Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Many thanks to all our customers and suppliers for helping us to build a very successful group of sites. As a family run business, we pride ourselves on customer service and the excellent price of the goods we offer. You have all helped tremendously with your comments and of course the avalanche of orders that you have placed with us over the last twelve months.

We have a lot of surprises lined up for 2008 including new ecommerce sites, an online .tv channel that will include useful (and some humorous) video clips and provide a forum for you all to share ideas.

Our SEO experts at Blueclaw continue to shine with the keyword "Bins" reaching number one spot, ahead of Amazon amongst 31,900,000 returned results - now I call that a great result!!!

We are also looking at sending more emails primarily aimed at providing useful hints and tips rather that trying to sell product. We have spent many years in the trade fitting the products we sell so its about time we started passing our knowledge on to you more frequently.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to plug (a dirty word I know) our new wood turner, Mick Hanbury.

Handturned knobs are sold on Kitchen Door Handles and they are simply exquisite. Any design, size or timber can be catered for and, although expensive, words cannot describe the difference these make to a kitchen of piece of furniture. We will be greatly expanding the range in 2008 and will even start to offer knobs turned from Corian to match the worksurface that you choose - how cool is that!

Anyway thats all for now so enjoy the Christmas break and we look forward to talking to you in the New Year.

Latest News..

A customer recently commented that I had not updated the blog for a while so here goes...

We are in the final stages of completely revamping www.diyessentials.com which will give us some great new tools for promoting products. There will also be a complete facelift before Christmas giving a fresh new look to the site and making it even easier to navigate.

We have been investing heavily in Search Engine Optimisation which I am happy to report is working extremely well. I had a quick peek at the performance of one of our keywords tonight in Google. The keyword is Bins and we rank 1 in Google amongst 19,500,000 results.

Across the group we are now getting in excess of 50,000 unique visitors per month so a big thank you has to go to Fergus at Blueclaw for his continued efforts.

We are also looking at starting a newsletter rather than sending out special offer emails. The newsletter will contain offers but will also feature some real life stories about projects that customers have undertaken, what problems they have had and how they have overcome them.

Our latest site www.kitchen-storage.co.uk has taken off in a big way. It still needs a lot of work but with over 4,000 kitchen related products to choose from it is a must visit for anyone looking at putting in a new kitchen or revamping an existing one.

Thats all for now but keep watching this space as there is some VERY exciting news just around the corner...

The Magic Twin

Once again Vauth Sagel have come up trumps with a fantastic innovative solution to the problem of getting to the back of the blind corner in a kitchen.

Superbly manufactured and simplicity itself to fit the Twin consists of two independent shelves that smoothly pull out of the cupboard.

With polished chrome rails and a solid, easy to clean base the system is very simple to use and does not require any effort to be withdrawn from the cabinet. I have just installed one for my 83 year old aunt and she has no trouble swinging the system out from the cupboard.

The system is very similar to the Le Mans system and there is a video here showing it in action.

It is on sale from only£132.19 which represents fantastic value for money.

Anyway happy shopping and if you need any more information please call 0800 389 9732.

Easy Cargo - New Bins From Hailo

Just in...

Only available from binsforkitchens...

Customers have been requesting an integrated kitchen bin than just has a single bin and not multiple bins currently found in most models. Our friends from Germany, Hailo, have come up with the ideal solution.

Featured on the right, the single 40litre bin with an integrated shelf is ideal for those families looking for a large capacity bin. Only £128.32 including VAT and Delivery.

The bins have been stress tested by opening and closing them 100,000 times and as you would expect have been superbly manufactured.

The option featured on the left here is ideal for situations where pipes are restricting the space available for the bin, such as under the sink. This bin has an installed height of only 455mm making it an ideal solution. Only £144.33 including VAT and Delivery.

A detailed PDF of the specifications can be downloaded here.

Any questions just call us on 0800 389 9732.

Magic Corner - The Video

Following on from my last post we now have a video demonstrating just how good the Vauth-Sagel Magic Corner really is.

The video shows how simple the corner is to fit and also demonstrates why this german manufactured magic corner is better than the competition.

DIY Essentials has some fantastic prices for the various different types and as an added bonus delivery is free to Mainland UK and all storage units are supplied with free soft close dampers.

The Magic of Magic Corners

What on earth is he on about now I hear you all cry. Well we have just added an extensive range of Magic Corners to diyessentials.com and are very excited about this new addition to the vast range of kitchen accessories that we already offer.

