How Do I Test My Website Speed?

Posted on February 18, 2014 by admin

Website Speed Test

In order to find out exactly how fast your website is currently, the first step is to choose a website speed test.

If your website is built using the well known website software package WordPress, there are several plugins available. These WordPress plugins can easily be installed simply by using the ‘plugin manager’ tool.

One of the most popular plugins for website performance testing is the ‘MyWebToNet-PerformanceStats’ plugin. This plugin performs various ‘dyno’ tests of the PHP web server and MySQL backend. The timed results that the website has taken to complete the test is available instantly.

In the description for the WordPress performance test plugin, MyWebToNet adds that the

“MyWebToNet-PerformanceStats plugin does not test for ‘how many hits a second’ your provider allows to your website. Filesystem performance is not tested either. Use it as a performance test to assess how fast a CPU your provider has allocated to your webserver and your MySQL database backend.”

This means that this plugin test will tell you how fast your website is performing at a given moment. It will not indicate however, how many people can visit your site at one time, without the site becoming overloaded and crashing. This is typical of many of the website speed tests mentioned in this article and a limitation to be taken into consideration especially if you are expecting thousand of visitors to one website at the same time.

Another essential tool to determine the load time from various locations is Pingdom. Pingdom is an online website performance testing facility. The user can test their website from various locations including two places in the US and one in Amsterdam, Holland.

Pingdom was founded in 2007 by Sam Nurmi and is based in Sweden. Pingdom aims to provide a service for website owners worldwide, to monitor outages, which means when a website ‘goes down’.

WebPageTest.org also offer a similar service testing website speed

“from multiple locations around the globe using real browsers”

Patrick Meenan created WebPageTest in the US while at AOL and now works at Google with a team that is working to make the web faster. The WPO Foundation (Web Performance Optimization Foundation) is a non-profit for web performance, with the goal to help fund open source web performance projects and public research into web performance.

An alternative website testing site is GTmetrix.com developed by the Gossamer Threads team. GTmetrix was founded by Alex Krohn who is based in Vancouver. GTmetrix checks website speed and grades websites after a quick test where the user simply just enters a website address. Possible technical improvements are highlighted and advice is given on the results. A helpful WordPress Optimization Guide is included by GTmatrix to help web site owners achieve extra fast results.

Google Page Speed Service is still in its beta phase but promises to

“Dynamically rewrite web pages to apply web performance best practices. Page Speed Service serves optimised content via Google servers to reduce round trip times.”

It is a clever concept and Google quote up to 40% increase in page load times. Some developers are not keen on their websites effectively being rewritten by Google and are concerned about control issues. There are also worries that the service may become a paid for by subscription service in the future.

Internet Connection Speed Tests

Other factors determining website speed and the way that the user interprets the website speed are worth being aware of. The users internet speed and how fast their broadband or fiber connection is running will affect how quickly they can read and interact with any chosen website. There can be a speed issue if the distance between the user and the server serving the content is too far apart.

In the UK there are several testing facilities for broadband connections. For example ‘Uswitch’ can measure how fast a broadband connection is and suggest alternative companies that can deliver better download and upload speeds if necessary.

Ookla is another popular international broadband speed testing service. Ookla which can be found at speedtest.net was founded by “internet and telecommunications veterans in 2006” and has offices across the US. Ookla performs

“over 50 million tests per month”.

Ookla also offer a mobile speedtest service amongst their products to analyse the performance of mobile devices connected to the internet.

It is important to test how fast your website loads on a variety of devices from smart phones to tablets. Sites that are responsive should load as easily and appear as quickly and clearly on a smartphone as on a desktop computer.

User Feedback Speed Tests

In addition to the above tests, another idea is to ask business partners and volunteers to visit your website and provide feedback and comments. They can tell you how they found the speed and usability of the website pages and recommend particular sections that could be improved. This could be a useful way of making sure your website has the right speed at the right time for most people.

