Is it just me or did this recent hot weather take us by surprise?
Not because we don’t get it hot from time to time. But for the past few years it has been for the odd few days here and there, followed by a long period of wet, grey weather, even cold. So this extended period as far as I am concerned is wonderful.
I can sit in my garden, shaded under my apple tree with a glass of ice cold Robinsons Lemon Cordial (has to be Robinsons) and tap away my keyboard. However, I know that there are businesses out there for whom the hot weather may not necessarily do much to help their income. We all the need to slow down a bit in the heat, but when it comes to retail sales it can energise a new lease of life. All those great summer clothes we have wanted to buy and have put off buying in previous years. They are worth buying now knowing we will get good use from them.
Garden centres took a battering over the winter and the long cold spring. Sales were down and the usual stock that would get people in the mood for summer was just not budging. Now lawn mowers, barbecues, charcoal, sun loungers, garden furniture, hose reels and water sprinklers are starting to move off the shelves at an ever increasing pace.
Mind you who wants to go shopping in this weather? Why not just go to the park, sunbathe, have a picnic or a trip to the seaside. As the BBC reports not everyone will be shopping for summer goods; 'Warm weather knocks High Street sales'
Sales of cold drinks, chilled chocolate bars (which I hasten to add there is not enough shops doing that, thank you retailers), sports drinks, ice creams, strawberries and the like sell like hot cakes, or should that be chilled cakes. Ice cold Pimm’s, G&T’s and Lager straight from the fridge, Pinot Grigio (or whatever the latest white wine fad is). You get the picture.
Hospitality businesses in the South West have seen an increase too. Whether that’s restaurants, hotels, pubs or the local coffee house with an outside seating area. The pier at Weston and the seaside street traders are all reporting a surge in sales. Outside activity centres are also gaining from the summer sunshine. Tennis clubs, camping sites and high impact adventure centres start thriving as people are looking to be outside. Admission numbers to cricket matches have swelled as people are wanting to sup up the sun’s rays whilst indulging in a very British summer pastime. Construction and building projects can benefit knowing that there is an extended dry spell. We have all seen those builders with tanned leather looking skin, shorts being held up by a builder’s belt full of tools and still wearing boots that only builders can buy. All looks rather ideal working conditions. However, the hot weather doesn’t always help our cool construction chaps. It may be surprising to learn that hot and dry weather can be a problem to many a building project.
Dry weather can cause the water in concrete and masonry to evaporate too fast, which in turn will produce a lower compressive strength. It can also cause rapid evaporation of moisture in masonry mortar causing the mortar to begin setting prematurely. If this happens then there may not be sufficient moisture to ensure the brick absorbs the mortar paste properly. This then reduces the bond strength between the mortar and the brick. The weather can affect the application and performance of paint. Rapid evaporation prevents the paint from curing properly, possibly causing delamination, wrinkles, blisters, peeling, and cracking. Weather can and will make a difference to the resiliency of seals and sealants, resulting in a loss of elasticity. Loss of elasticity causes embrittlement (a loss of ductility of a material, making it brittle). So spare a thought for our building professionals because this dry spell can cause different problems to the cold weather of winter.
Over at the offices of Bath Business Web Ltd, they are hard at work designing, constructing and hosting the most superlative websites found in the South West. They are experts at knowing who is looking for what on Google and other such search engines. They realise that people in general are spending less time on their computers during the hot weather. But when they do what are they looking for? Well one of the highest ranking hits on Google has been us Brits looking for anything to do with Barbecues. Recent research shows that in one month there were over 3,500 different search terms containing the word ‘bbq’. You can also gather that connected to this would be such as ‘gas bbq’ or ‘charcoal bbq’.
What the folks at BBW Ltd recognise is that there is definitely a seasonal change of search volumes for particular keywords, which of course affect the amount of visitors that Google bring to your business website. They know that for most businesses in the UK online traffic is highest from September through to the end of March and decreases during the spring and summer months.
Do you know how your website is doing over the summer? Have you noticed any change to the numbers of people visiting your website since we have had the hot weather? Do you know how to find out how many people visit your site?
Whatever your trade or business you need to understand your market and the people who will be looking for your products or services over the next few months. Make sure you get good sound advice and guidance on how to do this. Always make sure you choose an experienced professional web design and hosting company that will look after your business needs.
Typically, now I have written this the weather has changed lol. Saying that, sitting in my conservatory I can see blue sky is now starting to appear over the beautiful city of Bath.
Why not write to me and let me know how the summer is going for you……..
Bingham
Blogger for Bath Business Web Ltd 
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