Magic Corners solve that vexing problem that is found in most kitchens - how do I make best use of the space in the corner cupboard. We have all had kitchens where the back of the corner cupboard always seems to have the magic must have ingredient that you need in a hurry. So you get down on your hands and knees, empty the cupboard to get said magic ingredient to find it is a year out of date so you have to go to the shop anyway.

Our Magic Corners are manufactured by Vauth Sagel - a German company with a reputation for high quality product.

Probably the first point to make is what are the main differences between the four types of Magic Corners we feature on the site?

1. Linear Wire Baskets - As this suggests the mesh in the basket all lies in the same direction. This is illustrated in the picture above. If the cupboard is to be used for objects with large bases such as saucepans, then this type is fine.
   
2. Mesh Wire Baskets are far better as smaller objects will not topple over as the cupboard is opened and closed.
3. The delux option has a solid melamine base that is very strong and simple to keep clean.
4. And finally the budget option has a linear basket but rather than being constructed from heavy duty chrome, they are spray painted in silver which after a few years does tend to wear.

How do they work?

Simply open the corner cupboard door and as you do so the bank of storage baskets behind the door come out of the unit with the door. The second bank of storage baskets then moves into the position that was previously occupied by the first set of storage baskets - and like Magic, you now have complete access to the entire contents of the cupboard - brilliant!

What do I need to look out for when choosing a system?

Ask what type of baskets you are getting for your money. Many of the cheaper corners are made in China and are of the silver painted variety. They also probably won't take a lot of weight, so if you fill them with pans they will tend to sag and ultimately fail.

If you need more information look at the site or download our catalogue page which has all the details you need. And I almost forgot to mention, all our units come with soft close as standard.

Farrow & Ball Painted Kitchen Door Knobs

We are really excited at Kitchen-DoorHandles.co.uk as we have just launched a brand new product range. For some time customers have been asking for a service that would allow them to choose a colour for their kitchen door knobs.

We have decided to use the Farrow & Ball range of high quality paints as we believe that these are the best on the market today.

We have selected around twenty paints from the range and offer these in both Oil Eggshell and Oil Full Gloss. However if there is a paint that you would like to use from the range simply call us on 0800 389 9732 and let us know, we will be happy to oblige.

There is a minimum order of ten knobs per colour and they are priced at £4.00 each.

We have launched with just one knob at 54mm as this is currently one of the most popular choices.

However, if you require a different size (we have timber knobs from 20mm up to 70mm) please let us know and we will provide a quote for you.

Trade enquiries are also welcome and there are discounts available for large orders.

The Unique Storage Solution

Richard Osborn at Custom-Stor has a great product that you simply have to have a look at. Have you ever puzzled over how get more storage into your house without spending a fortune? If the answer is yes then look no further than Custom-Stor.

What Richard has done is come up with a way of putting together custom made boxes to fill any space you may have. So alcoves, corners or free standing units are all possible but made to measure to fit your exact requirements.

There is a great wizard on the site where you can design your storage solution and get a quote on what it would cost. His team are also on hand to answer any questions you may have.

He contacted kitchen doorhandles to see if we could supply his customers with handles for the storage solutions they purchase from him. We of course said yes so you may see a link on his site to kitchen doorhandles offering access to our huge range to compliment your Custom-Stor solution.

You can also go and see Custom-Stor at this years Grand Designs show at the NEC.

OFFERS OF THE SEASON

Spring is very definitely here and all thoughts have turned to improving our homes. Spring time seems to give us all the push to finally get around to doing all those jobs that we promised ourselves we would finish when we had some time!

Here are some offers that we think you may find useful:

Spring Cleaning - Have a look at our prices for the famous E-cloth cleaning system. We have added a video showing the advantages of this environmentally friendly system as the system uses NO CHEMICALS and cloths can be washed on a 90 degree wash 300 times!

One 2 Five Bin System - This is a fantastic solution to your kitchen bin problem. For 400mm, 500mm and 600mm cabinet widths with a maximum capacity of 80 litres, and with SOFT CLOSE runners it really is a must have - From around £83.00 with FREE DELIVERY.

Spice racks - In stock now! Available for immediate delivery - the very popular four tier rack. Only £11.95.

Bar Handles - We are still hugely cheaper than the high street - Check out our cost comparison table. We have also added a video explaining how easy it is to change your handles. Check it out here!

Shelving - the quality of our brackets and support channels is second to none. Made from white stove enamelled steel and capable of supporting heavy loads. They can be used either indoors or in the garage and the garden shed. Why not spend spring time sorting out that garage?

