Latest News From Rake Mark Solutions

US Consumer Survey Gives Facebook the Thumbs Down

27 July 2010

It’s the most popular website in the US but according to the results of the recently released American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), our cousins across the Atlantic are not happy with the social networking giant. Is this a case of 'cake and eat it' or are consumers having genuine issues with Facebook?

Privacy Issues and Interface Changes

Well publicised privacy issues are sure to have had an impact on Facebook's very low satisfaction index of 63 (scored out of 100), which is the lowest of the social media sites that were scored and even lower that another poorly performing industry, the airline industry.

Frequent changes to the user interface has also been a regular gripe of Facebook users, along with increased, in your face commercialisation, with annoying adverts that are supposedly targeted to the user. These issues have seen Facebook score a customer satisfaction score lower than other social media websites like MySpace and well below the score of 77 for the ever consistent Wikipedia.

Social Media - User Generated Content

Social Media websites are composed primarily of user generated content, with the website owner creating the framework within which the subscribers' community can flourish. While its true you can't please all the people all the time so some dissatisfaction is always going to be present, Facebook and others must begin to take note of their subscribers concerns or the next big thing could swoop in a very short space of time. Currently there is no heir apparent to take Facebook's crown, but that socially aware organisation must be there, waiting in the wings. It took Facebook about five years to go from 1 Million active users to 500 Million active users leaving MySpace eating their dust, so once the next big thing emerges, it'll only takes a few clicks and a few months for a thriving community to jump ship and take up residence in a new Social Media location.

Facebook Hits 500 Million Active Users

21 July 2010

On his blog today, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook has reached the 500 million user mark. He said,"500 million people all around the world are actively using Facebook to stay connected with their friends and the people around them. This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world. Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about."

This is a staggering achievement considering that Facebook had about 1 million users at the start of 2005 and that Facebook's popularity has spread mostly via word of mouth. In the face of protests over interface changes, worldwide controversy over privacy and threats of a boycott from thousands of users in May this year, Facebook still added 100 million new users in the last 6 months alone.

One Billion Facebook Users, 'Guaranteed'

Mr Zuckerberg recently said that the site was "almost guaranteed" to reach one billion users. And while Facebook grows without pause, Facebook’s social media rivals shrink to the sidelines. MySpace has about 65 million users, which only appears insignificant when compared to Facebook. Another rival of days gone by, Bebo, was sold earlier this year by AOL just 2 years after it was bought for $850 million.

With 500 Million active Facebook users around the globe and with Facebook's founder as much as 'guaranteeing' an additional 500 million active users in the not to distant future, is ignoring this fabulous free resource something that any business, big or small, local, national or international can ignore any longer.

Social Media Support for Businesses in the Stafford Area

Rake Mark Web Solutions is a Stafford based website design and online marketing company helping local businesses make the most of Facebook and Twitter and they could help you tap into this amazing resource. Call Sarah on 01785 712 397 for further details.

Rake Mark Release New Website Portal Application

19 July 2010

Today Rake Mark Solutions, a website design company in Stafford have announced that they are releasing a new version of their Web Portal Software, RMPortal. The new version will include two new components, one for listing company contacts and one displaying testimonials on your website, and also an upgrade of the existing News Portal Application.

Sarah Brassington, Rake Mark Web Solutions Managing Director, said 'The new components will follow on from the RM News web application. They will follow the 'Simple-CMS' philosophy, making updating your own website easy and hassle free for non-technical users.' Sarah went on to say that 'Existing customers should receive an email later this week offering a free upgrade to the new version of RMPortal, but they can call us in advance if they want to get upgraded faster!"

Totally New Website Experience

The new release of the portal so new that the marketing copy isn't finished yet, but the new pages for the Rake Mark website should be up early next week, highlighting the new features and benefits of the new components. More to follow

About Rake Mark

Rake Mark is a Website Design and Online Marketing Specialists based in Stafford and serving the whole of the West Midlands. Rake Mark has been commissioned for projects involving a diverse range of clients from smaller local businesses to Premier League Football Clubs. Sarah Brassington established her own website design company in 2006.

