2012 is looking great following a strategic acquisition.


In December 2011, Generate UK were delighted to complete on the acquisition of Web on High, an 11 year old digital marketing agency based in Newbury, Berkshire. Following this announcement, Generate UK will be moving to new premises at Read more

Instant Flood Sandbags : The latest technology


Generate UK recently purchased the rights to Instantsandbags and in doing so designed and developed a new website called Instantfloodsandbags. The product itself was not only innovative and new to the market but it's ingenious space saving design and it's Read more

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Digital Marketing

The Importance of Link Diversity in Competitive Niches

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Sam in Digital Marketing, Link Building, Search Engine Optimisation | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: The Google Algorithm is a giant black box.  We can make inferences as to what works and what doesn’t work, but one generally held rule is that you need links to rank.  A widely held belief is the more competitive the niche, the more links you need.  There has been plenty of conversation recently about linking not being as important, social signals being more important than links, anchor text not being as important, and other proclamations about the decreasing influence of links.  In the search results that I’ve seen for competitive financial terms, auto industry terms, and health related terms, links are definitely alive and well and there is a definite correlation between the more links and higher rankings. One aspect of link building that often gets overlooked (at least I’ve overlooked it previously) is getting links from different sources.  If you notice link profiles of high ranking sites, they generally have links from a wide variety of sources.  I’ve noticed that when I push real hard on a certain link type for too long, the benefits slowly grind to a halt.  But when I switch up the link type, I’ll notice an additional boost.  For example, recently for a client we got many guest posts targeting a competitive term.  We rose from the top of page two to the bottom of page one, plateauing around position 8.  After a month of being stalled we switched up the link type (still targeting the same term) from guest posting to niche directories…


Marketing to Women with Pintrest

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Mike in Digital Marketing, Social Media | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: In our previous post we discussed the latest social media phenomenon which is now ranked as one of the top ten social networking sites in the world according to Experian Hitwise, which reported Pinterest has increased its visits by more than 40 times its average traffic in the last six months. Pinterest is predominantly accessed by women from age 25 to 44 which makes up 59% of its total user base.  Why is this important?  Because women represent a purchase decision authority and influence that continues to grow exponentially.  In fact, Neilson released a comprehensive global study “Women of Tomorrow Report” in 2011. “To connect with women, strategies should be social and relevant,” said Whiting.  “With social networking, women typically follow brands more so than men, making the social networking tool relevant for discounts, deals and coupons. Women are much more likely to engage with media that seamlessly integrates into and improves their day-to-day lives.”  Source: Web February 15, 2012 www.nielsen.com Women are intuitive decision makers and social shoppers.  They value the recommendations made by friends and family members when determining items for purchase and they are networked for that purpose.  To receive advice and recommendations from those they trust.   Consequently the valuation of the good or service is based heavily on peer input and the box standard loyalty programs (such as points or rewards based incentives) have a minimal impact on the purchase decision for the new and informed female shopper. So why is Pintrest so popular with women?  It is an easy…


Why you should be using Pinterest

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Mike in Ecommerce, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0/3.0, Web News | 2 Comments

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Excerpt: One of the most fascinating things about social media micro-sites and gamification modules is their widespread adoption if the concept is novel and innovative.  There is no shortage of social networking sites to explore and it seems like a new one comes out every month.  Is there a promotional benefit to being on social sites?  Yes.  Do you need to be on all of them?  Probably not.  However, if the micro-site has the potential to successfully build community and interactions around your products or services, it may be worth the effort. And if you think you have seen it all when it comes to social networking sites we encourage you to explore Pintrest, an exciting new platform developed by Cold Crew Labs in Palo Alto, California.  Pintrest was launched in March 2010 and by December 2011 the site had achieved more than 11 million visits per week according to metrics at HitWise.   In 2011 the start-up also raised $27 million dollars of venture funding from Andreessen Horowitz. From the start the innovative social bookmarking and sharing program generated huge laurels and interest and was covered by Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Mashable.  The social site in its beta version received a 4.5 star iTune App rating and a Twitter following of 396,728 (Although they could follow a few back!) users by February 2012.  The network remains a closed application available by qualified invite only for the time being. How It Works Visit the Pintrest site and download the toolbar shortcut for…


