Importance of well-designed eBay stores highlighted Friday, 5th January, 2010 An ecommerce solutions provider has highlighted the importance of a well designed eBay store to online retailers. While many businesses design their own websites, many also operate a virtual store on the auction website, and Advansys believes that greater attention should be applied to their design. The top priority, the company argues, is an eBay shop that reflects brand identity. This, it argues, boosts customer confidence, brand awareness and trust. "If you already have an ecommerce web desig . . . keep reading
Travel companies encouraged to improve website designs Friday, 5th February, 2010 Holiday companies and travel agents may wish to improve their website's design after a new survey revealed the popularity of booking travel plans online. According to an IMRG and eDigitalResearch poll, almost half (48 per cent) of people will visit a website in the hope of spotting a cheap holiday deal this year, with a further 50 per cent aiming to spend less on their trip than they did in 2009. This could lead to an increase in the number of holiday companies taking steps to improve website accessibility . . . keep reading
New report underlines advertising shift to digital media Friday, 5th February, 2010 Two-thirds of companies intend to spend more cash on internet advertising this year compared with 2009, according to a global report from Econsultancy and ExactTarget. While less than half (46 per cent) of firms plan to increase their marketing overall, the findings also revealed that 70 per cent want to increase their budgets for off-site social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Meanwhile, more than half of companies are planning to spend more on mobile marketing and the majority will be diverting funds from . . . keep reading
Hackers 'using SEO techniques to spread malware' Friday, 5th February, 2010 Hackers are increasingly using search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to spread malicious software, a new research report from Websense has found. The information protection firm identified that more than one in ten (13.7 per cent) of web searches for trending news of buzz words, as defined by Yahoo! Buzz and Google Trends, led users to malware. Some 35 per cent of malicious web attacks included code designed to steal data, such as bank details and passwords. Additionally, malware authors an . . . keep reading
Tories promise ultra-fast broadband Friday, 5th February, 2010 Ultra-fast broadband has been promised to the UK if the Conservative party comes to power in the next election. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, shadow chancellor George Osborne said that the party is planning to wire Britain with 100Mbps broadband by 2017 - a technology that is already in the pipeline in South Korea and Singapore. The scheme would also see a forced opening of BT's infrastructure to a number of other private companies. Nigel Hawthorn, vice-pre . . . keep reading
Affordability and rich features drive smartphone's popularity Thursday, 4th February, 2010 Global smartphone shipments for the fourth quarter of 2009 are up by 30 per cent year-on-year, the industry's fastest growth rate since the third quarter of 2008, according to the latest data from Strategy Analytics. Sales were driven by the return of economic confidence and brands releasing a range of feature-rich models in this period, during which Apple outgrew its major rivals and Nokia shipped record volumes are demand for its Eseries grew. Jonathan Morris, editor of What Mobile Magazine, said smartphones a . . . keep reading
