‘South Africa’

eCommerce has been rather slow in South Africa over the past few years when compared to that of the UK and the USA, but a report published in 2010, by World Wide Worx as a South African research company, indicated that online shopping in South Africa is picking up in pace. According to their report, the number of South Africans with Internet access grew with 15% from 2009 to the beginning of 2010.

The recent MasterCard Worldwide survey regarding online shopping trends indicated that 51% of the respondents in the survey did online shopping in South Africa, while around 95% used the Internet for email and 74% for bank access. As such e-commerce is definitely still in the infancy phase in South Africa. More than half the users cited that the most preferred products bought online are that of DVDs and CDs. Many of the users make payment through the use of credit cards while users also indicated their satisfaction with their online shopping experiences. Banking, airline tickets, travelling, and general e-commerce sites cash in on the large number of users.

Some of the most popular online shopping sites in South Africa are that of:

• Bid or Buy
• Kalahari.net
• Digital Mall
• MWEB Shopping Zone
• Netflorist
• Look & Listen
• Loot
• Ascot Direct
• Computicket
• CyberCellar
• Woolworths
• Pick & Pay Online Shopping
• Want It All
• Take A Lot (formerly known as Take2)

The MasterCard Worldwide survey results indicated that the number of users who make use of mobile phone access and thus using their phones to do online shopping in South Africa has increased considerably. This can be due to advances in cellphone technology and faster browsing systems. The number of users making use of broadband access has shown a drop from that of 2009. With South Africa being a mobile internet market, it is understandable that more people will do online shopping from their phones.

The question arises whether it is better to add your company products to an online shopping facility create a large eCommerce facility or simply allow for ordering of products at your website? With more and more users of online shopping mall type facilities, one could benefit from such a move. The surveys at this stage indicate that South Africans still use the online shopping facilities mostly for consumer items such as DVDs. Books are also rather popular while entertainment booking is big.

Concerns With Conventional Websites

Users may feel more comfortable now to make secure online payments at large shopping facilities than at for instance, a single website. Fraud is always prevalent on the Internet and many users are still scared to give their credit card details. Companies running their own shopping carts or have one product that can be ordered online, need to ensure that they build credibility with their consumers. Their users will only be willing to part with their information if they feel that the site payment system is secure enough and that they will receive the product ordered in time and good order.

User Reviews Help Sales

At online shopping sites in South Africa such as Bid or Buy, users can check the reviews of suppliers and even though they have to make payment first, they can also make direct electronic transfers or deposits in addition to credit card payments. Having user reviews of the service delivery and ratings on the products seems to help build confidence.

Online Payment Concerns

Users appreciate the idea that there is a large company monitoring the purchasing process and that they will at least be able to get a refund if they are not happy. Online payment systems in South Africa are not yet widely used. PayPal payments are on the increase with users only now becoming aware of secure online payment systems such as Setcom and Monsterpay. Scepticism regarding such can still hinders ordering directly from a website instead of buying through an online shopping portal.

According to the MasterCard Worldwide survey the majority of respondents indicated that they use the Internet to do some research before buying while the merchant website and friends seem to have a large influence on the eventual decision to participate in online shopping in South Africa.

Should a company decide to stay on its own and not link its products to a central online shopping mall in South Africa then it will be imperative to provide:

• A secure online payment system with alternative payment methods offered
• Comprehensive information about the products
• Visual presentations
• User reviews
• Rating system
• Information about deliveries
• Warranty information
• Refund policies
• Various contact  methods
• User feedback forms

Website owners should also try not to add delivery charges or any additional administration charges as such have been stated by some users as reasons for not purchasing online. Difficulty of navigation and uncertainty about the ordering process are more reasons stated for not shopping online in South Africa.

Which Option?

Should you thus add your products to an online shopping facility in South Africa and save the costs of SEO and have the online facility handle the orders or should you sell the products directly from your website? Considering the fact that users trust central online shopping facilities it may save you the costs of having to write copy, update your website and monitor the site. The downside is that your product competes with numerous other products at the same facility. The users can easily do price comparison and one poor rating can cause a severe drop in sales. The solution is to make use of both rather than only using one option.

