google, however, was on the rise. Its clean, user-friendly interface and relevant results were a genuine innovation in those days of the dotcom bubble. Today, Microsoft is still trying to rebuild its brand image, but it is Google which is facing a mighty fall from grace.

The same anti-trust probes which damaged Microsoft’s dominance of the browser market aided Google’s dominance of the search market. In the UK, Google now accounts for 91% of all search engine traffic, but a punitive result from the EU’s investigations could see that shift. If so, it would ironically be Microsoft-owned Bing that would be best placed to move in and take up some ground. Bing currently only accounts for 4% of the UK market, but in the US their share stands at around 15%.

But what does this all mean for the humble SEO customer? Currently, most SEO agencies are going to focus their attentions on Google. And why wouldn’t you? With 91% of the local search market, you’d be mad not to focus your search engine optimisation there. But if Google slips, then cross-platform optimisation is going to be of greater importance. That might, on the one hand, prove beneficial for online marketing and SEO agencies. No longer will one change to Google’s search engine algorithms have the potential to put entire companies out of business. On the other hand, it raises new issues of how and where resources should be deployed. When it comes to Pay Per Click and paid search, the budgetary decisions become even more fraught.

Having said that, 10 years on from its drubbing Microsoft Windows still holds around 90% of the global operating system market. There’s no reason to think Google will take any harder a hit. It may lose its cool guy image – arguably it has already done so – but people are used to it and it still delivers nice, clean, relevant Search Engine Results Pages. There’s a reason Bing and Ask work so hard to emulate it, and why the cluttered SERPs layout of Yahoos past have been abandoned. Bing may make some ground, but at KPI we’re already accounting for that; we track clients’ performance on Bing and Yahoo as well as Google, aware that at least one of those (and guess which one) might have an interesting future. For now, Google is here to stay, but if you want to work with an SEO agency who understand the importance of cross-platform search engine optimisation, get in touch.

Is Google the future of Search Engine Optimisation? Probably. Ask Jeeves.

The reports looked closely into the PPC (pay per click) side of internet marketing and revealed that the average cost per click has dropped. This marks an improvement for several sectors, as dropping the average cost per click suggests that businesses are seeing a higher click through rate.

The reports also suggested that search engines including Bing and Yahoo are getting better click through rates. High click through rates result in a lower cost per click, allowing advertisers a better return on investment.

It is therefore advisable for businesses to conduct a trial run advertising campaign on Bing and Yahoo. This will allow companies to discover if their sector can benefit from the increased traffic on these less high profiled search engines. It is still worthwhile advertising with Google as they have by far the highest amount of traffic, but it is always useful to research the different advertising platforms available.

Another useful tip for both small and large businesses is to benchmark the average cost per clicks and click through rates on Google within their industry. This will allow companies to see if their campaign is the best strategy for producing high return on investment.

The reports also showed a significant increase in mobile and tablet advertising. As today we are in world that is completely led by technology, online advertisers are constantly seeking to reach their audience through new devices and platforms.

AdWords advertisers in particular can now target specific devices through running mobile, tablet and desktop campaigns. Through using AdWords, advertisers can even target particular mobiles, such as iPhones or BlackBerrys. They also have the ability to target mobile users in specific areas where there is a good WiFi connection, increasing the possibility of higher click through rates.

When it comes to PPC advertising it can confusing to know where to start. Here at KPI we can build and monitor your PPC campaign, ensuring it is constantly focused and effective in achieving high conversion rates.

Having great visibility on a search engine will generally bring you a large amount of additional organic traffic. However, there are occasional unfortunate instances where this isn’t the case. If this happens there are several ways you can improve your SEO and ensure your organic techniques are luring in more website visitors and more customers.

Tracking your search engine ranking is a great way of understanding how your SEO efforts are doing. However, it’s important not to become overly fixated with metrics and figures. Your primary goal should always be on increasing traffic, leads and sales.

A common problem with internet marketing is that businesses are targeting the wrong keywords. It’s important to take a step back and make sure the keywords you’re focusing on are what your potential customers are actually searching for. Choosing the right keywords can be a difficult task, as you will have a specific way of describing your products or services and your potential customers will have a different way of phrasing what they need.