Help your friends take advantage of these special prices - just forward the link to my blog.

Hope the spring cleaning isn't too arduous!

The DIY Essentials Group

0800 389 9732

The DIY Essentials Group is comprised of:

www.diyessentials.com | www.kitchen-doorhandles.co.uk | www.binsforkitchens.co.uk | www.bathroom-essentials.co.uk |

www.door-handles.com | www.just-sandpaper.co.uk

Registered in England: 5316189

VAT No: 865 5372 93

15% off Lever Door Handles

We've just lowered prices on our most popular ranges on www.door-handles.com.

This makes the following ranges amongst others, the cheapest on the internet:
Scroll Lever Handle - £5.78 per pair


Plain Victorian Lever Handle - £8.73 per pair

Interior Door Handles are our passion. The site is dedicated to providing you with the right Lever Door Handles, Door Knobs, Pull Handles including their fixings like Key Hole covers, Backplates and all the other fixtures and fittings you need to make your doors look handsome!

For UK customers delivery is free on all orders over £50. Otherwise Postage and Packing is £6.00.

As part of the DIY Essentials Group all Door Handle customers also have access to a huge range of products at our other sites, including:

DIY Supplies - Door handles - Spice Racks - Kitchen Accessories
Kitchen Bins | Stainless Steel Bins | Integrated Kitchen Bins
Bathroom Accessories | Bathroom Supplies UK | Towel Rails
Kitchen Door Handles | Stainless Steel Bar Handles | Kitchen Knobs

We are all experienced trades people who like talking to our customers and offering advice where necessary. When you talk to us you talk to experts!

All our products are sourced from high quality suppliers located around the world.

We love to talk to you so give us a call on 0800 389 9732.

Cardholder Not Present Fraud

Well we made the big time a week last Friday with an interview on ITVs Tonight With Trevor McDonald. They ran a feature on Cardholder Not Present Fraud and as we have had some experience with this I went along to Granada's studios in Manchester and was interviewed in a lovely old bonded warehouse about 100 yards from the Coronation Street set, and no I didn't see any of the cast.

Seriously though this is a real threat to the online retailer. We have experienced a few transactions that have gone through and look perfectly legitimate until you dig a little deeper.

To catch them we now ring the telephone number provided to verify the identity of the customer. If we get no answer we then email and if no response is received within a week we do not send the goods and we refund the card back.

It is important to avoid "Chargebacks" from the bank as they charge you for the privilege of taking the money out of your account and if you get a lot of chargebacks they will withdraw your merchant number!

I believe the banks are introducing a new system in the summer that will prevent the merchant from being penalised in any way but I do suspect that the cardholder will bear the brunt once again, when the system is introduced.

Here is a useful review of Fraud and its prevention from Protx.

This website has lots of great information on how to shop and bank safely online.

Anyway thats all for now but look out for some great spring cleaning offers from DIY Essentials early next week.....

Kitchen Door Handles - a guide to fitting.

Kitchen Door Handles are a fundamental part of your kitchen design. They will set the initial ambience within the kitchen. They will be the part of the kitchen that you touch many times each day. The must be functional, stylish, durable, simple to maintain and compliment the overall design of the kitchen.

Here at the diyessentials Group we offer many thousands of styles and finishes and have kitchen door handles available to suit any budget. In fact most of our customers are able to fit their kitchens with kitchen door handles for less than £45. We run a dedicated website www.kitchen-doorhandles.co.uk that is one of the most popular sites in the group receiving over 5,000 unique visitors per month.

Listed below are the fundamental questions you need to ask yourself when considering new kitchen door handles.

1. Are you replacing existing kitchen door handles or is this a brand new installation?
2. Do you need kitchen door knobs or kitchen door handles or a combination?
3. What style of kitchen door handles should you choose?
4. What size do you need?
5. Have you got the tools to do the work yourself?

This is a very inexpensive way of giving your whole kitchen a new look. The process is very simple and need take less than an hour.

Kitchen Door Knobs

Typically an average kitchen will have 20 individual kitchen door knobs or kitchen door handles. Changing knobs is a very straightforward and simple operation as there will be one hole already made in the draw or door.

To remove the existing knob simply open the door and locate the handle bolt and unscrew it whilst holding onto the knob. Tools required would be a Philips screwdriver.

Take the new kitchen door handle bolt and new kitchen door knob and fit. In total this job should take no more than 1 minute per handle. So 20 minutes in total for a complete revamp.