In his book ‘Usability Engineering’ the author Jakob Nielsen of the Californian based Nielsen Norman Group describes;

“3 main time limits (which are determined by human perceptual abilities) to keep in mind when optimizing web and application performance: 0.1 second is about the limit for having the user feel that the system was reacting instantaneously…1.0 second is about the limit for the user’s flow of thought to stay uninterrupted…10 seconds is about the limit for keeping the user’s attention focused on the dialogue…”

The quantity of text and how long it appears on a webpage is another important consideration for a website. According to Eddie Wren of The Daily Mail.

“The national reading average is 300 words a minute” “Skimming normally provides a reading rate of 700 words per minute” The article defines skimming as “where your eye glances over blocks of writing for keywords” and Wren adds skimming “has become a lot more ingrained for heavy internet users.”

Creating a System for Speed Testing

These website speed tests can be used independently or in combination to create the right system for ensuring that an individual website meets the required speed standard consistently.

A system for checking the speed and functioning of a website and all its pages over time, is an essential part of a successful website management strategy. Mark Knowles at Pixelsilk has written a great ‘Website Launch Checklist’ which recommends that a network administrator is assigned. “A site monitor checks pages regularly to make sure it is available for visitors.”

As the Internet and technology are advancing continually it is worth looking out for the latest news about designing and testing faster websites, to keep your website quick, competitive and up to date.

References:

Head of Development MyWebToNet 28-01-2014 MyWebToNet hosting and performance testing

http://wordpress.org/plugins/mywebtonet-performancestats/

Pingdom, The Pingdom mission & speed test

https://www.pingdom.com/about/

Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group (based California) Evidence-Based User Experience Research, Training and Consulting

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/response-times-3-important-limits/

Eddie Wren, Mail Online, 21-05-2012 “Think you’re a fast reader? Take the speed reading test to see if you can beat the national avaerage of 300 words per minute”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2147537/Think-youre-fast-reader-Take-speed-reading-test-beat-national-average-300-words-minute.html

Uswitch 30-01-2014 Compare best broadband providers website:

http://www.uswitch.com/broadband/

Ookla 30-01-2014 Broadband speed testing service

http://www.speedtest.net/

GTmetrix 30-01-2014 Website testingdeveloped by Gossamer Threads founded by Alex Krohn, based Vancouver

http://gtmetrix.com

WebPageTest.org 2014-02-02 by Patrick Meenan

http://www.webpagetest.org/

WebPagetest is an open source project that is primarily being developed and supported by Google as part of our efforts to make the web faster.

Mark Knowles at Pixelsilk 2013-08-06 “Website Launch Checklist”

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2287002/Website-Launch-Checklist-25-Things-to-Test-Before-Your-Site-Goes-Live

Google’s Page Speed Online Google Developers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCyExI6Blfo&feature=youtu.be

Tagged with: broadband, fast, performance, plugins, software, speed, testing, website
Posted in website performance

Why is Website Speed Important?

Posted on February 14, 2014 by admin

Website Speed Fun Bar Chart

Competing For Customers

The stakes are high for businesses operating in the competitive environment that exists in 2014.

Many retailers invest thousands and sometimes millions of pounds to create websites that ensure their organisation stays ahead in their field. According to Summit who are a company that specialise in online marketing and eCommerce:

“Websites that are slow to load pages will cost UK online retail £8.5 billion in 2013”

Visitors to a site that is slow, will simply get bored or frustrated if they have to wait too long to download pages, see images or locate information that they need. If a site takes too many seconds to load a potential customer may choose to browse or shop elsewhere. The British Retail Consortium states that in 2012:

“the value of internet retail sales was £29 billion, accounting for around 9% of total retail sales.”

and the trend for online shopping continues to increase annually. In the UK 2014 has been the wettest on record so far and this has lead to even more people opting to order goods online rather than face driving through storms and flooded roads to shop. Damien Carrington at The Observer writes.

“January was England’s wettest winter month in almost 250 years”

Increases in parking prices and fuel costs also has a role to play in the growth of internet shopping.The UK Office of National Statistics supports this theory and also reported that

“Internet sales, which are seasonally adjusted for the first time in this release, increased by 11.8% in December 2013 compared with December 2012.”

