Yet another report reveals that the majority of businesses know that they need a web presence, but a third of those interviewed admit that they neglect to make changes to to update their websites.
One in four are unhappy with their websites design and other common reasons given were; outdated content and images, missing methods for communicating with customers and limited or no e-commerce functionality costing them in missed sales.
The main reason for the lack of attention that a website receives fall down to time restraints - but without finding the time owners understand that their website will fail to reach it's full potential.
In summary, it appears that most businesses have reached the point of identifying the problem, and by doing so they are aware of the solution - more time and focus must be given to their websites.
For many companies, all that is then required, is to delegate the responsibility of website manager to a key member of staff and ensure that they are rigidly allocated the time needed to carry out this new role. Problem solved.
Sunday, 7 June 2009
Saturday, 2 May 2009
Design for show, type for dough
Most golfers will be familiar with the phrase 'Drive for show, putt for dough'.
In golf, sinking putts is more likely to win you big money than being able to hit a ball a long way.
I've tweaked the phrase and applied it to websites.
If you want a successful website remember, 'design for show, type for dough'.
The most common area of a website that is overlooked and in some cases completely ignored is website content - the written word - the copy. Naturally the design plays its part, but not as much as you may at first presume. Only when a website is underperforming does attention turn to the strength of the copy.
Successful websites will have powerful content and in every instance, it did not arrive there by accident. Understanding the power of the written word and putting it to good effect within your own website will have dramatic results.
I don't just mean the page content either, wherever and whenever text is used, consideration should be given to the effectiveness that the words you use will have. This includes menu names, text links, instructions in graphics and particularly 'call to actions'.
On arriving at your website, a visitor will start skim reading your website looking for what they want - at this stage they probably haven't even given your design much of a glance, they are still deciding whether you have what they want or whether it is would be best to move on. Well written copy will immediately grab their attention and then once it has, it will smoothly guide them through the process of performing the action that YOU want.
This may be to email, buy from your online shop or just to pick up the phone and call you. Not only will you have achieved your goal, but your website visitors will thank you for making it easy for them. Whatever it is that you want your website to achieve, take a look again with a fresh pair of eyes and see if the copy is doing it’s job well.
Never underestimate the power of the written word on your website.
Design for show, type for dough.
In golf, sinking putts is more likely to win you big money than being able to hit a ball a long way.
I've tweaked the phrase and applied it to websites.
If you want a successful website remember, 'design for show, type for dough'.
The most common area of a website that is overlooked and in some cases completely ignored is website content - the written word - the copy. Naturally the design plays its part, but not as much as you may at first presume. Only when a website is underperforming does attention turn to the strength of the copy.
Successful websites will have powerful content and in every instance, it did not arrive there by accident. Understanding the power of the written word and putting it to good effect within your own website will have dramatic results.
I don't just mean the page content either, wherever and whenever text is used, consideration should be given to the effectiveness that the words you use will have. This includes menu names, text links, instructions in graphics and particularly 'call to actions'.
On arriving at your website, a visitor will start skim reading your website looking for what they want - at this stage they probably haven't even given your design much of a glance, they are still deciding whether you have what they want or whether it is would be best to move on. Well written copy will immediately grab their attention and then once it has, it will smoothly guide them through the process of performing the action that YOU want.
This may be to email, buy from your online shop or just to pick up the phone and call you. Not only will you have achieved your goal, but your website visitors will thank you for making it easy for them. Whatever it is that you want your website to achieve, take a look again with a fresh pair of eyes and see if the copy is doing it’s job well.
Never underestimate the power of the written word on your website.
Design for show, type for dough.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Facebook users do poorly in exams
Research has found that students who use the social networking website 'Facebook' perform worse academically. The report indicates that students that use facebook on a daily basis are underperforming by as much as a an entire grade in comparison to students who do not subscribe to the site - so being a user of Facebook could be the difference between getting an A or B.
About 83% of British 16 to 24 year olds are thought subscribe to 'social networking' sites which include, Facebook, Myspace and Bebo as a way of keeping in touch with friends. However, when a sample of Facebook users were questioned, 79% said that they believed that the time they spent on the site did not affect their work.
As you would expect, Facebook defended itself by saying that there was academic research to show the benefits of services like Facebook - although without any evidence from Facebook as to what these benefits were, can I hazard a guess that it was to seek assistance from friends when trying to answer tricky exam questions when revising which may have resulted in them getting a grade B when a grade C would have been their more likely acheivement!
