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123-Reg, one of the UK’s leading registrars, is urging companies to think laterally about domain names for their online businesses, as the rise in competing for an online presence reaches an all time high.

The warning comes as the result of recent statistics from online company formation group, Companies Made Simple which shows the sharp rise in online businesses in the past 12 months. In the past year they alone have formed over 150,000 businesses online. The steep rise the UK is seeing in online businesses is perhaps no surprise considering that in the last ten years internet usage around the world has increased dramatically. For example, China had just over two million internet users in 1998 compared with almost 300 million in 2008. Similarly in 1998 there were eight million internet users in Germany and over 60 million ten years later.

However as the internet becomes increasingly populated, businesses are being placed under increasing pressures. Thomas Vollrath, chief executive of 123-Reg explains, “The British economy has seen a significant surge in start-up businesses in the past year, many of which are either solely e-commerce based operations or have a significant need for a web presence.

“I’m sure everyone would agree that the growth of online British businesses should be actively encouraged – an online presence creates great opportunities for organisations to reach and communicate with new audiences. However, as an increasing number of businesses set up online, the internet becomes at risk of domain-overcrowding which presents tremendous threats to businesses. This threat is particularly prevalent for small start-ups that have limited cash flow and now face bigger hurdles than ever before in ensuring they stay ahead of the competition.

“One of the most increasing pressures businesses face in competing for an online presence comes from business owners which are buying more domains and using them for different purposes, such as marketing campaigns for certain products or services to direct to the main site.

“For example, we recently launched a pre-registration for .co domain names which aren’t due to register until 20 July, yet we have already seen thousands of pre-registrations. This high uptake of the new .co domain should act as a warning to businesseses that if they fail to protect their brand by registering under a number of donmain names, they are at risk of competitors hijacking their established brand by registering the name instead.

So what are the options for businesses?

Thomas concludes, “For businesses that are looking to register a domain name and find the name is already taken, there are a number of options available. If the name is a trademark, the trademark owner can pursue it via domain name resolution services which are offered by the domain name registries. However be careful; this could cost hundreds if not thousands of pounds to get back and can take months. Sometimes it can be quicker and cheaper to make a nominal offer to the current owner rather than take legal action.

“If the domain name is not a trademark, a store owner can consider purchasing the domain from the current owner. By using a WHOIS service, details of the domain registrant is shown and the store owner can then contact them with the information provided.

“Finally, think laterally. Not every company needs to end in a .co.uk or .com extension. There is a huge variety of domains available that can enhance a business or play on its brand presence.  We have seen some wonderful, creative ideas from extensions such as .me, .in and .be. Those who need a domain name for a business have the opportunity to be as creative and ingenious as they can allow themselves.”

About 123-reg

123-reg is one of the UK´s top registrars, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.5 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg was voted most popular domain name provider by Domain Directory for five consecutive months during 2009. In April 2010 123-reg UK was voted fourth most popular web host by Web Host Directory and ranked ninth in The Best 10 Web Hosting awards.

www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 (2010) company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Follow 123-reg on Twitter – http://twitter.com/123Reg

About Companies Made Simple

Companies Made Simple offers company formation and company registration services. Having formed over 150,000 companies, the group is the leadning online company formation agent in the UK.

Further information can be found on http://www.companiesmadesimple.com/

Follow Companies Made Simple on Twitter – http://twitter.com/madesimplegroup

A business’ brand is critical to its success, not least because a strong brand can establish and build customer trust and loyalty. This is even more important for growing businesses that have a smaller customer base, as one tarnished customer relationship can have a huge impact on the whole business.

Establishing a business is hard enough, particularly in today’s competitive climate, but in this digital age building a reputable company is made even more challenging by the ease and speed at which people can communicate comments on a business. Even businesses without a web presence can find themselves being talked about on review sites. Online business reviews are even more prevalent with the rise of social media.

It is therefore essential to engage in customer dialogue to collect feedback. By proactively soliciting opinion and strategically responding, a company can significantly enhance its brand and subsequently strengthen customer loyalty.

So, just how can a business collate and use customer feedback to build and protect its brand?

1.Have a direct line of communication that enables customers to easily feed back their questions and comments. A simple email and mail address displayed prominently on your website or other marketing material is sufficient in the first instance.

2.To take customer feedback to the next level, make it easy for customers to communicate their thoughts by using one of the many reputation-management tools available, which can help you track your brand and engage in conversations with customers. Not all tools are online either, so even if your business does not have a website, customer feedback tools can be employed on receipts, invoices, e-mails, and at point of purchase.

