Your photos, your friends, your stuff…

According to Google, its service has been made even better “by including photos, posts, and more from you and your friends”. The changes are supposed to bring a personal touch to search – Google claims that results are now more relevant and personal to the searcher because they include content such as pictures, posts and videos from the user’s friends, family and colleagues. more…

Zeta is based in Poole, with offices in London and Shanghai. We have a broad client base and also work on our own development ideas. Some exciting new projects are coming up in 2012, so we are looking for a new PHP developer to join the team in our Poole office. This is a brand new role which would give you a unique opportunity to develop skills, working directly with our lead developer, Sarah.

As an extremely ambitious individual, you’ll need to have:

• 1-2 years experience coding dynamic websites using:
• Linux (preferably but Windows is OK)
• Apache
• MySQL
• PHP
• HTML
• CSS
• Some experience integrating with JS libraries such as Query
• An understanding of the difference between procedural and OO methodologies
• The ability to break complex problems down into simple steps

It would be nice if you knew:

• Linux command line
• Subversion
• Wordpress
• Magento
• Phonegap

We’ve got people from all walks of life at Zeta, making our offices an energetic and exciting place to work. Despite our 12 years in the industry we have a strong start up culture. We expect people to be driven, self motivated and most importantly have passion for their work; but we also have a very flexible working environment and excellent benefits. We’re open minded when it comes to qualifications – if you are genuinely brilliant at what you do, we don’t mind if you don’t have a degree background.

Our environment is open plan and full of creative energy – innovation is encouraged here. You’ll be working directly alongside our lead developer; directors of the company; and the talented teams in our marketing and creative departments. We all pitch in to get the job done and fully expect to support each other.

We’re offering a starting salary of 18-21K depending upon experience, and that will rise as you progress. You’ll also get entry into the company pension scheme and free breakfast – our espresso machine makes the best coffee this side of Costa Rica!

Our working hours are designed to give staff an excellent work-life balance – we work from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday to Thursday and finish at 1pm on Fridays.

Now we’ve told you a bit about us – so we want to hear all about you! Please send your CV and covering letter to careers@zeta.net or, if discretion is required, Brad Fry directly at brad@directors.zeta.net.

Video and social media are a match made in heaven. Video has the power to provoke long lasting emotional reactions with viewers, and social media has become the perfect platform for people to spread these feelings to others. As we say at Zeta; we must create content that can be found, loved and shared with the world.

As the social web continues to dominate and mobile rises to stardom, it could be argued that video feels like a poor relation and could easily be forgotten about. However fear not, 2012 holds some exciting possibilities in the world of video and film: here are seven of them.

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Last week we took a road trip into rural Dorset to visit Newlands Training, which reaffirmed what everyone already knows: when it comes to being strong in business, women are a force to be reckoned with.

Newlands is a long-standing client of Zeta’s, so when we learned that the business was expanding, we decided to get the lowdown on how the digital strategy and website that Zeta created back in 2005 have played a role in the success of the business.

Our journey prompted a conversation about a remarkable figure in Dorset’s local history; Lady Mary Bankes. I’m ashamed to say I wasn’t overly familiar with the one-time guardian of Corfe Castle, but since then I have done a bit of research and she’s quite an inspiration – how many people do you know who have singlehandedly defended a medieval fort under attack from an army of 300 bloodthirsty Parliamentarians? more…

Trends are telling us that there is a great probability that Google’s Chrome will overtake Microsoft’s Internet Explorer half way into 2012. Chrome overtook Firefox last year and is now aiming for the no 1 spot.

A new Browser was born…

Google’s browser Chrome was first released as a beta version for Microsoft Windows on September 2, 2008, the day after it was accidently announced prematurely. The beta version was followed by a public stable release in December that same year.
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Here at Zeta we’re pleased to see more and more of our clients optimising their websites for mobile and tablet devices.

In fact our clients are a pretty switched on bunch, so it’s no surprise that the Zeta team has been receiving a steady stream of requests for mobile versions of their websites. It’s been proven that conversion rates are much higher on the iPad than on desktops (source: econsultancy) so brands are really missing a trick if they overlook app development as part of their marketing strategy. more…

Zeta has just created a brand new iPad app for Electropages, and with over 1000 downloads in its first week it’s set to be a big hit with industry professionals.

Here at Zeta we’re proud to be switched on to using latest technology to keep our clients at the top of their game. Electropages is an online press release platform bringing current electronics technology news to engineers and designers all over the world – and in such a fast developing business, it’s important to offer a quick and convenient way to access up to date product news.