Convenient For Visitors

Websites that are not business orientated will also struggle to retain precious customers if users are unable to access the content they need quickly. Charities and community orientated sites that contain a lot of visual information could be losing out on contributions unless the site is convenient to use. Millions of films, documentaries and advertising videos are now viewed on the web every month. Julianne Pepitone comments in a CNN Money article how how amazing it is that online movies downloaded in 2012 in America alone meant

“paid transactions hit 3.4 billion”.

When visitors enjoy and engage with a website then they often comment, share, purchase and link to the site. This increases the search engine ratings and therefore attracts more people to try the website out, leading to a rise in website popularity and success.

Be Aware of Speed Limits

How the user interacts with the website and what they are trying to achieve are key elements in deciding the overall speed of the website. All the functions that the visitor will encounter as he or she navigates through the site, will also need to be reacting, at just the right speed. Jakob Nielsen of Nielsen Norman Group suggests that occasionally the computer can

“react so fast that the user cannot keep up with the feedback”

and Nielsen uses a good example: a quickly spinning web-page scrolling list, that is impossible for the website visitor to select from.

Website speed best practise is currently being studied in a current ‘BBC lab UK’ test that will scientifically categorise users behaviour online. The test identifies seven different online user types. These types are based on preferences such as people who are ‘quickest to surf the web’ and those who ‘like multi tasking’.

Animal analogies are used to describe these groups of users and their behaviours. The results of this BBC study are not available yet. It is an interesting idea and we look forward to the results on the BBC lab UK website. This study highlights how we are all different, in terms of how we interact with websites and use the internet.

Personal Best Speed

Currently there is trend for personalisation of the products that are available to purchase online. This personalisation occurs both physically in the products available for purchase and also in software that provides a more personalised communication. An example of this is an email marketing program.

There are now retailers who will suggest specific fashion clothing to be purchased online that suits an individuals requirements. Sarah McVittie and Donna North founded Dressipi which is a UK based free fashion advice and recommendation service. Dressipi have a ‘fashion fingerprint’ service which assesses body shape, style, colours, size, brands, measurements and age to suggest garments and accessories tailored to their customers exact details.

Many printing companies produce personalised products using names and images uploaded by customers. Commercial communication from companies online is now often personally addressed and targeted to the potential customers interests and profession. Therefore it is a logical progression that website speed will become more personalised in the future.

Barilliance who are based in the Middle East help e-commerce sites of any size to

“increase sales and conversion rates by providing visitors with a personalized shopping experience.”

Custom software includes special coding by Barilliance that can be added to a clients website to enhance service delivery and therefore increase sales for businesses. Philidelphia based Monetate describe how they focus on helping their online clients to

“understand your customers’ situations, behaviors, and preferences and act on those insights with in-the-moment, relevant experiences targeted to the right customer.”

Paypal’s 5 Digital Trends for 2014 has Personalisation as its number 3 on the list and explains “Tools such as Barilliance and Monetate offer the ability to display different information to different types of visitors.”

The Future is Faster and at Speed to Suit

Get the timing right and people will be happy to stay and browse and it will add a professional quality to your website. They will be able to order products and services or interact successfully. Visitors to a website will have different objectives depending on the type of website and its aims. The right speed means users can do whatever they need to do and be entertained, comment, purchase and achieve their online goals.

Over the next few years websites will inevitably develop to be faster and more responsive than ever. The individual habits, nature, abilities and preferences of a website visitor may all be analysed. This personal profile may automatically adapt to enable the website to provide us the selected data, image or entertainment that the user personally wants from each website.

It is an exciting to think that it is likely, in the near future, that website content will appear instinctively and at exactly the right speed for our specific needs.

