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Alexander McCall-Smith Engages Web 2.0

The Daily Telegraph is in the middle of a 20-week serialisation of an online book created by author Alexander McCall-Smith, his first such project. New Media Knowledge caught up with the organisers to discuss ‘Corduroy Mansions’.

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Business Brief: Video Advertising Looks to Future

Google has announced it will incentivise advertisers on its video properties as well as launching research programmes into how Web users consume Internet video material. New Media Knowledge spoke to a number of industry players to gauge their views on where the video advertising market is going.

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‘Virtual Home’ for Ex-Pats in London Established

A social network aimed at providing information for ex-pats living in London has been established. New Media Knowledge met the site’s co-founder to find out more.

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• Rough Guide to: Social Media and the Law
• Record Visits for UK Blog Sites
• Clearing Congestion
• Rough Guide to: Pay-Per-Click Advertising
• Opinion: What Happens to Newspapers?
• LinkedIn Adds Business Applications
• What Happens to Newspapers?

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Business Sites Handicapping SEO

Businesses are alienating a large section of the online market by failing to optimise their sites for disabled Web users.

According to Graham Charlton, researcher for online publisher, e-consultancy not only are business missing out on a "vast potential market", but they also run the risk of negatively impacting on their search engine optimisation rankings.

Poor accessibility equals poor SEO

The same characteristics and applications which make sites easier to use, also appeal to search engine spiders. This means that optimised sites are more likely to be ranked higher on search engine results pages.

In the UK alone, there are currently around eight-and-a-half million disabled Internet users, three and a half million of which are unable to use a keyboard.

This is a huge online market and companies failing to make their sites easily accessible and simple to interact with will be missing out.

"The key thing is that if your website is not accessible to these people, you are missing out on a vast potential market and the other thing is that if your website's not accessible for disabled users, the chances are that your search engine optimisation is not that great either," said Charlton.

Travel sector weak

Earlier this year, it was found that the travel sector was one of the main culprits in failing to make their online services accessible for disabled people.

Lyndsay Menzies, Managing Director of online marketing firm, bigmouthmedia UK advises companies to consider not only the accessibility of the site, but also the various stages of the user's journey.

"By not ensuring web sites are accessible and well optimised, companies will miss out on traffic and possible conversions from the significant proportion of the UK who have some form of disability, learning difficulty or low level literacy which affects the way they use the Internet and websites," said Menzies.

"Disabled users searching for products and services may use the same or similar search terms as able users would use. However, companies can also optimise for specific needs by targeting keywords with intent such as 'big button mobile phones' and 'disabled online dating'."