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March Newsletter
Dear Newsletter Subscriber
Welcome to the UKFast newsletter!
After a snowy Easter, spring has finally arrived and here at UKFast we've been setting records with our fourth consecutive win at the ISPA's. We've also been expanding our team in terms of customer service and spurring innovation using O'Reilly, an online library service.
Our marketing minute looks at server speed and its relationship with SEO and the spotlight focuses on eFrame, a UKFast client which has achieved phenomenal online growth.
As ever, please get in touch with any comments on this newsletter or with suggestions for future editions.
In this month's issue
March@UKFast
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It is with great pleasure that we can start this month's round up with news of our win at the ISPAs. UKFast has won the award for best Hosting Provider at the ISPAs for a record fourth year running. We are naturally very proud of this stand-out achievement, which MD Lawrence Jones says is down to the skill, dedication and hard work of all the staff.
To give you a taster of the tenth annual ISPA UK Awards, we have included a short video clip in this newsletter. Just click through to the site to watch highlights from the event and listen to our MD's response to the news.
We're also in the process of a major expansion of the business, which will result in the number of staff swelling from 50 to around 100 over the course of the next 12 months. The focus of the expansion will be our customer services team in order to further improve our service to all the businesses that join the UKFast network.
To facilitate key expansion, we've employed a Human Resources Manager to oversee the recruitment of new staff members. We aim to stay at the forefront of the web hosting and development industry by employing the highest calibre candidates. So the new HR Manager will have a vital role in ensuring the ongoing success of a vastly expanded UKFast operation.
UKFast also has a stand at the Internet World exhibition, why not come and visit us at stand W124 from 29th April to 1st May at Earls Court, London. See the website for more information - http://internetworld.co.uk.
Using the power of information to spur innovation
At UKFast we're constantly looking for ways to improve our offering to you. One of the forms of media we use to stay abreast of any technological advancements is O’Reilly Media and we thought it was worth sharing the resource with you.
For a monthly subscription of around £20, O'Reilly Media offers books, online library services and magazines, detailing any leading-edge developments and homing in on the latest technology trends.
We find this website extremely useful as it mirrors our belief that the power of information can spur innovation and it is also one of the many methods we utilise to improve and enhance our employee's performance.
Why not have a look at http://www.oreilly.com
Server Speed and SEO
This month we've completed a study into the ties between search engine optimisation and server speed.
Our research culminates in a whitepaper - which is available for download from the UKFast website.
The faster your web server is, the higher in the search engines your site will appear.
Search engines such as Google reward businesses that take their sites more seriously by boosting their position in the rankings.
Tips for a faster server:
- Seriousness is rated by speed of website response and the faster your server, the faster your site loads.
- Remember meta and keywords are still vitally important for your optimisation.
- Linux platforms are often seen as the faster option for web servers because they are more easily modifiable.
Find out more about server speed and its relationship with SEO, click here to read the UKFast Server Speed and SEO whitepaper.
eFrame experiences phenomenal online growth
The number of shoppers using broadband connections has more than trebled in recent years and as companies improve the quality of their online offerings, internet shopping in the UK is continuing to boom.
A company taking advantage of this growing trend is eFrame. A leading online picture frame, mount and mirror manufacturer, eFrame supplies to retail, corporate, government and trade customers all over the UK.
By putting in place an effective business strategy eFrame has experienced phenomenal online growth, eighteen months after launching their website the company is now turning over more than £1million a year.
Here are some tips on how to achieve online growth:
- Make it easy for customers to find exactly what they want - eFrame allows customers to design their own frame online, these dynamically generated frames enhance user experience and functionality.
- Provide testimonials – eFrame allows visitors to read what previous customers have to say about their experience with eFrame, creating a feeling of trust.
- Create a newsletter – eFrame gives customers a free monthly newsletter which includes great exclusive offers for people who have registered, setting eFrame apart from the competition.
- Share your web pages using social bookmarking – eFrame provides a list of social bookmarking sites including Delicious, Digg, reddit, Facebook and StumbleUpon which allow users to store, organise, search and manage bookmarks of eFrame web pages.
- Scale your hosting solution to the needs of your customers – eFrame has upgraded their solution a number of times in order to keep pace with demand.
EFrame is successfully exploiting Web 2.0 and providing a first class service that is so often missing nowadays. Why not follow in their footsteps and see if you can achieve phenomenal online growth.
Visit the eFrame website today: http://www.eframe.co.uk/
Please get in touch with me if you would like more information on any of the articles mentioned above.
Until next time, I hope 2008 continues to be profitable and I look forward to speaking to you at some point soon.
Best wishes,
Jonathan Bowers
For more information on the range of UKFast products and services go to http://www.ukfast.net
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