3.Customers appreciate their opinions being taken into account, so actively seek their feedback. Conduct a survey on existing customers to gauge their opinion of your business or send out an email asking for their feedback rather than waiting for it.

4.When customers give you positive feedback don’t just sit on it. All too often businesses are quick to react to negative feedback by changing parts of their business, but forget to react to positive feedback by promoting it on their website and other marketing materials.

5.Customers are increasingly using social media to talk about their opinions towards a company or service. There is nothing a business can do to stop this, so the best thing to do is monitor social networking sites and engage with your customers.

Customer feedback can be used in a variety of ways, from substantiating services provided to developing products. Online tools are an easy way of getting connected to your customers and so businesses should make use of their websites.

If your business doesn’t have a website seriously consider getting one. In the meantime at least register a company domain name, this will help you protect your brand as competitors will not be able to register the name.

Neal Creighton, co-founder and CEO of RatePoint, agrees in the importance of small businesses engaging with customers and encouraging their feedback. He says, “In order to know what customers are thinking, businesses have to ask. Previously, the way someone learned about a business was what the company said about themselves. Now they are relying on what others are saying about a company. The social web provides a great opportunity for small businesses to enhance how potential customers find them and build relationships with them. “

Notes to editors

Webfusion has recently launched Ratepoint, an e-marketing tool which helps businesses connect to their customers, making it easier for small businesses to find new customers and build stronger relationships with existing ones. Small businesses using RatePoint can create and manage customer communication and content, as well as integrate into social media from a single platform. For further information please visit: http://www.webfusion.co.uk/webhosting/ratepoint/

About Webfusion
Webfusion Ltd is one of the UK’s leading web hosting groups with 1.4 million hosted websites and 2.5 million registered domains.
Ranked 28th in 2010’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, Webfusion offers cost-effective, feature-rich hosting packages for a diverse customer-base – from web developers, designers and hobbyists to businesses with complex e-commerce operations. Winner of 2009’s SYB Award for Best Small Business Web Hosting Provider, Webfusion’s customers benefit from market-leading security and service including: 24×7 technical support, robust Firewall server protection, one click installation, access to FTP accounts and a state-of-the-art data centre. In April 2010 Webfusion was voted fourth in the Top 10 Hosting Providers in the UK.
The Webfusion group also consists of www.123-reg.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk. For more information, please visit www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk
Follow Webfusion on Twitter – http://twitter.com/webfusionUK

My involvement in the hosting and domain names’ business began over 10 years ago, starting with 1&1 in the UK, and then moving on to set up 1&1 in the USA, whilst continuing to manage the UK business. I returned to the UK in 2007 to head up the Pipex SME Hosting Business, looking after the 123-reg and Webfusion brands amongst others. Over this time, I’ve remained a strong believer in the UK’s position as a leader in the online arena, where I’m proud to have been a part of the rapid innovation and development of this business sector.

Since being given the opportunity at what is now Webfusion Ltd. (incorporated in 2009), I’ve stood by my core belief that we need to work constantly to live up to our ethos of corporate and social responsibility, even if that doesn’t translate immediately into revenue. For example, in response to the growing concern about phishing and spam, I’ve invested in making sure that we work with relevant organisations (public, corporate and industry groups) to stop misuse of our services and protect the UK consumer, as well as those abroad.

I understand that looking from the outside, it might be easy to view 1&1 and Webfusion as faceless, bureaucratic organisations. However, both of these companies have helped promote the uptake of .uk domains and championed affordable hosting, which without doubt have added enormously to the UK economy – and of particular importance in this difficult climate. Far from representing only the interests of a small clique of people within the industry, together we must reflect the broadest possible base of UK internet users, whose success underpins our own, and it’s for this reason that I’m standing.

Nominet is at a crucial point in its lifecycle. Although, as we know, there is the possibility of Government control, it’s my firm belief that .uk has grown so strong precisely because it is not controlled by a public body. In order to maintain and accelerate growth in UK e-business, I believe it’s vital that we maintain the independence that has supported our industrys’ growth so far, and continue the innovation that the UK is rightly known for.

My background in hosting and domains for over more than a decade is there for all to see. I believe my abilities and experience, and my passion for the internet and for e-business, which together have enabled my involvement in several successful businesses, will translate readily to the role of non-executive director at Nominet should I be elected.

As members of Nominet we are answerable to each other, but also to the owners of the millions of domains that we’ve registered. It’s their interests that we should be promoting, and it’s their interests that I will be working to champion should I be elected.

