Facebook and Bing Connect for a More Social Search

Yesterday Microsoft and Facebook announced that Microsoft is rolling out new features that will bring your Facebook 'experience' into Bing, their search engine. Could this mean that more people, particularly Facebook 'power users' may choose to use Bing over Google, currently the most popular search engine?

The new features include:

- "Facebook Profile Search" showing results from Facebook when you search on a name

- "Liked Results" Bing will include results based on things your Facebook Friends 'liked'

- You can change your Bing settings so that these features aren't shown in your results



and you can change your Facebook settings so that "You can prevent Bing from getting any info about you."

Google has been the most popular search engine by far for a number of years now, mainly because they do search so well. Some of their other products have taken off and become popular: Gmail, Chrome to an extent, and of course the Android mobile phone OS; but many of their other products have not done so well: Blogger is by far inferior to WordPress, Google Docs is far from displacing MS Office and Wave was a massive failure. Many people remain faithful regardless.

If the press coverage of the new Bing features carries on, and Facebook users start to go to Bing and find the integration very useful, this could mean a migration away from Google.

I think that if Facebook were to embed Bing search into it's interface it would make a greater impact, because it would then be right 'in the face' of the 500+ million Facebook users who would then get used to using Bing from an interface that they are very comfortable with.

Will Google be making another move to counteract this new development at Bing? Will they be bringing more personalised Twitter results into its search results? The recent development of Instant Search doesn't quite pack the punch of Bing's new features. Google has tried to include more personalised results by showing comments and starred results from your community of Google friends, but this community never really took off. I only have a couple of Google connections that show up in my search results, but I have hundreds of Facebook friends.

According to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, "Potentially, Google should be able to get all the same information that Bing gets." (http://searchengineland.com/bing-now-with-extra-facebook-see-what-your-friends-like-52848). So maybe Google will work on breaking the barriers that Facebook has set up to this and start to include such information themselves.

This development may drive more site owners to include 'Like' buttons on their sites and for more Facebook users to click 'Like' buttons. That raises another question: Are the majority of these 'Likes' because someone does actually like the site/post or because they know the owner/author or have we just gone 'Like' happy clicking away at all the 'Like' buttons we see? Will this development bring quality to Bing searches or bring the quality down more?

I still think Google is a better search engine but I may be using Bing more, especially for results where I think that a Friend's opinion is important (ie "restaurants in Cork Ireland"), but maybe not for searches for pure information (ie "who was Henry VIII's last wife"). For searches like that latter it's unlikely there will be many sites that Friends have 'liked' anyway.

Google Places (aka Google Local Business, Google Maps) have brought a lot to search in that people can find businesses that are in a specific location and then see reviews from a wider audience. In Ireland, this is still in its infancy as there are still issues with results shown and a low number of businesses submitting to the service; but in the US it's a very popular search feature.

Is there room in my life for two search engines? One for personalised searches and one for everything else?

See more about this from Bing:

- The Bing blog post (New Signals In Search: The Bing Social Layer)

- Bing's Overview of the new features http://www.discoverbing.com/facebook/

More about this from the Social Media/Search Engine journalists:

- http://mashable.com/2010/10/13/facebook-bing-social-search/

- http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/10/bing-friends-facebook/

- http://www.allfacebook.com/live-from-the-bing-facebook-event-2010-10

- http://www.fastcompany.com/1694805/five-things-you-should-know-about-the-new-bing-facebook-features

What do you think? Do you use Bing already? Will you be using Bing more now? Are personalised searches important to you? Please post your comments below.

Google Instant - Findings of our Panel of SEO Experts

On the 9th of September Krishna De and I organised a panel of SEO experts for an online discussion on the newly launched Google Instant and it's impact on business owners.

Thanks to John Ring, David Quaid, Jill Whalen and Joost de Valk for joining us on such short notice and to Jessica Bowman, who couldn't make the session, but provided some of her insights in advance. We were very lucky to get a great panel like this on such short notice.

View replay of webinar here:

The main view seemed to be that whilst the new interface will have an impact for many users, it probably will not be necessary for SEOs to change their strategies much -- but mostly it's a bit too early to tell and business owners shouldn't panic, but as Jill Whalen commented, "watch the analytics" and see if there is an impact.

"Rankings will stay the same. Behavior may change."

- from Google Instant Launch

In case you haven't heard - and may not have yet experienced it for yourself, Google Instant, is Google's new interface where search results appear on the screen as you type your query in the search box. It combines Google's auto-complete feature with showing relevant results as you type.

