Lanzarote Google searches
We found this summary on how people are searching on the three main resorts of Lanzarote quite interesting. Does it reflect the popularity of the respective resorts in general terms?
The following relates to searches on Google through the month of November 2008.
Playa Blanca Lanzarote – 27,100
Costa Teguise Lanzarote – 14,800
Puerto del Carmen Lanzarote 12,100
Using Skype
We’ve been big fans of Skype for a long time since back in the have a found it an absolute must have since living in Lanzarote, for both work and keeping in touch with family and friends.
Skype to Skype calls and video calls are free, as is the messaging, but what we like most about it is the cheap phone calls. At the time of writing this we currently pay é0.17 to call landlines in the UK and US on pay-as-you-go.
Also, just recently Skype has introduced a flat monthly rate of €3.95 for unlimited calls to landlines within Europe which seems like a damned good deal to us!
If you don’t already have a Skype installed you can download the free software.
Lanzarote Virtual Tour
As well as viewing some of the work of 360Turismo – one of our – on their website, they have recently set up a virtual tour of Lanzarote on viewAt.org it really is well worth a look at. As well as giving an idea of their capabilities – it is a very impressive way to see the island if your interest is more general.
We answer our critic…!
We were highly amused to receive the following comments from an anonymous source…
It’s all rather pathetic, but entertained us nonetheless. Of course we could easily have deleted these messages but thought instead, for the amusement of our visitors it might be more entertaining to respond.
To set the scene here’s how ‘Bob’ came to visit our site (from a UK IP address)…
First off, ‘Bob’ visited Google and did a search for Elle Draper which landed them on Elle’s personal Blog (unlikely behaviour for a random ‘Bob’ in Cyprus) and viewed 4 pages over 24 minutes
From that ‘Bob’ then clicked a link to another Blog site of ours about moving to Lanzarote, he viewed 5 pages in there over a couple of minutes, before finding a link to this website.
After hitting this site ‘Bob’ viewed 28 pages over the course of 22 minutes!
The first message was this one in response to our article entitled ‘Internet Thieves…’ (profanities have been removed, which is the only change made to the originals) Our answers follow…
Author : Bob (IP: 90.194.38.250 , 5ac226fa.bb.sky.com)
E-mail : bob@bobstuff.com
URL :
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=90.194.38.250
Comment:
What a load of fu**ing rubbish. You are just promoting a poxy little business on a rock in the middle of fu**ing nowhere. How many web designers are on your sh**ty island? JUST YOU at a guess (or I bet that’s what you claim!). Jeez … little fish in a little pond slagging off anyone trying to make a living? You c**ts make me sick … if you are going to use negative marketing it isn’t a good advert for you and this sort of prose just makes you come across as a very small outfit trying to build a reputation quickly by appearing knowledgeable and smart. F*CK you’ve only been in business for what .. 18 months??? I live in Cyprus and we see twats like you arrive here all the time … big ideas, big mouths, and gone in three years. TW*T.
There’s not really much to comment on is there with the first message? Nothing more than a string of insults…. The second comment, below, was in response to an article called How not to build a website.
Author : Bob (IP: 90.194.38.250 , 5ac226fa.bb.sky.com)
E-mail : bob@bobstuff.com
URL :
Whois : http://ws.arin.net/cgi-bin/whois.pl?queryinput=90.194.38.250
Comment:
Go on then .. name a reputable competitor .. still get the feeling you are the only company there and you won’t recommend a genuine competitor…. cyprus has twenty good companies … how many you got there? Still reads like it’s just you and you are trying to stop anyone else getting a foot in “your” market … point me to a URL I can trust and I’ll get a quote from both of you. I’ve got three in mind on the island for my new estate agency … are you telling me via your page that you are the only one … or you have done a deal to get a cut from the “competitor” (who is probably a business partner of yours) you recommend .. come on … have it out on a public page not a “private email”.
You come across as protectionist and arrogrant – name your competitors so your potential clients can make a fair “online” comparison. BTW- stop bleating about search engines when your competitors seem to be higher than you (even golanzarote.com scores higher than you!)
Anyone else ?
Okay, now we actually have some comments that amount to more than a string of insults so we’ll answer the key points directly to ‘Bob’.
- If someone wasn´t coming to us we´d suggest Timanfrae Media. We have NO financial arrangements with them or anyone else. Not sure how you conduct business ‘Bob’, but we pride ourselves on our professionalism.
- Yes, there are few good web companies here, and many people who do it part time.
- In number one on this list we answered your request for us to point you at a reputable alternative, can we look forward to receiving your quote then?
- Now here´s where we got confused – you say you are looking for two web design companies to quote you for an estate agency website, so presumably you’re opening up as an estate agent here in Lanzarote if you are looking at web designers in Lanzarote. In your other message you referred to our island as a shit*y little rock in the middle of nowhere? Hardly the attitude for a prospective Estate Agent is it? Not sure that’s the way to sell houses.