What is important is to keep a close watch on the return on investment. It is not as difficult as some may imagine to calculate the return on investment at your website. The ROI can be measured by looking at the cost per acquisition known as CPA, the traffic and conversion rate. The CPA entails total cost of website establishment, which is then divided by the total of conversions to sales. The higher the conversion rate, the lower the CPA will be. The conversion rate can be calculated by looking at the number of visits to the website daily and the sales made daily. If you have a hundred sales for every 1000 visits then you have a conversion rate of 10%. The more traffic your site generates, the more chances for sales and thus better conversion.

If you add your products to an online shopping facility as well and where possible create a storefront at such then you increase overall sales and will thus get the maximum benefit of online shopping in South Africa. Contact us to help you get the best possible ROI.

Governments have no right to limit or hinder Internet access of its citizens as it, according to a report released by the United Nations, is an integral human right to have unrestricted access to the Internet. The report has been released in the wake of the recent Syrian government blockage of Internet connectivity because of political unrest and the usage of Facebook as well as other social media applications, such as YouTube, to organize and communicate about the uprising which began in March this year.

Earlier this year when Egypt struggled with political unrest their government cut off Internet access forcing people to use satellite communication to make their posts. In effect, governments can shutdown Internet in their country should the country be in a state of unrest and the security of the country threatened. The UN report, however, indicates that governments should respect access to the Internet and the freedom of speech which go along with such even during times of political unrest.

UK Proposes Restrictions

The UK is proposing the restriction of Internet access for copyright infringers. France followed the same proposals. The anti-piracy bill proposed in 2009, known as HADOPI called for French Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to give infringing customers two warnings before removing their Internet access rights. As such the ISP Orange has implemented a policy of limiting downloads by customers and has also implemented a system of monitoring downloads. The French ISPs have with that then become enforcers of the anti-piracy legislation and according to reports should receive compensation for their role in policing Internet usage.

The whole system has backfired in several ways including that of hackers sending mails to report so-called infringement and illegal downloading by innocent users. In addition, the problem of hacking the server has received a lot of spotlight. It does seem that such actions by governments to control the Internet access have been met with more than just discontent. Earlier this week, the Constitutional Court of France ruled that Internet access is a fundamental right and thereby has stopped the HADOPI effects.

Should Governments Have The Right To Restrict Internet Access?

Since the Internet doesn’t belong to anyone and spans the globe, one may argue that no government should be allowed to control access to and usage of the Internet since it is an individual right to information and communication. At the other end of the spectrum you have widespread infringement of trademarks and copyright, fraud, and spam which must be controlled. In addition, the power of social networks such as Facebook in a political struggle or even terrorism cannot be ignored. Naturally then, governments, especially the less friendly types, will want to exert as much control over the Internet as possible, but it cannot be done without violating some human rights of which Internet access is now one.

Frank La Rue of the UN emphasised in the report that Internet access should be a right that any citizen of a country should have as it is related to the right to freedom of expression. Governments, according to the report, should ensure more affordable and accessible access to Internet for its citizens. According to La Rue, several bloggers have already been imprisoned for their views and as such freedom of expression is not yet guaranteed on the Internet. The report has indicated concern about the monitoring powers granted to governments in the name of national security. The report is known in full as: “Rapport of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Frank La Rue”.

Information Source For Decision Making

Some countries, such as Estonia and Finland, have already established laws to protect the right to Internet access and usage thereof to freely gain information access for decision making purposes and to express opinions freely. Other countries such as China, Egypt, Syria, France and the UK, however, propose and or have showed restriction on Internet access rights of their citizens.