BBC Launch Their New Look Website

15 July 2010

Yesterday was the official launch of the new look BBC website. According to Erik Huggers' online blog, the new online website design is "...part of an ongoing process to make BBC Online feel like one coherent service, rather than a disjointed collection of websites". There is new Navigation, to give easier and faster access to the most popular sites, a new media zone, to help showcase a wider range of content on the home page and a load of new design improvements. The homepage alone has a range of design tweeks that make it load faster.

Partnership with Social Media Websites

Mr Huggers also revealed some information regarding the much talked of partnerships with Social Networking sites, like Facebook and twitter. He said "In addition we are also introducing to news the results of partnerships with social networks, improving the way users can share and recommend content on other platforms with their friends."

With the release of Google caffeine recently, it seems that the BBC, with their new website design, are also taking into account the new importance of links coming in from Social Media Websites, like Facebook and twitter.

Petition to Make Staffordshire Village Safer Handed Over

14 July 2010

Make Brocton Crossroads Safer campaigners handed over their 2000 strong petition to Staffordshire County Council today. The group aims to pressure the council into making changes to the road layout in the village of Brocton, near Stafford after the death of biker Geoffrey Kevin Jones.

Campaign Leader Kate Young posted her thanks to those who've supported the campaign on the Facebook Group page. Almost 900 people have joined the group on Facebook looking for improvements.

Over 1 Million Like the Chris Moyles Show Facebook Fanpage

12 July 2010

Social media and social networking continues to grow with the Chris Moyles Facebook show page being the latest facebook group to pass the 1 million followers mark. At 5:54 this morning the status was set to
'We're about to cross the 1 Million Followers Mark...!'
and then a few hours later they had done it and the status was set to,
'We DID it! Over 1 MILLION followers on Facebook! Thank you - and welcome to the show page :)'

This will come as a welcome relief from the under fire radio host and may just shut the critics up for a few days after Chris came under fire with reports that Chris was too old for the show visitors as well as being involved in large controversies such as trouble with ill judged comments included a joke which was about the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz.

To have 1 million followers on Facebook is a massive achievement, but is still way short of Lady Gaga's recently publisices 12 million likes and Michael Jacksons 16 million.

Social Media, Facebook and twitter are now firmly part of our culture and in many cases our way of life with recent studies using the term addiction to describe some users pattern of behaviour. It is perhaps a bit far fetched to call it addiction, but it is clear that more and more people are finding and sharing events and products with like minded cyber friends.

New Social Media Study Highlights Facebook Addicts

08 July 2010

Facebook is growing all the time and for more and more people it has become a way of life, a part of the daily routine. A new study by Oxygen Media of 1,605 U.S. adults who use social media, one third of females 18-34 said that scrolling through status updates were the first thing they do when waking, 34 percent said that Facebook comes before brushing their teeth and nearly 40 percent are self-described “Facebook addicts.”

Although it has been known for sometime that 50% of registered users log into facebook every day this is another study confirming the growth and failth that so many put into social media outlets with many Facebook users loggin in multiple times per day.

Google Caffine's Jolt to the SEO System

09 June 2010

Google has announced that it has Completed the roll out of the new web indexing system, codenamed 'Caffine'. Caffine is designed to give 50% fresher results, meaning that it will see changes to the web faster. So whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, the web page should appear in Google search results sooner than before, offering more real time and faster updates.

A public test of the new caffine search engine was rolled out in a single data centre in August last year (link to a news article about caffine) with wider deployment from November. With this announcement from Google we can presume that Google has completed the rollout to all its data centers and the new Google Caffine index is now being used in all searches worldwide.

The change has been made necessary by the speed that the web is growing. With wide adaptation of websites writing their own news items, their own blogs and adding more media based content (like videos, video blogs and you tube channels) changes were required for Google to keep up. The old engine was split into layers with main layers taking two weeks to update, but Google Research head Peter Norvig has now said "With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before — no matter when or where it was published."