Commenting on the launch of the app, Electropages publisher and founder Craig Dyball said: “It is important for our long-term growth that we maintain our place in the fast-growing global marketplace. We have effectively created a new facet to our operation which we expect will grow significantly in the near future and potentially explosively in the long term.” more…

Google only shows one or two videos in any search result. That means the innovative business that is using high quality video within their online presence can score well above the competition and claim a higher percentage of traffic. That’s critical. So is getting the message across in a succinct and instantly understandable format.

Video thumb prints, displaying the company brand, in the first three organic results on page 1 is a great start. Then, punching your message in through a clever video straight away afterwards will mean game set and match on the enquiry before the opposition has rewritten its endlessly boring pages of text. The phone call has been made, the email sent or the goods purchased all because the client loves to play a video. Video on page 1 gets to the nub of the issue quickly. The faster it’s possible to do stuff the more impatient we become. It’s instant gratification time online. more…

Are you a self-confessed language geek? Do you dream up winning strap lines in your sleep? Zeta is one of the brightest digital agencies on the south coast, and we’re scouting for hot new copywriting talent to strengthen our creative department.

If you…

• Consistently produce inventive, original material
• Have experience in creating marketing and advertising copy
• Are a stickler for good grammar
• Think strategically but enjoy getting your hands dirty on the tactical stuff
• Take no prisoners when proofreading
• Tailor your writing according to audience
• Are succinct
• Get a kick from learning new skills
• Are passionate about every single project you undertake

…you could be who we are looking for

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I travel to work on the train every day and buy the FT at the station kiosk. By the time I get to the office I’ve checked all the articles with a relevance to the Zeta business. I cut them out and place them on the boardroom table for all to see and discuss. At the weekend I carry out the same exercise with the Saturday Guardian, Times, Telegraph and FT Weekend. Old fashioned perhaps, but definitely effective. more…

Last week Lord Sugar fired the one engineer from The Apprentice with the now familiar words “I have never yet come across an engineer who can turn his hands to business”.  Andrew Bounds, the FT Enterprise Editor, fueled the debate with his article “Sugar sounds off”.

Engineers are up in arms, some even appalled at Lords Sugars view.  But it has more than a vague ring of truth to it.  And what is the argument?  If it were reversed would pure businessmen be affronted if they were told that rarely do they make good engineers?  Of course not, business is business and engineering is engineering.  Great engineers should join forces with great business people and not fall into the trap of thinking because they are good engineers those undoubted skills are transferable into the necessary credentials of the successful business person.

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Daniel Pimlot and Tim Bradshaw’s article in Monday’s FT identifies that the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is now using Google to harvest data. Definitely a milestone and should be applauded but with caution. Not as far as the concept is concerned but definitely on the search criteria being used and on the reliability of the information being harvested. The first point will have a direct bearing on the second.

Dan and Tim’s article identifies just two search terms one is ‘estate agents’. That term alone will only yield a fraction of the possible searches. It’s doubtful that many would search simply for ‘estate agents’. When all the possibilities such as ‘houses for sale’, ‘flats for sale’ etc plus the geographic terms are considered the list of relevant key phrases will grow hugely. Has the Bank followed this line? more…

Over the past few weeks Twitter has been gathering news reports like birds sitting on a wire. Whether it is overpowering super injunctions, launching photo sharing services or gaining around 600,000 new users a day, Twitter has been creating a colossal swell of activity recently.

Twitter has proved to have tailored an unbeatable formula which is original, evolving and, as it has proven recently, above the law. This recent hive of press has seen Twitter gain record numbers of sign-ups, from both individuals and businesses alike. But with new companies and businesses joining Twitter every day, how can you stand out from the crowd? Here is a look at a few brilliant campaigns of late… more…

Mobile apps were almost non-existent in 2008, yet this year they have earned apps stores nearly $4 billion in revenue, a figure that is expected to double by 2014. Apple has long been leading the apps market, however their previous 76% head start has been brought down to 60% after stiff competition from BlackBerry and Android. Between BlackBerry and Andriod, the former has been enjoying second place to Apple for a while now, yet reports expect the latter to overtake this year.

There is no denying it, apps are big business and you can be sure there is an app for almost anything. They are great for offering quick access to vital information, which in meetings and presentations can prove invaluable. So what apps can make on-the-move SEO easier? Here is a rundown of the top 5 apps our marketers always keep in their pocket.

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In February 2011 Google launched Panda, an algorithm update that was designed to streamline search results within the US. The aim of this update is to filter low quality and irrelevant sites from search listings and deliver the user trustworthy and comprehensive results.

However, as a consequence of Panda some legitimate sites have seen a fall in their rankings. On the 12th April, Panda was subsequently rolled out to all English language queries, bringing its effects to the UK. more…