A recent survey done for the BBC by GlobeScan has shown that many citizens of China and the UK are in favour of some form of Internet usage and or access regulation whereas the majority of respondents in Nigeria have expressed opposition against any form of Internet regulation. The Digital Economy Bill proposed by the UK, also makes provision for limiting or slowing down of file sharer user connections whilst at the same time the EU has expressed that member states have no right to interfere with access to the Internet. The survey for the BBC showed that majority of respondents felt that Internet access should be a human right and the non-users felt that they should have access to it.

In South Korea the overall majority of the population already enjoys broadband Internet connectivity and most of respondents in the BBC survey there indicated that such should be a fundamental right. In Japan and even Mexico respondents indicated that they would not be able to function without Internet access. It may be possible to argue that access to food and water should be the focus of the UN as human rights, and that freedom of expression is already a human right, but that access to high speed Internet cannot be classified as a fundamental human right because it doesn’t affect the basic needs of society. In answer to that then one has to express that the right to education and information is embedded in having access to the Internet.

Usage of the medium may be regulated to protect against hacking, phishing, terrorist attacks and human trafficking, but monitoring usage of it to catch file sharers is simply over regulating the medium. Once governments get involved in regulating Internet usage, the privacy and right to communicate will be affected. Many people in South Africa don’t have Internet access and simply don’t even have access to clean drinking water, but the right to such should never be limited.

How do you feel about the issue of Internet access as a fundamental human right? Should the government have any say in the usage thereof and should the government have the right to restrict access should actions of the users create political instability in the country?

Marie Grey & Associates is South Africa’s top Professional Speakers Bureau. With more than twenty years’ experience in the industry they have a proven track record of successful bookings and organisation of speaker engagements ranging from conference to inspirational, comedian, sport, and futuristic speaking events.

The company is a formidable player in the public speaking industry. With a professional image and a reputation for excellence, Marie Grey & Associates select their marketing vehicles and partners with care. Since the company has teamed up with iLead Online to manage their online marketing campaigns they have moved from offline media advertising to web marketing only.

Their online success can be contributed to a number of factors including, but not limited to:

• Well designed and professional website.
• Ongoing search engine optimization.
• Flexibility in marketing approach.
• Usage of web statistics and reports for the purpose of identifying keywords, customer preferences, search behaviour, as well as strong and weak points in the marketing strategy.
• Informative and sticky content.
• Client feedback options.
• Several means to contact them.
• News and events section for freshness.
• Careful selection of content.
• Comprehensive information about services.
• Sitemap for additional navigation and for search bots.
• Facebook presence.
• YouTube presence.
• Pay Per Click advertising.
• Affiliate marketing.
• Effective online marketing mix.

iLead Online regularly provides Marie Grey & Associates with progress reports. As such the client stays updated and any changes that need to be made to ensure even better rankings can be discussed. With the iLead Online pro-active approach to search engine marketing, Pay Per Click advertising, and usage of the social media to promote client sites, we can thus identify potential opportunities and pitfalls rather than having to react to changes in search engine algorithms and Internet usage behaviour.

Company Experience With iLead Online

Marie Grey & Associates originally decided to use iLead Online when they conducted an organic search for web marketing companies. Upon reviewing the iLead Online website they found the site to be professional and decided, based on the information provided by iLead Online, to make use of our services. We have since then built a strong working relationship with the company and regard them as one of our top clients.

Marie Grey, founder of the company, has commented that they have experienced a solid increase in speaker bookings since making use of iLead Online as their SEO and web marketing company, and that the ROI rate for web marketing investment is excellent. She furthermore feels that Pay Per Click also provides a good return on investment regarding web marketing spending and will certainly recommend such as an additional channel for online promotion. On the question of whether she will recommend iLead Online as SEO company Marie answered “Absolutely, and I have done so already”.

