A final word from the team here at NZS.com before we head away for the summer holiday break…

The long, hot days of the summer holidays should be a time of relaxation for mind and body, spent with family and friends - and giving you time out from the schedule of regular life! Take a look at our seasonal summer articles to get inspired about:

• Summer beach holidays - relaxing on golden sands or pitching the tent at the beach is all part of the Kiwi summer experience.
• Summer fashion - make sure you’re looking good in the season’s latest summer fashions!
• Summer jobs - it’s not all fun in the sun; there are many seasonal summer jobs on offer nationwide.
• Summer music - the sounds of summer songs, festivals and music events will get your feet moving.
• Summer recipes - cook up a summertime feast on the BBQ with fresh summer salads and tempting desserts.

The NZS.com team will return on Monday 7th January, 2008. Until then, whatever you’re doing, have a safe and sun-filled summer holiday break!

Significant events can have an impact on people everywhere in New Zealand…

The earthquake that shook Gisborne yesterday measured 6.6 on the Richter Scale and was felt in the lower North Island and upper South Island. The quake was centred fifty kilometres offshore and forty kilometres deep.

Fallen chimneys, weakened foundations and damaged buildings resulted from the quake last night, frightening residents and sending many running for cover. An elderly woman died shortly after the quake and eleven people were reportedly injured. Many buildings remain closed today, as their safety is assessed.

The wide-reaching effects of such an event can even be seen on our very own site…

Today’s top sites on NZS.com show users are keen to find Gisborne websites and information on earthquakes and seismic activity in New Zealand. These sites all made it to our top ten sites today:

• Gisborne radio
• Current New Zealand earthquake information
• Gisborne Herald newspaper online

Find the latest New Zealand news updates and information on the Gisborne earthquake online.

According to an Auckland University of Technology survey - part of an international collaboration on the impact of the Internet on politics, the economy and society - showed New Zealanders tend to prefer the Internet, even over family and friends, as a source of information. The results of the survey showed that:

• About 80 percent of New Zealanders use the Web
• Internet use falls with age
• Internet use is higher for wealthy people and city dwellers
• One in every eight Kiwis have their own website and one in ten are bloggers
• 83 percent of Internet users surf the Web to research products, while 60 per cent buy things online.

Speaking of shopping online, I read in an article that e-commerce revenue in New Zealand is expected to top $1.5 billion this year. Half of that figure, or roughly $750 million, is spent on travel (with Air New Zealand getting a fair chunk of that), while a whopping $500 million goes to Trademe, excluding vehicles and real estate. According to Sam Morgan, Trademe also accounts for a third of the country’s private vehicle sales and $250 million is spent on retail shopping.

Compared to overseas markets New Zealand, and to some extent Australia, are lagging behind. Sales in the US are expected to exceed $200 billion in 2007, while European sales are tipped to exceed $160 billion and grow by 25 percent per annum for the next five years.

Which brings me to one of two conclusions: either society are getting lazy or we hate shopping malls!

More interesting statistics from the world of online search, this time demonstrating clear online search trends as we approach the holiday season. A highlight of many a New Zealand summer is the Kiwi camping holiday - packing the car and heading to the beach, campsite or holiday park with kids, chilly bins and kayaks in tow.

And New Zealand search statistics are showing the popularity of this summer pastime. Reports from Hitwise show that searches relating to the great outdoors have increased significantly in recent weeks. Most of these high ranking search terms are generic (like ‘camping grounds’), but other popular search terms are geographically specific (for instance ‘paihia camping ground’).

Top ten searches relating to camping holidays in New Zealand, for the week ending 8 December, 2007 were:

1. kiwi camping
2. camping grounds
3. camping
4. camping equipment
5. camping gear
6. camping nz
7. camping ground
8. camping sites
9. new zealand camping holidays
10. camping new zealand

So, what can we do with search keyword stats like this? Information on how searchers are finding your website can be used (along with data on what searchers are looking for online) to better tailor your website content and keywords. These statistics also show the power of seasonal search trends (online promotions should take into account the time of year) and region-specific searches (you may not be number one in generic camping term searches, but you could rank highly for a geographically specific search).

And if you’re getting ready to relax over the summer holidays, get sorted for your camping holiday with our directory of New Zealand camping grounds and camping equipment stores.

Have you ever wondered how many domain names are on the New Zealand Web?

Anyone is eligible to register a domain name using extensions such as .co.nz, .org.nz and .net.nz. You don’t need to be a New Zealand company to sign up for a domain and set up your own website. Many individuals and interest groups set up their own online presence, giving them a wider reach in New Zealand and internationally. Some domain spaces - .govt.nz, .mil.nz, .cri.nz and .iwi.nz - are moderated, meaning you must prove your eligibility for the domain extension.

