The Technology Studio

(Part 3/5)

Read ‘Who leads the pack for commercial property websites in the UK? Part 1: Website Grader’

Read ‘Who leads the pack for commercial property websites in the UK? Part 2: Google Page Rank and Inbound Links’

In the previous parts of this blog series we looked at the marketing effectiveness ratings of UK commercial property websites according to WebsiteGrader.com and at Google Page Rank and inbound links (according to Alexa.com). Now we turn our attention to website traffic.

Traffic

Using Alexa.com (established as the most used website for traffic stats) we looked at the rank (in terms of traffic) both globally and for UK based visitors. The following table looks at the global traffic rank (e.g. google.com is ranked at number 1):

This definitely weights towards the multinational commercial property organisations such as CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Instant Offices, Jones Laing LaSalle & Chesterton. This therefore begs an obvious next question: “What does this table look like if we looked at UK traffic figures?” (which is what we are focussing on in this analysis). Does this change the list much?

The following table outlines ranking for UK traffic only:

The simple answer is that 75% of the companies are the same as the global list. However, you do see significant differences. For example:

Scottish Property, Eddisons, Commercial Property Database, Goadsby, and Bidwells make it onto the list despite their UK only focus. However, as an example we would like to use Paramount Investments which comes in 23rd on the list. Paramount Investments are a commercial property investment consultancy based in London whose online marketing is an example of what it takes to punch well above your weight on this list. They track and monitor their search engine positioning on keywords such as “Freehold Pubs for Sale” and publish market leading blogs with the latest news and information on their specialist commercial property investment niches. Then they collate their KPIs (traffic sources, conversions, leads, click through rates) and implement changes that impact on their top and bottom line.

It is probably those that disappear from the list that are more interesting. These are CBRE (#2), Cushman & Wakefield (#3), Jones Lang LaSalle (#6), DTZ (#12) and The Crown Estate (#20). This really demonstrates the value of localised SEO activity and how Google’s algorithm is very specific to search terms and location. Just because you have a Google Page Rank of 7, WebsiteGrader score of 98/100 and rank #3 on the global traffic list (as Cushman & Wakefield do), you are not guaranteed a first page slot on Google when searching for “Offices in Basingstoke”.

This list also shows how UK focused portals really come into their own, probably due to their targeted SEO efforts, combined with their nationally distributed, larger property portfolios. EGPropertyLink, ShopProperty and NovaLoca all appear in the top 10 sites for traffic in the UK.

Read ‘Who leads the pack for commercial property websites in the UK? Part 4: The Top 100’

(Part 2/5)

Read ‘Who leads the pack for commercial property websites in the UK? Part 1: Website Grader’

In the previous part of this blog series we looked at the marketing effectiveness ratings of UK commercial property websites according to WebsiteGrader.com. In this part we will be looking at how Google views the value of commercial property web sites using Google Page Rank as the metric for doing this. Please note that we could look at other search engines but given Google is the dominant player, we assume that if you rank well for the Google search term it follows you probably will for other search engines.

Google Page Rank

Now a lot has been written about page rank and its importance (or otherwise) but there is no doubt that this is the most public indicator of the value of a site to Google. However, it does not automatically follow that a site with a page rank of 5 will listed above a site with a page rank of 3 on a search results page. A search on the term “Commercial Property” in google.co.uk today (22^nd Feb 2010 @15:10) shows www.ukbusinessproperty.co.uk as second on the list despite it having a page rank of 2 (and despite 74 of this list having a page rank of 3 or above). There is a lot more to SEO than a good page rank for one keyword or term. However, the companies in the list with a page rank of 5 or above are listed below:

Some surprises again?

EGPropertyLink – doesn’t even feature on this list as it has a page rank of 4. Despite this, it still commands a lot of traffic and when searching on the term “Commercial Property” in Google.co.uk today (22^nd Feb 2010 @15:10) it shows first on the list. However, it does probably mean that for less popular, more local, keywords such as “Industrial units in Aldershot” (we promise we picked this at random) it doesn’t rank as highly as NovaLoca, ComProperty and many local agents (EGPropertyLink’s first entry is 26^th on the list).

The Crown Estate – this is similar to Land Securities as it seems to punch well above its weight in terms of page rank (and WebsiteGrader result). Looking more carefully this high ranking is probably mainly due to the quantity and quality of the 221 inbound links from other websites according to Alexa.com (which include high ranking sites such as Google.com, BBC.co.uk, Guardian.co.uk, Economist.com, and sky.com). It really shows the importance Google places on inbound links.

