By now, most business owners know just how important it is to be able to reach an online audience. Whatever field you work in, whatever products or services you offer the chances are you will be able to increase your reach and hopefully market share by appealing to potential clients and customers over the Internet.

But for those who are unfamiliar with the how things work in cyberspace, taking a business online can be a daunting prospect. Here we look at a few of the key areas that will need to be addressed if you want to take your interests into cyberspace and reap the rewards of online advertising and operations.

Creating a Wonderful Website

A website is like an online office – you need yours to be welcoming, inviting and easy to use – as well as being clearly signposted so the right people can find you. Things to think about when putting together a website include:

· Design: A good website will be easy on the eye, and users will be able to find the things they need without any problems. Avoid garish colours and huge swathes of text. Make sure menus are logical and keep the number of clicks necessary to reach key pages to a minimum. A website is a big part of your online business so if you are unsure about it then get some professional help and bring on a web designer to help you make the most of this opportunity.
· Search Engine Optimisation: SEO is all about making your website appeal to search engines. You need to make sure that your website is optimised for the keywords your potential clients may be using. SEO starts on your own site, and includes everything from your content to your tags. Getting this right in the early stages can save a lot of time and effort later on.
· Security: If you plan on taking client details or payments online then your site will need to be demonstrably secure in order to be deemed trustworthy. If you are unsure of the options open to you, approach your preferred IT support people for advice on locking down your operation.

Bringing in Business Online

While having a website is a great start, if you want to make a real splash in cyberspace you will need to make sure that people are finding you. There are a number of ways to promote your business online including:

· Blogging: If you have great knowledge in your field then think about sharing it with an online audience through a blog. Well written blog posts with useful and interesting information that have been optimised for your own targeted keywords can be a great way of bringing a new audience to your website.
· Social Networking: Everyone who is anyone is on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, so well maintained profiles on these sites are a great way to get word out about your operations. Social networking sites must be regularly updated and must engage with the audience. Join in discussions relevant to your field and elicit others opinions on issues in your industry – social networking is not simply about pushing your own agenda.

Bringing together commercial radio with Aunty Beeb online

A single website which offers a one-stop-shop for listeners to tune into all BBC and commercial British radio stations could be here by Christmas.

Director of audio and music at the BBC, Tim Davie, has expressed his support for the plan, which could offer instant, live access for up to 500 different networks.

A beta test of the site is being readied for launch this side of Christmas, with a public launch scheduled in for the first half of 2010.

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The site has dramatically changed how people search for information online and boasts 13 million articles in total, when you count the versions in the other 271 languages.

Previously the Yongle Encyclopedia was the world’s largest encyclopedia, which was commissioned by the Chinese Ming Dynasty emperor, Yongle, in 1402 and completed by 1408.

Here, we round up this year’s most-viewed Wikipedia articles, according to the website Wikistics:

1) Wiki (131,383 page hits per day)

2) The Beatles (111,896)

3) Michael Jackson (79,734)

4) Favicon.ico (78,077)

5) YouTube (72,318)

6) Wikipedia (52,542)

7) Barack Obama (49,401)

Deaths in 2009 (48,758)

9) United States (46,545)

10) Facebook (42,679)

11) Current events portal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events] (40,962)

12) World War II (29,736)

13) Twitter (28,511)

14) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (28,395)

15) Slumdog Millionaire (26,755)

16) Lil Wayne (26,210)

17) Adolf Hitler (25,481)

18) India (25,380)

19) Transformers 2 (24,842)

20) Scrubs (TV series) (24,758)

21) Sex (24,754)

22) Rhianna (24,670)

23) United Kingdom (24,300)

24) Abrham Lincoln (23,743)

25) Heroes (TV series) (23,569)

26) Watchmen (film) (23,544)

27) Lady GaGa (23,376)

28) Star Trek (film) (22,990)

29) 2009 Swine Flu outbreak (22,968)

30) Featured content portal (22,829)

31) Megan Fox (22,573)

32) Naruto (22,573)

33) Australia (22,544)

34) Canada (22,437)

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Victoria Richardson, 42, from Hove, East Sussex, was burgled last week, losing an iPhone, a Nintendo DS games console, a handbag containing a purse, cash and debit cards and a black Toshiba laptop.

When she later logged into her Facebook account she found the burglar who had rifled through her belongings had also invaded her Facebook account.

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Times Online says:

In a money-raising move worthy of Ryanair, British Airways is to start putting advertising from other companies on its boarding passes.

The loss-making airline will also host adverts on its website — the present one is for Jaguar’s new XJ car.

The airline said that it issued more than 12 million boarding passes last year and has 500,000 daily visitors to its website, which would give it plenty of opportunity to raise extra revenue from third-party advertising.

BA said that ads on boarding passes would appear from the start of October and could be tailored to the passenger and location.
Abigail Comber, the airline’s manager for brand, proposition and insight, said: “We hope it will be a positive revenue stream for BA.”

BA lost £401 million last year because of a collapse in its premium traffic due to the recession. It is trying to cut costs by reducing headcount and also encouraged employees to work for free.

Last month, it announced that it would stop serving meals other than breakfast in economy class during flights of less than two and a half hours. Passengers will instead be offered snacks such as pretzels, although the complimentary bar service will remain. The move has led to accusations that BA was following the budget airlines towards a minimal service model.

BA’s decision to put ads on its boarding passes and website also copies the no-frills carriers, although BA insists that its advertisers will have a “strong heritage”.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget carrier, has a reputation for finding ingenious ways to raise money and has even considered charging for using the toilets on its aircraft.

Ms Comber said: “It’s a great way for our customers to be brought messages on products and services that are relevant to them. We’re seeking brands with a strong heritage and parity to British Airways’ own brand values. Our customers would expect us to bring them brands that they trust and respect.”

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I guess facebook finally gave up on buying twitter, can we really call friendfeed, second best or will facebook finally dominate twitter with the help of new friend.

Just Image Myspace(Newscorp=Rupert Murdock) turn round and decide to buy twitter…

Social Networking sites don’t get more exciting..

The Reign of Facefeed.

Financial details are still not been released

According to the BBC

The online fashion retailer Asos has reported a 93% rise in its annual profits, after a four-fold increase in its international sales.

Pre-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of March came in at £14.1m, up from £7.3m a year earlier.

The company said the results showed the “strength of the internet” for retailers, but added it would be “more conservative” in the year ahead.

International sales at the group rose to £32m from £8m a year ago.

Asos, formerly known as As Seen on Screen, targets 16 to 34-year-olds with cut-price versions of designs worn by celebrities.

“[The results] highlight the strength of the internet as a retail channel and its potential position in the retail landscape of the future,” said Asos chairman Lord Alli.

Unfortunately just as an online shop.

Do you feel this will work??

check out the site

Apparently facebook are asking users if they want their comments to go public, To my suprise, few users are relishing the opportunity, How would you feel if facebook takes your information everything you update your status “what’s on your mind”

From the 24th of june, facebook started testing the new feature…
Let me know what you think about this, would you mind?

Intelligent move by Mark and his team or not??
Do you think this is going to backfire on facebook or what??
To be honest, i kind of like the new switch, i feel it will be good.
HAS ANYONE TRIED IT SO FAR??
LET ME KNOW??

Read more on this on the facebook blog
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?blog_id=company