Kitchen Door Handles

These are a little trickier as you will have two holes. The distance between the holes is known as the hole centres and on most modern kitchens these will be:

64 mm
96 mm
128 mm
160 mm
192 mm

etc in increments of 32 mm

So when purchasing replacement handles firstly measure your hole centres before you go shopping.

To replace simply unscrew the handle bolt, then fit your new handles, again the only tools required are a Phillips screwdriver. In total this job should take no more than two minutes per handle giving 40 minutes for our average kitchen.

Many people will look to replace the doors and handles as this will give the whole kitchen a completely new look for little cost. This approach also means that you can choose whatever handle of knob you like. Fitting is slightly more complicated as you need to drill holes in your new doors and draw fronts. It is also worth considering fitting a soft close hinge system whilst you are replacing the doors and handles. The soft close hinge system can be installed for around £5 to £6 per door.

The most important aspect to consider when fitting kitchen door handles or knobs to new doors is consistency, so purchase a jig to make sure all the holes are drilled in exactly the same place on each kitchen drawer or drawer front.

There is nothing worse than looking along a line of cupboards to discover the handles are all at different levels!

The tools required here would be:

• Handle Jig
• Cordless drill
• 4.0mm drill bit
• Philips screwdriver.

To complete a standard kitchen should take no more than one hour.

If you have any questions please contact us on 0800 369 9732. We would be delighted to talk to you.

www.kitchen-doorhandles.co.uk

As an added bonus here is a short video showing one of our more popular handles and a description of how to measure hole centres.

DIY Clinic 28/04/07 9am - 12 noon

This Saturday we are running a DIY Clinic hosted by three experienced trades people who operate locally.

We have a time served Plummer and Electrician, an experienced cabinet maker and a kitchen fitter all waiting to help you solve your problems with your DIY projects.

Learn the secrets from the masters to ensure that your DIY project goes smoothly.

There will be a free coffee and bacon sandwich available to all interested parties.

This will also be an excellent opportunity for both Trade and General public to gain a full appreciation of the products we have on offer, along with the great prices and service!

We are located here. And the phone number is 0800 389 9732 if you need anymore details.

Just Sandpaper hits the headlines!

Yet another site in the diyessentials group. This one offers exactly what it says on the tin - sandpaper.

Our supplier Mirka is one of the leading manufacturers of sandpaper and abrasive products for the automotive, wood and boat building sectors in the world.

With a huge range of products and delivery set at a lowly £2.99 for orders under £45, why bother paying much higher prices at your local store for a lower quality product.

All roll products such as the highly acclaimed Hiomant , Jepuflex and Hiflex are sold by the metre. Or why not try out Abranet, which is a revolutionary new product designed to keep dust levels down to a minimum.

Just-sandpaper.co.uk will become the leading UK supplier of Mirka Sandpaper and associated products to the DIY sector.

Anyway, happy shopping and watch this space for the launch of our next site which is shaping up to be our best yet!

www.Door-Handles.com - its here and its great!

www.door-handles.com has gone live with a big bang!! Orders have exceeded our expectations and the warehouse is very busy.

We went a bit mad and are offering new customers either:

10% off their first order - use voucher code New Customers

Or:

Free postage (worth £7.11) - use voucher code Free Delivery

This site has a huge range of interior door handles, door knobs, pull handles and all the associated hardware needed to make your doors look special. We will be adding a range of door handles for exterior doors in the very near future.

Happy Shopping and hope you are having a great Easter.

DBB Mortice Jig - only £136.59

This is a fantastic product with a world wide following. For those of us fitting mortice locks this handy tools saves hours. Here at DIY Essentials we have the DBB Mortice Jig on offer for a limited time only at the fantastic price of only £136.59 including VAT and with free delivery to UK addresses.

We will ship abroad but will only take orders over the telephone and goods are not despatched until cleared funds have been received.

You can buy the DBB Mortice Jig on www.diyessentials.com.

And whats more here is a little video clip to demonstrate the DBB Mortice Jig in action.

10% off on all sites in the DIY Essentials Group

We have been racking our brains on how to reward our Customers for their loyalty. We are running our Win an Easter Bunny competition across all our sites but we also wanted to give some cash back to you and your friends.

We are offering a Voucher with a code of Easter that is valid across all the DIY Essentials Group web sites:

www.diyessentials.com

www.kitchen-doorhandles.co.uk

www.bathroom-essentials.co.uk

www.binsforkitchens.co.uk

This gives you the opportunity to shop once on each site and get 10% off each time.