Marie Grey & Associates has two websites for which monitoring is in place:

www.mariegreyspeakers.com

www.motivational-speakers-sa.co.za

Solid Return On Investment

Both websites perform excellent with an average of 2.85 pages visited per visitor, indicating that the average visitor lands at the website, and clicks on two more pages before making a booking, using the contact details or leaving. With the new Google Panda Algorithm in place, the time spent and pages visited before exiting a website becomes all important. As such the Marie Grey & Associates websites perform well. The average time spent at the .com website is almost three minutes which is superb ensuring no quick exists. With Google’s Panda it becomes essential to have sticky content ensuring that the visitor doesn’t leave within the first minute as such will lead to a drop in rankings at the end of the day if not addressed.

The website marketing techniques work as proven by the average total of new visitors to the site being almost 75%. As such the site traffic is growing month-by-month and brand awareness and new customers are on the increase. More than 82% of all traffic generated to the site comes from organic searches where users type in a keyword phrase and conducts a search relevant to the content of the particular website.

The low bounce rate of the site, the increase in bookings experienced by Marie Grey & Associates, and the time that users spend at the site indicate that the keywords selected and the content generated have been well aligned, and are effective as well as relevant to the user requirements. Just fewer than 8% traffic comes from referring sites which include links, directories and affiliate sites while direct hits account for 11.78% indicating the users already familiar with the web address and returning.

Traffic is sent via search engines through an average of 405 keywords which indicates that the Marie Grey & Associates website is well optimized and rank well for several keywords. Another important consideration when analysing the performance of a website with search engines is the target audience response. Most of the users of the website come from South Africa, which is rather important since the company’s target market is mainly South Africans.  The South African users visit more than three pages on average per visit to the website and with a low bounce rate; it becomes apparent that they find what they are looking for.

Complete Online Marketing Mix

iLead Online follows a complete online marketing mix to ensure maximum exposure, relevant and targeted traffic and an increase in business generation for Marie Grey & Associates. Some of the techniques used include that of:

• Monthly addition of new informative articles to the website written by professional copywriters;
• Strategic link building and additional Google exposure by way of the iLead network of sites;
• Regular sitemap updating and submission to Google; and more.

Marie Grey & Associates is a top performing company and iLead Online takes pride in the development of their online presence. From the information provided it is clear that the SEO and online marketing techniques used by iLead Online provide the desired ROI for client companies. Contact us today to help your company gain a competitive edge in the online world.

Jungle Gym World was established in 2007 by André Ferreira and has since then grown from being a small player in the playground equipment industry to a formidable competitor receiving orders from Lesotho, Mozambique, Botswana and even from Hong Kong and nationally. The company is now employer to more than 47 workers. Online marketing is credited for the growth of the company to have become one of the largest steel gym manufacturers and suppliers in the country the past five years.

Jungle Gym World has grown into a formidable competitor in jungle gym equipment over the years using three marketing channels:

• Online marketing which includes a complete marketing mix of Search Engine Optimization (noted by the owner André, as one of the most important reasons for their online success), Pay Per Click advertising, banner ads, article writing and content generation, as well as traffic monitoring.
• Online affiliate marketing where leads are gained from iLead affiliate pages.
• Passive advertising in the printed Yellow Pages.

From the above it becomes clear that Jungle Gym World has increased its exposure and brand awareness by means of the Internet rather than using offline media which is more expensive and can only reach a limited number of people. One of the most important reasons noted for the company’s tremendous success is their ongoing Internet based advertising.

Their website receives on average between 6000 and 7000 visits a month, and all are highly relevant. Getting so many people, who are interested specifically in playground equipment to your website, means that your online marketing methods must work. iLead Online has proven that SEO is essential in increasing search engine visibility and should be the first step in online marketing.

According to André, around 99% of their clients come from the Internet. With thousands of suppliers on the Internet in specifically outdoor play equipment, the company had to ensure that its site would be noticed and more important would result in online sales. Because of this marketing strategy, the company could be more focussed on production of top quality products because iLead has taken the responsibility to ensure a regular stream of visitors, leads, and content for increasing sales conversions.