We all hate doing it, but know it’s important – Allocating Website Content

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Mike in Digital Marketing Tips, Internet Marketing | 6 Comments

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Excerpt: High quality informative and original content is the key to encouraging readership and valuable response to your website. We advise our clients that the best designed site with graphics and interactive features will fall short to provide professional results if it is devoid of content. You have heard the adage that “Content is King”. It has never been more true for web marketing than it is today given changes to analytics and their impact on page rank. There needs to be substance to your site to make it one worth bookmarking and visiting. It needs to have content that is reflective of your authority in the niche. There are many different types of content to consider when building your website. Text only copy is important however it should not be the only source of information on your site. There are a variety of multimedia options to incorporate that will inspire reactions or propagation of your information through social media channels. But how much multimedia on a site is too much? What is effective versus distracting to your customers? Where do you allocate your valuable content as a resource? Website Copy Creating static and informative subpages that discuss your product or service is the first stop in your allocation plan. These pages are important because they provide a framework on the purpose the site as well as the key selling features of your business or organisation. The articles should be flawless organic content which is engaging and intuitive to your marketing and brand objectives….


Social Media Campaigns

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Sam in Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0/3.0 | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: Social media campaigns are growing with more and more companies opting to place videos on Facebook and YouTube over static ads on internet pages. It started with the smaller companies using it as an innovative way to gain exposure and interest, but now some big named brands, like Smirnoff and Diesel, are running ad campaigns online with huge success. Diesel used the Facebook ‘Like’ button and QR codes to enable people to ‘Like’ things in their stores, trialled in Spain. They placed QR codes by the products, which people scanned on their smart phones. This bought them to a link where they could ‘Like’ the product on Facebook and share it with friends. The campaign was a huge success bringing Diesel into the social campaign sphere. If you’re thinking that its game over for the small business now because the biggies have it now, you wouldn’t be alone but you would be wrong. Social media is booming because there is no division between big and small. Yes, a well known brand will build their followers up quicker and have a more instantaneous success rate, but that doesn’t mean a small business can’t do the same. Running a successful campaign starts with planning. It’s no good creating an account on Twitter and then expecting people to follow you. You have to promote it – get yourself out there. Tell people you exist! Do this by following lots of people, creating accounts on many social sites (Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn etc.) and having links on your website…


2012 is looking great following a strategic acquisition.

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Kim in Blogging, Business Development, Customers, Digital Marketing, Events, Featured, Online Reputation, Other stuff, Social Media, Web Design, Web News | 1 Comment

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Excerpt: In December 2011, Generate UK were delighted to complete on the acquisition of Web on High, an 11 year old digital marketing agency based in Newbury, Berkshire. Following this announcement, Generate UK will be moving to new premises at New Greenham Park. Following the acquisition; Generate UK now have over 20 digital specialists ranging from creative designers, an award winning development team, experienced SEO Experts and a wonderful team of Account Managers. When you make a big move like this, it’s hard not to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come. In 2008 the economy was at the start of the recession and whilst this scenario was a concern, the Generate UK Directors, Mike Robinson and Joe Baily stuck to their vision and took a giant leap of faith. They understood that despite the uncertainties, there would be a need for an agency who would help companies bridge the gap through expert knowledge and resource, offering measurable returns through emerging technologies. Our history and our ever growing client basis proves they were both right. It’s hard to believe that Generate UK began as a 2 man team, we’re now over 20 strong! Having a larger team is already proving successful with more ideas and expertise which can be passed on to our clients allowing us to be even more proactive then before. What about the new office? It’s brilliant! We have a nice big open plan office, flatscreen TV’s, a lovely big meeting room and the Director’s are keen to continually invest as they…