Social Media website Twitter reveal Monetization Plan

26 March 2010

The business world has long been aware of social media website Twitter and the power it can have for getting their message across to consumers. Currently showing as having 1,572,302 followers Dell or @DellOutlet is a prime example of big corporations utilizing this marketing channel. Along with Dell, many other corporations and businesses have been making great strides forward using Twitter for some time now, sharing information, sales pitches and their own messages, but speculation rises as the soon to be announced “monetization plan” loom’s.

Co-Founder Biz Stone tells us in an interview that they “don’t necessarily have to start making a lot of money right now” and without giving anything away says that there are other ways to make money than just advertising however the long term goal of the company is to build twitter as a ‘sustainable business’ so that it can be here for many years to come.

The BBC Website Goes Mega Social with Facebook and Twitter Tie Up

18 March 2010

The BBC has long supported social media websites with a multitude of twitter and facebook accounts for various programs and celebs, but now the BBC website and specifically the iPlayer are going to integrate more closely with social media sites Twitter, Facebook and Bebo. This new innovation will be available with the launch of the iPlayer 3.0 beta.

Erik Huggers, the Head of Future Media and Technology for the BBC, was speaking publically at The Guardian’s ‘Changing Media Summit 2010’. “We are close to launching the third version of the iPlayer in beta which will have many more social functions embedded within it," he said. "People will be able to bring their Facebook friends onto the iPlayer so they can share what they are listening to or watching with each other more easily.”

After creating a BBC account, users will be able to integrate with their Twitter, Facebook and Bebo accounts with iPlayer. When users then connect to iPlayer they will be able to see what others in their networks are watching, appearing as 'Coloured Puffs' beneath the iPlayer.

Erik said that partnerships with Facebook were likely to manifest themselves across many parts of the BBC site over time, with iPlayer integration being the first instance of this. He did however rule out the BBC trying launch its own social network as that would be "madness", with partnerships with major social sites was the only way forward.

BBC Online currently attracts 29.5 million unique users a week in the UK alone. It is the only British website to feature in the list of the 10 most popular websites visited by UK internet users.

Stafford MP Writes to Police about Stafford Hostipal

13 March 2010

Stafford MP David Kidney said he had written to police to investigate whether the damning report into the hospital trust responsible for Stafford Hospital could be a base for a criminal prosecution. He said members of Cure the NHS, a group of people whose relatives died at the hospital, picketed his surgery last week, demanding his support.

Last year, it was revealed there were more than 400 deaths than would be expected at Stafford Hospital between 2005 to 2008. An independent inquiry report, published last month, also revealed details of patients being neglected.

Access to the Web is a Fundamental Right

10 March 2010

A new BBC survey of more than 27,000 adults in 26 countries has found that access to the internet and the web has strong support as a fundamental right. When asked if the internet should be a fundamental right, 50% of respondents strongly agreed and nearly 30% responded with somewhat agree.

Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is reported to have said,
"The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created." and that "regard the internet as basic infrastructure - just like roads, waste and water".

Many web users across the globe believe that the government should never be involved with internet regulation but a majority of respondents in China believe there is some case for government regulation. Surprisingly 55% of those in the UK believed that there was a case for some government regulation of the internet.

Quick Survey Takeaways:
• 87% of internet users felt internet access should be the "fundamental right of all people"
• 90% of those surveyed in Turkey stated that internet access is a fundamental right
• 84% of Japanese respondents said that they could not cope without the internet
• Most of those questioned said that they believed the web had a positive impact
• Fraud is the greatest online cause for concern
• 90% agree the internet is a good place to learn

The survey was conducted by GlobeScan for the BBC and the full report can be found on the BBC website

Tickets for Staffordshire Festival Sell Out in Record Time

08 March 2010

Organisers for this year V Festival at Weston Park near Stafford, Staffordshire have announced that the tickets sold out within one and half hours.

Essex and Staffordshire

The festival is held annually at two venues, Chelmsford in Essex and Weston Park near Stafford in Staffordshire, on the same weekend and the acts play alternate days at each venue. This year Kasabian and Kings of Leon are headlining the festival.

