A study by Boston Consulting Group for Google estimates the value of the web economy in G20 countries will nearly double by 2016.

The rapid rise of mobile internet access will play a significant part in an increase from  $2.3tn (£1.5tn) to $4.2tn (£2.7tn), and will see 3bn people using the internet in four years’ time – nearly 50% of the world’s population.

However, traditional internet access via a copper wire and a desktop PC will fade into the background, as the rapid fall in the cost of smartphones – with cheap versions now costing about $100 – means that by 2016 about 80% of all internet users will access the web using a mobile phone.

The research suggests that the UK is one of the most advanced e-commerce economies.

For the full story, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16753902

Not everyone thinks this update by Google is a good idea.  Twitter called it “bad for people” for example and there has been other negative press.  A search for a restaurant in Milton Keynes for example may turn up relevant results from your social circle which you may regard as more trustworthy than a review website.  On the other hand a search for MK Dons may show your friends opinions on the latest match ahead of their Twitter account information which was what you may have been looking for.

My main concern is that the information I am looking for may be further buried beneath useless opinion and general noise from friends.  If I wanted that I can search for it directly from my Google+ account.

Do you think this is a good update or not?  Is Bing now the best search engine? Let us know in the comments.

MD Chris Munnery wanted a site that reflected the company’s professional image and allowed full access to content, particularly for the frequent news articles featured on the site.

Follow the link www.peopledynamicshr.co.uk to view the site designed and built by Metanym.

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.

In practical terms this should mean that when searching for something such as “Milton Keynes Dons football results” the most recent game should appear at the top of the list rather than that obscure result from several seasons ago that got a lot of coverage at the time.

Sounds good to us although how it will impact searches for things such as “Best bolognese sauce” where freshness shouldn’t matter (in the search results, not the recipe!) we will have to wait and see.  Google themselves recognise this and you can read more about what they have to say here.

So what does this mean to most small to medium sized businesses?  If your website is based around a product or service that doesn’t require timely updates, then this change probably won’t effect you, assuming Google recognises that the importance of “freshness” is low in your case.  If “freshness” is important you need to monitor your analytics carefully to assess the impact and be ready to react.  Relevant content produced on a consistent basis and updated regularly remains the most important factor in optimising your website for search engines. That statement is now even more true.

What can you do to benefit from the changes?  Start a blog or news page on your site and give yourself an objective of producing a small relevant article at least once a week.  We helped Brain Tumour Research to do this recently.  Their existing website design was applied to a new blog which was in turn linked to Twitter and Facebook.  New blog posts are now broadcast automatically for them!  You can read the blog here.  If you’d like us to do the same for you give us a call on 0845 1800 198 or complete our contact form here.

Has the Google change affected where you rank on Google?  Let us know in the comments.

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.