My advice to SEOs and site owners is to go back to the basics of SEO:

Ensure that the title and description tags are carefully crafted to attract a click from the user quickly. This new interface may mean that users will focus more on the top of the page and that it will be even more important to be at the top of listings. When developing Google Instant, Google's research via eye-tracking showed that users already focused mainly in the area around the search box. Your organic listings will also be competing with AdWords listings that appear above the organic listings, which also seem a bit more prominent with Google Instant.

As many listings will be dominated with universal search results (i.e. map of Local Business listings, image results, etc.), it's important to make sure that you are getting content into these results as well. Optimise your images, videos and blog posts; and don't forget to submit your own Local Business listing.

Look again at your keyphrase research and ensure that the phrases coming up in Google's auto-complete are in your list of targeted phrases. More focus on auto-complete with instant results will mean that more people will be searching on 'long tail' (more specific) phrases so these will be an important part of the list. On our panel, David Quaid stated that he believed that users will be corralled into using certain search phrases, those that come up in the auto-complete, which will be most likely. There was also concern expressed by many on the internet that bigger brands, that will come up quickly as users start to type, will get an even larger share of clickthroughs.

If you haven't already optimised the speed of your pages loading, after Google's announcement earlier in the year that speed will impact on ranking, this would be a good time to check again. See Joost's post at http://yoast.com/site-speed-ranking-factor/.

On our panel, John Ring provided some great advice for AdWords advertisers, his area of expertise. His main point is that it's important for you to review your keyphrases and ad copy carefully now (in a similar manner to SEO advice above); and to watch analytics to see if this change impacts your results. There is concern that the number of impressions will shoot up and that users will be clicking on more generic phrases as they'll show up first (opposite to what is expected for for organic searches).

Have a listen to the replay and check out the great discussion on the topic. Get in touch if you'd like any further advice or assistance on making sure your site will get best results.

Here's a few helpful links:

- Google's Page on Google Instant
- Google Webmaster Blog post on Google Instant
- Matt Cutts' Thoughts on Google Instant
- Skitzzo's Google Instant Alphabet (for fun, showing what comes first for each letter of the alphabet)

Thanks to Krishna for moderating so well and handling the technical side of everything.

Google Instant - Webinar: What does it mean for Your Business?

I'm delighted to announce that later today I will be presenting a webinar with Krishna De of Biz Growth News entitled "Get the Inside Track on Google Instant and What it Means for Your Business"

The webinar will begin at 5pm BST (12pm ET) today 9th September 2010. You can register at http://www.bgn.bz/gweb.

Yesterday Google Launched it's next generation of search, Google Instant, where search results appear on the screen as you type your query in the search box. It combines Google's auto-complete feature with showing relevant results as you type. There was lot of talk about this new development on social media channels so we thought it would be a good idea to hold this session to discuss the facts and how Google Instant will impact on business owners.

In the session we will cover:

1. What Google Instant is and how it is being rolled out

2. What it means for site owners and digital marketing managers

3. What it means for users

4. What the implications are for businesses using Google Adwords

5. What actions we should take, if any, as a result of this new enhancement to Google Search.

and more...

We may also have a couple of special guests on hand.

Hope you can make it this evening.

WordPress 3.0 Officially Released!

Just had to do a quick post to celebrate the official release of WordPress 3.0! See the post on the WordPress blog: http://wordpress.org/development/2010/06/thelonious/

It's a big leap from WP 2.9x:

- the end of Kubrick as default theme now replaced by the sexy new Twenty Ten theme

- easier customisation of menus and headers

- merging of WordPress & MU (which has been a pain in my bum lately, so really exciting for me)

- lots of other updates, including 1,217 bug fixes and feature enhancements!

I'm also really pleased that Studio Press (affiliate link), whose themes I use most of the time, have been working hard getting the themes ready for 3.0.

The gang at WordPress have been at this night and day, passionate about making this a remarkable update. See the list acknowledging them all on the blog post linked to above.

Here's the WordPress 3.o Video Tour:

So ENJOY WordPress 3.0. Contact me if you need someone to do the upgrade for you or are looking to have a new site developed using WordPress.

It's a great time to redevelop your old static site using WordPress as a Content Management System -- one of my new specialties! The themes I use are very Search Engine and Social Media Friendly!

Browser Choice - Microsoft Required to Offer EU Users Their Options

This morning when I logged on to the family computer I noticed a new icon on my desktop and was alarmed that one of the other users of the computer (well intentioned, but not extremely internet savvy husband and children) had allowed a virus download to the PC. I did a search on the name and then remembered this was something we were expecting: Browser Choice.

