Look Who’s on Tour This Month!

If you Google ‘UK Tour’ you will be hit with news and information about the next band or artist announcing shows around the UK. Such news can make people go wild with the mere thought of seeing their idols in the flesh, and so begin the fight for getting a ticket.

Much the same could be said when www.123reg.co.uk announced their very own .UK tour, for this was going to be unlike any other they have attempted and that’s not because they had to all go around the UK and sleep in a small eyeball branded campervan; cosy! With guest speakers scheduled offering  fresh advice and marketing tips, information about your business and domains  and a mountain of freebies to give away the stage was set.

Happiness at the 123reg UK Tour

I went along to their 3rd stop in their UK tour calendar, which was being held in the beautiful city of Cardiff at the St David’s Hotel. On arrival I saw the VW parked up in prime place and was met by yes you guessed it not 1, or 2 but 3 Hawaii-styled 123reg reps.

The day kicked off with refreshments ‘a plenty’ and introductions from the 123 marketing team. We were led into the conference room where the Group Marketing Director Nick Leech talked about the role out of the much anticipated .UK domain name entering the market.

What you should know about the .UK domain name?

• .UK domains are forecast to takeover in popularity  the .CO.UK over the next few years
• .CO.UK and other domains similar (.ORG.UK and ME.UK) won’t be affected and will still continue.
• Current .CO.UK name owners can register their .UK versions anytime within the next 5 years
• You can register a .UK domains here now: https://www.123-reg.co.uk
• Over 30k .UK domains have already been registered
• .UK domain is a Top level domain
• To register a .UK domain just like the new .LONDON domain, you must be local and have a UK or London address

Nick’s presentation was followed by guest speaker Tim Fuell, who shared his experiences about social media. Nick took us through each key step to highlight how social media can be used to full effect and with little cost. My top favourite gifts of information:

• It’s more logical these days to decide your business name by searching for which domain names are available
• Use tools such as followerwonk to find social mentions, buffer and tweetdeck to manage your social channels and use hashtags to promote posts
• Establish your unique voice and get posting, engaging and build your community
• Create interesting visual content: pictures, videos, infographics and share on 3rd party websites like visua.ly and pinterest

I would suggest taking some time away from your computer and day to day tasks grab or hire a quality camera and take pictures and video of everything in and around your business, plan in advance and you’ll have some great relevant content for months!

Also, track the effects of your social offerings in Google Analytics you will be amazed at the impact your social efforts will have after a time of doing them!

It was coffee and cake time again

Then Barney Grossman, a conversion specialist shared his top tips to convince your website visitors to buy from you. A handful of tips he suggested

• Call to actions – work out what and where they are e.g. contact us, buy now, download pdf and how the button appears: red not good, green has been proven to have a better click through rate. Placement and quantity must also be considered
• Analyse your Google analytics accounts to monitor the path your visitors take, check out at which point they leave your website and consider changing the content and improving the page where necessary.
• Think about the words you are using on your website and other web copy you create, do you use words in titles that encourage interest and clicks?

Shortly After Stefan Thomas, the author of ‘Business networking for Dummies’ shared his top tips to connect your business offline and online:

• Don’t judge a book by its cover, insofar as don’t automatically dismiss people and opportunities based on your first judgement
• Think about how you would best describe your business as quickly as possible and master it for when people ask you the common question “what does your business do?”
• What messages do your give off? Get your friends and family to give you honest feedback and work on personal development.

After Stefans presentation we were invited to enjoy a luxury spot of lunch and networking. After speaking to a variety of business owners and industry professionals and filling my mind with new connections I put down the last creme brulee and headed for the door, only to see Ant and Dec in the distance.

I left the event, full of new ideas and cupcakes, damn you 123 you know a marketing mans weakness… Cake! While I va voomed back to Media Street HQ to share?!?

Other Interesting Facts I Discovered

Why didn’t I get the domain name I pre-ordered?

There is no guarantee you will get a domain name if you pre order it online. All domain providers operate on a first pre order first will get it basis.

Will I lose my SEO ranking if I swap from .co.uk over to .UK ?

As with any domain transfer there is danger that your rankings will be affected, best practice is to ensure that you are setting up 301 redirects and ensure that you don’t have both websites with duplicate content visible to the search engines. I’am sure it’s just a matter of time before Google will add a section to the Google webmaster tools to allow you to successfully transfer a website from one domain name to another?

How much does it cost to apply for my own .extension?

Considering your own domain extension? It will cost just 125k to apply to Icann! Could be a great investment?

Where can I find questions and answer article inspiration?

Great website that you must include in your research for articles is http://www.quora.com/