External connection for top-line data centers upgraded to 120 Gigabit/sec+ & bandwidth of European ring quadrupled. Cost benefits through switch to Ethernet technology and new peerings.

Philadelphia, PA January 21, 2008 — 1&1 Internet Inc., the world’s largest web host by known servers, today completed a comprehensive extension of its wide area network (WAN). An overall bandwidth of more than 120 Gigabit/second is now available for 1&1’s top-of-the-line data centers in Europe and the United States. For the first time, 1&1 is connected directly to a large Internet Exchange point outside of Europe at Equinix in Chicago. The development means that the external connectivity of the world’s largest web host has tripled over the past twelve months.

Andreas Gauger, chairman of the board, 1&1 Internet Inc., said, “With the upgrade of our Internet bandwidth, our millions of web hosting customers in Europe and the U.S. can be sure that their content will reach Internet users worldwide even faster and more reliably. As a result of multimedia applications like video streaming, the demand for bandwidth has grown enormously over the last few years.” The data volume transmitted from 1&1’s data centers has in fact nearly doubled over the past year to 3,500 Terabytes (3.5 million Gigabytes) in January 2007, from 6,500 Terabytes in December 2007.

“The continuous upgrade of 1&1’s data network shows that despite pessimistic forecasts from some, the boundaries of Internet growth have not yet been reached,” adds Gauger.

In November, U.S. research company, Nemertes, warned in a well known study that Internet infrastructure might no longer supply the growing demands of private and business users over the next 3 to 5 years. With its latest network upgrades and further measures planned for 2008, 1&1 feels well prepared for continuously growing demand.

Over the next year, 1&1 will focus on extending its U.S. network. In Chicago, at Equinix, 1&1 is for the first time connected to a large Internet Exchange point outside of Europe. In March, 1&1 will more than double the external connectivity of its Lenexa, Kansas data center. With more than 600,000 customers, 1&1 is presently the fifth-largest web host in the U.S. market.

Besides the upgrade of its wide area network, 1&1 has also made changes to its underlying technology. Instead of SDH (Synchronous Digital Hierarchy), now Ethernet technology - well-known from corporate and home networks - is being utilized. “Ethernet can be handled more easily, and by switching to powerful routers from U.S. based manufacturer Foundry Networks, we can even save money,” comments Andreas Gauger. 1&1 benefits from an additional cost saving potential through the network extension, as data streams can be distributed optimally through new peerings and routing alternatives.

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eWayDirect has partnered with Return Path to provide increased information about email deliverability to eWayDirect clients, arming them to fight spam filters and achieve high inbox deliverability scores.

Southport, CT January 18, 2008 — eWayDirect, Inc., a leader in emessaging and search marketing, announces a licensing agreement to include Return Path’s Delivery Assurance Services with eWayDirect’s full-service emessaging agreements - and at no extra charge to client companies.

“This agreement gives eWayDirect clients a distinct advantage,” says Neil Rosen, president and CEO of eWayDirect. “Now every client knows exactly what went into inboxes, what went into bulk folders, and what was dropped or is missing.”

Significant services come with the agreement, delivering substantial benefits to eWayDirect clients. The campaign preview allows users to see what campaigns will look like across primary ISPs, mail readers, and web browsers prior to delivery, allowing eWayDirect to pass information back to the client about creative and the visibility of calls to action. The reputation monitor and sender score tool help clients understand their email reputations and the factors contributing to those reputations by aggregating more than 60 different data elements from email receivers to compile a composite reputation score.

The mailbox monitor tracks inbox email deliverability by ISP and provides both summary and detail reporting. “Now every eWayDirect client knows exactly what is happening to their email,” says Rosen. “They know what was delivered, what wasn’t, and why.”

Finally, the blacklist alert continuously monitors all outbound mail server addresses and enables drilling down into exact causes and taking corrective actions.

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iomart, the datacentre operating and web hosting business is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to handle all aspects of the customer web platform service offered by business broadband provider UK Online.

Glasgow, UK January 16, 2008 — iomart, the datacentre operating and web hosting business is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to handle all aspects of the customer web platform service offered by business broadband provider UK Online.