Per the Microsoft Website:

Microsoft is providing the Browser Choice update to comply with a legal settlement with the European Commission. Microsoft is required to inform customers who currently use Internet Explorer as their default browser that there are other web browser choices available. You can use the Browser Choice update to select and install the web browser you want to use on your computer.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/what-is-the-browser-choice-update

Note: If BrowserChoice hasn't activated on your computer, you can visit

http://www.browserchoice.eu/BrowserChoice/browserchoice_en.htm

to see the options provided under this ruling.

Because the vast majority of computer users use a Windows operating system on their computers and Internet Explorer comes with it as a default, it was deemed that MS has an unfair advantage over other Internet Browsers. The interesting thing is that IE comes free as do the other browsers, so I wonder what's the big deal? Users with more experience will have already found that they have options and would have already made their preferences.

As a web designer I have a number of web browsers installed so that I can test designs on each, as there may be vast differences in how a page looks, so here's my take on the browsers I've used:

- Internet Explorer http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/products/winfamily/ie/default.mspx: been using it from the beginning, but it is no longer my preferred browser. I stuck with it for awhile thinking that that the others that came along were just hype, but I did find that IE was a little less useful; but over the years Microsoft has added many of the features that the 'new kids on the block' offer:

* tabbed browsing to move between open pages more easily

* add-ons to customise your browsing experience, but the number of add-ons are not as extensive as with others

* a button to the right of the address bar to click to make the page look as it would in other browsers - because, as many developers claim, pages don't 'render' as well in Internet Explorer as they do in other browsers (this appeared in Internet Explorer 7, but I assume Internet Explorer 8 does this automatically)

* there has been many security issues that result in update after update that don't seem to effect the other main browsers as often

-Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html: This was the next generation of Netscape Navigator. When Firefox came out lots of "techies" switched over, but I waited to see if there really was much a difference and there was:

* tabbed browsing made it easier to move from open page to page -- and I usually have a lot of pages open

* extensions (add-ons, plugins, whatever you want to call them) provided me with lots of tools, from those to easily check on search engine ranking factors to the ability to tweet directly from the address bar and other less techie things that I haven't bothered to add on

* less security issues that there seemed to be with Internet Explorer

So I used Firefox for years, but about a year ago I started to get fed up with how slow it was to open when I first logged into the computer, so I uninstalled any 'unneccesary' plugins, but it was still slow. Then came Google Chrome.

- Google Chrome http://www.google.com/chrome: I unashamedly love just about everything Google, but I did have my reservations when they brought out their own web browser - were they just reacting because people were thinking that FireFox was so amazing and they needed to get back to the top of the pile again; wasn't being top of search enough? Yet again, my role as a web designer did require me to try out all browsers that were getting any use, and yes I was curious, so I ventured into the world of Chrome and found:

* tabbed browsing, which has become standard in most browsers

* easy search of Google from the address bar, which is so convenient

* integration with many Google user features (like Bookmarks) which was very good for a Google head such as myself

* extensions were not available until recently, so that was downside compared to Firefox, but now there are a number of extensions

* amazing speed - upon first opening and in browsing from page to page. I do worry that adding extensions will impact on speed, but so far so good.

* there are still some web applications that don't run as well on Chrome, like the iContact email advanced newsletter editor, in time all sites will ensure that all applications can run on Chrome as well as Firefox and Internet Explorer

Google Chrome is now the browser I use most often because of the speed, ease of searching and integration with Google account features, but I do have a secondary browser that I use when I go into Social Media hyperdrive, Flock.

- Flock http://www.flock.com/: Firefox on Social Media Steroids. I found flock when I was looking for a way to monitor my social media networks more efficiently. Flock provides:

* tabbed browsing (ok that's a given now)

* side panel where you can monitor all major social network accounts except for LinkedIn (still a bit of a sore point with me) -- and only one account on each network so limited if you must monitor more than one Twitter account, etc. I find that not all the accounts update quickly, but they are continually improving on this

* integrated RSS Feed Reader which I find easier to use than Google Reader (if you don't use a feed reader stay tuned for a post I am going to be putting up about how useful they are and check out this Wikipedia page that explains what they are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator). You can also easily group your feeds by topic and navigate via that helpful side bar

* many FireFox plugins are compatible with Flock, at least all the ones I use all are

* speed is not great, as it really is FireFox at the core

The slowness is one reason why I still mainly use Chrome, but I also find that it's really easy to get sucked into a Social Media black hole, so limit my use of Flock to the blocks of time I've allocated for Social Media monitoring.