About 83% of British 16 to 24 year olds are thought subscribe to 'social networking' sites which include, Facebook, Myspace and Bebo as a way of keeping in touch with friends. However, when a sample of Facebook users were questioned, 79% said that they believed that the time they spent on the site did not affect their work.
As you would expect, Facebook defended itself by saying that there was academic research to show the benefits of services like Facebook - although without any evidence from Facebook as to what these benefits were, can I hazard a guess that it was to seek assistance from friends when trying to answer tricky exam questions when revising which may have resulted in them getting a grade B when a grade C would have been their more likely acheivement!
Sunday, 5 April 2009
Poor websites miss sales
Research by BT has found that small businesses are missing out on valuable online sales opportunities because they fail to maintain their websites properly.
Jerry Thompson of BT Business says: "Most small businesses understand that it is vital to have a website and are quick to get online, but unfortunately many websites are withering on the vine because customers cannot actually find them".
About 25% of retail spending this year - around 78 Billion - is predicted to come from online sales, but experts warn that firms must improve their websites significantly if they want to benefit from the growth in e-commerce.
Findings show that one in six businesses has no facility for customers to buy goods through their website. More than 40% of sites have pages that contain missing or broken links and incredibly, only one in 3000 small firms utilises keywords even though this greatly increases the chances of search engines selecting their web sites.
Not surprisingly, one in ten small businesses rates their own site as very poor.
Thompson concludes, "As well as taking basic measures to make their website more visible to search engines, firms should plan the content to ensure that it reflects the services or goods they offer."
The report backs up what we have found -many businesses are only paying lip service to marketing their business online, but this is often because of the confusing nature of the whole topic. Worryingly, much of the advice being offered by "experts" is poor or misleading and in many cases "Search Engine Optimisation Specialists" are profiting because of the clients lack of understanding of the correct approach.
source or article; Daily Mail, April 5th 2009
Jerry Thompson of BT Business says: "Most small businesses understand that it is vital to have a website and are quick to get online, but unfortunately many websites are withering on the vine because customers cannot actually find them".
About 25% of retail spending this year - around 78 Billion - is predicted to come from online sales, but experts warn that firms must improve their websites significantly if they want to benefit from the growth in e-commerce.
Findings show that one in six businesses has no facility for customers to buy goods through their website. More than 40% of sites have pages that contain missing or broken links and incredibly, only one in 3000 small firms utilises keywords even though this greatly increases the chances of search engines selecting their web sites.
Not surprisingly, one in ten small businesses rates their own site as very poor.
Thompson concludes, "As well as taking basic measures to make their website more visible to search engines, firms should plan the content to ensure that it reflects the services or goods they offer."
The report backs up what we have found -many businesses are only paying lip service to marketing their business online, but this is often because of the confusing nature of the whole topic. Worryingly, much of the advice being offered by "experts" is poor or misleading and in many cases "Search Engine Optimisation Specialists" are profiting because of the clients lack of understanding of the correct approach.
source or article; Daily Mail, April 5th 2009
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Launch of the .tel domin
The .tel domain went to public release today (24th March 2009), meaning that it is now available for anyone and everyone to purchase. The .tel domain differs in concept to a standard domain and is not designed for the hosting of websites - in fact, you are unable to point the name to a website. Instead, it acts as a directory entry, allowing the centralisaion of all contact information.
The .tel domain is available for both private and business use and I believe that .tel registrations are set to explode in popularity.
Why? well from an individuals point of view - garry.tel is a lot easier to give someone than; home numbers, work numbers, mobile numbers, email addressess, skype name, website address .... you get the picture.
And for business, the ability to centralise all contact information in one place (and update it instantly) has got to be a good thing, particularly for businesses with multiple offices or departments.
And for those of you out there with the equivalent of; www.I-really-would-like-a-shorter-name-but-they-were-all-gone.com, I suggst that you get cracking and snap up one of the most memorable domain names you could possibly wish for.
The .tel domain is available for both private and business use and I believe that .tel registrations are set to explode in popularity.
Why? well from an individuals point of view - garry.tel is a lot easier to give someone than; home numbers, work numbers, mobile numbers, email addressess, skype name, website address .... you get the picture.
And for business, the ability to centralise all contact information in one place (and update it instantly) has got to be a good thing, particularly for businesses with multiple offices or departments.
And for those of you out there with the equivalent of; www.I-really-would-like-a-shorter-name-but-they-were-all-gone.com, I suggst that you get cracking and snap up one of the most memorable domain names you could possibly wish for.
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