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We just wanted to share with you a very easy marketing tip, which if used will not only increase your SEO* on the internet and visitors to your site, but ultimately should increase the response levels.
Review websites
In recent studies of buying habits it has been discovered that users of the world wide web are now more likely to be swayed towards using one business/product than another because of recommendations rather than price. If you look at sites such as Trip Advisor, Review Centre, Holidays Uncovered, Mobile Phone UK and Test Freaks, these are sites which are mainly ran on the contributions from the general public on the reviewing of or simply rating of (usually out of 5 or 10) a business/product. Recommendations are also used when you buy from e-bay, as the Sellers feedback is paramount to their success. Sellers strive to ensure that they have no negative feedback so as not to deter future customers. In fact they are all around us, from choosing which movie to watch, what restaurant to eat in and where to holiday and stay.
So as the general public are now putting trust in the views of someone that they do not even know, I suppose this only emphasizes how important word-of-mouth is. It has always been one of the most credible forms of advertising because a person puts their reputation on the line every time they make a recommendation and that person has nothing to gain, but the appreciation of those who are listening.
So, what can you do to make sure your potential ambassadors of your business recommend it to others? Simple...Guest comments on your website!
Many of you will have accumulated books of guest comments over the years and some of you already have included these on your web-sites, however it is imperative that they are included on a specific page which can easily be found, i.e.: In the top bar, named simply Guest Comments. These comments should be typed out and displayed in a easy to read manner. It is also possible for a page to be included onto your web-site where guests can leave there own comments, so freeing your time on this project.
Not only will new visitors to your web-site read these comments and make decisions from what they read, but by including such information it helps with search engines finding your web-site and so increasing your SEO, naturally and at no cost other than your time.
For example... If you included the following statement onto your site:
'I recently stayed at a wonderful place in the Yorkshire Dales; The Rose of Sharon B&B. It was close to the local village of Hawkes where there is a great Biker cafe, which we visited on the Sunday and found Motorcycles from all over the UK, including some great guys from the local Motorcycle club, Bikers are Great MCC. The owners, Sandra and John (Bikers themselves) were on hand to help us with information about the local area, where to visit and which routes to use. A fantastic breakfast was served, which we only just made as our bed was so comfortable we did not want to get out! A drying room and secure parking only help to make this a very Biker Friendly place. Highly recommended' From the above, in time search engine will pick up on the words used and when someone searches for the following the web-site should be found;
If you would like an example of a web-site who has done this well sent over to you just let me know.
THE BIKER GUIDE Bringing the Biker Community together!
* SEO: Search engine Optimisation
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The British Motorcyclists Federation have welcomed the findings of the Transport Select Committee’s report ‘The new European motorcycle test’ published today, bearing out the bmf’s own submission to the committee that the introduction of the new test by the Driving Standards Agency had been ‘gold plated’, badly handled and poorly executed.
The bmf totally supports the main conclusions of the committee that the Government’s decision to introduce large Multi Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) and close down many small, convenient motorcycle test sites was ‘unjustified’, that it’s implementation was ‘bungled’ and that it ‘was unacceptable that the Driving Standards Agency has failed to get all 66 planned centres operational, therefore delaying introduction of the new test.’
In launching the report, Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP said, “many candidates and trainers now have to travel too far for their motorcycle test. This adds to the cost, and in some cases, exposes candidates to fast and dangerous roads on the way to a test site - before they have even taken their test. The Driving Standards Agency needs to give much greater priority to customer service and convenience for test candidates and trainers.â€
The planned MPTCs, unique within Europe, were budgeted at £72 million but are still not all operational. Worse still say the bmf, they were primarily constructed to carry out a combined swerve and stop test that is not prescriptive in the directive, something the committee agreed the DSA should have been more flexible over.
The bmf is pleased to note that the Committee supports this line and that it also ‘condemns Ministers’ failure to negotiate an exemption from the EU requirement that parts of the test should be performed at 50 km/h (31.07 mph).’ The Committee MPs said that ‘it is both bizarre and confusing that tests should be performed at speeds not permitted on the public highway in built-up areas, and that it should be measured in units not commonly used in the UK.’
Commenting on the report, the bmf’s Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder said: “We have always maintained that the Government should have negotiated a derogation from this directive, so allowing most of the testing to be done on UK roads, however, this is now so it is a matter of real urgency that the Government takes heed of this damning report and at the least increases the number of operational MPTCs.â€
The bmf will be joining forces with other interest groups in lobbying the incoming government.
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The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) has today welcomed the publication of a report by the influential Parliamentary Transport Select Committee (TSC) on the new European motorcycle test. The test, which was introduced early in 2009 as a result of European regulations, has been widely criticised by the industry, trainers and riders groups.
Implementation of the test involved cutting motorcycle test centre numbers from over 200 sites to under 50 (despite a commitment to provide 66 sites) and the introduction of so called 'Multi Purpose Test Centres'. The result has been a collapse in test numbers and concerns about the nature of the test and road safety for candidates who now sometimes need to travel long distances to attend a riding test.