- Safari http://www.apple.com/safari/download/: the Apple browser that comes with their computers by default. I don't use it that often, but I do need to check all new designs on it because it does 'render' pages a bit differently and I do not want to forget about the Safari users of the World. It has most of the features that commonly come with the top browsers these days, but I don't know about if you can add-on with extensions/plugins. I do know that everything looks a bit smaller!

So I hope you find my short and informal study on the matter helpful and choose the browser that suits you the best, or go the multi-browser way that I do. Keep in mind that browsers do use a lot of your computer's resources and having a number open at a time can slow down the computer's performance and perhaps cause crashing in over burdened computers.

Happy browsing - and remember to always install any updates provided for the browsers to ensure security!

Please let us know in the comments which browser you use and what you've found to be pros and cons.

Google's Real Time Search & More News from O'Mahony Donnelly

Google Announces "innovations in the areas of real-time, mobile and social search"

Tuesday night I watched the webcast of Google's "search event" which they hold whenever they announce any significant changes in the services and products they are offering. This time the big, and I mean BIG, announcement was the launch of Google's "Real Time Search". Google has partnered with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace (and a few others) to bring posts from these networks into its search results. Users will now be able select to see the "Latest" search results and this will bring these posts into the results.

This development has confirmed to me that I've made the right choice to focus even more on Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media Marketing, offering more related services and training. The users ability to select 'Latest' and other time periods to see results from will make it even more important for website owners to also have a presence on these social networking channels; as well as blogs, news sites, etc. that also fall into the "more recent" category. Read more: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/relevance-meets-real-time-web.html

Contact me if you'd like to know more about Google Real Time Search and how you can ensure that you come up in relevant, real time searches.

Online Marketing Workshops & Training

In 2009 we've started a series of workshops on Blogging, Social Media Marketing and other online marketing techniques; which we will continue in 2010. I am also available to provide one-to-one training. See a description of the workshops: http://www.e-business.ie/online-marketing-workshops.html

If you are involved in a networking or other business group, I'd love to spread the word on the value of Social Media for Business and can tailor a talk to the specific group.

West Cork Open Coffee

Wednesday 9th December, 12.30pm

Celtic Ross Hotel, Rosscarbery

I've been involved in organising a new networking group for the area which is open to all who are interested in business. There's no fee or commitment, just come along and you may pick up make some good contacts and some good ideas for running your business. This month's meeting will feature a brain storming event on "Cash Flow and Dealing with Slow/Bad Debtors".

See more on the website http://www.westcorkopencoffee.com.

Show Your Business Week

Bank of Ireland, Pearse Street, Clonakilty

Thursday 10th December, 10am - 4pm

I will be "showing my business" during this time. If you are in town please stop in and say hello.

For more information on my services visit http://www.e-business.ie

SEO and Content Mangement Systems

For ages we didn't use any Content Management Systems (CMS), as our main focus was Search Engine Optimization and there were no CMS applications out there where we could use our SEO techniques. In the past couple of years we've been integrating and customising php/MySQL applications to suit our SEO needs.

These days, many of the 'off the shelf' applications and those created by other web developers now include many features for Search Engine Optimization, but the end user clients are not shown how to use these in the best way, so I'd like to provide some tips on what to look for when choosing and/or using a CMS.

What to look for (or ask your web developer) when getting a CMS:

- Does the CMS create file names and a linking structure that is easy for search engine crawlers to follow. If the search engines cannot find your pages, it doesn't matter how optimized they are.
**Are the file names generated by the CMS search engine friendly? Search engines have come a long way to better follow long CMS generated file names, but it is still best for search engines (and users) if you have have tidy file names (i.e. www.yoursite.com/aboutus.php vs. www.yoursite.com/index.php?pageid=3243). It's clearer for people that want to link into your site, as well, as you definitely want to encourage that as much as possible.
**If the system adds pages automatically to a navigation bar, will the search engines be able to follow it. Will the end user be able to indicate what text will be used for the link or will it be automatically generated from another field?
**Will the CMS create/update a site map?

- Can you indicate different title and meta description tags for each page? Many just have a place where you indicate one that is used for all pages of the site. This isn't good enough, especially for the title tag.
**Do not use a system if the title for the page cannot be customised for each page -- this is one of the most important elements for best results with search engine results.
**You may get by with a single description for all the pages, as it is longer and you can creatively write a description that gives the overall feel for the site and that will cover all your phrases -- but it's still better to have the description specific the page.