References:

British Retail Consortium 2014-02-05 Retail Stats And Facts Article

http://www.brc.org.uk/brc_press_zone.asp?iCat=277&sCat=Retail+Stats+And+Facts

The Office of National Statistics 2014-01-17

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/rsi/retail-sales/december-2013/index.html

Damian Carrington 2014-02-01 The Observer January was England’s wettest winter month in almost 250 years

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/01/january-uk-wettest-winter-month-250-years

Sarah McVittie and Donna North 2014-02-13 “What is Dressipi?” Fashion advice and recommendation service

http://dressipi.com/how_it_works/fashion_fingerprint

Julianne Pepitone 2012-03-22 CNN Money, Money.CNN.com

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/22/technology/streaming-movie-sales/

Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group (based California) Evidence-Based User Experience Research, Training and Consulting

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/response-times-3-important-limits/

PayPal 30-01-2014 5 Digital Trends for 2014 by PayPal

https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/2014-trends

Sam Thorn, Retail Reporter, Summit Team 2013-11-22

“£8.5 billion down the drain: the real cost of slow site speed”

http://www.summit.co.uk/news/billions-down-the-drain-the-real-cost-of-slow-site-speed/

BBC labUK 28-01-2014 Take part in groundbreaking science “The WebBehaviour Test Eight Animals”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/articles/webbehaviour/eightanimals.html

David Brussin CEO Monetate, E-commerce, Software & Marketing

http://monetate.com/about-monetate/

Nir Ben-Dor, Founder Barilliance E-commerce, Software & Marketing

https://www.barilliance.com/

Tagged with: behaviour, competative, efficient, fast, marketing, personalisation, speed, website
Posted in wordpress and marketing

Business Marketing Cocktail for Low Cost Products and Services

Posted on December 5, 2013 by admin

Marketing Cocktail Low Cost Products and Services

What is a Business with Low Cost Products and Services?

Millions of low cost products and services are bought by customers in the UK each year. They can be one off purchases made by online shoppers or regular purchases generating subscription income for businesses that may grow and become extremely successful.

A diverse range of products and services may be included in this category such as companies who supply specialist software, local travel tickets or hobby materials such as paper for scrap-booking.

Wikipedia talks about ‘no-frills’ services or products where

“the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low.”

Wikipedia expands this definition with

“Businesses in certain industries such as airline, supermarkets, holidays and vehicles are given as examples of this approach.”

These companies may or may not have low cost products and services, depending on the final price point that is charged.

A low cost business must guard against pouring away the small amount of profit made from each sale. So how do companies that sell low cost items advertise their businesses without blowing their modest marketing budget?

1. Attract potential customers

Utilising the power of the internet is the main way businesses with low cost products and services market their products in the 21^st century.

The Startups Team suggest one strategy is to

“Intrigue the media”

Entrepreneur Will King Entrepreneur and owner of ‘King of Shaves’ continues to describe how he sponsored James Ellington the sprinter when his £32000 ebay bid failed. The international press covered the story and raised his company’s profile.

“Viral Marketing”

is a good low cost marketing tool says Cameron Moore from BusinessComputingWorld.co.uk

“Make a short film, a snippet of animation or even a funny Photoshop picture. Stick your logo on the bottom and a link and your traffic should increase.”

Chieu Cao Vice President of marketing at Huddlebuy recommends using multiple social media and internet tools. Multiple social media and internet tools generates “leads from the web” by engaging with new customers. Cao continues

“Linkedin also offers advertising packages that can be targeted by occupation….e-location and Experian also offer this service.”

2. Converse with people who follow you

According to Cao “Good online communication” is key.

“Talk closely with customers with ‘live chat’ online whenever there is an issue or comment.”

The marketing team at MyWebToNet.com web hosting agree that listening carefully to customers comments, feedback and requests is important to developing the most user friendly systems and creating a successful online business.

Trevor Clawson and Ian Wallis at startups.co.uk describe how Seamus Fahy, founder of Dublin-based jeweller Voltaire Diamonds recommends using social media to generate sales

“It’s our number two driver. Around 25% of our sales can be directly attributed to Facebook. It’s a very important channel for us.”

3. Tell your company’s life story

Carolyn Hughes at Forth Day PR also advises business owners to “Be active on social media”. In addition she says

“Write regular blog posts in your own voice and be available to speak to journalists.”

Another great marketing tip that won’t break the bank is

“Tell your story – how you got there and where you are going.”

Telling your story is a technique favoured by the Hampshire based lighting company Anglepoise. This year they gave a presentation for members of the South Coast Design Forum to share their family businesses unique journey and a heritage that goes back to 1855. Their journey as a family business is a major part of their marketing strategy and website design and sets them apart from the competition.