The TSC report follows 'enquiry' hearings, held in Parliament during October 2009. The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI), along with its sister organisation, the Motor Cycle Industry Training Association (MCITA) and riders groups, took an active part in the TSC's enquiry and appeared before MPs to give evidence.
The TSC has been damning in its assessment of the Driving Standards Agency's (DSA) handling of the new test and has said that The Government's decision to introduce large Multi Purpose Test Centres (MPTCs) and close down many small, convenient motorcycle test sites was unjustified. The Committee concluded that the implementation of the new MPTCs was 'bungled'. The Committee also concluded that it is unacceptable that the Driving Standards Agency failed to get all 66 planned centres operational, inconveniencing motorcyclists and trainers and driving up the cost of doing a test.
Launching the report, Transport Select Committee Chair, Louise Ellman MP said, "many candidates and trainers now have to travel too far for their motorcycle test. This adds to the cost , and in some cases, exposes candidates to fast and dangerous roads on the way to a test site - before they have even taken their test. The Driving Standards Agency needs to give much greater priority to customer service and convenience for test candidates and trainers."
In its report, MPs conclude that the Driving Standards Agency was slow and dogmatic in its approach to test centres, failing to listen adequately to the motorcycle industry. Smaller test sites could have been retained, saving millions of pounds. No other country in Europe has found it necessary to build 'super test sites'.
Steve Kenward, MCI's CEO said: "The industry strongly welcomes the TSC's report, which we feel has totally vindicated the industry's position on the new test, in particular the inept introduction of new test centres. Even now, the number of test centres is lamentably low and we call on Government to deal with the issue as a matter of urgency, or consider changing test requirements to allow a less restrictive definition of what a test site should offer.
"The test centre issue has been enormously damaging to the DSA whose actions have threatened training businesses and risked the credibility of the test itself. This, coupled with the industry and motorcycle community's strong concerns about the DSA's approach to further EC regulations on motorcycle testing and training, means that we renew our call for decisions on headline motorcycling training and testing policy to be returned to the direct control of Ministers and senior officials at the DfT in London."
Kenward added; "The Select Committee called for the DSA to work more closely with and take more seriously the views of the motorcycle industry and trainers. We strongly support this call and feel that many problems with the new test could have been avoided if this had previously been the case. We call on the Government to take greater notice of industry, trainer and rider group views as we approach the implementation of further EC regulations."
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The VMCC is saddened to report the death of Club Founder Charles Edmund “Titch†Allen OBE, BEM on Thursday 18/03/10.
Where ‘Historic Motorcycles are discussed, the Vintage Motor Cycle Club and the name of Charles Edmund ‘Titch’ Allen are sure to be drawn into the conversation. This extraordinary man has been a strong influence on the growth and the development of the ‘old ‘bike’ movement – not only in this country –but also throughout the world.
Born in May 1915 in rural Nottinghamshire, Titch claimed to have been born with oily fingers and that his favourite plaything at the age of two was a hammer. Totally negative experiences with father’s milk float horse sparked off an interest in two-wheeled transport that soon transferred to his first motorcycle when he was twelve years old, a two-stroke ‘Clyno’ in the form of a box of bits.
Despite a grammar school education at Loughborough, he left school at 16 with no real qualifications other than a ‘gift for the written word’ an attribute that has never deserted him – along with his ‘gift for the spoken word’. His ambitious and forceful Mother secured a position for him as a trainee reporter on the local paper.
His experiences and the contacts made during those years included a succession of thoroughly dreadful cars and motorcycles and which lead indirectly to his meeting and marrying Jess in November 1937 and becoming deeply involved with the resurrection of the Loughborough Motor Cycle Club
As did many other motorcyclists, Titch responded to the appeals for dispatch riders in the motorcycling magazines the ‘Blue’un and the ‘Green ‘un and signed up to the “Motor Cyclist’s Army Register†and after many trials and tribulations actually served as a DR concluding the war as a sergeant and with the BEM.
His obsession with motorcycles never left him in these tempestuous times and he claimed that the acquisition of a 1930 Scott in 1942 was the catalyst for the formation of a ‘Vintage Motor Cycle Club’ –the great stimulus being the series of articles on the adventures of tracking down and acquiring ‘old bikes’ written by Captain Jim Hall in the magazine“The Motor Cycle†The idea was Jim’s but it was the work of Titch and Jess that got the club off the ground with the historic inaugural meeting on the Hog’s Back on April 28th 1946. The ideals Titch envisaged were those of a sporting club where sporting, historic motorcycles would be used in competition – an ideal that came to be frustrated.
It was at this time that Titch began his life-long love affair with the Brough Superior marque and when he made a complete career change, moving into the world of motorcycling as a sales representative for Jim Ferriday, the irrepressible owner of the ‘Feridax’ motorcycle accessories company, which led to all kinds of adventures and experiences –and many opportunities to enlarge and enrichen his collection of motorcycles.
His involvement with the emerging and developing Vintage Motor Cycle Club was, at times, a tempestuous affair, with numerous confrontations with equally strong-minded individuals at various stages of the Club’s development. Titch admitted that his singular devotion to old motorcycles and motorcycling lead to the breakdown of his marriage and subsequent separation from Jess.
