That was the case with Mark Wood Heating – the site we did for the Mark is about a year old now, but he took the time to write us a lovely email today.  This is what he said:

“Jon. Having now had the website your company created for me for just over a year, I thought you might like an update on its performance and my views. I have been very happy with the site – it was my first venture onto the internet as a business and I have been very pleasantly supprised as to its results. I get a lot of enquiries through the site with a lot of people mentioning it when they ring, or indeed emailing me direct from the contact page (infact I got home tonight to an enquiry for a new boiler quote). Over the last year the site has brought me in some good work both boiler sales as well as servicing and repair work. Compared to the cost of such as Yellow pages I will say that the website was the best money I have spent with regards to any advertising, It seems to me now that the whole world “Googles” everything and I am very pleased that your helped me to become part of that. Many thanks Mark”

The testimonial is all the more gratifying as “Trades”-people sometimes do not think the Internet is for them.  With the vast majority of Google searches being for local goods and services, Mark has made a wise move, and it is great to see it paying off.  We know he has cancelled his Yellow Pages advert and other advertising on the back of this, so not only is the website increasing his sales, but it is also saving him money at the same time.  You don’t get much better than that!

We wish Mark all the best for his continued growth.  You can read more about his website here.

Timelines

Facebook is aiming to chronicle your life and make it much more personal, giving a scrapbook, collage feel, with a stream of information about you over your lifetime. All the things you’ve done, places you’ve been and all your status updates. You will be able to limit who sees what, using the new privacy settings that have already been introduced.

Gesture buttons

Sometimes when you read, watch or listen to something on a website, you don’t necessarily want to hit the Facebook Like button – you want the button to say something else. Well, soon it will be possible with Facebook’s new gesture buttons.  Now instead of like you will be able to say you’ve read it, or heard it or watched it, or any number of new options that will become available. You can connect to things without having to actually like them.

Web developers like us will also be able to programme our own Facebook “gestures”.

Read more here:  http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/facebook-gestures/

Media Sharing

Want to know what your friends are listening to, reading, watching? Now that Facebook has teamed up with music streaming services such as Spotify you will be able to listen to music without leaving Facebook, and what you choose will show up on your friends’ Ticker modules. News sites such as the Guardian and Independent are signed up to provide a rolling news stream through new apps. Availability depends on which country you live in though.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it’s a “new way to express who you are”, and it is, but what it means is that users will spend more time on Facebook, making it more appealing to advertisers.

To take a look at the full Wright Vigar site please click here.

Simon wanted a new website to support this coaching activity and had a clear vision as to how he wanted the site to look.  Metanym Web Design Lincoln were able to quickly translate that in a new site for Simon.

“Thanks again to you all for a great site. It has been good to see the process for myself and I have no hesitation in highly recommending your services to others.” Simon Meadows.

To take a look at Simons builders coaching site click here.

To take a look at the full site click here, line marking from TStar Solutions.

Ever wondered why sometimes when you search for something on Google some sites have details of a number of pages on their site below their organic listings?  Well these are called Sitelinks and they’re created automatically to help users navigate to relevant content on your site.  To find out how you can set these up take a look at this article:

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=47334

For web design and SEO solutions please don’t hesitate to contact Metanym

You can read more about the new website here.

Their new website has information pages, structured sections for news, treatments, offers and testimonials, and is fully integrated with the Practice’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn).  And with a full mobile version of the website, smartphone users!

Read more about the site here.

The purpose of the legislation is to give internet users greater control over data collected about them during their travels. In some cases, there are ‘legitimate’ cookies that are required to facilitate a transaction such as proceeding to the checkout on an Ecommerce site. These are not seen as a particular concern, unlike those that perhaps create a profile of the user’s browsing activity, and are seen as less useful and more intrusive. Sadly, mention of cookie in a site’s privacy policy is no longer seen as acceptable.

The good news is that the regulator ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) is giving website owners 12 months to come up with their own solutions. The bad news is … after that time, they will police and prosecute offenders.

One solution is to have a more explicit, and accessible, acceptance of the site’s cookie policy, rather than a series of annoying pop-ups. Check out how the ICO has dealt with it: http://www.ico.gov.uk/

For more information, the ICO has a number of documents available on their website.

‘Changes to the rules on using cookies and similar technologies for storing information’ 9/5/11
http://www.ico.gov.uk/news/current_topics/~/media/documents/library/Privacy_and_electronic/Practical_application/advice_on_the_new_cookies_regulations.ashx

‘ICO gives website owners one year to comply with cookies law’ 25/5/11
http://www.ico.gov.uk/~/media/documents/pressreleases/2011/enforcement_cookies_rules_news_release_20110525.ashx

Here at Metanym, we’ll be monitoring the situation closely and advising clients on how best to ensure compliance.

We have a limited number of spaces available, so please let us know ASAP if you would like to try it.

You can find out more about the features of the software here.

Certain limitations apply, but this is a great opportunity to get some free email marketing done!  Contact us now for details.