EquatorLive. WeBlog, therefore we are.

At Equator, we’ve been managing Search Engine Optimisation campaigns now for over 10 years.

In that time, we have seen many things change. “Back in the day”, there was no such thing as Google Analytics. Google itself had a rather more simplistic view of sites; people still used FRAMEs in their site and, well the world was a lot simpler – even if to the average person SEO didn’t seem that way. Fast forward to 2009 and everything is a lot more complex, Google has smartened up and everyone knows that SEO is one of the most important channels in the online mix.

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Posted on December 1st, 2009 in We're talking about with 1 comment

Are merchants missing out by opting out of the increasingly popular cashback sites?

In the current economic climate, consumers are so much more price sensitive and in becoming so are increasingly looking for a bargain, and why not if they are there to be had? With this change in consumer buying behaviour cashback sites (which have in fact been around for years) have seen an upsurge in popularity, however we are seeing an increasing number of merchants throughout the affiliate community choosing not to work with them.

So why is this? We are all aware of how cashback sites operate, merchants are promoted by the cashback affiliate in the usual way, but where the affiliate would normally keep the commission paid by the merchant for any completed sales, the affiliate gives some or all of the commission to its members. So far so good, merchants see an increase in sales and consumers effectively receive some money in their pockets.

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Posted on December 1st, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

Quite a long time ago, a chap called Marshall McLuhan said a couple of very clever things. He was born in the early twentieth century and, I guess, by the sixties, he’d grasped the big changes that we’re feeling the culmination of today.

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Posted on September 15th, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

Roll back to around 2004 and Microsoft ruled the roost on pretty much everything to do with computers. They had the most successful operating system, internet browser, office suite, development suite and so on. Bill Gates, their creator and CEO was the world’s richest man by some margin and every major government body was squeezing them over what seemed to be an unstoppable monopoly. But they needn’t have bothered.

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Posted on September 15th, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

All too often the decision to implement a Content Management System (CMS) for a website comes down to the question “How much extra does it cost?” rather than “What benefits will it bring to my business?”  Focusing on cost is always understandable when making an investment in a website, but understanding the real cost of not implementing a CMS at the start of a new project must also be given full consideration.  Here are some of the common questions we at Equator are asked by clients regarding whether or not to go with a CMS.

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Posted on September 15th, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

Behavioural targeting (BT) has got a bad rap.  Plain and simple, we’ve got this advertising method that can give extraordinary value by targeting people with behaviours that we like and we’re ashamed if we’re using it.  To understand why advertisers employing behavioural targeting are being shamed we must address how BT works.

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Posted on September 15th, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

In the last sixteen years I’ve worked across the entire agency spectrum with agencies who described themselves as above the line, below the line, through the line, integrated (no line!) and now of course,  online. What’s been interesting is that consistently during that time the wider industry conversation about approaching the development of strategic thinking for a brand or campaign has been about ‘Big Ideas’, ‘media neutral’, ‘customer centric’, ‘integrated’ thinking. However, it has been my experience that despite all ideas being good ideas, and the noticeable demise of TV spend in marketing campaigns, still the big brand, core campaign ideas tend to emanate from an ATL agency initially.

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Posted on September 15th, 2009 in We're talking about with no comments

Three reasons why web-specific copy is good for your business.

I have wanted do a piece about copywriting for the web, for a while. Not because I read a lot of bad writing online, but because I’m starting to see more and more websites that are getting it right.

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Posted on July 13th, 2009 in We're talking about with 1 comment

What’s your personality?

As part of this month’s Twitter special we wanted to give you a few tips on how to get the most out of this new medium. At Equator, many of us have become addicted to using Twitter and have been experimenting with it on a personal level as well as a client marketing level. So we felt it was about time we talked about what we’ve learned, especially as we witness a barrage of companies large and small starting to use the now ubiquitous micro-blogging tool.

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Posted on July 13th, 2009 in We're talking about with 1 comment

“Google is your friend” – that’s generally the mantra of the SEO people of the world. After all, if you follow the rules, do good quality, ethical SEO with a focus on relevance on trust, then Google will deliver.

Most of the time.

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Posted on July 13th, 2009 in We're talking about with 1 comment