There was tragedy in the loss of Roger, his eldest son, in a freak road-racing incident in the Isle of Man in 1992 and then to lose Barbara, his eldest daughter, to cancer in 2005. Over the years Titch had lost many close friends and associates through motorcycle related accidents, but to many who were close to him, it seemed as if the death of Roger left a permanent scar from which he never really recovered.
Titch’s relationship with his wife was back on friendly terms for the latter period of her life before she succumbed to terminal cancer in 2002.
Recognition of his contribution to Motor Cycle Heritage came in the form of an OBE in 2004. The presentation ceremony took place, most appropriately, at Donington Park - a racing venue he had been associated with for 75 years
Reluctant to give up ‘competitive’ motorcycling, nevertheless, Titch retired, first from road racing and finally from sidecar racing on ‘the grass’. His interest and enthusiasm never dimmed, however and a ‘posing’ sidecar outfit was prepared for special occasions – of which the most celebrated must have been his appearance in the Past Masters’ Parade at the revival of the Festival of 1000 ‘bikes in 2006 at the age of 91.
Never afraid to voice his opinions on Vintage motorcycles and motorcycling anywhere and at any time, he was frequently controversial both within the Vintage Motor Cycle Club and elsewhere. Sometimes he was proved to be wrong, on other occasions to have been correct. But his dedication could never be questioned.
There can have been very few people who have been able to indulge a life-long obsession to the full whilst earning a living and raising a family and leaving behind a remarkable legacy to remember him by.
There will be a private family funeral for Titch with son Stephen Allen stating “the family appreciates that there will be many Vintage Motorcycle Club Members and friends that will want to pay their respects so a memorial service will be arranged, details of which will be announced by the VMCC as soon as possibleâ€.
Obituary – C E Allen OBE, BEM : 06/05/1915 – 18/03/2010.
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The recruitment of new talent has been one of the undoubted success stories in the Isle of Man TT's recent history with numerous recent newcomers going on to take wins and rostrums and this year will be no exception.
2010 sees a new group of newcomers, all intent on following in the footsteps of some of the stars of today and all of whom have tremendous road racing experience, particularly at British Championship level, and the majority of whom are under the age of 30 and keen to have an extensive TT career.
It's easy to forget that the likes of Guy Martin, Cameron Donald, Conor Cummins and Steve Plater made their Mountain Course debuts in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively whilst that period has also seen Keith Amor and Gary Johnson tackle the famous 37 and ¾ mile Mountain Course for the first time. All of the afore named have taken podiums in a short space of time with Plater and Donald already double winners and Plater and Cummins are amongst just three riders to officially break the magical 130mph barrier.
It doesn't end there with James Hillier, William Dunlop, Mark Buckley and Ian Mackman all having recorded top ten finishes with Les Shand, Mark Miller and Jimmy Moore also impressing. Last year saw Steve Mercer and Ben Wylie both impress and sure to improve further in 2010 whilst the same can also be said of impressive European stars Luis Carreira, Michal Dokoupil and Rico Penzkofer.
South African rider Hudson Kennaugh is, arguably, the leading name on this year's list having finished runner-up in the 2008 British Supersport Championship and fifth in that year's World Championship round at Brands Hatch whilst Stephen Thompson has long been a leading contender at both the Macau Grand Prix and North West 200.
The Northern Ireland rider has also been a long time fixture in the British Superstock Championship and that's where Daniel Hegarty, Kenny Gilbertson and James Hurrell have all starred in recent years. The trio, all under the age of 25, have regularly featured in the top ten with Gilbertson having a podium finish beside his name and all three are exciting youngsters whose progress at the TT will be eagerly watched. Meanwhile, David Jones will be one of the youngest riders on the grid, the 21-year having finished in solid fifth place in last year's British Supersport Cup.
An interesting entry was received from Gary May, one of Britain's leading 250cc riders at the end of the 90's and MRO Champion as recently as 2006, the Berkshire rider having also excelled on four-stroke machinery in the last decade, whilst Irish Superbike Champion Brian McCormack finally gets to make his debut after being forced to miss out twelve months ago.
There's further overseas representation with Australian ace David Johnson, the Adelaide rider having commenced his UK career back in 2002 against Cal Crutchlow, Tom Sykes, Craig Jones and a certain Guy Martin in the Juniorstock Championship whilst recent years have seen him frequently picking up points in the formidable British Superbike Championship.
Swiss rider Herve Ganther, a former star of the European Superstock Championship, will be bringing his Honda Switzerland machines with him whilst Clinton Pienaar is one of South Africa's most highly respected, and successful, riders so it's clear to see the lure of the TT is continuing to reach all corners of the globe.
There are also a number of newcomers in the Formula 2 Sidecar class led by highly experienced British driver Gary Knight who finished 4
th
in last year's World Championship with son Dan in the chair. Austrian driver Michael Grambuller brings further World Championship experience to the grid with young Yorkshire driver Carl Fenwick also expected to shine. Meanwhile, Dean Lindley, Nigel Mayers, Matthew Dix, Nicholas Dukes and Richard Lumley all have experience at British Championship level and/or at the Southern 100 and Scarborough.
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