123-Reg customer survey reveals key consideration

123-Reg has just completed a customer survey, receiving responses from over 6,500 customers.  Its findings show that while competitive pricing is an important part of the purchasing decision, the UK’s biggest domain registrar has seen overwhelming feedback that purchasing decisions are based not just on price, but value for money.This market shift is testimony to the way that individuals, communities and small businesses are evaluating which web hosting company to work with and the decision criteria they use in the process.

Thomas Vollrath, chief executive of 123-Reg, warns that buying hosting just on price could be a costly mistake.

The survey highlighted that nearly 60 per cent of consumers make their purchasing decision on price.  This isn’t a surprise for anyone, web hosting has been a vibrant, competitive market for years; but what 123-Reg found is that customers also highlighted factors such as recommendations, products and ease of use as being more influential than price when it came to their purchasing decision.

As consumers, we all want low cost products and services, but the results of the survey have highlighted there is a definite move away from buying just on price.  We believe this is because the way that we use the internet has changed – websites no longer solely belong to the large corporate companies with large budgets for websites.  Individuals, clubs, community associations can now all communicate information to the world, highlighting achievements, conveying information and make calls to action.

In fact, nearly a third of the survey respondents made their purchasing decisions based on the products offered, demonstrating that web hosting companies need to look at the wider needs of customers – they want be able to create websites, with specific email addresses as well as knowing the environment is secure.  They are not designers, they are not tech-savvy – but they have a passion and desire to learn and use the tools.

There are of course many tools that can be downloaded from various parts of the internet, but as any non-expert knows, navigating this minefield without support can cause more problems than solutions.  This becomes critical if those websites are shopping portals.  Payment handling, VAT processing, organising merchant ID and secure certification are all vital for those customers wanting to start an online shop.

We believe it’s down to the hosting providers to evaluate quality products and provide them as part of a package to customers that are embarking on a website journey. Yes, cost is important but adding additional functionality and value will ensure that buying hosting based on its price doesn’t become a costly mistake.

About 123-reg

123-reg is one of the UK´s top registrars, registering every fifth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.5 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg was voted most popular domain name provider by Domain Directory for five consecutive months during 2009. In April 2010 123-reg UK was voted fourth most popular web host by Web Host Directory and ranked ninth in The Best 10 Web Hosting awards.

www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 (2010) company, Webfusion. The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk. www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Follow 123-reg on Twitter - http://twitter.com/123Reg

From today Webfusion is offering its Hosted Exchange solution at half price for the first three months. The solution is designed to provide businesses with improved email functionality whilst reducing the hassle of administration.

Hosted Exchange enables businesses to share large folders, documents, calendars and contacts throughout their organisation whenever and wherever required. As users stay connected to the same Hosted Exchange server, inboxes remain synchronised, regardless of the email client being used.

The solution works immediately on smart phones such as the Apple iPhone using either ActiveSync or IMAP, giving users instant access to company information. Hosted Exchange also offers extra functionality such as BlackBerry and SharePoint services.

In addition to the offer, anyone signing up to the programme before the end of June will also be automatically entered into a prize draw with the chance of winning a netbook.

For further information on the offer visit: http://www.webfusion.co.uk/email/

About Webfusion

Webfusion Ltd is one of the UK’s leading web hosting groups with 1.4 million hosted websites and 2.3 million registered domains.

Ranked 28th in 2010’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, Webfusion offers cost-effective, feature-rich hosting packages for a diverse customer-base – from web developers, designers and hobbyists to businesses with complex e-commerce operations. Winner of 2009’s SYB Award for Best Small Business Web Hosting Provider, Webfusion’s customers benefit from market-leading security and service including: 24×7 technical support, robust Firewall server protection, one click installation, access to FTP accounts and a state-of-the-art data centre.

The Webfusion group also consists of www.123-reg.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk. For more information, please visit www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk

Follow Webfusion on Twitter – http://twitter.com/webfusionUK

For those looking for an Easter bargain that isn’t of the chocolate variety, 123-reg is set to launch an Easter promotion that will tickle the taste buds of internet savvy bargain hunters.

Between 31 March – 8 April the domain name provider is cutting the price of its .info domain name to just £2.88, giving customers a saving of £7.11.

.info domains are ideal for both businesses and consumers looking to promote information on themselves, whether it be a corporate profile to help reach new costumers, or an online cv to advertise your credentials a prospective employer.