Important Factors For Online Success

Jungle Gym World has not focussed one only one aspect of online marketing, but several. With only the minimum effort required from Jungle Gym World, iLead Online has ensured ongoing success by using:

• Search engine optimization.
• Article writing by experienced copywriters to ensure credible content that is useful to readers and search engine friendly.
• Incoming link building.
• Blog creation for marketing in the social media environment and reaching more Internet users.
• Pay Per Click advertising management for direct sales leads.
• Creation of landing pages.
• Constant website visitor traffic monitoring.
• Banner ad creation and placing thereof at iLead Online affiliate pages.

Five new pages are added to the article base monthly ensuring that content increases and more visibility are gained regarding organic search engines. Proof is in the stats.

Link Popularity

Link popularity shows the number of websites and search engines linking to a website. The more relevant incoming links from a major search engine and directories, the more doors to a website, and also better ranking.

The Jungle Gym World website has 346 incoming links from Yahoo! which is a major search engine for their co.za domain and 872 for their .com domain. Other search engines sending links to Jungle Gym World are that of Google, Ananzi and Bing. The focus on major search engines has proven to be effective. Google has sent 3617 visits in February 2011 as part of organic searches and 150 referral visits. The website shows only 36% bounce rate, which is excellent. This means that 74% of the visitors explore other web pages on the site before exiting by placing an order.

Visitor Stats

Demographics of the users play an important role in the return on investment when it comes to marketing. Marketing to users which fall outside the scope of your business is indeed money lost. It is never possible to not also receive international visitors if your market is only one country, but you want the majority of visitors to come from within the preferred geographical boundaries. Jungle Gym World has an excellent return on investment because the majority of visits to their website originate from within South Africa and more specifically Gauteng with visits from Pretoria, Sandton and Johannesburg being the most. The site also receives visits from Cape Town and then neighbouring countries, accounting for the successful expansion of its market into neighbouring countries.

Origin Of Traffic

The site receives 64.67% from its traffic from search engines and 3.35% from referring sites while direct hits account for only 31.98%. The site ranks top for several of the main keywords, ensuring that whenever an Internet user searches for playground equipment related terms that Jungle Gym World comes up in the top five results and in many instances is at position 1 to 3. The ROI is all important, and according to André, without the online marketing efforts of iLead and thus the Internet based activity, Jungle Gym World would not exist.

So successful is the company that it is now one of the largest and best known play equipment manufacturers in Southern Africa with regular requests from the USA and important manufacturing countries in Asia. Becoming a major player in the educational and outdoor equipment industry by making use of the Internet as main marketing vehicle and thus also the most cost-effective, is possible if you follow the route that Jungle Gym World did. It is perhaps one of the most inspiring stories on the web and with a longstanding relationship with iLead Online; Jungle Gym World is growing day by day.

So successful is Jungle Gym World that André has been asked on occasion to address a Google and related conferences on the topic of their online success. According to owner, André, a website can be compared to a bottle of water in the desert. The resource is there, but it must be found and for that a map is needed. Online marketing including SEO, PPC, affiliate marketing, link building, and content generation creates the paths to the resource. If done right, Internet marketing, as done through iLead Online, guarantees an excellent return on your marketing investment. Contact us at iLead Online to help you gain the same success through online marketing.

The recent shutdown of the Internet in Egypt following political unrest, which started with the clamping down on Facebook and Twitter movement, showed just how vulnerable businesses and people are to government or even terrorist actions. The Internet has become a global tool for communication and business transactions. With such a shutdown, the Egypt government almost completely wiped off Egypt from the global Internet and online business map.

With no means to access Egypt online or even identifying the web addresses, one can almost compare the action to that of the setting up of the Berlin Wall. What goes on behind the boundaries of Egypt is now hidden from the world. It surely is a wake-up call for businesses. One country takes such a drastic step and businesses worldwide are affected.

