Many business owners know that they could be doing more with the internet to promote their company but often they are not sure where to start.

Search Engine Optimisation, Sponsored Links, Website Updates, Blogs, Social Networking and E-mail marketing are just some of the options on offer. Which can be most beneficial to me? – or should I be looking at a strategy combining a number of approaches?

As an accredited associate of the Manufacturing Advisory Service – North West, BSA Marketing can undertake a comprehensive review of your web strategy to help clarify your options and show the best way forward.

If your North West based business is an SME* involved with the manufacturing/processing sector then the review could be100% funded** so there would be no cost to you. Get more information on the web reviews here

Even better, if you decide on things you want to do, you may be eligible** for further government subsidised project implementation work. Get more information on subsidised** project work here

NOTES:

*SME definition:

Companies with up to 250 employees and/or up to €50m turnover. In addition, no more than 25% of the company should be owned by a group with more than 250 employees and/or €50m turnover.

**Eligibility and Availability:

• All MAS services are subject to availability and eligibility criteria.
• Free reviews and subsidised project work are available to North West based small and medium size (SME**) manufacturers or related companies (including research, design, logistics & warehousing etc).
• Large North West manufacturers and related companies can benefit from a free MAS review if they engage their suppliers to benefit from the MAS programme.
• Due to limited availability, MAS North West reserves the right to prioritise its subsidised services.
• Companies not eligible for MAS subsidised support can purchase MAS services at standard rates.

We have just identified a new initiative operating in and around the Peak District national park offering support for start ups, sole traders and small businesses.

The scheme called “Live and Work Rural”, is operated in conjunction with The National Parks Authority & EMDA. The scheme will help you with:

• Developing Ideas
• Marketing
• Networking
• Green Solutions
• Small Scale Equipment

If you would like to learn more about the scheme, you will find further information on their website www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/liveandworkrural.

If you would like to discuss a potential project please contact us, we are always happy to talk.

The website which supports the Business Family’s events programme, and gives Tameside businesses an opportunity to promote themselves by submitting blog posts or creating an entry in the comprehensive directory on the site, was designed & built through a coloration between BSA Marketing (Who implemented the site) and Asone Design ( Who delivered the design elements of the project).

You can take a look at the new site via this link www.tamesidebusinessfamily.com

The Manufacturing Advisory Service – North West has a new programme offering grants to qualifying North West-based businesses operating in the manufacturing/processing who are looking to develop their presence on the web and make more use of the fantastic marketing and business development opportunities.

BSA Marketing is a fully accredited associate of MAS North West. If you are a manufacturer in the North West of England, and are interested in enhancing you web presence, get in touch.

Through MAS North West, BSA can also offer, at no cost^* to you, a full review of your current web marketing.

For more information, visit our grant information page

*Conditions apply – please (more…)

It now seems to be official that Google are considering adding website speed to their ranking algorithms. This means that they may now use the speed your pages load as one of the factors in determining your page ranking in their index.

You can hear it from the horse’s mouth in this interview with Matt Cutts of Google (The discussion on site speed is about 2:40m into the video).

Before we all start panicking and loosing sleep over this one, we need to consider a few things:

1. You should already be concerned about the speed of your site! – Speed is a significant factor in making your site appealing to visitors. If each page takes 30 seconds to load, visitors will not stay long, and you have a problem irrespective of whether Google list your site.

2. Given point 1 above, Google are not going to put a site with less relevant content that loads in 1 second ahead of a site with great content that loads in 3 seconds. Their mission is to deliver the content people are searching for, so the best way of ensuring a good ranking is still going to be having a site with great content that gives searchers what they are looking for.

3. Google have been using speed as a factor in their adwords quality score for a while now, and I have seen very people commenting that they are being penalised for the speed of their site in this area, so it would seem not to be a key factor. Google use over 200 ranking factors is indexing sites, each with different weightings. I do not believe that speed will be a heavily weighted factor.

Assuming that you do not see the speed of your site as an issue for a visitor experience point of view, I would suggest that you would be better spending resources on improving, enhancing your site content and ensuring it clearly communicates your message in an interesting & informative way, and on building good quality back links to your site. Once this job is done, then by all means spend time “minifying your javascript” to speed up your site.

