The new cookie law – it will affect you...

What is it?

If you haven’t already heard of the EU cookie law and you have a website, then you really should read this article... in essence it’s a new European law that requires websites to tell people what cookies they use and their purpose when they visit. Sounds like a lot of hassle right? Well I’m afraid it probably is...

How does it affect me?!

The law has actually been in place since May 26th 2011, but most companies haven’t done anything yet as the powers that be have given a 12 months amnesty period in which to comply... but that amnesty period is due to end on May 25th 2012.

In the UK the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is responsible for enforcement of the cookie law... so those guys could well be chasing you if you don’t put something in place that gives web users more info about the cookies that will be stored in their browsers when they visit your website, and the ability to opt out/ in.

What will visitors to my website notice?

It all depends how the people that manage your website, go about informing visitors of the types of cookie and their purpose. Using a dialogue box, will disrupt users from browsing your website as they won’t be able to do anything until they have closed the box. A discreet status bar at the top/ bottom of a web page is likely to be more user-friendly.

So can I just ignore it?

You could, but there is no indication of just how strictly the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is going to be on enforcement... you could be letting yourself in for a world of pain, especially if your company’s website handles high volumes of traffic. The safest approach is to comply or you could be faced with a fine of up to £500,000.

Will my website analytics data still be accurate?

At present it is not yet clear, as the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) argue that you still need consent. This could bring into question that accuracy of Google Analytics as a tool to measure and analyse visitor trends to your website. But having said that, a solution could be found whereby web browsers are engineered to include a universal consent or opt out button.

To find out more and to discuss updating your website, please get in touch.

Contact: info@sketchanidea.co.uk

Tel: 01841 540 874.

Facebook fan pages now have timeline layout

Facebook recently announced their new timeline layout for Facebook fan pages, and so the way companies use Facebook to promote their brand and interact with their audience has changed as well. There are four things that if you haven’t done them already, then they are really worthwhile doing:

1. Upload a cover photo

Upload a cover photo that gives real visual impact. An image that interests your fans and expresses what your company has to offer.

2. Add a new profile picture

Add a new profile picture, ideally your company’s logo. The new profile picture dimensions are square at 124px x 124px, so its likely you will need a new graphic. This new  graphic will also be used to represent your company as a smaller thumbnail image across Facebook, so using your brand logo is preferrable.

3. Pin a post to the top of your timeline.

You can pin a post to the top of your timeline, and it will stay there for a week. It’s a great way to highlight an important piece of content, like a promotion or event, so it’s the first thing people will see when they visit your page. Whilst apps are still relevant they currently play a less important role, and you can no longer drive ‘likes’ through a landing page app. The landing page apps remain, and are accessible through the panel tabs below your cover photos, but look out of place given the new layout.

4. Reorganise your views and apps

Views and apps are now displayed at the top of the page, below your cover photo. You can display only four at a time, and photos always come first. So if you have more than four views and apps, organise them so the most important four come first.

If you want to find out more about the new Facebook timeline layout, and how it can be harnessed to promote your company and engage with your customers, please get in touch.

Setting up a LinkedIn profile?

When setting up your LinkedIn profile, you may ask the question, what are the dimensions of my Linked In profile picture? As the time of writing this article they are 450px x 450px!

Paul Eddleston Google Profile

Adverts mean a lower search ranking on Google.

Google very recently changed the way they rank websites in organic listings, penalising web pages that are littered with fixed adverts and have no content in the top half. Surprisingly, pop-up and overlay adverts are not affected by this change.

The top half of a web page is always the first part that you see upon arrival. If it lacks content and has lots of adverts, then it’s not going to rank highly on Google’s organic listings. It seems like a worthwhile change on Google’s part as it rewards web pages that keep their content clear and prominent, because this is in the best interests of the readers of that content. Join our blog or ‘like’ us on Facebook to keep up to date on all things web.

Before and after TDB

Hard to believe the first poster below was done by a company who claim to do “design”…  here are the before and after shots. Happy to say the client saw the value in our work.

 

The low down on HTML 5…

HTML 5 is the next leap forward in web development; it is more search engine friendly, great for mobile browsing and does not require third party plug-ins for audio/ video support. It’s been around for a while, but has really started to come into its own as web browsers like Google Chrome and FireFox have started to embrace it. We recently launched a HTML 5 website for financial planners Hansford Bell in Tavistock.

So you are probably thinking what’s new and why should I care? If you imagine a web page has a beginning, middle and an end, which has to be indexed by search engine crawlers in order to show up in search listings. Well, until now those search engine crawlers have been unable to identify what’s the beginning, the middle and the end, as every web developer gave each part their code a different name. HTML 5 gets around this by employing generic code which is more easily read by search engine crawlers like Google’s very own ‘Google bot’, and is therefore more easily indexed. Thus search engine’s like Google can provide you with more accurate search results, depending on your search query of course.

As far as browsing the web on your smart phone goes, HTML 5 is pretty awesome for that too, allowing smart phone users to render graphics and animations much faster and more effectively than with typical flash software. In fact it’s so good, that Adobe (makers of Flash player) have just officially announced that they are killing Flash Player for Android and the BlackBerry Playbook, arguing that HTML 5 is the "best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms”. The good news is Adobe will continue to support Flash for the PC, which is not surprising as it remains the delivery conduit used for popular players like YouTube.

One of the most advantageous aspects of HTML5 is that it does not require third party plugins for audio and video, making it much easier to embed videos on your site should you wish to do so! This is pretty cool as plugins can often cause your browser to slowdown or crash and its pretty inconvenient when you are trying to watch or listen to something and you are prompted to download and install a newer version of the plugin before you can do so!

So... why wouldn’t you want HTML 5? There’s less hassle involved with plugins, its quicker, search-engine friendly and great for the internet on your smartphone.

How could Twitter benefit your business?

The great thing about social media platforms is that they are free. The only cost involved is the time spent running them, and twitter is no different! Twitter is most useful for discovering what is going on ‘right now’, and it’s great for many businesses too as it provides a way to keep their customers updated and informed. A tweet could provide followers with links to a promotional offer or news story, or a status update running through what they are up to. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters in length so you won’t find yourself burning the midnight oil writing long articles to keep your followers entertained!

As with other social media outlets, twitter is a quick and easy way for customers to see what is going on without having to actually visit the website or blog of a company. For example, @MarksandSpencer, currently sell a vegan range that I would not have otherwise known about had I not been following them on twitter. So there’s no doubt it’s a great way of reaching out to your target audience.

Although twitter is free, at a cost, you can take a step further in reaching your audience by using twitter’s ‘Promoted Accounts’ feature. By signing up to this feature, twitter will position your twitter account in front of users who might be interested in following your company using the ‘who to follow’ widget. It is well worth while if you have a small following online and are looking to build your brand. ‘Promoted tweets’ may also be of interest if you are running a promotion or launching a new product, for example, and are looking to extend the reach of your message. Promoted Tweets also make good use of your brand advocates, encouraging sales and interest through retweets and recommendations.

We have briefly covered just how useful twitter is for many businesses to reach new and existing customers. Here at The Drawing Board, we provide social media consultancy, management and copywriting services. To find out more please call us on 01841 540 874 or email info@sketchanidea.co.uk.