For further information on the offer visit: http://123-reg.co.uk/domain-names/easter-promo.shtml

About 123-reg

123-reg is one of the UK´s top registrars, registering every fourth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.3 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg was voted most popular domain name provider by Domain Directory for five consecutive months during 2009.

www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 (2010) company, Webfusion (www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk). The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Follow 123-reg on Twitter – http://twitter.com/123Reg

Host Europe is to grow its virtualisation and reseller business on 1 April 2010 by acquiring the technology, employees and contract customers of vanager GmbH – a specialist in virtualisation. With around 35,000 active virtual servers, Host Europe is the leading virtualisation provider in Europe, striving to be at the forefront of the sector.

The acquisition of vanager’s hosting business is a positive step for all concerned, states Daniel Hagemeier, Managing Partner of vanager GmbH: “We looked for a partner who was strong enough and experienced enough to add value to our business model. Host Europe was our first choice from the very beginning: Our existing customer base will definitely benefit from Host Europe’s know-how and product portfolio.”

With ten employees in its head office in Münster, vanager is a hosting provider that specialises in providing virtual server products. The company has developed its own administration software which helps customers to manage their server. It has a strong focus on the reseller business which has grown rapidly and is seen as an important sector for expansion by Host Europe.

Uwe Braun, Managing Director of Host Europe GmbH, says: “This is an important acquisition for Host Europe and fits perfectly with our longer term strategy for the business. It further improves our market position, expands our range of services and is another step forward towards our goal of becoming one of the largest providers of virtualisation solutions worldwide.”

About Host Europe

Host Europe GmbH is the third largest provider of Internet and hosting services in the German-speaking market with more than 175,000 business and private customers. For over 10 years, Host Europe has provided its customers with high quality hosting products with comprehensive technical support. Companies appreciate the highly secure infrastructure as well as the individually managed hosting solutions for high-availability Internet applications. Host Europe was awarded “Best Internet Hoster 2005”, “Best Host Provider: Business Customers 2007” and “Best Data Center Operator 2009” by eco – the German Internet Business Association. In 2008, Host Europe was honored for its sustainable business practices with the “Sustainable SME” award from Germany’s Ethikbank. In 2009, Host Europe was awared the label of “Good Practice in Energy Efficiency” by the German Energy Agency (dena) for its “green” data computing center. In the UK Host Europe’s sister company is Webfusion Ltd. (www.webfusion.co.uk)

A survey conducted by Britain’s largest domain name registrar 123-Reg, shows that amongst 16-34 year olds St Patrick’s Day is the most celebrated patron saint’s day in the UK.

Of those surveyed, 44 per cent of 16-34 year olds said they will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day this year, whilst only 34 per cent will celebrate St George’s Day, 13 per cent St Andrew’s Day and 9 per cent celebrated St David’s Day.

However, despite overshadowing St George in the celebrations of patron saints, research by 123-Reg also showed that St Patrick’s Day is only the third most popular celebration in the UK compared with other holidays from around the globe.

55 per cent of respondents aged 16-34 said Mother’s Day, which originates from Greece, was the most important holiday from around the globe, 19 per cent opted for American holiday Halloween, whilst 8 per cent voted for St Patrick’s Day.

Thomas Vollrath, chief executive of 123-Reg comments, “There is a large emphasis on Mother’s Day in the UK, and so perhaps it’s no surprise that this celebration is seen as so important. However, St Patrick’s Day was voted as being a more important celebration than well-recognised holidays such as Father’s Day and Thanksgiving – this demonstrates just how highly regarded St Patrick’s Day is here in the UK.

“One of the most popular domain names we sell to 16 – 34 year olds is the .me, which is a domain name associated with personal and friendly websites. With the Irish often being referred to as one of the friendliest nations, it seems fitting that this age group is so keen to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.”

To add to this year’s St Patrick‘s Day celebrations, 123-Reg is offering .me domain names for £4.44 between 15 – 19 March, a saving of £10.55.

About 123-reg

123-reg is one of the UK´s top registrars, registering every fourth .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.3 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg was voted most popular domain name provider by Domain Directory for five consecutive months during 2009.

www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 (2010) company, Webfusion (www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk). The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Follow 123-reg on Twitter – http://twitter.com/123Reg

As the UK heads out of one of the worst recessions on record, Britain’s largest domain name registrar 123-Reg, is urging businesses to consider the risks of failing to register a domain name in a country which they may consider trading in as their business expands.

This comes following a survey, conducted by 123-Reg, which highlighted that 78 per cent of consumers are less likely to buy from a website if its domain name doesn’t end in their country’s code (.co.uk for the UK, .pl for Poland).  Of the consumers surveyed, 41 per cent said the reason for this was concerns over being able to resolve order issues as easily, should they arise. This was followed by 25 per cent of people surveyed who said fears surrounding payment security would prevent them buying from a website that didn’t end in their country’s extension.