Bad Website Design Can Cost £5.65 Billion

05 March 2010

Poorly performing websites are costing retailers as much as £5.65 billion per year in online sales according to a joint press release from by Hostway and Zeus Technology where they detail research they have commissioned. The research reveals ongoing user frustrations with slow loading multimedia website content

The survey used the abandon rate, which is where a customer starts to make a purchase but then fails to complete it, to calculate the £5.65 billion figure of online loss. The 2,033 consumers revealed an average abandon rate of 5.5 online transactions per person surveyed over the last 12 months. Recent sales figures have which showed UK consumers spending an average £30 per transaction and UK online sales increasing over 12% for 2009.

Website Traffic To Continue Growing

“Online traffic will continue to grow, so it’s important that retailers ensure that their websites are scalable enough to cope with large visitor numbers and large amounts of multimedia content. The latest traffic management solutions can help ensure that retailers are able to provide the best possible online experience, even allowing them to inspect and route traffic based on visitor type and profile. All of which can improve the speed and responsiveness of their websites,” commented Graham Moore, e-retail specialist at Zeus Technology.

Although the £5.65 billion is probably higher than the actual figure lost through abandoned transactions the survey brought up some interesting statistics regarding the use of large video and image files as part of the website design. 70% of the people surveyed said they were frustrated by how long it takes many websites to load images, and by the start stop nature of multimedia web content. When asked what was the biggest user frustration when visiting websites, ‘web pages taking too long to load’ (46%) was cited at the biggest complaint. This was followed by ‘online advertising’ (24%), ‘poor website navigation’ (16%) and ‘bad web links’ (13%).

The research also revealed that a massive 82% of consumers said that if a business’ website performed badly it would dissuade them from buying goods from that organisation on the web or even in store. This clearly demonstrates the importance of having a good online perception and the need for retailers to ensure their online customer experience is a positive one.

Finally a cost for bad webite design

As we have discussed in a recent blog article about making websites more effective, substance over style should not be considered good website design. This research seems to not only support this view but puts a multi billion pound price tag on good design.

The online survey of 2,033 British consumers was commissioned by Hostway and Zeus Technology and was conducted by independent research company TNS.

Britons Wasting Billions on Gadgets

03 March 2010

A national survey of 3,000 people has shown that the British public is wasting £52 billion every year on gadgets that they don't know how to work. The study by Stuff Magazine reports the average annual spend on electronic devices is £3,065, but as much as half of the functionality is left unused.

Unbelievably, almost half of those surveyed didn't realise that a HD TV needs to be connected to an HD set top box to see the benefits with 2 in 100 thinking you needed HD ready eyesight. If this was on April fools day, you wouldn't believe it.

Stuff magazine's editor, Fraser Macdonald, said:
"It's amazing how much money people are wasting by not using things to their full potential.

"An HD TV is an essential purchase, for example, but it'll be so much better if you hook it up to a decent HD set-top box, such as a Sky+ HD box, a Blu-ray player and a surround sound speaker set-up."

Divided Nation

Glaswegians only managed to use 47% of their functions available on their gadgets with Staffordshire city Wolverhampton coming top, using 80%. The old gender divide was also evident with 63% of women reading the instructions but only 54% of men. Men were also only half as likely to seek help if their technology failed.

Think Marketing Not Advertising

24 February 2010

Advertising often fails to deliver for companies with low marketing budgets, but small businesses keep asking about sources of cheap advertising. Advertising can be a useful tool but small business with a low or micro budget need to think in terms of free or low cost, effort based marketing. Marketing that doesn't need much money but does require effort.

Ultra Low Cost Effort Marketing Tools

1. Press Releases
There are free press release websites that you can load press releases to and you can contact your local newspaper with items of interest. If you have been going 10 years, tell them. New product lines, send out a release. Keep it interesting and to the point.

2. Blogging
You’re on the web so set up a free account at blogger.com and start writing about the things you do. Make it personal and interesting.

