Industry Blog

Just thought I'd post this one concerning 2 recent credit card statements I have received from my Bank. Itemised under the name of toplegalstorecom 1 transaction in November and one in December both for about £3.00. A search on the internet it appears these are fraudulant transactions, you may wish to check your own statement and contact your bank should they appear on your own statement.

Whislt on the subject, another transaction I didn't recognise appeared under the name of Connect Plus. A search on the net showed this is actually Dart Tag, the Dartford crossing tolls. It use to appear as Dart Tag, (bleedin' obvious to the rest of us) but some smart arse has decided to change the name on the statements without telling us.

According to Yahoo news on Sunday 24th January, the American fast food giant McDonalds has been criticised for their incorrect use of the English language. Their 'pound saver menu' advertisement begins with "the pound, also known as a bob", which is correctly known to many of us British as a shilling, or 5p in 'new' money.

We've had 'green washing', (companies who are doing little to protect the environment, yet talk their company up big on the subject. Now mark my word, here comes 'friendly washing'!

OK so the country is grinding to a halt. I've been around for good number of years and winter still appears to come as a bit of a surprise to some. Few people grit their paths for fear of being sued if someone slips over, yet because of this hospital A&E's are bursting at the seams with broken arms and legs. What a right mess!

The past few months I have had an increase from call centres in India, the time delay before a voice kicks-in is the usual clue. "Hello Mr Peter, my name is Wayne from BT and.....". Wayne...India, blimey the Western influence has rubbed off over there! Kevin is another regular caller from India and about as ridiculous as my mother Christening me Raj.

A sad day, I've just returned from one of England's well known steak house chains completely dismayed.

<meta name="keywords"
  <meta name="description"
  <title>Double the number of visitors to your website | Industry Blog</title>

To give your website pages any chance of coming up in search engine results you need to have title tags, description tags and keyword tags in place within your pages (apart from the title tag these are hidden from view).

OK I didn't want to mention the word 'recession', we all need to stay positive and keep thinking outside the box.

Link building is a great way to generate more visitors to your website and get better placements in search engine results. A good place to start is to see what inbound links your competitors have to their website and see if you can link from the same websites, particularly if they are free and relevant.

While the rest of the country has gone mad trying to convince everyone their company is green (otherwise known as 'greenwashing') these guys have quietly been sitting back watching it all go over their heads and wondering what all the fuss is about.

OK so this is not a new sales concept. So what does it tell us?

Optimistic - A real bargain, cannot believe I'm getting one free....must have one...er...two.
Sceptical - Maybe the product is not selling and they need to get rid of them before they go out of date.
Pessimistic - They've been making over double the past few years and ripping me off, particularly if they can now sell 2 for the price of 1 and still make a profit.

When times are tough remember those stainless steel teapots and match milk jugs nearly every hotel in the country have and still purchase. The handles are too hot to hold, they leak all over the place when you attempt to pour the tea and they are about as much use as a...errrrr....chocolate teapot.

I recently visited a well known burger bar where I noticed a number of signs for the benefit of both their staff and customers. It struck me that the messages were in strategic places so the customers and staff were aware that the company had a strict health and hygiene food policy.

Ok, so producing a logo can seem pretty straightforward to some. However it's only when you start to impliment that great design you purchased you discover how great it really is. Indeed, you begin to realise why some of the best identities in the world are kept so simple...and so clear.

While most companies are taking the Government's lead and trying hard to do their bit to reduce their carbon footprint, I found this website news article rather confusing.

True facts about websites we have monitored over the past few years. These examples go to show how important it is to monitor your website. You are then better placed to make your website perform better.

I had a meeting recently with a company who felt their existing website looked a bit old fashioned and in need of a design update.

I produced this a useful conversion chart after working out that by dropping the weight of the paper of a clients existing direct mail brochure from 120gsm to 110gsm saved him over £2,000 in postal costs!