4. Track your marketing impact

Mark Asquith at The Guardian’s “Efficient marketing strategies for SME’s” article champions the ability to “Set Objectives.”

“Tools such as Google Analytics and Hootsuite are perfect for social media metrics.”

Asquith agrees with Cao that gaining leads from the web is a good idea via Linkedin, e-location and Experian. He describes how these companies offer services that can tailor a marketing campaign to reach a specific professional group.

The multitude of marketing possibilities available online, is enough to make a directors head spin! Asquith thankfully reminds us that

“Marketing is one of the more fun aspects of running a business – ultimately it’s about telling people how great your business is.”

The LloydsBankBusiness.com website ‘Marketing Online’ section outlines the basics and gives business owners details of some online marketing programs

“Select relevant online advertising channels and choose ‘Pay-per-click’ (PPC) adverts or ‘Cost-per-action’ (CPA) adverts.”

Lloyds website favours using “social media to market your business”.

Lloyds states the options worth considering include affiliate advertising as well as creating or buying media to use in online marketing. To explain the affiliate term further TheBusinessDirectory.com describes affiliate marketing as a

“means of achieving greater market penetration through websites who target specific groups of internet users.”

Marketing expert Emma Woollacott at businesszone.co.uk encourages company owners with the thought that

“..it’s become possible for even the smallest company to compete, not just nationally but internationally, and at ever-lower cost. In the UK, businesses using the internet at a medium or high level see sales growth seven times higher than those that use it minimally or not at all.”

5. Quality not Quantity

The businesszone.co.uk advises small business owners that

“Content matters; it should be original and rich in the keywords that customers might be using to search.”

Woollacott a marketing expert at businesszone.co.uk explains that

“Links from other sites can help a lot, as do good reviews appearing on reputable sites such as Tripadvisor or Amazon.”

Marketing your organisation via email sounds like a straightforward low cost marketing idea. However care is required before the send button is tapped, as sending unsolicited e-mail is illegal.

Daniel Offer at The Marketing Donut explains

“The difference between a legitimate marketing campaign and spam is that people will actually request emails that are legitimate. All you need to do is create a massive email list of interested parties to send weekly emails to.” he adds “It is important to allow your recipients to remove themselves from your list if they want to.”

Deren Stevens at MarketingEmpire.co.uk recommends the article writing method to improve business marketing. As well as contributing to online discussion forums Stevens suggests

“publishing a newsletter or e-zine. When you build up your (members) list you can offer paid subscriptions or ads.”

Another neat low cost online marketing tip from Stevens is

“If you purchase anything online and are happy with the product or service, always leave a testimonial for the owner asking them to post it on their website.”

Create a Stir with a Pragmatic Approach

This article demonstrates that there are nearly as many different ways, to market your business with low cost products or services, as there are the variety of companies based in the UK. The types of actions chosen for the marketing mix, will depend on the selection and targeting of specific customer groups, for each company and their corporate identity.

With more and more people in the UK shopping online every year, it is certain that online marketing will continue to be important, in building successful brands and businesses. The formula that works best for your unique business will be an individual solution. Like a speciality cocktail, it will be a creative process of mixing different quality ingredients, to discover the perfect recipe for success.

References

Wikepedia Reference 2013-11-27 “No Frills”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_frills

The Startups Team quote Will King, Entrepreneur, King of Shaves 2013-09-11 “Marketing Tricks To Build a Buzz”

http://startups.co.uk/6-killer-marketing-tricks-to-build-buzz-around-your-business/

Cameron Moore 2011-11-30 at BusinessComputingWorld.co.uk “5 Essential Low-Cost Marketing Ideas for Small Businesses”

http://www.businesscomputingworld.co.uk/essential-low-cost-marketing-ideas-for-small-businesses/

Chieu Cao Vice President Marketing at Huddlebuy 2012-12-06 “Business on a Budget: Online Marketing

http://blog.intuit.co.uk/4990/business-on-a-budget-online-marketing/

The Marketing Team at MyWebToNet.com 2013-12-02 Quote received via telephone

http://www.mywebtonet.com/

Trevor Clawson and Ian Wallis 2013-10-03 “Facebook for business: the low-cost marketing strategy?”