Under the three-year contract, iomart will provide hosting, infrastructure and ongoing management of a web services platform to UK Online, to allow the BSkyB-owned business to offer a comprehensive range of domain name, web hosting and related services to its small business and professional user customer base.

iomart’s own data centre network - with state-of-the-art facilities in Glasgow, Nottingham, Leicester and the City of London - will guarantee UK Online a fully secure and resilient hosting services platform. This managed web service platform will allow UK Online to offer its customers a complete end-to-end e-commerce solution.

Using a secure web-based control centre, UK Online’s customers will be able to purchase everything that they need to build, host, maintain and market professional websites. The services that iomart will provide UK Online include domain name registration, web hosting packages, easy to build web sites and search engine marketing tools.

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Invesp, a marketing consulting boutique that offers conversion optimization services, announced that its clients had an average conversion rate of 11.12 percent in 2007, which translates into an increase of up to 321 percent in online revenue.

Detroit, MI January 14, 2008 — Most large online companies have reported a soar in their sales. Companies with significant web presences such as Amazon, Bestbuy and Motorola were able to drive hundreds of thousands of visitors to their sites and as a result reported double digit growth in sales. Other e-commerce sites do not have such brand awareness and are not enjoying the same revenue growth. Most of these sites are turning to conversion optimization companies to help them boost sales. Invesp, a marketing consulting boutique, announced that its clients had an average conversion rate of 11.12 percent in 2007 reporting an increase of up to 321 percent in online revenue.

The fact is that at the heart of every ecommerce website is someone whose job is to increase revenue. As there is an increased pressure on online retailers to generate more sales, these sites are trying to figure out ways to convert more of their traffic into actual consumers, which is why it is crucial to focus on conversion rates. Data tracked by Invesp Consulting, a marketing optimization company, indicates that online conversion rates have been on a steady decline for the last 6 years. Fireclick index, which provides an objective comparison of key metrics across a variety of segments, reported that ecommerce website reported an average conversion rate of 6 percent in the year 2000, but by 2007, most ecommerce sites are reporting an average less than 2 percent.

Surprisingly, these rates have not always been this low. Ecommerce sites used to experience more sales because of limited competition. They were not required to be optimized nor designed with users in mind. But with the boom in e-retailing sites, competition is fierce. Sites are turning to conversion optimization methods with one goal in mind: trying to figure out the best way to increase online conversions.

And companies should be concerned with conversions since there are more users than ever online. Users are picky, if the site does not capture their attention because of the lack of optimization and focus, they will click out within seconds. That translates into hundreds of dollars in lost sales.

For an ecommerce site driving 50,000 visitors a day, a 2 percent conversion rate may suffice. But, conversion rate doesn’t have to stop at that low number. Ayat Shukairy, a managing partner at Invesp Consulting (www.invesp.com), says, “if you’ve already invested hundreds of thousands into your online platform, you are getting tens of thousands of visitors to your site every day. Increasing your website conversion rate can mean getting 1,000 orders instead of 500 orders. Our clients are reporting an average of 11 percent conversion rate. That translates into 321 percent increase in revenue. If companies do not fix the problem with their website, then they are simply leaving money on the table for competitors to take.”

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Strategic Marketing Agency Offers Expert Tips to Improve the Content of Corporate Web Sites

East Northport, NY January 14, 2008 — Does your web site content reflect your company’s brand story today? Or does it just use the same content as your old brochures? Are you greeting your site visitors with the tone you want to reflect your corporate personality? Communication Strategy Group, a strategic marketing agency, enables marketers and web designers to develop strong brand content for web sites and other collateral, so your content matches the design of your web and marketing materials, providing a more compelling brand experience for your customers.

The agency has also developed a set of Expert Tips for Marketers and Web Designers to Make Corporate Web Sites Tell a Better Sounding Story to help marketers and web designer build a better web site experience.

“Communication Strategy Group supports growing technology and professional services companies through strategic public relations, marketing collateral development, brand evaluations and executive media and presentation coaching. We help companies develop and deliver strong brand stories - We call it Brandtelling™,” says Arthur Germain, Communication Strategy Group principal. “In our work with marketers and web designers we have been able to develop content that creatively articulates brands to more strongly reflect their visual elements.”

Three Expert Tips for Marketers and Web Designers to Make Corporate Web Sites Tell a Better Sounding Story:

Tip #1: Sell it the way your customer wants to buy it.
You may like calling your product an “air and brush-driven consumer cleaning technology” but your customers call it a vacuum. Use terms your customers expect to see when they come to your web site.

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