The Voucher code is also valid for orders placed over the telephone.

Simply type Easter into the voucher code box when placing your order. The voucher will be valid until April 3, 2007.

Happy Easter and Happy Shopping.

Easter Bunny Surprise!

We are running a great prize draw leading up to Easter. All orders placed on:

DIY Supplies | Door Handles | Spice Racks | Kitchen Accessories
Kitchen Door Handles | Stainless Steel Bar Handles | Kitchen Knobs
Kitchen Bins | Stainless Steel Kitchen Bins | Integrated Kitchen Bins
Bathroom Accessories | Towel Rails

between 19 March and 3 April will receive a Lindt Chocolate Egg. The Customer receiving the egg covered with silver foil will win the huge chocolate Gold Bunny.

Good Luck!!

Innovative Bathroom Storage Solution

We have taken delivery of 100 Bathroom Pole Systems that would make any bathroom look fabulous. The quality is superb and they include a number of popular bathroom accessories including:

1 x 300 mm chrome plated wire basket with toughened glass shelf
1 x Glass holder with two glasses included
1 x 300 mm Beech wooden shelf with chrome plated railing

Readers of this blog have an excellent opportunity to be first in the queue for this fantastic pole system.

Full details can be found at www.bathroom-essentials.co.uk

The retail price of this item has been estimated at £125, they are on sale including VAT and delivery to UK addresses for an amazing £70.48.

Seven key tips for success with Google Pay Per Click

We spend a huge sum of money with Google every month but we get fantastic results so the spend is justified. I thought it would be a good idea to share what we have learn't with budding internet entrepreneurs in the hope that you don't make the same mistakes we did.

There are many so called experts out there but we are active merchants who have mastered the PPC game so it delivers real results for our business.

So here goes, enjoy!

1. Choose keywords to bid on carefully. We started out bidding on the keyword DIY which was great in terms of generating traffic but hopeless in terms of conversion. We now bid on exact match key phrases that are the ones you type in when you want to buy. For example if you selling a particular tv, make sure you bid on the exact model as a keyword as this is what people will type in when they want to buy. They may start out with "plasma tv" but when they have decided what they want they will type in "JVC PD-42DX6 42" Plasma TV Screen" or a variation of.
2. Understand totally the difference between phrase and exact match. It is likely that your conversions from exact match keywords will be highest once you have figured out the right ones.
3. Get help from experts. We used traffic broker for a number of months and would recommend them as a first class organisation. They will manage your account for you and is a good way of getting a campaign set up the right way from the start.
4. Measure conversions. It is extremely important to know which keywords are performing and which campaigns are successful. We measure success as a CTR (click through rate) in excess of 15% and expect 5% of traffic to make a purchase.
5. Use tracking software. Good tracking software is not free but can be acquired for as little as £35 per month. We use Saletrack which is exceptional and comes with no fixed contract. So go on try it for a month and be prepared to be amazed. Oh and don't forget to mention me, Simon Taylor, when you telephone!
6. Continually look at the numbers. We know exactly what percentage of gross sales we are prepared to spend on Pay Per Click. It is very easy to fall into the trap of becoming a slave to Google and having to spend the money to make the sales. Don't lose sight of your bottom line.
7. Work hard! The more time you spend on your keywords and campaigns the greater the rewards will be. Expect to spend some time every day reviewing what is going on.
8. Okay I said seven but here is a free one. Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion, it will enhance the effectiveness of your ads ten fold if you use it in the correct way!

Thats all for now and I hope this is useful for you. If you need more drop me a line and I will help if I can.

Handturned Wooden Knobs for Kitchens

Well we have finally done it and launched a bespoke service for customers looking for that fantastic unique look for their kitchen cupboard doors.

We have a local craftsman who will turn any pattern we present him with, in a timber of your choice and finished the way you want. We will advise throughout the process to ensure the exact look is achieved.

To see some examples look at the handturned wooden knobs on www.kitchen-doorhandles.co.uk.

Uniross Hybrio Range - reduce your carbon footprint!

The days are counting down to the launch of our green battery site! This will be our major contribution to help all uk consumers reduce their carbon footprint. Throw away all those disposable batteries and replace them with state of the art batteries from Uniross.

When we launch it will be announced on this Blog first and there will be some great giveaways and voucher codes on offer.

Search Engine Optimisation

OK we have selected blueclaw to work with us on optimising the sites for our keywords that generate most business. Fergus will certainly have his work cut out over the next few months but we are very excited at the prospect of reducing our pay per click spending.