3. Twitter
So if you are blogging then try micro blogging. Set up a free account. Follow a few people who are interested in your business (search twitter for those users) and then try to write a few tweets of your own. Be upbeat and amusing. Tweet a few times per day if you can. People will start to follow you.

4. Facebook
Again, it’s free. Set up an account and start a fan page. You can upload photos or your products or designs and get feedback on them.

5. Personal Representation
This is not for the faint hearted but can pay real dividends. Try to put yourself in front of as many people as possible. Try contacting local organisations either on the phone or in person. All you have to do is stick out your hand, introduce yourself and explain why you're there.

Read the full Article

Cyber War Declared on Penguin News Website

22 February 2010

Numerous news sources are reporting that the Penguin News Website has a new design. The website was attacked by Argentinian hackers who put a new website design of the Argentinian flag on the home page with their national anthem playing. The Faulkland Island newspaper has a circulation of about 1500 so would seem to be pretty easy prey and wouldn't normally raise more than an ironic smirk from the Argantians or an eyebrow from the British. But with tensions rising over oil rights in the region and The Sun Newspaper raising a lather this is bound to become more than a one day story.

The content has now been removed and the original website design has been restored. Will this be the end of it or will this froth up into sabre rattling or worse?

Reward Offered to Catch Fly Tippers at Cannock Chase Beauty Spot

10 February 2010

Selfish fly tippers are ruining an area of natural beauty at Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. The situation is so bad that a reward is being offered to help catch those responsible after water tanks and other plumbing materials where being dumped by the side of the road for the fourth time in six weeks in Norton Lane, between Cannock and Norton Canes.

Many people from Stafford and Cannock and the surrounding area of Staffordshire enjoy the beautiful country side and this is being put in jeopardy. Covert surveillance is now being used in an attempt to catch the culprits but the public’s help is needed. Councillor Tony Williams has said “Cannock Chase Council has a zero tolerance attitude in the battle against fly tippers and we will always prosecute where there is sufficient evidence.”
Fly tipping can be reported with time and date of the incident, location, description of waste, vehicle registration, and a description of the fly tippers on 01543 462621 or visit http://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/site/index.php A reward of £100 is on offer for information which then leads to successful prosecution.

Rake Mark Launch Business Facebook Page

03 February 2010

In line with our Social Media blogging focus for 2010, Rake Mark have launched a New Business Facebook Page. This will be used to keep you updated on company activities, new articles (both news and blogs), new products and information that will help guide you through the process of the change in your marketing mix.

From here you can participate in discussions, comment on posts and we are also inviting you to ask questions (which we will happlily answer for you online)

To follow our business pages please Become a fan here

Google Announce Next Generation Search Engine Infrastructure

13 August 2009

A Google statement released on their official blog has announced their latest round of updates, called caffeine.

"For the last several months, a large team of Googlers has been working on a secret project: a next-generation architecture for Google's web search. It's the first step in a process that will let us push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions."

Matt Cutts has done the rounds with interviews and put up some further information on his blog. So far we have been told that the changes are under the hood so nothing will look different and that this has been worked on for about 2 years. Presumably, more will come out in time to come. Matt has said,

"Most of the search result rankings should be the same, because what’s changing is infrastructure under the hood of the search engine. But Caffeine is a radical revamp (more like a complete rewrite) of large parts of our system, so not all the rankings will be unchanged."

More as we get it.

Joined Up Marketing Will Pay Dividends

03 August 2009

A new study by iProspect has demonstrated just how effective using offline marketing to influence your online presence can be. The study states that 40% of online searchers make a purchase after being influenced by an offline channel? 'Offline marketing effects online sales', is npt an attention grabbing headline, but 40% is a newsworthy figure.

While other studies and news articles around at the moment all seem to be targeting online marketing, the study by iProspect demonstrates how a joined up marketing mix pays dividends. Pay per click, blogging and social media are all grabbing marketing headlines, taking up the bloggers interest and generally doing the rounds. Like the tech bubble of the late 90s is this report showing us that online marketing is starting to froth into a bubble and its time to rethink?