- Can you include heading tags within your page? This may be done by certain fields in the CMS for a page or via the WYSIWYG editor (which is better as you can put them where you like in the page).

- Can you include alt descriptions for your images?

- Can you customise the templates to use elements of the CMS for best results with search engines.

- Is there an online support/forum to help you make best use of the CMS?

You may not get all these features in your CMS, but look for the one that offers the most or can be customised so that you or your developer can do the SEO work needed.

If you hire a web developer to create your site with a CMS, make sure that you get instructions on how to best use the CMS, including what you need to do to for best search engine results. We offer training as part of the web development package.

If your web developer doesn't seem to know how to get best search engine results from the CMS (perhaps they just don't offer search engine placement services, some don't) then try to get a consultation with a web developer that does.

We've provided such consultations for a few our competitors' clients :-)

Before you purchase a CMS or hire a developer to set one up for you, check other sites using the system and see if they are happy with the system. Are they getting enquiries through search engines and does the site owner find the CMS easy to use.

Visit our site to read about our Content Management Systems.

10 New Year Resolutions for Website Owners

January is a busy time for people searching the net for bargains, holidays for the year, new business ideas, etc. So it is a good time to make sure that your website is getting you the best possible results. It's also a good time to set out the goals for the results you want from your website in 2009, in order to make sure that your website is working for you. Here are my recommendations:

1. Get a face lift. Take a good, objective look at your website and ask yourself, "Does the design of my site reflect the image I want to portray for my business?" In the past you may have felt that you didn't have the budget for a professionally designed website and took on the job yourself; you may have used a student, relative or other less experienced designer; or perhaps the image of your business has changed over the years since your site was first designed. Now is the time to make the changes to make sure that your site is appealing to your market and portrays your brand in a way that will increase your sales. Find an experienced web development company with a portfolio of websites for clients in similar industries to yours, that shows that they can capture the image required for your business. It's important that your site isn't just a bit of text about your business, products and services -- make sure your site is based around proven online marketing techniques to move the visitor to become a customer.
   
2. Get Management. (Content Management System vs. Website Management Service). It is important to keep your website fresh, interesting and attractive to keep visitors coming. Ask your web development company about adding a Content Management System , so that you can either update all the pages of your site or perhaps just relevant sections (i.e. News, Events, Rates, etc.) If you think that you will not have the time or desire to make changes to your site yourself, you may prefer to take out a Website Management Service. Most web development companies offer a contract service that will save you money on site alterations and perhaps include other benefits; such as priority or expedited service, a higher level of support, etc.
3. Get Results (as in the best possible Search Engine Results). You cannot overlook the great opportunities to increase your traffic through better search engine results. If your site was developed a few years ago, or if you web developer wasn't search engine savvy, there may be some simple things that can be done throughout your site to improve results. If you are in a very competitive market on the Internet you probably understand the value of search engine placement, but better results may take more time and effort. I still get a lot of new clients that think that search engines are not going to be an important source of visitors to their sites, but within a year they then see the benefit of all that unexpected traffic to bring them new business, as well as PR/marketing and networking opportunities.
   
4. Get Links. Quality incoming links are important for a few reasons. It's a good way to bring in more traffic. Link building is a good opportunity to network with like minded business people. Search engines track the links into your site and a number of good quality links will improve your search results. For more information, see my post on Link Building the DIY Way.
5. Get Freedom (from Spam). Spam has gotten to be an expected factor in using the Internet. The problem is that it is easy to lose the good messages in the spam filter. First consider if you can stop using any addresses that are already getting spammed. Once they are in the spammers lists, they are not coming off and the amount of spam will just grown and grow. Use one address for yourself that will never be used on a website and kept absolutely safe, use another on your website (but encrypted so not exposed to email address harvesting programmes used by spammers) and a third address that you can post on third party sites that may be accessed by spammers (you know this one will get spammed, but you can change this account as needed). Make sure that your web developer "spam proofs" your enquiry forms.
6. Get E-Mailing. A few years ago Email Marketing was called the killer marketing Tool. This is still very true and it's stood the test of time (well a few years is a long time in this rapidly developing industry). Start by adding a subscription form on your website and ask people to sign up every chance you get (enquiry forms, point of sale, etc.). Be sure that you don't spam - by sending messages to people that have not requested the information - besides being illegal, it's annoying and not a good way to market your business. Your best targets are people that have used your business before, and it's usually easy to get them to subscribe for special offers, news and other interesting information that you can pass on. Some businesses find it sufficient to send a newsletter 1-2 times a year, perhaps to help boost business during the slow period. If you can generate interesting, relevant content more frequently - and it suits the nature of your business - you may want to send mailings as often as needed (i.e. whenever new products/services are added, when you are offering a special offer, etc.) We recommend using a third party mailing list management service, like iContact, as it provides a secure way to maintain your list, an easy way to compose professional looking newsletters, makes it easier to get through spam filters and provides good statistics on how many recipients opened your message and clicked links, etc.
7. Get Blogging. A blog - a user friendly, online 'diary' - is another way to provide interesting, up to date information about your business. The search engines 'love' blogs and regular Internet users do as well. There are many tools to make it easy for visitors to refer your blog posts to others using the net. You just need to add links into your website and your blog becomes an excellent marketing tool. Including useful, timely information also helps to establish yourself as an expert in your field and is a good 'magnet' for incoming links.
   
