UK online gambling companies in particular have chosen to relocate to Gibraltar. This came as no surprise since the UK has no intention to change its current tax rate to accommodate betting companies such as Ladbrokes, William Hill, Betfred, Bet365 etc

The tax rate for betting operation in Gibraltar is 1% of the turnover with a cap of £425,000 per annum. For Internet casinos, tax is 1% of the gross product.

Tax is not the only reason why UK Gambling companies relocate to Gibraltar. There is of course the added benefits of sunny weather and Mediterranean lifestyle.

In addition to this, UK companies can benefit from the following:

• British pound sterling is the official currency.
• Gibraltar is the only UK overseas territory that is part of the EU
• Income tax is lower than the UK
• Employment TAX is similar to Gibraltar’s
• English is the official language
• Non resident companies do not pay, capital gains tax, gift tax, wealth tax, estate taxes or VAT

It really isn’t much of a gamble is it?

All gambling companies come under the remit of the Gambling Act 2005 and are regulated by the Gibraltar Regulated Authority. For further information and licensing requirement please refer to Gibraltar Regulated Authority.

I recently read an article in the Telegraph that said that according to security analysts, terrorist networks use online gambling websites to launder money for attacks.  Being interested in anything to do with the Internet or online companies for that matter, I decided it was worth doing some research on the subject.

Here are some interesting facts that I found which I thought would be of interest to online companies in Gibraltar which may or may not already be aware:

• Online Gambling websites can be used to launder money by transferring illegal funds to an inside source and by playing until the target amount is spent.
• By programming online gaming software to identify certain passwords or usernames and to automatically deduct a percentage of the deposit amount and disguise it as a gaming loss.
• An online gambling employee could arrange to transfer illegal funds to a gambler by rigging the game until the targeted amount is won.

Other tricks that online gambling companies should look out for is to open an account under a false name with the online company and deposit the illegal funds. Then so that the online administrators do not suspect any dodgy play, they deliberately lose a few games and then request the account be close and withdraw the balance.

Another method that could be used is to open several online gambling accounts in various jurisdictions and deposit the maximum amount in each account and as above after a few losses withdraw the balance and transfer the remainder of the funds to a credit institution or back as legitimate winnings.

A Business owner in Gibraltar asked me the other day “Do I really need SEO?”

Honestly, some people talk about SEO as if they were out window shopping. “ Do I really need another pair of black shoes?”
If this is how you think then you are completely missing the point. SEO is not simply an additional accessory on your website. You need to ask yourself:

• Do you want more traffic on your website?
• Do you want to rank on the first page of Google?
• Do you want people to read about your products and services?
• Do you want people to find your website above millions of others?
• Do you want to constantly obtain traffic?

If your answer to the above is yes then you do need SEO.

In essence, with SEO you are making your products visible on the web to the right audience by targeting chosen key words. If you were a food distributer or sales agent and you wanted to market your products and you would carefully choose the supermarkets you want to sell your products in and convince the owners that your products are good. The first step would be to make your products visible in the supermarket. SEO is the same but instead of becoming visible in supermarkets you have to become visible to users on the Search Engines.

This is a video of some popular searches of 2010. Watch the most search terms of 2010.

Brief History of Business Catalyst

Business Catalyst, the company behind GoodBarry e-commerce software suite, was acquired by Adobe about a year ago. Adobe turned Business Catalyst into a one-stop solution for Content Management, e-commerce, Email Marketing, CRM and Web Analytics. This was one of many steps Adobe took to enter online hosted applications business.

What is Business Catalyst

Business Catalyst is a hosted Content Management System by Adobe for freelancers and individuals. It does not only provide online website maintenance but also provides e-commerce, CRM and easy to use Online Marketing Tools. It allows users to create Blogs, Forums, Simple online stores, websites, customer database and email marketing campaigns. Adobe calls it “Online Business” and makes it relatively easy to start a business online. However it does not come free.

This does not stop hundreds of freelancers from using it. There is also a free plan that comes with most of the functions however users can not white label this plan. Freelancer gets a commission on their clients’ web hosting fees, and they can also set their own pricing. However it does not currently support Multiple Languages on Frontend nor Admin zone. There are also SEO issues such as hosting server location might not be same as user’s target audience, not all the links are Search Engine Friendly  and pages are not fully crawlable.

Pros:

• Very easy to use and learn
• Widely used by freelancers, new graduates and individuals
• Free to use Templates
• Easy to Re-Brand on Paid Plans
• Online Video Guides
• Online Business Wiki

Cons:

• Unreliable Website and Email Hosting
• Reports are not accurate
• Unattractive Templates
• Links are Not SEO Friendly
• eCommerce requires programming
• Not fully indexable by Search Engines
• Plans are expensive

Business Catalyst Dashboard

Conclusion:

Business Catalyst definitely has many functions however it is some how limited for the mid and high-end users. It does not, for example, allow users to import/export products/orders in a compatible format with other systems, it is not updated regularly and mostly importantly everyday users find Business Catalyst over complicated. Business Catalyst is really for those who has limited knowledge in web design and SEO.

If you’re looking for more capable marketing tools, such as search engine optimization, lead automation and nurturing and an easier to use Content Management System or an ecommerce solution, Contact Us for a free advice or quote. Freelancers requiring more control over features and functionality should consider an open source CMS or proper eCommerce Solutions.