- As regards to the comment about us appearing big in our little market – we must be doing something right! Thanks for the compliment… If you care to look at our portfolio ‘Bob’ you may see that our clients tend to like our style of business – our profile has a knock on effect for them.
- We make no apology for what you describe as ‘protectionist and arrogant’. We welcome healthy competition, it provides us the opportunity to prove our promises are more than just words. Again ‘Bob’, look at the portfolio on our Gandy-Draper site. Our clients love us – which isn’t something we feel warrants an apology!
- On the same note, nor can we find it in ourselves to apologize for appearing ‘knowledgable and smart’. Thank you again for the compliment ‘Bob’!
- We don’t really see the point you are trying to make about searches as any of the following searches – Lanzarote web design, web design Lanzarote, Search Engine Optimisation Lanzarote, Search Engine Optimization Lanzarote will usually put us within the top five , and you may find one or more of our other sites on the first pages too.
- The mention of golanzarote.com (who as an information site is not a competitor) suggest more than a passing interest in Lanzarote.
The big question now is, who is ‘Bob’ in ‘Cyprus’. Anyone got any ideas?
- Is he Elle’s stalker?
- Is it just an attack on us for whatever reason, be that business or personal?
- Is he one of the competitors with a poor reputation elsewhere?
- Is he a ‘wannabe’ planning to move to island and trying to mix things up?
- Is he one of the sharks in Lanzarote we have talked about elsewhere?
- Is he actually ‘Bob’ in Cyprus? (In which case why is his original search on the name of Elle Draper? And, why would he be so sad as to post such comments on the site of a web design company on, in his words, a “shi*ty little island”. “a rock in the middle of fu**ing nowhere”, thousands of miles away?)
- Is he something or someone else? We’d love to hear your ideas…
You decide…! 🙂
How not to build a website!
The World’s Worst Website has long been a personal favourite, and we often revisit it when we need a laugh. We’ve been reminded of it recently by a site of a ‘competitor‘ (the term competitor is used very loosely) that frankly breaks just about every rule in the book!
We’ve written previously about what you should look for in a web designer so hopefully if you’ve followed our advice you’ll have managed to avoid them. The site is, without exaggeration, hilarious – if you find it you´ll know which one we are talking about. For rather obvious reasons we haven’t included a link to it… (but ask us nicely and we might email you the address)
To remind you of what we stressed on our home page, should you choose not to use Gandy-Draper for any reason, we would rather point you at our more reputable competitors…
Telefonica Domo phone and router manuals
One of the things Telefonica users in Lanzarote (and the rest of Spain) have difficulty finding is manuals, in English, for the Domo phone and routers that are provided on connection. Telefonica don’t supply them in English – much like they don’t readily supply technical support in English either. Customer service, especially to a large minority group like the English speakers in Spain, is not top of their priority list! No doubt this kind of exclusion, were it in the UK, is most probably illegal in this day and age! Continue reading
Does my company really need a website?
The easy and simple answer is “Yes – without a doubt!” But why? Here are just three reasons why a website is a must for any serious business.
Accessibility
You know what it’s like. You’ve been at work all day, or you’ve been taxi-ing the kids around to and from school, footie lessons, friends’ houses etc – and before you know it, you’re back at home and it’s far too late to visit a shop, or talk to a call centre (if you even wanted to). So you click on the computer, and start surfing to see what you can find. A website ensures that your business is available to prospective customers at all times – even if you personally are not. In a short time, your prospective customers can have found out all about you, your services, how to get more information, dropped you an enquiry, or even bought your products – all while you snooze in front of the telly… or are sipping wine with friends on the terrace.
Customers will speak to YOU!
How many times have you searched through an online directory, looking for something specific, and then are faced with rows of telephone numbers. Then a supplier with a website is in the list – human nature dictates that you will click on that because straight away you can find out more information without having to pick up a phone, or drive to their premises. Well, you’re not alone… Don’t you think your customers would do the same?
Increase your customer base
No matter whether you are doing business on a local level, or gaining clients internationally, a website can help you reach out to more people. It would be lovely if we had enough money to advertise in every publication in the world, flypost every flat surface in every country, or have your logo emblazoned on every vehicle ever driven, have our image blasting on every television channel ever broadcasting – but life just isn’t like that. And hey, if you had enough money to do that, you’d be retiring to yout luxury yacht and supping margheritas. What a website can do for you is the next best thing. With the internet, there are no national borders, no geographical limitaions – you’re are simply in the place caled “online”. Perhaps you have a new offer coming up – get it on your website, and you are automatically advertising worldwide. Planning a new range? Then your website can display that for you across all the compass points.
Of course there are many many more reasons to have a website – but even with just these… can you afford not to?
Telefonica
Being a web designer in Lanzarote is much the same as being a web designer in the UK, but for one thing, the scourge of all Internet users on the island. Telefonica. One simple word that makes the blood of many an ex-pat boil.