The way people search and the words they use can also rapidly change over time. You need to conduct regular keyword research in order to ensure your content is matching what people are searching for. You could also use a questionnaire or poll on your website to ask your customers how they would go about searching for your new product or service. A PPC campaign can also help you gain more knowledge on which keywords are being used.

It’s important to always keep an eye on your SERP (search engine results page). Ensure that your listing is completely accurate and unique, making sure it stands out against your competition. A useful tip is to think of yourself as someone who is searching for the products and services you offer and ask yourself honestly, “Which link would I click on?” The next step is to ensure your titles and meta descriptions are optimising your keywords and are also well written and captivating enough to encourage a click through.

Search engine behaviour is slowly beginning to change; not only do people not look at pages 2 or 3, searchers are now rarely scrolling to the bottom of page 1. In order to get the most traffic you need to be in the top 5 search results.

KPI Business Services can help to improve your internet marketing by using organic SEO techniques. We will ensure your website has high quality content and is optimised with the best keywords for your business.

Google are well known for being strongly against websites that buy links and have thin content; they could almost be considered the “internet police” at catching and punishing the culprits who practice these methods. However, they have recently carried out a black hat tactic to further promote Google Chrome by entering into a relationship with a campaign that practises exactly what Google hates. This was unknown to them at the time, however upon discovering this, Google have been forced to follow their own rules and penalise themselves!

They have said that they intend to take stricter action against themselves than they would against a regular site and have put a penalty in place for 60 days. As a result of this, when “browser” is entered into the search bar, Google Chrome is now ranking at position 105 (the eleventh page!) on Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs); a dramatic fall from its previous position at number 2.

Here at KPI, we have discussed the topic of black hat tactics before; in terms of link-building, black hat tactics are a no-go area. Yes, they can have immediate effects resulting in your website attaining higher page rankings, which of course is a positive. But don’t be deceived! Ultimately, this will be discovered by Google and you too will be penalised – not good. This might mean that, like Google Chrome, your website could plummet in the Page Rankings and you are more likely to be missed by customers who are looking for exactly what you have to offer. Or, even worse, your site could be banned!

The fact that Google have enforced their own rules upon themselves just goes to show how serious their feelings are about this underground way of achieving high rankings.

We therefore strongly recommend sticking with white hat tactics; the exact opposite of the black hats. Build up your website through your own hard work, ensure that it has good quality content and attain some legitimate links.

Need help with this? Contact KPI to help boost your website to its full potential.

There are countless businesses running AdWords accounts that are not only ineffective but in some cases are also costing them a small fortune. As an AdWords customer you pay Google for every click you get. At KPI we frequently come across poorly managed AdWords accounts where businesses can be spending half their online marketing budget for no benefit whatsoever.  In some cases these AdWords customers would get more value spending £3000 a month on promotional baseball caps.

In order to deliver results with AdWords a campaign must be effectively developed, managed and monitored. Unlike the long-term techniques used to achieve search engine rankings through SEO, a well managed AdWords campaign can deliver results quickly.

KPI quadruple AdWords campaign performance in a month 

KPI began managing a new Google AdWords client account at the start of November 2011. The account had been running since 2005.

The table below illustrates the financial savings and increased enquiries KPI’s campaign management delivered for the new client in just one month.

  KPI Client Metrics October – November 2011*

Understandably, the client took a look at their account and expressed concern that the number of clicks their ads were receiving had dropped significantly since it has been managed by KPI.

KPI were pleased to report that despite the number of clicks on the ads falling by over a half, the performance of the account had improved dramatically. In October the client were paying Google £18.16 for each sales inquiry generated by their AdWords campaign. By November this dropped to £3.80. Within a month the cost of a sales enquiry for a KPI client was now four times less. And that’s what managing AdWords is all about.

Have an AdWords campaign that’s not performing? Thinking of starting one and want it to deliver quickly? Contact KPI to discuss your requirements. We are a leading UK search engine optimisation (SEO) and Google AdWords Certified Partner. 

*The figures in this article are from real accounts managed or reviewed by KPI. However, we treat all client data as strictly confidential and would not reveal the identities of any case study client without their prior permission.

