Your phone is now your wallet... According to Google

This week Google has launched it's latest venture 'Google Wallet'. The app that makes your phone your wallet.

Checkout the promo video giving further details on the launch and the Google Wallet service:



Google has been testing this product extensively since May, but currently only select users will be able to use Google Wallet to make payments. At the moment Google’s product has only one compatible device (The Nexus S 45) and one credit card that connects with the app (Citi MasterCard).

So if you're not running on the above at the moment, then, Google has said that they would be making a Google prepaid card available for use with Google Wallet. Users can fill this card by using any other standard credit card. According to the Google Blog post announcing the launch, “Visa, Discover and American Express have made available their NFC specifications that could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet.”

I have concerns for security, battery outage and privacy / hacking issues, but hey there's still credit card fraud and tricksters now, so whether you pay by phone or payment card there are still risks either way.

Let's see how well the launch goes.

Ever wondered why you're not reaching the dizzy heights of the first page of Google?

You can develop the most stunning and attractive business website of all your competitors. You can employ the best usability experts, professional photographers and web developers money can buy. However, if you're business isn’t on the first or second page of Google, then really you may as well go into hiding!

Unfortunately, consumers and business peoples attention span is zero these days. Expectancy is for immediate, quick and relevant results. If people can't get what they want within a few minutes of looking, mainly because we're too busy or lazy to keep going, they simply go elsewhere. It's not that search engine users don't value what your website has to offer, it's just that if you're not on the first or second page of Google, then users can't be bothered to delve any deeper.


Nearly 53% of us change our search terms, and/or search engine after not finding our prefered result on the first page and only aorund 10% of us actually bother going past the third page.

So you need to think about your website as your shop-window to your business. Like any shop-window you want to have the most attractive on the high-street. Your aim is to catch the eye of passing visitors and entice them into your store. It's the same principal with any website, you need to get yourself noticed ahead of your competitors on the Web.

Get thinking about how you can create that attraction. With the help of some good search engine optimisation (SEO), you can start to embellish your shop-window to enhance your visibility in search engines.

Some things you can start looking at are:

• Keyword Research - keyword research and competitor review analysis - think about how will people find your website?
• Content Optimisation - review your web website content. Does it include the words people will include in a search?
• Current Ranking - benchmark your website to view your current search engine position.
• Website Compliance - does your website comply with accessibility and coding standards?
• Search Engine Submissions - create major search engine accounts and manually submit your website, including a site map and robots.txt file.

But these are just for starters and that's why we include all of the above methods in our Oxford Web SEO 3-month SEO Starter Package.  We recommend this to anyone who is actively seeking better search engine ranking results for their website. 

Our SEO starter package is a good foundation for getting better search engine results for your website. Although there’s no secret formula to getting your site on the first page of Google, we aim to improve the quality of your website through a variety of SEO services.


You need to begin polishing your shop-window now if you want to get ahead of your competitiors and start appearing on that first page of Google.

Tarset Epic Design: Tools to measure your social media activities: #1 ...

Tarset Epic Design: Tools to measure your social media activities: #1 ...: Social networking to promote your online presence can at times feel like a thankless task. If you're using Twitter , Facebook , Google+ or ...

Are we no longer in control of our online destiny?

A recent article in The Observer on Sunday, reviewed the latest book by Eli Pariser, about his ever increasing fears of the manipulation of the Internet, specially Google and Facebook about the perdetermined choices that they continue to make for us - http://bit.ly/lkPwED

In his book 'The Filter Bubble' he explains how, "An invisible revolution has taken place is the way we use the net, but the increasing personalisation of information by search engines such as Google threatens to limit our access to information and enclose us in a self-reinforcing world view..."

It's certainly true that since th roll out of the Google serach enhancements that I feel myself being narrowed by the choices that Goole is making for me, based on assumption, previous searching and other online behaviour. Infact, Facebook is just as much in control, by the types of adverts I'm delivered, or the personalised views of friends news feeds. Surely, it should be my choice? It's just like having some pushy salesperson trying to sell you a product you know you really don't want, but in the end you just go along with it anyway.

And I guess that's the issue, do we just go along with this? We can't deny that the Internet plays a huge part in our lives now, but do we really want it to run and dictate our choices, what we do and not let us see the bigger picture. As Pariser says, I think that this does have repurcussions not now on a personal basis, but how this will effect our understanding of what all this means for our politics, our culture and our future.

I think this will be a very interesting read.

Happy Birthday to The Athena Network North Oxford

I really enjoy my monthly meetings with all of the ladies from Athena Network North Oxford. It's a great opportunity to make new business contacts in both a friendly and professional environment. Yesterday's meeting was no exception as it was the Group's 2nd Birthday, celebrated in 'pink' style.

This group of keen networkers meets at The Oxford Centre in Summertown and attracts businesswomen from a wide range of professions from Accountant to Change Agent to Pilates Coach and just about everything in between.

Being part of the Group enables me to evangelise about web marketing and SEO, as well as get to know a wide range of women professionals from a diverse range of backgrounds and businesses. In September I'll be looking forward to running a workshop for the group, looking at the question of 'So you want to appear on the first page of Google'...

New videos for the Oxford Web SEO YouTube Channel

We recently updated our YouTube Channel and uploaded some new presentation videos from one of our seminars entitled - 'So you want to learn how to improve your website Google rankings?'

We've pulled out some snippets from the seminar, looking at the main areas we should all focus on when looking to make our websites visible in search engines such as Google and Bing. For example, this edited highlight explains what organic search engine optimisation is all about, and how SEO is a device for making your website visible in search engines.



Video is a great content addition to your website. It encourages engagement and provides interactivity on your website. Content optimisation is no longer just about the written word and including not only YouTube vids, but podcasts, quick polls, quizzes or RSS feeds all help to enhance your website visitor experience and hopefully that of the search engines that come to visit your website.

If you're interested in finding out more about how to improve the visibililty of your website in search engines, then please contact Tracy Walker to discuss your content strategy.

A Grand Day Out

I had the great privilege of attending the Oxford Brookes University, School of Technology graduation ceremony on a very warm and sunny Friday afternoon last week.

Markus Boritz accepting the BOCC Prize from Director Tracy Walker

BOCC sponsors an annual student prize at the School of Technology. The prize, entitled  'BOCC Computer Systems Development Award' aims to encourage excellence and the development and effective use of World Wide Web and computer systems techniques in project work.

The award is judged on the effective use of development techniques, as well as accessibility and security issues. Students also have to provide the details of which technologies they have employed in developing their applications and their reasons for making their choice.Oxford Brookes University short-list students and then BOCC awards the prize at that years Graduation Ceremony.

Ian Redmond OBE, delivering his acceptance speech

This years winner was Markus Boritz, with his dissertation on 'Approaches to Application Development for High End Mobile Devices: A Comparative Evaluation', which was supervised by Professor David Duce.

It was great to celebrate with the students on their graduation day, as well as congratulate this years Honorary Graduant Ian Redmond OBE, the renowned tropical field biologist and conservationist.

His acceptance speech was very inspiring, as he talked of his work with gorillas and elephants, working alongside Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall. He also encouraged us to think about our impact on the world and what we can all do about the conservation of our planet.