The iProspect study asked users what prompted them to search online for a particular company, product, service or slogan. The results were:

Television advertisement: 44%
Word of Mouth: 41%
Magazine/Newspaper Advertisement: 35%
Radio: 23%
Billboard: 13%

One commentator said "These figures provide a signpost to digital marketers. They show the importance of knowing the strengths and compatibilities of all channels..."

One thing is now clear, regardless of how popular or important your online marketing becomes, offline needs to a considered part of your marketing mix.

Twitter and Facebook Big Winners in New Report

15 July 2009

A new study from ComScore has shown that there are winners and losers in the world of social media. Facebook again recorded the lion’s share of visitors with 23.8 million visitors, an increase of 57%. Twitter showed a modest 2.7 million visitors, but the exciting part of this is that Twitter showed an increase of over 3000%.

Bebo, MySpace and Friends Reunited all showed a loss of visitors and it is becoming clearer to marketers where to concentrate their efforts when promoting their products in the social networking arena.

Top 10 Social Networking SitesRanked by Total U.K. Unique Visitors (000)* May 2009 vs. May 2008 Total U.K., Age 15+ - Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix
Property	May-08	May-09	% Change
Total U.K. Internet Audience	34,489	36,855	7
Social Networking	27,118	29,444	9
Facebook.com	15,195	23,860	57
Bebo	11,895	8,546	-28
Windows Live Profile	N/A	6,891	N/A
MySpace Sites	8,335	6,531	-22
Twitter.com	80	2,670	3,226
Digg.com	1,311	1,759	34
Friends Reunited Group	3,271	1,629	-50
Tagged.com	669	1,625	143
Deviantart.com	900	1,453	61
Buzznet	939	1,370	46

*Excludes Internet activity from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Survey Suggests that 9 Out of 10 Internet Users Visit Social Networking Site

07 July 2009

If you were wondering how important Twitter and Facebook are in your online marketing mix, a recent study by ComScore suggests that it could be a vital. With social networking becoming a mainstream online activity for all age groups, this is an opportunity to generate publicity for your product and engage with your customers like never before.

Although the opportunity to engage using social media has been around for while, and in itself is nothing new, the ComScore study is surprising in just how mainstream social networking has become. The study shows that social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are no longer the domain of the teenagers and the under 25s age group but found that more than two thirds of over 55s who are online visited a social networking site during the study in May. This increase in reach in all age groups shows that social networking is fast becoming a primary online platform to promote your business.

Reach Increases across the Board

Although the reach of 2 thirds was surprising the report contained other welcome news. 86% of 15 to 24 year olds and 89% 25 to 34 year olds visited a social networking site in May, each spending an average of 5.4 hours during the month.

The average reach was 80% with 4.6 hours spent for the reporting period. To put that into figures it represents 29.4 million (yep, million) people visiting social media sites in May and that is just in the UK. This shows an increase of 9% on the previous year.

Easter Bank Holiday Break

06 April 2009

The Rake Mark Offices will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday. Business as Usual Tuesday 14th April 9am.

Our support for existing clients will of course remain through-out this period for urgent matters.

Thank you
The Rake Mark Team

Rake Mark Announce Local Business Support for 2009

09 January 2009

We would like to wish you all a happy new year for 2009.

While the media reports are doom and gloom, we are looking to inject something positive into the local economy.

Our focus for 2009 is on helping Local Businesses increase their marketing effectively and profitability.

We have started the year as we mean to continue with a 50% off marketing offer for local businesses.

If you are interested in any of our services then please feel free to contact us, we are always happy to discuss your needs and ideas.

The Rake Mark Team

Opening Hours over the Christmas Break

14 December 2008

The Rake Mark office will close for business on Tuesday 23rd December 2008 for our Christmas break and then re-open on Monday 5th January 2009.
Our support for existing clients will of course remain through-out this period for urgent matters.

Thank you and Happy Christmas
The Rake Mark Team