To celebrate another successful year at KPI we are topping up our Charity Fund with some additional Pro Bono days.

We welcome applications from Charities for help with any Digital Marketing projects including WordPress CMS Websites and Blogs, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Google Adwords Grants, etc.

Twitter has re-designed its services, allowing companies to have a greater presence on the mini-blogging website. Twitter has begun to follow in the footsteps of similar websites, such as Facebook and Google Plus, in allowing companies to have their own branded feed on the network, constantly updating content and engaging with potential customers. This new change in the system comes as Twitter creators realise the site needs commercial success in order to retain its current high profile as a social platform.

The re-design will allow companies to incorporate more customisation to their Twitter pages and even add videos and photos into their Twitter headers. The new tool will aid Twitter’s development as a visible marketing platform, as well as being an individual social networking base. As an updated feature of the site’s already successful ‘hash tag’ system, the new service will be able to highlight content from all commercial Twitter pages, based on an individual’s interests and location. This will allow marketers to grab the attention of their potential customers and engage with them through photos, videos, sounds and other exciting content.

Marketers can control the message visitors see when they first come to the company page, through promoting a particular tweet at the top of the page timeline. This will highlight the content businesses want their customers to see first, e.g. a particular offer or service the company is currently offering. This content can also be changed at any time and can be produced through either old or recent tweets. The branding pages will also be enforced on the Twitter app: – another positive aspect for companies as it’s predicted there will be a major increase in the rise of online sales via smart phones.

The new brand pages are already being used by top US companies such as, Coca-Cola, Dell, McDonalds, Nike and Disney, proving the instant popularity of this new service with big brands. By the beginning of next year branding pages will be available to all UK marketers; make sure you’re ahead of the game and organise your new Twitter page design. This new Twitter feature is a great way to give your company a positive start to 2012 through drawing in customers before your competitors do!

For more information about Facebook, Twitter or any of your internet marketing strategies, contact KPI Business Services today. We are a leading UK search engine optimisation (SEO) company and can offer a wide range of services in order to gain top search engine rankings and therefore improve your conversion rates.

Facebook has since fixed the problem and released a statement admitting the fault.  But the irony in the CEO of Facebook, a company which centres its values on encouraging us to share more openly, fixing a problem as soon as he loses his privacy, is hard to ignore.

This is just the latest in a string of controversies Facebook has encountered over its users’ privacy in its 7 year lifespan. The social network had only come under fire in October for allegedly ‘outing’ gay users to their advertisers. Researchers reported that Facebook showed different adverts for gay men and women to straight men and women, even when their sexual preference was hidden on their profile.

But the underlying fact is no matter how outraged we all get, Facebook is still winning. With users topping 800 million earlier this year it would take more than this privacy loophole to steamroller its success overnight. One of the users who posted the photos of Zuckerberg on the forum had even written”I did three of these with my real profile then realised I might get banned for doing it, so I switched to a different profile”. Make a stand, protest against this terrible unethical loophole. But whatever you do don’t lose your account over it.

Google+ is proving a disappointment, so Facebook’s social networking crown looks unthreatened. Zuckerberg’s apparently genuine profile on Google+, gently mocking users, and his unconcern when asked about the rival social network in interviews have shown an ego which is unlikely to be bruised by this latest scandal.

The BBC’s “Mark Zuckerberg: Inside Facebook” programme hinted at the suggestion that revenue without angering its users. Although it might not be harnessing all of its potential, moneymaking is still at the heart of Facebook, and we’ve all heard about how Zuckerberg’s riches can probably buy a small planet or two. It is known to be the ‘stickiest’ website in the world, with not only 800 million active users, but an average time spent on the website longer than any other; an estimated 46minutes per day. Facebook also claims on its statistics page that over 50% of active users log on any given day.

So if you’re waiting for the ‘fad’ of social media and social media marketing to pass it won’t be for a while yet. Facebook will be sticking around, proving that these privacy issues haven’t dented its success or its ego. They haven’t even given it a virtual poke.

Decided it’s time to get your business’s social media marketing strategy underway? Contact KPI to see how we can help.