SEO Tips for Social Media Sites

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Mike in Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Tips, Social Media, Web 2.0/3.0 | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: A 2011 report on social media use was released in December by comScore which is an analytic agency headquartered in Virginia, United States with more than twenty five locations in North and Latin American, Europe and Asia Pacific.  It is a global authority on the metrics of the digital domain and a valued source for “marketing intelligence” worldwide.  By utilising surveys and analysing web analytics and net usage it is a tremendous resource for business, advertising and digital marketers. The white paper published “It’s a Social World: Top 10 Need-to-Knows About Social Networking and Where It’s Headed”  is a must read for any e-commerce professional business stratifying social media for 2012. Some interesting social media statistics from 2011 include: Networking sites now reach 82% of the worlds Internet population (aged fifteen and up) There are currently 1.2 billion regular internet users around the world Microblogging sites such as Twitter and Tumblr reached 1 in 10 Internet Facebook accounts for 1 in every 7 minutes spent online worldwide SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the science of improving the visibility and traffic of a website in organic search results to raise ranking in search engines. This enables the content of your business site to be placed in the fast lane of internet traffic for maximum exposure.  SEO techniques can be applied to a variety of types of searches including video and image content.  If you are comfortable with the importance of SEO in the success of your website you may not have considered that it plays an important function…


The Four Step Social Media Strategy

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Mike in Digital Marketing, Social Media, Web 2.0/3.0 | 1 Comment

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Excerpt: It is one of the most cost effective and powerful new tools for business. Social media is tantamount to casting a larger net into the digital domain to crowd source clients, leads and networking opportunities within your niche. Enterprising businesses keen on expansion and growth have immersed themselves in social media quickly to be represented on a variety of networks without much thought or strategic planning. While there is a clear advantage to exposure on a variety of sites, a disorganized approach can impair your brand image by diluting focus and dispersing audience. Can poor social media strategies actually penalise your SEO and marketing efforts? Of course they can. An unmonitored Twitter account can be hijacked and if left unchecked move to infect and inconvenience your followers. For small and medium sized businesses it is best practice to assign the role of social media responsibility to a dedicated staff member for continuity and consistent maintenance. But with a solid plan in hand and clear goal setting, social media will power sales and promotional growth. Step One: Social Media Marketing Plan Articulate your goals and make them tangible. What are your measureable outcomes for evaluating the efficacy of your social media marketing? Depending on your niche you may measure results in direct sales or leads. Web traffic analytics can also provide an indication of the impact of social media tools in action. Applying basic marketing fundamentals reiterate your target market and the social media tools that you plan to employ to not only reach your…


What is Social Media Crowdsourcing

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Mike in Digital Marketing, Social Media | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: You may have heard a great deal in recent online news about “crowdsourcing”, the latest buzz word to describe utilising principals of gamification and social networking to drive traffic to websites as an effective SEM (Search Engine Marketing) tool. The first reference to the term can be traced back to an article which appeared in Wired magazine in 2006 “The Rise of Crowdsourcing” by Jeff Howe. The principal of basic crowdsourcing acknowledges that modern technology makes it possible to reach out beyond typical geographic limitations to recruit and collaborate with solution or product providers efficiently. In a cost effective way traditional crowd sourcing enables a business to acquire human resources, skills, ideas and talent from around the world, while using access to the expansive competitive environment to save on products and services. In essence, the more vendors you have vying for your business the better “deal” you are going to get with more options to choose from. Conversely while classic crowdsourcing was product or service based, the new era of social media crowdsourcing has a different commodity. Opinion. The evolved consumer responds to endorsement by trusted peers more readily than by gimmick or standard advertising conventions. The benefits of online crowdsourcing can be employed in social media strategy to expand the promotional reach of your product or service by branching into popular social networking domains to target your niche market. To generate brand familiarity or presence in popular networking sites. With social media crowdsourcing it is not the number of vendors but…


Fabulous Flowers Goes Live

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Kim in Blogging, Customers, Digital Marketing, Events, Other stuff, Web Design, Web News | Leave a comment

Earlier this year, Generate UK was contacted by a company based in Abingdon and Oxford, Specialising in Flower Displays and Floral Art called Fabulous Flowers. This was a project that instantly caught our eye, as we spotted a great opportunity to let our creativity run wild, creating a great looking website for an amazing up and coming company. Thanks to a great idea by the owners of Fabulous Flowers, Gary Cooper and Matthew Taylor, we split the website into 2 halves, 1 dedicated to the sale of Gary and Matthew’s handmade collections and bouquets, the other dedicated to the promotion of the events they have provided for and their best works. This demonstrated Fabulous Flowers passion to be set apart from the rest of the market, demonstrating their attention to detail and individuality. By using eye catching colours and large, vibrant graphics, Gary, Matthew and everybody at Generate UK agreed that the site could not have looked better. Why not check out the site for yourselves at: www.fabulousflowers.biz


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