http://startups.co.uk/facebook-for-business-the-low-cost-marketing-strategy/

Carolyn Hughes at Forth Day Public Relations 2013-11-07 “Why the company CEO and business owner has to be a true marketer”

http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/running-a-business/digital-marketing/2430712/why-the-company-ceo-and-business-owner-has-to-be-a-true-marketer.thtml

Anglepoise, Owners John and Simon Terry (father and son team) Design Council website 2013-12-02 “Anglepoise: relocating, redesigning and reinventing”

https://www.anglepoise.com/about

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/case-studies/anglepoise/#

Mark Asquith 2013-04-19 Guardian Professional “Efficient marketing strategies for SME’s”

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/apr/19/effective-marketing-strategies

The Marketing Team, Lloyds Bank 2013-11-11 LloydsBankBusiness.com “Marketing Online”

http://businesshelp.lloydsbankbusiness.com/go-on/marketing-online/

Emma Woollacott 2012-07-03 businesszone.co.uk “How to make the internet work for your small business”

http://www.businesszone.co.uk/topic/marketing-pr/how-make-internet-work-your-small-business/42772

Daniel Offer 2011-03-02 The Marketing Donut, Resources for your business,

“11 cheap (or free) advertising methods to grow your business.”

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/blog/2011/03/11-cheap-or-free-advertising-methods-grow-your-business

Deren Stevens 2013-11-12 MarketingEmpire.co.uk

“50 Free Or Cheap Advertising Ideas For Offline and Online Marketing!”

unknown author 2013-12-02 businessdictionary.com “afiliate marketing”

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/affiliate-marketing.html

Tagged with: business marketing, low cost produts and services, marketing mix, online, SME's, strategy, web marketing
Posted in wordpress and marketing

Is Your Website Appealing to The Average Englishman?