Thomas Vollrath, chief executive of 123-Reg explains, “Many small businesses that have survived the recent economic downturn, may be looking to widen the net by tapping into fast growth nations such as Mexico and India. But if they fail to register a localised domain name, there’s nothing stopping a competitor from snapping up your company’s domain name and potentially damaging your brand’s reputation. In addition, as the survey results have indicated, businesses trading abroad could also risk being overlooked by potential customers, who we know prefer to buy from websites which correspond with the country they live in.”

In the last ten years internet usage around the world has increased dramatically. For example China, which has the strongest country code domain (.cn), had just over 2 million internet users in 1998 compared with almost 300 million in 2008. Similarly in 1998 there were 8 million internet users in Germany, which has the second strongest country code domain (.de), and over 60 million ten years later.

Thomas Vollrath concludes, “The rapid growth of internet users across the globe in the last decade has created great opportunities for businesses, however these businesses risk alienating customers and damaging the strength of their brands if their websites end in extensions that do not correspond with the country they’re trading in – for example .mx for Mexico, .pl for Poland and .in for India. A .co.uk domain name is a must have for any British business but developing your domain name portfolio to ensure your web address has a registered country code for each country you’re trading in, or may trade in in the future, is a savvy and cost effective way to ensure your brand isn’t confused or website overlooked. And with global domains from £14.99 per year, it makes smart business sense.”

Other reasons for avoiding making a purchase from a website ending in a foreign domain included concerns over return policies (10 per cent) and a desire to support their own country’s economy (7 per cent). .

About 123-reg

123-reg is one of the UK´s top registrars, registering every fourth  .co.uk domain. It leads the market in both domain name registration (2.3 million domains) and web hosting solutions. With extensive experience of the industry, the company is able to offer high quality, technically advanced yet cost-effective products to a wide range of customers. 123-reg was voted most popular domain name provider by Domain Directory for five consecutive months during 2009.

www.123-reg.co.uk is part of the UK’s leading web hosting group and Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 (2010) company, Webfusion (www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk). The group also consists of www.webfusion.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk, each making every step of setting up online as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Follow 123-reg on Twitter – http://twitter.com/123Reg

Leading hosting provider sails through economic storm with dedicated focus on customer service

08 February 2010 – Leading webhosting provider, Webfusion, has today been ranked 28th in the Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 league table, designed to highlight Britain’s 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits (EBITDA).

Webfusion, which is the only hosting industry representative to be featured within the league table, is one of the UK’s leading web hosting groups with 1.4 million hosted websites and 2.2 million registered domains. Despite the recession, and at a time when other companies were cutting costs to stay afloat, Webfusion grew its business model, adding more products to its portfolio and strengthening its market share by investing in infrastructure and expanding headcount.

In addition, Webfusion invested in training and developing its UK based support teams to set higher service level standards and created a dedicated social media liaison officer to engage with customers through websites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Thomas Vollrath, managing director of Webfusion explains, “We are thrilled to be ranked 28th within The Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, which is a hugely prestigious recognition of our efforts throughout one of the most challenging economic years on record. Where many companies have been trying to do more with less, cutting costs and reducing standards to weather the storm, we’ve taken a different and more risky approach by investing in our service offerings and improving customer support. And it certainly seems to have paid off.

“We have been working closely with our sister company Host Europe to ensure that our combined resources deliver an industry leading product portfolio ranging from domains all the way to virtualised servers and customised managed hosting. We remain dedicated to the millions of customers whose web presence relies on us.”
The average Buyout Track 100 company has profit growth ranging from 15 per cent pa to 140 per cent pa, with profits ranging between £3m and £50m; sales ranging between £20m and £1bn; and at least 20 per cent of the of listed companies are owned.

Buyout Track 100 is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each February, with an awards event in March and regional dinners throughout the year.

About Webfusion
Webfusion Ltd is one of the UK’s leading web hosting groups with 1.4 million hosted websites and 2.2 million registered domains.

Ranked 28th in 2010’s Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, Webfusion offers cost-effective, feature-rich hosting packages for a diverse customer-base – from web developers, designers and hobbyists to businesses with complex e-commerce operations. Winner of 2009’s SYB Award for Best Small Business Web Hosting Provider, Webfusion’s customers benefit from market-leading security and service including: 24×7 technical support, robust Firewall server protection, one click installation, access to FTP accounts and a state-of-the-art data centre.

The Webfusion group also consists of www.123-reg.co.uk, www.donhost.co.uk and www.supanames.co.uk. For more information, please visit www.corporate.webfusion.co.uk

Follow Webfusion on Twitter – http://twitter.com/webfusionUK