But not such a surprise …

The top 20 here are probably more representative of a list of top commercial property organisations in the UK than the previous section. This is almost certainly because the larger the company, the more likely you are to have inbound links to your site from well viewed sites (news stories, blogs etc.). It shows how hard it is for smaller organisations to break in and how much effort this really takes.

To give you an example of what we mean, the table below lists the top 20 websites from the list in terms of inbound links (often referred to as back links) as measured by Alexa.com:

If you want a very full explanation on Google Page rank and the Google algorithm, you may want to refer to the article “Page Rank Uncovered” by Chris Ridings and Mike Shishigin but beware, it is not a short document.

Read ‘Who leads the way for commercial property websites in the UK? Part 3: Site Traffic’

The Technology Studio’s sister brand Earthware is an entrepreneurial company specialising in developing online mapping solutions and websites using the latest technologies. Silverlight is proving to be the future direction of the company which is why they are looking for a developer with experience in this technology but with a hunger to learn more both here and in other technologies and to apply this throughout the planning, designing and development process. Other required skills include strong full life cycle Asp.net, C# and WCF, whilst experience with Ajax frameworks, XSLT / XML and unit testing is desirable.

If you fit this description and are interested in applying for the position please email your CV explaining how you meet our requirements and giving example projects/URLs to recruitment@earthware.co.uk.

All applicants must be eligible to work in the UK. No contact from agencies please.

We are a small, but fast growing technology company with two brands: ‘The Technology Studio’ develops and manages websites (usually with both challenging back end and front end requirements) for clients across a number of industries including property, travel, media. ‘Earthware’ is a globally recognised interactive mapping specialist helping clients to bring their products and services to life using mapping.

We are looking for an experienced (3-7) years ASP.net developer to join our creative and professional team to develop client facing websites for a variety of clients. Day to day activities would include planning, designing and developing websites (both back end and front end) from client pitch to final delivery and testing.

Applicants need to demonstrate the following essential skills:

• Strong, full life cycle, Asp.net C#
• Excellent CSS / HTML / Javascript
• SQL Server / TSQL

The following skills / experience would also be advantageous:

• Ajax frameworks
• XSLT / XML
• Any web mapping experience
• Silverlight
• Unit testing
• ASP.net MVC

In return we can offer on target earning of up to £35,000. We also offer the opportunity to be part of a growing company with a unique culture built around integrity, enthusiasm, initiative, playing as a team and having fun. We actively encourage your personal and skills development but also look for people that are a bit different and embrace being part of an entrepreneurial, ‘we are in this together’ culture. This is not the place for ‘also rans’!

If you think you meet these requirements and are interested in applying for the position please email your CV to recruitment@earthware.co.uk.

All applicants must be registered to work in the UK.

NO CONTACT FROM AGENCIES

If you think you would be a great member of the team, we look forward to hearing from you.

Touch screen technology is easy to use and is becoming more and more fashionable. Whilst handheld devices like the iconic i-phone are becoming more widespread, how will the technology develop on other interfaces?

Microsoft believes touch screen technology is equally adaptable on other interfaces and their investment reflects that view. They have developed the ‘Microsoft Surface’ which is effectively a larger touch screen tabletop surface. The ‘Surface’ has endless possibilities so it really depends on the ‘Surface’ owner as to how it is used.

Here’s a quick demo of how the Microsoft ‘Surface can be used.

The surface costs around $15,000 so it’s not cheap, and even if you do have the cash it’s still pretty tricky to get hold of one. However, it is already in use with four different partners including the Sheraton Hotels and T-Mobile, and the good news is that it’s just become available in Europe.

Whilst the ‘Surface’ is still in its infancy Microsoft is already working on its big brother. ‘Microsoft Second Light’ has recently been showcased, and in addition to the original data shown on the screen you can overlay a piece of semi-transparent paper and see a secondary source of data on the paper above the screen. Pretty cool stuff!

Take a look at Second Light by viewing the video below.

Looking at both devices it looks as though they have the power to change how we interact with each other, with businesses and with our everyday life. A few technology companies have already started developing applications for the Surface, and one online dating company (Skout) has just announced it’s taking it’s online business offline through 10,000 touch screens that will be located throughout the US at bars, clubs and restaurants.

There have been comments made about how this trailblazing technology is prohibitively expensive and it will never catch on. However, one critic has noted there were many similar comments made about the mobile phone a number of years back, and look at it now! It’s only a matter of time, so watch this space.