Digital Marketing Blog

Eight second rule for e-commerce websites now halved

Four seconds is the maximum length of time the average online shopper will wait for a web page to load before potentially abandoning a retail site.

In the research by Akamai, poor site performance ranked second only to high product prices and shipping costs as leading factors for dissatisfaction among online shoppers.

by Graham Charlton 13 November 2006 10:41am 3 comments

Microsoft in cool-envy, Zune to be a ‘dismal failure’ - BusinessWeek

In an article called ‘Zune: Falling Down On Cool’ BusinessWeek savages the forthcoming Microsoft device, predicting that “by this time next year, it will be considered a dismal failure”.

And the reason why it will fail? Because it isn’t cool, and neither is Microsoft, says BusinessWeek. It adds that attempting to become cool is the only reason that Microsoft is launching the Zune in the first place.

Authored by Arik Hesseldahl, the article states that “the Zune will be seen for what it is: a me-too product that is expressing Microsoft's envy at not being cool”.

Maybe so, but business isn’t really about ‘being cool’. 'Cool' helps with product marketing and customer aqcuisition, but product quality and lifespan are key to customer retention, recommendations, and repeat business.

by Chris Lake 10 November 2006 12:32pm 1 comment

Speed matters, according to Google

Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president for search products and user experience, has revealed an interesting experiment carried out by the search engine a few years ago.

The goal of the experiment was to determine the ideal number of results to display in response to a search query. Google surveyed its users, who decided 30 results on a page would be best, rather than 10 or 20.

by Graham Charlton 10 November 2006 10:56am 0 comments

Search Engine Keywords Research for the Finance Industry

ClickThrough Marketing has released a paid search keywords report for the finance sector, focusing on loans. It provides details on a number of searches for a range of keyphrases.

The report focuses on data from Yahoo UK searches for July 2006, and contains search engine key phrase data on 25 key types of loans including secured loans, unsecured loans, homeowner loans and personal loans.

by Graham Charlton 10 November 2006 10:40am 0 comments

Web 2.0 design and layout tips

Ben Hunt at webdesignfromscratch has posted an excellent article on current Web 2.0 design trends, giving some recommendations on features that make a website appealing and easy to use.

Ben gives some examples of good Web 2.0 sites, including LinkedIn, Mozilla.org, and Protolize, as well as some tips which we list after the jump...

by Graham Charlton 10 November 2006 09:52am 2 comments

Christians split over online shopping

Around one in four Christians are unsure whether they should buy products online, or say they shouldn’t, according to a poll by ChristiaNet.com .

Seventy five per cent of people surveyed by the portal were pro-internet shopping, but others declared the activity to be non-Christian.

by Richard Maven 09 November 2006 15:52pm 2 comments

Microsoft gives Universal a slice of Zune sales

In an attempt to gain advantages for its Zune music player over the almighty iPod, Microsoft has agreed a new deal with Universal Music.

This deal with give Universal a cut of the profits from sales of Microsoft’s iPod rival, the Zune. In return, Microsoft will receive rights to distribute content to Zune’s users for limited wireless sharing.

This could be a gamechanger for Apple, which has so far avoided cutting this sort of deal with content owners.

by Graham Charlton 09 November 2006 14:29pm 0 comments

Fast Track Digital Training

On the back of numerous requests from our users we are launching a new 'Fast Track Digital Marketing' course this month. If you (or a colleague) want to boost your digital skills quickly this two day course will do the job.

by Craig Hanna 09 November 2006 13:33pm 0 comments

Young people behind surge in online music sales

A new Nielsen//NetRatings report has revealed that young people are the biggest spenders when it comes to online content, with the 16-24 year old age group leading the way.

Overall, UK internet users currently spend an average of £3 a month on downloading content, with videos taking 43% of the market.

by Graham Charlton 09 November 2006 13:11pm 0 comments

Startup Zvents.com raises $7m

US startup Zvents, a site that allows users to search for events in their local area, has announced that it has raised $7 million in venture capital.

This has raised eyebrows in E-consultancy Towers, as it is a large sum of money for a site which currently covers only a small geographical area, and has established competitors in the market, such as Eventful.com, Meetup and Upcoming.

by Graham Charlton 09 November 2006 11:26am 0 comments