Posted on November 1, 2013 by admin

Men who live in the UK could be high on your list of potential customers and visitors you would like to attract to your website and online business. by A.Howse	Average Man with Laptop (source: istockphoto)
Do you know who the average Englishman is and what his behaviours and interests are likely to be? The average 38 year old Englishman in 2013 is likely to expect to live to at least 79 years of age according to a recent BBC news article. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) states: “The average man in England is 5ft 9in (175.3cm) tall and weighs 13.16 stone (83.6kg).” In the UK “The average man works 44 hours a week.” a BBC report advises and earns “£30-40000 depending on his industry and experience” according to Monster a careers agency. When popping to the shops for less than half an hour, the five grocery items most likely to be in the average man’s shopping basket are: “A two-pint carton of semi-skimmed milk, a pack of sliced ham, a box of breakfast cereal, some bacon and a bar of milk chocolate.” the ONS records. Favourite hobbies for English men include “Rambling in the British countryside and gardening” say the Nationwide building society. The charity AgeUK advises “One of the most popular sports for men of all ages is fishing” and millions of fishing licenses are bought each year in the England. Football is played by a quarter of all men under 25 and a fifth of all middle aged men and is the team sport played by most people as shown by the Football Association’s fact-sheets. The average Englishman watches more than 3 hours of television per day and is most likely to be watching Sky Sports, BBC2 or the Dave channel says Ofcom. The current abundance of food and home design shows featuring burly male chefs demonstrate, that in 2013, the modern Englishman is comfortable in his castle. Mr Average enjoys both cooking up a feast and creating a functional and contemporary interior at home to suit his manly needs. As well as watching his trusty television he is happy to listen, on average, to more than 2 hours of radio per day an Ofcom report comments. However he is not unsociable and prefers face to face meetings with people if given the choice. The average Englishman also regularly uses texting and phone calls to communicate with friends and family. Mr Average Englishman has internet access and is probably connected to superfast broadband. He lives in a house with at least 3 different internet enabled devices and he uses his personal computer or laptop at home for half an hour per day. The average man in the UK regularly accesses email and surfs the web. He is likely to use social media and be on facebook and twitter. He enjoys regularly watching and streaming videos and films online on sites such as YouTube and Ofcom points out that men are keener on downloading videos online than women. So why is getting to know Mr Average Englishman a good idea for directors of web based companies? This group is very important to most businesses looking for new customers as “In the UK men aged between 30 and 50 have the highest incomes and are the biggest spenders.” says MaryLou Costa at Marketing Week magazine. Many domestic appliances are more technical than ever and appeal specifically to the gadget minded male. Luke Johnson at TrustedReviews described new products on display at CES an international appliance industry trade show: “LG unveiled a selection of smartphone controlled devices at CES 2013 earlier this year.”
“Men are more likely to enjoy ads featuring humour” said a report by Millward Brown a marketing and communications company. It is a definite advantage that men in the UK have a healthy sense of humour as the age of retirement in the UK is rising, currently from 64 to 66 years, the BBC reported this year. We can conclude from these facts that independent websites that have links to social media will be the websites that Mr Average Englishman will be most likely to visit. Humorous graphics and features with videos or short films are key to capturing men’s attention. Mr Average Englishman is a busy guy and he has a lot of working, maintaining his home and garden, socialising and hobbies to fit into his leisure time, along with his full working week. So websites and businesses aimed at attracting men must be entertaining, upbeat and simple to navigate. Content that will keep him interested and amused is essential to keep him browsing and returning again as a regular customer. It is a good idea for an online business to have products with masculine or minimalist looking packaging. Mr Average Englishman “often purchases products online for home delivery” reports Ofcom. The right combination will encourage men in the UK to order and pay online for home delivery, especially if your website includes designer gadgets or meaty delicacies!
References:
MaryLou Costa, 2010-09-16, Marketing Week, What Men want from a brand relationshiphttp://www.marketingweek.co.uk/what-men-want-from-a-brand-relationship/3018175.article
Career-Advice Agency Monster, 2013-10-31, UK Average Salary Graph by Gender http://career-advice.monster.co.uk/salary-benefits/pay-salary-advice/uk-average-salary-graphs/article.aspx
BBC News, Educatuion & Family, 2013-06-15, Fathers ‘cutting work hours while mothers do more’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22907017
BBC News UK, 2013-10-13, Statistics reveal Britain’s ‘Mr and Mrs Average’http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11534042
Office For National Statistics (ONS) 2012-12-22, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2012 Provisional Resultshttp://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2012-provisional-results/stb-ashe-statistical-bulletin-2012.html
Ofcom (Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industry) 2012-07-01, OFCOM Communications Report http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/cmr/cmr12/CMR_UK_2012.pdf
Milward Brown, WPP, 2013-10-31, Do Men And Women Respond Differently To Ads?http://www.wpp.com/wpp/marketing/advertising/do-men-and-women-respond-differently-to-ads/ (Milward Brown)
Nationwide Bank, 2013-09-29, Britain’s favourite hobbieshttp://your.nationwide.co.uk/your-news/articles/Pages/britains-favourite-hobbies.aspx
AgeUK, 2013-10-31, The Zen of Fly Fishinghttp://www.ageuk.org.uk/travel-lifestyle/hobbies/fly-fishing/
Luke Johnson, 2013-06-07, Trusted Reviews, Increasingly techy appliances make men want to do the washinghttp://www.trustedreviews.com/news/increasingly-techy-appliances-make-men-want-to-do-the-washing
The Football Association, 2011-03-01, Football Factsheet “Football is the most popular sport for women”http://www.thefa.com/~/media/ACFF26069B6A4156B8375A3475A2E658.ashx

Tagged with: average man, English, lifestyle, marketing, men, technology, trends, websites, wordpress
Posted in wordpress and marketing

