Welcome back all after the new year break and out first roundup of our favorite websites of the week. We will also be tagging this weekly feature with This week we have some great WordPress designs, Google fighting SPAM websites and 7 reasons why you should be using Social landing pages in your PPC campaigns.

Last but not least is an excellent complaint letter written to a UK bank by a 98 year old women and well done to her!

60+ Fresh and Inspirational WordPress Site Designs

WordPress with the right theme can be a very powerful CMS and as such there are many great WordPress based sites popping up. Here are 60 Inspirational designs from instantshift.

7 Reasons Why Social Landing Pages Increase Business

More and more often we are seeing PPC campaigns with landing pages that  take advantage of social networking whch is something we will be implementing over the coming weeks at Monico Web Design. In the meantime here is a great post on social media landing pages – http://kylelacy.com/7-reasons-why-social-landing-pages-increase-business/

Google anti-web spam efforts

Its always reassuring to know that Google is taking an active role in the prevention of SPAM and this post from  econsultancy is most welcome. Google has recently been sending out notices via WebMaster Tools warning webmasters over “unnatural links”

Read more on econsultancy

A 98 year old woman in the UK wrote this to her bank.

Last but not least this great letter from a 98 year old women who wrote a complaint letter to her bank. Perhaps we should all be sending such letters when our banks act in such an inappropriate manner…

The full copy is below although it is taken from Linkedin

Subject: Senior moment – A 98 year old woman in the UK wrote this to her bank.

The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.
Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, but when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required.
A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client

(Remember: This was written by a 98 year old woman; DOESN’T SHE MAKE YOU PROUD!)

What are your comments?