In other words speed of your site should always be a consideration, but it should not become more important just because it has been added to Google’s agenda!!

Its that the of year again where we will be spending a couple of weeks chilling out & recharging so that we can be fired up to meet your internet marketing needs in 2010.

To this end, our offices will be closed from lunchtime on 18th December, re-opening on 4th January. Well refreshed & ready to help you make the most of the web in 2010 and beyond.

We will be monitoring our emails over the holidays, so if you have anything that can’t wait until the 4th Jan, feel free to drop us an email.

Earlier this year, a study showed on-line sales have grown 14% in the year to May 09 (compared with year to May 08).

“The e-retail industry continues to perform well during the recession with year on year growth at around 15% being achieved consistently over the last 10 months. We are also seeing growth in the average basket value with UK shoppers spending £10 more online per visit compared to a year ago.”

Mike Petevinos, Head of Consulting for Retail for Capgemini UK

With more and more shopping being done on-line, e-commerce is rapidly becoming an essential part of any retailers marketing mix.

However, traditionally a fully featured & flexible e-commerce systems have been expensive, and have meant taking a decision to buy in to a solution provided by a specific suplier.

At BSA We take a different approach:

We believe On-line retailing is still about Marketing & Customer Service. As such any e-commerce system has to support these areas not drive them.

With over 20 years experience in Marketing, and 10 years experience in marketing on the internet, we are ideally placed to deliver e-commerce solutions that work in the real world.

Furthermore, buy focusing on open source solutions*, we are able to deliver solutions quickly & within realistic budgets.

“I was desperate to upgrade our website in particular we needed more functionality for our consumers to stay competitive in our marketplace. I researched a number of providers who were charging 10′s of thousands of pounds to make the home page look great but found they had no true knowledge of retail on-line, stock systems and “behind the scenes” functionality paramount to our business.

BSA were not only able to provide the solutions I needed but also offered advice and support giving me confidence their knowledge could better promote my business. The end result was providing a great website at a fraction of the cost, giving great value for money.”

Nicky Weatherup – MD – Littlefishtoys.co.uk

We are now providing e-commerce solutions for a wide range of retailers from food, to clothing, to children’s toys, and are confident that we can provide real solutions solutions from as little as £950 +VAT

You can take a look at some of the solutions we have already provided in our Gallery.

*We develop our e-commerce systems using CRE Loaded, a commercially supported variant of leading open source e-commerce system os-Commerce

This month, we have launched a new e-commerce website for littlefishtoys.co.uk, a the leading independent on-line retailer in the UK traditional toy market. The site which is based on the open source CRE Loaded e-commerce system has many enhancements over and above the standard CRE professional B2B installation including:

• Customer Loyalty Scheme
• Support Tcketing System
• Enhanced Stock Control Functionality
• Enhanced Order Processing Functionality
• Enhanced Marketing Functionality
• And Much More

The site which serves customers globally, has seen a significant increase in activity & sales since the launch of the new site.

Pursuing our philosophy that “We want to teach people how rather than simply do it for them!” BSA Marketing will be on the road in Buxton next Tuesday to promote our grant supported Marketing Mentoring Programme at the free Do business in Buxton event.

If you can get to Buxton on Tuesday, we would be delighted to talk to you about how you can access FREE (Grant Supported) Marketing Training to help you take your business forward.

Alternatively, give us a call on 0845 050 1023, and we would be delighted to discuss the possibilities with you.

In collaboration with Business Link, BSA Marketing can now offer Online Marketing support funded under the Train to Gain Leadership and Management programme.

BSA Marketing have put together a range of one to one training & mentoring programmes to help you develop your understanding of online marketing tools whilst at the same time developing and implementing a real online marketing strategy for your business.

“By delivering this one to one programme in the context of solid business marketing management, you can develop your knowledge and use of the available tools, whilst at the same time creating a real online presence for your business. You can see real business benefits from day one”.

Learn more about the BSA Marketing Training & Mentoring Programme here or contact us to discuss your requirements