TopTip 3: How to Install WordPress for your Website with MyWebToNet

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

MyWebToNet Login Page
This TopTip shows you just how easy it is to install WordPress onto your website with MyWebToNet ! Step 1: After checking your domain name is available (see TopTip 2) Login to your account in the bottom left hand ‘Login’ section of the Product Menu Page.
TopTip 3 Step 2 View Account Page
Step 2: On the ‘View Account’ Page, select the domain name on which you would like to install WordPress by clicking directly on the domain.
TopTip 3 Step 3 View Domain Detail Page
Step 3: Select the ‘1 click install Modules’ tab. on the ‘Detailed information about the domain’ page.
TopTip 3 Step 4 Detailed Domain Info Page
Step 4: Choose the WordPress version your require. This will be either WordPress 3 or WordPress 3.5. Click the ‘Install now’ button for the relevant WordPress version.
TopTip 3 Step 5 Domain Install WordPress Page
Step 5: Ensure the check box is ticked on the page that pops up, to install the WordPress directly into the main directory of your website (or WordPress will be installed in a subdirectory on your site).This is important to note if you already have any files on your domain as they will be overwritten if the check box is not ticked. Press the ‘install now’ button on the pop up box.
TopTip 3 Step 6 Install WordPress Page
Step 6: As the pop up page advises you when you press the ‘install now’ button: your WordPress installation is being processed and will be ready in 5 minutes. Select ‘Close window’
MyWebToNet TopTip 3 Step 7 WordPress Installation Email
Step 7: You will receive an email in your in box confirming your WordPress installation is ready to use. Just click on the link to finalise the installation of your new WordPress site.

Posted in createwordpress

TopTip 2: How to check for an available domain name on MyWebToNet Website

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

MyWebToNet Home Page ‘starblog’
Step 1: Enter the domain name that you require in the ‘Find’ box in the top right hand corner of the Home page.
MyWebToNet ‘starblog’ Domain Name Show Products Page
Step 2: Select ‘Available Create Order’ on the domain with the ending type you require.
MyWebToNet Product Menu Page
This will bring you to the main MyWebToNet Menu Page
See our Step 1 post for how to create a new account with MyWebToNet. Alternatively see our Step 3 post to order your domain and install WordPress on your site.

Posted in createwordpress

TopTip 1: Create a MyWebToNet Customer Account for your WordPress Website – its easy!

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

As a new customer, the first stage is to select your domain, create a new account, process your order and then you are ready to go with your new website! This post shows you how to do this with MyWebToNet easily step by step.

See our next post for how to install WordPress onto your new website.

MyWebToNet home page
The first step in creating your MyWebToNet WordPress site is to go to the home page http://www.mywebtonet.com/ You will see the above home page. To begin click the red ‘Order Now’ button.
MyWebToNet Product Page
Then for Step 2 you will see this screen. Select the PHP Hosting ‘Order Now Button – It’s the one in the middle that’s on special offer.
MyWebToNet Select Product and View Order Page
Step 3 is ‘Select Order Type’ in the box at the bottom of the page. Type your domain name and select the type of domain you require. Select your Add-On products as required. Then click the ‘View Order’ button.
MyWebToNet View Order with Prices Page
Step 4 requires you to check your domain name and product selection is correct. Check the amount and price. Then press the big ‘Accept Order’ button.
MyWebToNet Accept Order Product Login Page
Step 5: After selecting ‘Accept Order’ you will be back at the Create Product New Offer Page so you can choose ‘Create Account” next to proceed with your order.
MyWebToNet New Account Set Up Page
Step 6: In the ‘Create New Account’ page enter your contact details and your numbers as requested and choose how you heard about MyWebToNet. Then select ‘Create Account’
MyWebToNet New Account Created Page
Step 7: Here you can see a summary of your New Account Information. Check it is correct and select ‘Back to Ordering Page’
MyWebToNet Place Further Orders or Proceed to Checkout Page
Step 8: Your new account details now appear in the lower box. Select the red Order Now button to proceed with your order.
MyWebToNet Order Proceed To Payment
Step 9: When you select ‘Place further orders or proceed to checkout’ Click OK on the ‘Execute orders and proceed to payment’ box that appears.
MyWebToNet Order is for Page
Step 10: ‘This order is for’ page gives you the option to assign this order to another account previously set up for invoicing or process the order as it is. Select one of the two options here as required.
MyWebToNet Proceed to Payment Page
Step 11: It will take you straight to ‘Proceed to payment’ and then you are set up and you are ready to go with your website!