Blogs

Wow! Back in the office after 3 days at CeBIT in Sydney! The first day spent on the floor surveying the offerings (and the competition). Then attending the Web Forward sessions which was keynoted by Google, who were never too far from peoples minds.

It's easy to get complacent while listening to the large organisations that shared some of their secrets. Our focus, however, is on how small to medium-sized businesses can take advantage of this technology. The main themes: mobile presence, SEO-ing sites and usability.

Especially for retailers, the location-aware capabilities of the iPhone and other mobiles are being utilised to attract customers already away from home. This often takes the form of special pages for mobile, and participating in directories where for mobile, google is not the only viable engine.

Being friends with Google, and hopefully great friends, means that all our sites are "crawled" by "spiders" from time to time. The spiders can be assisted in their work by using a number of techniques including making sure that when a page is prefixed with 'www', that same page without 'www', or however else that page can be reached, is 301 redirected so that Google counts the page just once.

Also that keywords, especially in the title, are ordered most subject specific first. Finally that javascript and css are in their own files and each product has its own page.

The bar has been raised so far on the usability front that Design, Look and Feel were suggested as job one when building a site. While Ajax and Flash need to be used with care from an SEO perspective, the subtle movements of on screen components entices and rewards users as they continue their interactions.

Click here to check out Haig Kayserian's video review!

Myself and Mark Simon represented KayWeb at the Web Forward internet marketing conference, held as part of the CeBIT Exhibition on May 13 and 14.

The following is my video overview from the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre in Sydney.

I will be representing KayWeb along with Mark Simon - our Business Analyst - at this year's CeBIT exhibition, and the Web Forward internet marketing conference.

The Web Forward conference is something I am particularly looking forward to. Last year was good, but this year General Manager of Google Australia and New Zealand; Mr. Karim Temsamami will address delegates, and is a real 'ticket' for the organisers.

The CeBIT exhibition kicks off today, and I will attend to see what is on display from some of the best innovators in Australia.

The SEO section is always funny for us web marketing consultants. We hear our competitors telling all sorts of loose truths to win business from one another.

The Application section, which has grown recently, is my personal favourite. I'm excited to see what is out there, always hoping that some of the application innovations KayWeb is working on are not defeated to the finish line by any of our competitors.

We will write here and on my blog about our thoughts after Web Forward. Keep reading!