Interesting NZ Internet statistics reveal that as a nation, New Zealand is steadily gathering more domains every year. The New Zealand Domain Name Commission (DNC) records show the total number of website addresses registered in this country. Internet stats for the last ten years (recorded at the end of each calendar year) make interesting reading:

Year - Registered Domain Names in New Zealand

1997 - 16,343
1998 - 26,991
1999 - 47,317
2000 - 83,052
2001 - 103,888
2002 - 120,833
2003 - 142,468
2004 - 174,061
2005 - 209,927
2006 - 261,283

As you can see, registration has continued at an impressive rate, as mentioned in an earlier post on New Zealand domain name statistics.

If putting yourself or your business on the Web is top of your New Year’s Resolution list, browse our list of domain name providers to find an NZ domain name that meets your needs.

Today I came across the official New Zealand Golf Network’s statistics website which calls itself DotGolf. This website runs software where you can look up any member of any golf club in New Zealand to see what their scores have been and what their handicap is, as well as tracking how your friends (or competitors) are doing. I enjoyed looking up some family members and checking out their latest scores. No tall tales of the hole-in-one are possible when your scores are live on the Web.

After some further reading, it’s plain to see that handicapping in golf is a pretty complicated process!

According to DotGolf;

A Handicap Index is New Zealand Golf’s mark which is used to indicate a measurement of a player’s potential scoring ability on a course of standard difficulty.

Their page on the New Zealand Golf Slope Handicap Formula reminds me just a little of being back in maths class at school.

We have a large list of New Zealand golf course websites in NZS.com (more than 160!), so I’m sure your local course has some information if you’re looking at getting into the sport during summer.

Image from Flickr.

It was great to be flying the New Zealand flag in Vancouver last month.

New Zealand Trade & Enterprise invited Rocket Lab to participate in a Trade Mission to Canada, and we were on the November 2nd inaugural Air New Zealand direct flight from Auckland to Vancouver. Instead of having to change planes in the US, it was a relatively easy 14 hour overnighter flight. Have dinner, watch a film, catch some zzz’s, watch another film with breakfast… and you’re there.

The trip was superb; we met with a number of related businesses and talked with university space researchers. I was very impressed with the friendliness of the locals and the beautiful landscapes, so I hope to get back there soon. As a result of the new direct flights between New Zealand and Canada, there’ll be a significant increase in visitor numbers from both countries. So far, there are three flights going each way every week, which Air New Zealand hopes to increase in short time.

Check out the The Canada Tourism Council of New Zealand to plan your trip!

Image from Flickr.

In my perambulations around the Web the other day I discovered a very geeky site, that I have since used quite a bit, called Galaxy Zoo.

Astronomers have taken over a million pictures of galaxies in space - and now they need to categorise them. Currently, the only way that we can categorise galaxies is by having a person look at a picture of a galaxy and then decide whether it’s an elliptical or spiral shape. It turns out that computers can’t really do this job very well at all, so what a group of astronomers have done is provide the Galaxy Zoo website, where anybody can categorise galaxies after a quick ten minute tutorial.

The thing about pictures of galaxies is that some of them are quite spectacular; hence the site can be quite addictive. It’s very cool to be part of a real astronomy science project too.

Find more fascinating astronomy facts in the NZS.com directory.

Image from Flickr.

It’s interesting to see newly released statistics on household spending in New Zealand - what exactly are we throwing our hard-earned dollars away on?

The Household Economic Survey for the year ended 30 June 2007 was released at the end of last month. The survey provides a comprehensive range of statistics relating to income and expenditure. Some things you might not know about recent household spending trends in New Zealand:

• The average weekly total household expenditure was $956.
• The three largest components of household spending were housing and utilities (23%), food (16%) and transport (14%).
• Households in the Wellington region (our cultural capital) had the highest spend on recreation and culture, at $120 per week.
• Average annual household income was $67,973 for the year, a rise of 10.2% from the 2003/04 year.

Perhaps unsurprisingly we’re getting more techno-fied too, with around one in every five households owning more than one kind of computer - that is, a desktop computer, laptop or hand-held device.

And another pleasing result to come out of the survey - the majority of us (75% in fact) are satisfied or very satisfied with our standard of living. Great to hear!

Recently NZS.com enlisted the help of Nielsen//NetRatings to survey our fellow NZS.com community members and we’ve found (what we thought already) that we’re all a savvy bunch of Internet users!

There were a few interesting statistics that came out of the survey. One of these statistics that caught my interest was the metric that a higher than market percentage of the NZS.com community have visited an online auction site (15% higher than the market average) and even further, the number of us who have actively participated in an online auction is a full 18% higher than the market average.

Our deduction (backed up by these stats of course) is that the NZS.com community are a particularly savvy bunch of Internet users. I’m sure you’ll agree.