8. Get (Social) Networking. If any of the names MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. are not completely foreign to you, you are ready to take the plunge and use one/all of these Social Networking sites to promote your business. Like blogs, these sites are set up so that it's easy to send 'your message' to a large community of people. It takes time to build your community, but as you do, more and more people find out about your business. Using these sites can be less time consuming than writing regular blog posts -- but the more time you put in, the more you will get out of it.
   
9. Get a 'Tech Check'. The best €150 I spent in 2008 was to the West Cork Enterprise Board for a Tech Check, technology audit of our business. The result was a detailed, independent report on the technology we were currently using in our business, along with recommendations for new systems and procedures that we could use now and for any expected expansion. I hesitated to sign up for the service initially as I assumed that the person assigned would be pushing his own services and his recommendations would be geared to that; but it is part of the scheme that the auditor cannot provide the follow up services. In fact, my auditor doesn't provide such services for a living and most of his recommendations were things I could do myself, were free or very cheap and easy to download from the Internet. So if you have concerns about the security of your data, how to do back-ups more efficiently, if you need a better programme to manage your accounts, etc. this service will get you the answers you are looking for.
   
10. Give Outstanding Service. The one area where many web businesses fall down is in providing a decent level of customer service, so this is a great opportunity for you to stand out from your competitors. Many Irish e-commerce site owners are concerned about the fact that Irish VAT, one of the highest in Europe, has risen and UK VAT has dropped; so prices on Irish sites will appear higher than ever. Yes people are more price conscious these days, but when shopping online more people are concerned about doing business with a reliable, established business that they can talk to if needed. Be sure that your website provides clear contact details. Answer enquiries within 24 hours (sooner, if possible, even if just to say that you've received the message and will get back to the sender promptly). Offer delivery times and costs equivalent to your competitors (even if in neighbouring countries). Focus on the customers needs and strive to provide that to them, even if it means giving that little bit extra. This will set you apart from the pack.
    

With the concern about keeping your business going strong in the current economic climate it's important to make the most of your current resources, so resolve to make the most of your website and see the results in 2009.

Tech Check - An Excellent Resource for Small Businesses in Ireland

I am usually sceptical of programmes offered by the Enterprise Board, but in the past two months I have had two great experiences with the West Cork Enterprise Board.

They have been offering a Tech Check service for over a year now. You pay the WCEB €150 and they assign an IT professional to come in and audit your business's use of technology. Whilst I was sceptical about how it would go -- being fairly untrusting of many 'IT guys' -- but I did think that it may be useful and was worth the fee. In fact, I took it so lightly that I signed up a year ago and didn't get around to actually submitting payment until now.

I was curious to see who would be coming out and was pleasantly surprised to find that the auditor was someone that I was familiar with. I don't know if it's appropriate to mention names, so he will remain anonymous. We spent three hours reviewing the technology we were currently using and what I thought we needed for now and for future growth of the business. Even during that initial session he provided me with a lot of excellent information on ways to improve our security, back up systems and use of email -- all mainly free or cheap methods.

I think many people feel that the IT professional doing the Tech Check will try to sell their own services and maybe suggest pricey things we don't really need. Our auditor doesn't actually offer IT services like that and most of his recommendations were affordable and easily do-able.

The written report I receieved a few days later was detailed and contained step by step instructions to implement the suggestions.

I would recommend that all businesses take up the Tech Check service while it is still being offered.

The other good experience I had with the WCEB involves a Grow Your Business Workshop -- and I'll get into that in a later post.