Egypt has been promoted as an outsourcing destination and is a country that makes millions from tourism every year. According to newspaper reports the direct cost of the five day action is estimated at over 90 million USD while the indirect cost will only become visible over the next two years. Tourists in the country cannot communicate with the outside world by means of social networks. Many rely on the Internet for fund transfers. Financial institutes and IT related providers as well as mobile operators are hit the hardest. Only the stock exchange and some essential web connections kept operating. If the stock exchange would should down, Egypt could be placed back years in time and development. Egypt relies heavily on the online network for its communication with the outside world, and the shutdown at the very least, demonstrated the danger of giving a state too much power over communication and the Internet.

What Would The Effects Be On South Africa?

If something similar should occur in South Africa, we would be even harder hit than for instance, Kenya, where it is estimated according to some sources that a similar blackout could cause damages of more than Sh5 billion daily. Fund transfers in Kenya, according to the sources, would be the hardest hit.

Numerous companies in South Africa already make extensive use of online cloud storage and collaboration. With the idea of cloud storage being to have a safe haven for the storage of data and backups rather than making use of onsite or offsite facilities, the recent events in Egypt highlight the risks involved with cloud based services. All of a sudden many companies not even operating in Egypt cannot operate to maximum potential. It is an intimidating thought for an enterprise. One action from a foreign country could mean total destruction for an offshore company. If in South Africa, this would happen, millions of Rands would be lost daily. Job losses would follow and the ripple effect could mean disaster for the smaller companies doing business with the giants.

It may sound like a doomsday message, but Egypt’s actions have also shown the way for terrorists who want to stage a coup. Should something similar occur in South Africa, not only the IT organisations, but also the banks, insurers, distance learning facilities, tourism and airline industries would be directly affected. With many businesses making use of the Internet as commerce centre, it would mean a complete halt in the economy. South Africans are perhaps not so reliant on mobile communication networks as for instance, Egypt, but with the growing usage of mobile networks for Internet accessibility and communication, South Africa may become even more vulnerable.

Even simple actions such as making a flight booking or making an online payment whether from mobile or landline, will not be possible. It is doubtful whether it would put us back into the dark ages, but the economical impact would be severe.

The younger generations of South Africans make extensive use of mobile communication and devices also for Internet connectivity. It would be wise for companies to start making back-up plans. For one, cloud storage and services, amazing as can be, should not be the only alternative. Offsite and onsite storage may once again be required. Online banking and ecommerce are two areas which would be severely affected, but at this stage it doesn’t seem as if any contingency plans are in place. Even the retail sector would be severely affected as a large number of their customers pay by means of debit and credit cards. With no linkage to the data centres, only cash transactions would be possible.

When the Egypt government clamped down on social networks and instituted the Internet blockade, nearly 90% access was stopped almost immediately. It is like a vehicle hitting a wall at 100 km per hour. It is sudden and causes severe damage. Businesses and IT organisations need to implement contingency plans fast. Airbags help the passengers and the Internet users need something similar relevant to online communication fast. Businesses and individuals in South Africa will have to distribute their risks.

For individuals, one may suggest keeping some cash at hand as bank lines become long when the Internet transfer and payment options are no longer available. Businesses will have to assess their risks and possible outcomes and make backup plans now such as providing their most important users’ access to satellite based Internet connectivity and mobile communication connection. Satellite communication and connectivity seems a bit more difficult to simply shutdown although possible. It, however, could be used as support plan to delay complete disruption in communication, connectivity, and business activities.

The People’s Republic of China government has already instituted more than 60 Internet regulations and has strict censorship systems in place. According to Amnesty International, the country has the most imprisoned cyber dissidents globally. As a preventative measure, democracies may need to rewrite their laws and constitutions to prevent the government from ever having the right to shutdown the Internet and mobile services. Just about any government in the world today has the right to temporarily block the Internet and telecommunications in light of a threat. The question is what is seen as a national security threat?

The five day blockage of online and mobile types of communication by Egypt has caused damages of around 18 USD a day. If calculated on the GDP level, it is a severe financial loss. South African users, the service providers, and backbone companies need to take note of the event and learn from it to reduce the possible risks involved regarding an Internet and mobile shutdown for South African businesses.