Google Ranking Is Important

November 29th, 2010

Anyone who runs a successful site will tell you that Google is currently the most important of all the search engines out there at the moment.  Typically they tend to provide two-thirds of the web traffic we see on all the sites we monitor, with all the other engines (Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, etc.) making up the other third.

So it is important to ensure that your website is ranked highly for the keyword or keywords you want to promote.  But it can be very time consuming to check each one in turn.  So we thought we’d direct your attention to a Google rank checker we’d recommend.

All you do is enter your web address or web page (sans http://www.) and the key word or key phrase you are looking at and select the version of Google you’d like to check.  They have the .com version of Google, UK version, Australian version and more.  It brings up what rank you are and which page.  Users typically rarely go beyond page 2 so this is a vital tool to ensure users can find your website!

Community Websites

October 29th, 2010

Community websites always seem to fall into two categories – dire, and absolutely dire.

Badly designed, badly laid out, prepared in Word or a really old version of Frontpage, and often just templates of each other aimed to give the creators more of the link juice for the sites they want to promote.  In my time and through various other roles I’ve had the misfortune of viewing quite a few bad ones.  And those that are decent looking usually are either out of date or lack functionality, or both.

It’s rare to come across one that is very well presented and highly functional.  But I’ve managed it!  Taking the theme from my last post, I’ve stuck fairly close to home and come across a gem.

Spilsby Online - The Community Website For Spilsby and the surrounding area

Spilsby Online

Spilsby Online covers the town of Spilsby in Lincolnshire with the latest Spilsby news, views (through the Spilsby forums and user blogs) and information on Spilsby local businesses and services, and local clubs, groups and societies.  The site is very well laid out (W3C compliant too!!!, a real rarity in community circles!), informative and appears to cover a wide variety of local topics.

The site is still awaiting launch but that doesn’t matter as everything seems to be working well and we found no broken links (a curse of community websites).  No Google Ads or whatever, which is always a bonus!

Only one negative about the site, and that it doesn’t cover where I live (Lincoln) because that would have been the icing on the cake!

Link: Spilsby Online

Starting from home…

October 27th, 2010

As we said in our first post, our aim is to highlight some of the best websites we find.  We don’t judge on how sites look – unless they are absolutely awful – but more on how they work and what they do.  Functionality over form.

So, where to start?  I personally have been online for around 15 years so I have a stack of old bookmarks of sites I have found really useful over the last few years – getting rid of the dross as I went along.  I thought we’d start from home, as it were.

Now, when UnlimitedNet was originally set up we were based near Sheffield and we are now based in the beautiful county of Lincolnshire.  Lincolnshire is very popular with the tourist trade with resorts such as Lincoln, Skegness, Mablethorpe, Cleethorpes, Ingoldmells and Chapel St. Leonards.  But where do you go to find out all the information on where to go if you are a visitor?

One website we found particularly useful is The Lincolnshire Guide, who offer information on hotels, B&B’s, caravans and other accommodation in Lincolnshire.  The site is remarkably easy to use as you simply enter what type of accommodation you are looking for and press ‘search’.  There appears to be quite a few hundred places listed along with contact details, etc.  The site also covers attractions to visit in Lincolnshire, places to eat and drink in Lincolnshire and local Lincolnshire news.  They also had an extensive Lincolnshire events calendar with a wide variety of information on events happening around the county.

The Lincolnshire Guide

The Lincolnshire Guide

If there was any criticism of the site it does have a few advertisement banners on it.  However, they are not that intrusive and seen as the site allow businesses to advertise for free it is a worthwhile endeavour.

So if you are considering visiting the county of Lincolnshire, this is an invaluable resource.

Link:  The Lincolnshire Guide

UnlimitedNet is back!

October 27th, 2010

Yes, quite a few years ago there was a little site called UnlimitedNet that provided a community for people to discuss UK internet service providers (ISPs).  It was very popular but as broadband became more and more popular the space for a dial-up community was becoming less and less.

So we are back.  We aren’t providing a place to discuss ISPs any more, but we are introducing a blog to highlight some of the best of the web.  We are willing to listen to your comments and suggestions, so please get in touch!